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The SPR Group - Spring 2021 Team
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Photo [top row, left to right]: Dr. Rochelle Daniel, Alyssa (Druex) Espeut, Ron Emelife, Oluwatola Akinmoladun, Shamoa Alamer, Kayla Alston, Andre Lakanu, Emanuel Tucker Jr., Solomon Bradford, Kristopher Williams, Justin Million, Dejanay Caldwell, Ernest Henderson III, Zabril Carey, Erykah Price, Taiya Edwards, Joiah Osborne, Justice Ekwonna, Nikko Butler
Not Pictured: Imani Fletcher, Devin Hodge, Jamal Long, Stephen Tolan, Dejane’ Watts
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Can You Believe This: Three Students
of Twin Sets in One Class?
 
(Top to bottom, left to right): Alexis and Alyssa (Dreux) Espeut, Judah and Joiah Osborne, and Andre and Andrew Lekanu
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The Twins' Fun Facts
Our SPR Group had not one, not two, but three students who have a fraternal twin. Joiah Osborne has a twin brother, and both Alyssa (Dreux) Espeut and Andre Lekanu each have a same sex twin. They shared some fun facts about being a twin.
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Who’s older ?
Joiah: I'm older than my brother by one minute.
Dreux: She's older than me by two minutes.
Andre: He is older by 10 seconds.
Do your parents get you mixed up?
Dreux: My parents don't but other relatives do. My grandfather in particular goes through five other grandkids' names before he gets to ours.
Andre: At times my mother calls me by my brother’s name when she is exhausted or tired. Once we decided to play football in our backyard. It was so hot our mom started to call our names out randomly after someone scored a goal!
Who’s smarter?
Joiah: I'm definitely the smarter twin. I'm more of an overachiever and my brother couldn't care less about everything.
Dreux: I would say I'm wittier only because I'm able to think quickly in times of dire need or highly stressful situations. My sister is more likely to freeze up.
Andre: He is.
We sometimes hear that twins can share thoughts telepathically. Have you and your twin ever experienced this?
Joiah: We have a special understanding of each other, but it's more on an emotional level.
Dreux: Yes, and it happens all the time. Whether it's finishing each other's sentences or both of us coming home with food from the same place, or when we used to dress alike, and we'd wake up and walk out of our rooms wearing the exact same thing . . . I'm able to sense when something is off with my sister when we are apart. . . I would say 8/10 times, I'm usually right.
Andre: We experience this at times. Sometimes I will be thinking about a song and he will start singing it out loud. Sometimes he will be thinking of a command and I will stand up and do it randomly.
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How similar are your personalities?
Joiah: Me and my brother are total opposites. Everyone who knows us always say that.
Dreux: We have the same sense of humor, but we have different personalities overall. I'm a little more reserved and she's more outgoing.
Andre: Not at all.
Have you ever switched places?
Dreux: We exchanged schedules (in high school) . . . our friends were able to tell but ironically, our teachers did not notice! We told them the next day and all of them were shocked that we were able to slip under the radar. Kind of fun!
Andre: We switched places in my second-grade class, and nobody realized we had switched until the classes were over! They figured out because Andrew was supposed to partner up with a girl on the bus ride home, but she couldn't find him.
What is your favorite thing about being a twin?
Joiah: I have had a best friend since birth. It's a cool fact to spring on people who don't know my brother. Most people think that it's so cool.
Dreux: Never fully being alone, having an extra closet, never paying full price on anything because there's a good chance we're sharing something. Never having to do anything by myself. Being a twin also means that Halloween is also lots of fun!
Andre: I have someone to make it through life with forever.
What is your favorite memory?
Joiah: I don't have just one specifically, but me and my brother are both super funny and we laugh alot together.
Dreux: Every birthday.
Andre: Just sitting in our tree house together chillin'.
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Did You Know?
