A Talk With SDSU PR Students about Finding Passion

Last week, Kim spoke at SDSU’s Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter meeting to share her story about starting KDR PR and to encourage students to let their passions drive career decisions.

All students had the chance to share their passions with the group, and then Kim shared her passion for arts and education, and how it led her to where she is today running KDR PR and growing STEAMConnect.org.

Most often, PR majors come out of college pursuing careers in hospitality, lifestyle and high tech, and several agencies in San Diego focus in these areas. Kim reminded the students that any company that has a public face needs a communications plan at some level, so even the most niche markets can present great opportunity. Education isn’t an area that many PR firms focus on, and even fewer (none that we’re aware of) focus on the intersection of arts and STEM in education.

As a PRSSA SDSU alumna, I was ecstatic to return to campus and participate in this discussion because I was fortunate enough to blend my passion for the arts with my career directly out of college.

Kim’s advice about following our passions had many students thinking differently about their paths. One student expressed her deep passion for dance, but hesitation to pursue it because she was told that “it wouldn’t pay the bills.” Kim’s story is definitely an example of how this is not true.

Client Snapshot: CRMSE

We partnered with the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education (CRMSE) at San Diego State University in May 2013 to increase their visibility in San Diego. We set out to showcase their more than 25 years of robust research, curriculum development, and service to the math and science education community.

After our nine month collaboration, we look back on our work with the team and outcomes achieved.

Math + Art = Match Made in Heaven

I was never much of a math person. Well, I thought I was until I hit pre-calculus in college. Nothing seemed to resonate with me, so I gave it up…academically. I use math every single day of my life and yet somehow I feel completely resistant to it. That is until I attended a brown bag lecture called “When Mathematical Instruments Become Art Instruments” at CRMSE, the Center for Research in Math and Science Education at San Diego State University, a new client of KDR PR.

I was inspired by the creative potential in both teaching and learning math. The professors seek reflection and a more in depth understanding of the concepts from the students, and the students as a result are expressive and able to apply the learnings to their own lives.

Here are a couple of examples:

1. Making math creative. Students use a math instrument called Alberti’s Window to peer through an eyehole through a vertical drawing pane to an object on the other side. Then they draw projected images of what they see on the pane, their “projective sketch,” an exercise inprojectivegeometry. The shape and size will vary depending on the angle they’re looking from and which side of the glass the object is on. Students are asked to use their imagination to figure out the shape and size before starting.
2. Making math beautiful. Students are then asked to create a cluster of shapes using math software called Geometer’s Sketchpad based on their projective sketch. The resulting shapes are cut into stencils and then airbrushed into beautiful art pieces. One student who is a dancer wanted to create spirals because it reminded her of dance, so she found a creative way to use a projection to create another one to get the effect she wanted. Reflecting on her piece, she said she had never thought of her dance from a math perspective, and is now opening up her creativity in new ways and incorporating math elements into her dance.

What I loved hearing in the student testimonials is that art is no longer intimidating to them. That we’re all artists and mathematicians, we just may not have uncovered it yet. I say we all step back for a moment to figure out what we “think” we can’t do and then go try it out. It’ll be fun!