St. Catharines student collects prestigious Public Relations award

Niagara | St Catharines | Education |

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Published June 13, 2022 at 12:32 pm

St. Catharines resident Sophia Cole was chosen to receive a prestigious professional award - the Canadian Public Relations Society-Hamilton chapter's Student Award of Excellence.

For the fourth straight year, a Niagara College Public Relations student is collecting outside honours before they have even graduated from the program.

St. Catharines resident Sophia Cole was chosen to receive a prestigious professional award – the Canadian Public Relations Society-Hamilton chapter’s Student Award of Excellence.

“To even be nominated for this award was such an honour, so to actually win blew me away,” said Cole. “Receiving recognition of any kind is amazing, but to receive this kind of professional recognition early on in my career is so impactful.”

Cole is following in the footsteps of previous Niagara College PR students, Nicolas Mertens (2021), Ashlan MacDonald (2020), Shianne Stephens and Katie McCabe (2019), all of whom won major awards in the field before they even crossed the stage to graduate from the one-year program.

“We are tremendously proud of Sophia’s outstanding achievement as well as the continued success of our Public Relations program as our students are awarded for excellence,” said Vincent Van Schaik, Dean, School of Media, Trades and Technology.

“This important industry recognition is a testament to the outstanding applied education our students receive during their time with us, thanks to the expertise and support of our dedicated faculty and staff.”

Cole was nominated for the award by Emily McInerney, Public Relations Program Professor and Coordinator. McInerney noted that Cole immediately demonstrated a strong commitment to the program when she began in September 2021.

In addition to being a top student across her first and second term classes, she was a peer tutor for an Advanced Writing course at NC, and was involved with a CPRS Hamilton mentorship initiative.

“It is such an honour to have a Niagara College Public Relations student once again win this prestigious award. Sophia is so deserving as she entered the program with a solid work ethic, a keen desire to learn and a positive attitude,” said McInerney.

While Cole was skeptical about online learning when she first began her studies at the College, the program exceeded her expectations in the end.

“It was definitely the most challenging academic experience I have ever been through, but also the most rewarding,” she said. “I left the program feeling confident and prepared to enter the workforce for the first time ever.”

 

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