Meet Cassandra Paul, May 2025 AdPR Grad

• Hometown: Albany, NY
• Program of Study: Advertising and Public Relation BS major with a minor and immersion in Literature and Media
• Co-ops/Internships: Two co-ops with Honeywell’s access solutions marketing team
• Leadership: President of Lambda Pi Eta, Xi Upsilon Chapter; College of Liberal Arts Student Advisory Board
• Research: Qualitative and quantitative media studies research across her four years (senior thesis in communication, qualitative and quantitative research methods)
• Campus and Community: COMS (Computing Organization for Multicultural Students), on-campus employment, and other clubs and activities
• Awards and Honors: School of Communication Outstanding Incoming Student Award, Kearse Award for Writing, and Dean’s List for every semester while at RIT. 
• Portfolio Website: https://paulc1710.wixsite.com/cassandra-paul
• After Graduation Plans: Seek employment in a digital communication, advertising, marketing, or social media role with a business-to-consumer organization, preferably in the lifestyle sector.

What’s your favorite memory from your time at RIT?

The day of the Brick City Homecoming Game this year was just a really fun day. I was hanging out with my friends all day, and it was October, but the weather was so nice. We went to lunch, and then went to the hockey game. They didn't win the game, but it was still just a really fun day! And, it was my last homecoming, so that made it special. 

How did your co-op experience affect your career path? 

I did an eight-month co-op at Honeywell in the Access Solutions division on their global marketing team. 

Because I'm an advertising and public relations major, I was doing a lot of marketing work in my day to day, like creating marketing plans, getting data and running analytics — things like that. I think that widened my skill set, while giving me good hands-on experience. 

As an advertising major at RIT, you take a couple of marketing classes as part of your core to integrate you in marketing, but I think that experience really helped me to hone in on more of my marketing skills and also make me more marketable as an employee. 

If you could go back to when you were a first-year student and just starting at RIT, what advice would you give yourself? 

I would say to explore more and go out of your comfort zone more, to not be afraid to try new things. Dip your toes into a little bit of everything and try out everything that this university has to offer. I don't think I ended up at a hockey game until probably the end of my sophomore year, and it turns out I really love going to hockey games, so I wish I had gone to something like that earlier. 

Also, try to be a little bit more sociable. When I was starting it was Covid still, so I was kind of in my shell a little bit, but I think trying new things and getting out there more could help with that. 

Something that you've done here at RIT that you're really proud of? 

I'm proud of not only the work that I've accomplished in my classes, with my projects and research, but the work I've done in the clubs and organizations that I'm a part of, like with the Computing Organization for Multicultural Students in Golisano [College of Computing and Information Sciences]. 

They have a university-wide hackathon every fall, and I helped out with that this past fall for the first time. It was just really rewarding to see the work that was put into organizing it on the committee and directors’ end, and also to see the hackers and students really enjoy the event and get a lot out of it. 

It’s an experience that they can then put on their resume, and that helps them gain experience. As an advertising major, helping to plan that event and running logistics was really fun for me, but it was also rewarding to see the benefits for other students. 

What was your favorite class? 

I loved Cultural Anthropology with Dr. Hardin, the first course I ever took at RIT. I took it the summer before my freshman year, and to this day it’s still one of my top five classes that I've ever taken here. 

I also took a superheroes class, which was a special topics in communication course with Dr. Bucciferro in the School of Communication, that was really fun because it was a creative course. It was an overlap of my own personal interests and media studies, so it was beneficial to my major, but also fun. Plus, it was a good group of students we had really good conversations. The same goes for Dr. Jenkins’ Intercultural communication course. 

There's a lot that I liked, but I think those are my top three. 

Thinking about your journey at RIT, is there anyone that you'd like to thank? 

My parents, for their unwavering love and support. I'm a first-gen student, so being here has really made me appreciate and understand all the hard work they put in to get me here. I could not have made it this far without them in my education, life, these past years. 

Also, I couldn't imagine being at RIT and not in the School of Communication. It's an amazing department, and all of the professors know your name, and they know what you're working on, and what your interests are. Specifically Kari Cameron, who's my advisor, Dr. Worrell, Dr. Bucciferro, Dr. Cos—just really everyone in the School of Communication! It's a really supportive environment, and COLA overall — it’s just a great place to be.

How do you think you've changed during your time at RIT? 

I think I'm definitely more of a sociable and confident person. I had always gone to smaller schools before coming here, so when I was deciding on colleges, I liked RIT because the College of Liberal Arts was small and close-knit, so I wasn't totally out of my comfort zone. I got that large university feel, but also like a small college. Getting to meet new people and try new things, I just think I've become more of a well-rounded person.