Full Name: Eric Watkins
What is your hometown? Springfield, MO
What is your favorite thing about your hometown? The unwavering dedication to the belief that “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening named Springfield after our Springfield.
What is your major? Public Relations
What is your expected graduation date? May 2014
Tell us about a great experience or opportunity you've had here at Annenberg?
One of my best experiences I’ve had at Annenberg was taking a political campaign course with Professor Dan Schnur, the director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics. In the course, I wrote a comprehensive New Jersey gubernatorial campaign plan for Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker. Though I chose to intern in New York this summer, I had the opportunity to share my plan with Mayor Booker and his campaign team and knock on doors during the last two weeks of his Democratic primary campaign for the vacant New Jersey Senate seat.
What makes Annenberg special?
The opportunities outside the classroom make Annenberg special. I’ve asked questions to Barack Obama campaign alums, listened to Hall of Fame athletes, conversed with U.S. Ambassadors and interacted with panels after the State of the Union and presidential debates.
What's one thing at USC that no student should miss?
A six o’clock kickoff at the Coliseum against an unlucky foe. Whether you dislike football, a setting California sun, a raucous crowd and a few questionable third and short play calls will give you an opportunity to feel a part of something bigger than you and yell in disbelief (and sometimes for joy).
Tell us about an experience you’ve had outside of class (an internship, research project, publication, start-up, etc.).
This summer, I had the opportunity to work at Ogilvy & Mather in New York. As an Account Management intern for the IBM Brand team, I had one of the few opportunities in the advertising industry to feel what it’s like to be at the center of the world, where advertising decisions impact stock performance. With the tremendous strategic communications education I’ve received from Annenberg, I was able to excel and become a valuable asset to my team.