As of 2018, 33 sets of twins were born per 1,000 births in the United States, according to the article, Seeing Double: How to Increase Your Chances of Having Twins (Healthline.com). Many factors affect the chances of having twins whether identical or fraternal. Identical twins are three or four in every 1,000 births and are both the same sex and share identical DNA. Fraternal twins can come in any combination of sex and share the same DNA differences as a brother and sister born at different times. Seeing Double |
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Interview with Greentarget Executive Vice President, Laura Miller
This article is an excerpt of SPR Blog Writer Deja Watts' interview with Laura Miller, Executive Vice President and Director of Talent at Greentarget, a business-to-business Public Relations (PR) agency that helps professional services firms build and communicate authority to guide smarter conversations. Miller shared her intern experience as a college student, how she began her career at Greentarget, and how low-income students can effectively compete for high-quality internships. She also shared some tips for students seeking internships.
Deja: Where did you attend college and what was your major?
Laura: Tufts University and International Relations
Deja: What activities were you involved in while in college?
Laura: Sailing, Tufts Daily (newspaper)
Deja: Did you interview anywhere? If so, how was that experience?
Laura: I didn’t during college. In the ‘90s, internships did not seem to be as common as they are today. Instead, I had summer jobs as a sailing coach and at a department store. Post-college, I interned for a United States senator, which ultimately led to a full-time role in his office.
Deja: How did you begin your career at Greentarget?
Laura: The senator I had been working for since college decided to retire from public service and I had to make a decision about my next steps. My primary role in his office was as press secretary so I found myself torn between some political opportunities and those in the communications space. Either way, it was very important to me to pursue a career that had an impact on the world and allowed me to continue championing important causes.
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Greentarget was just opening its doors (technically the neighboring office’s door as the agency didn't yet have one) and offered the opportunity to take the leap into professional services work while continuing to pursue my interest in public affairs working with political campaigns. Eventually, I shifted entirely into work with professional services organizations, which is where Greentarget is focused: we help sophisticated organizations articulate their unique value, build meaningful relationships and grow to their full potential.
Deja: What are the qualifications for applying to Greentarget’s intern program?
Laura: Greentarget interns are generally in their junior or senior year of college or have recently graduated. While we don’t expect anybody – intern or otherwise – to join the firm with a knowledge of the clients we represent (large law firms, consulting firms, financial services organizations, etc.), we do look for candidates who have an interest in learning more about these sophisticated businesses. A solid written and oral communication background is a great benefit, as is the ability to work both independently and within a group. But ultimately, we look for people who match our values: authenticity, hard work, intellectual curiosity, good teammates and challenge-seekers.
Full Interview: Greentarget Interview
More about Greentarget: https://greentarget.com/about-us/
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BSU PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America) hosted a Zoom event in April featuring PR interns at top PR agencies. SPR team members coordinated the event, and invited the speakers: Cathline Jean (Ogilvy Cambridge); Tamia Williams (Greentarget); Tiffany Bogan (FINN Partners Diversity Program); and Nikko Buttler (Greentarget). BSU PRSSA president Jordan Anderson and vice president Kamauri Winder moderated the panel discussion.
The speakers discussed tips and perspectives on how to obtain an internship, perform while at that internship and set yourself apart from other competitive interns when applying for an internship. They included the following.
- Check your emails for internships; a lot of times your academic department will email internship options to students.
- Maintain good relationships with teachers. Teachers are a resource for internship opportunities; they often receive information directly from organizations.
- Get Microsoft Teams, “a lot of companies use this platform”. Developing technologies provide organizations multiple resources for accessing prospective interns.
- Keep a log of your projects. Just as a photographer builds a portfolio so should you; as (an aspiring) PR professional, build your own.
- Prepare for the interview, “pick something from your resume and tell a story”; “Be yourself and find things to create a story, particularly things that will display you as being a strong candidate for the position.
- Be a great communicator. By having great communication skills, you will easily excel in an interview.
- Build strong time management skills. Deadlines are very important in PR; a late response to a PR disaster will negatively impact the recovery efforts.
- Step out of your comfort zone, try new things to overcome fears about the unknown.
- Ask questions, it helps (to prevent) you from becoming overwhelmed.
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