Letter to my Cousin

Dear Turkey,

Hey Buddy, how are you? I’m here at school in Utah, and I was just wondering how you were doing? I had a great time over the Christmas break when we went bowling on your new Wii, and when we got to go skating together, and to watch the Seattle Thunderbirds play too. You were getting pretty good on those skates for being only your first few times on the ice. Are your mom and dad still taking you skating sometimes, because that’s the only way you’ll get better you little turkey. Do you know how exciting it is for me to know that my little cousin wants to play hockey too? I’ll be able to watch you play once my playing days are all over here in Utah. You know bud, when I leave after Christmas break to go back to school, I kind of feel bad because you don’t exactly know where I go, or what I do. You just know that I go to Utah, and that I’m going to college, but do you know what I study here?
My main focus, and the main thing that I study here (besides hockey) is a field called Public Relations. Do you have any idea what that is, or what I would do with that kind of education? Yah I figured that you wouldn’t. It’s a tough thing to explain because the opportunities from this sort of education are very broad. I think the best way to summarize what we do in this field is that we are a bridge for communication between a company and the public. I realize that is a little hard for you to understand, but let me see if I can put that in terms that are more relative to you. When I was home for break, we went to the very first Seattle Thunderbirds game at their new arena, the ShoWare Center. Leading up to this game, there was lots of things that happened to promote the opening of the brand new Arena in Kent. A Public Relations person working for the T-birds would be responsible for writing memo’s to the people in Seattle and the surrounding area to try and get new fans to come support the T-birds in the new arena. This is the part of the Public Relations profession that can be described as the voice from the T-birds to the public. Sometimes a Public Relations professional is responsible for relaying messages to the other employees for the company. For example if the T-birds organization wanted all of their employees to wear T-bird colors for the first game at the new building, then a Public Relations person would send out an internal memo telling the employees to do so. Do you remember during the second intermission at the T-birds game when they did the “Chuck-a-Puck?” That was a special event that is done to raise money for the Thunderbirds, but it is likely that a Public Relations person came up with this idea. You see, a Public Relations person is also responsible to do events such as this “Chuck-a-Puck” or maybe setting up a public skate with the members of the T-birds to show fan appreciation. These are some examples of how a Public Relations person can be used in a certain company, such as the Seattle Thunderbirds. Like I said, a person that is studying Public Relations is required to do a variety of things, and that is why I am so interested in it. I hope that explains why I always have to leave after Christmas and summer to come back here to Utah. It is tough to leave you and the rest of the family because I enjoy it at home, but I do love coming back here to Utah to study and play hockey. I have to leave now, because I have a game tomorrow and it is late. You be sure to keep in contact you little turkey, and I miss you and the family. See you soon bud.



Your older and wiser cousin,
Matty