IACT Poster Boy

I have to be frank. I am more than obligated to what I deem the best marketing communications college ever. This is blatantly biased, but when someone gives you RM 66,000 worth of scholarships one must feel more than gratitude. Servitude comes to mind. And to think I'm not even bound to them upon completion of my degree.

"How then," you may say, "do you show them your gratitude?" Simple. Indulge them for photos, interviews, and other publicity stunts. Do your goddamn best in your studies. And of course, be a good ambassador. The latter was not particularly easy, since one does not go around soliciting for potential students. That is plain bad form in marketing, akin to cold-calling. Nevertheless, I was quite surprised when a certain young lady asked me about her impending tertiary education path. This is the conversation that took place on Multiply, over the course of a few days, unedited and unabridged. Just to prove I AM doing my bit for the glory of IACT :P

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hello poster boy for IACT :),

do you usually entertain questions regarding the field of mass comm / advertising from very lost post-secondary school girls who need to make huge decisions about college but dont really know where to start? :D

sincerely,
lost post-secondary school girl


lowezra wrote on Jan 8

dear lost post-secondary school girl,

yes, i have to. it's all part of being an ambassador for IACT, which is what i'm morally obligated to do after accepting two scholarships worth RM65,000 from them.

bear in mind that surveys show that even tertiary education does not dictate what you'll become in the future, unless you're one of those braniacs who does medicine. so rest asssured that your choice of colleges/universities is not a final, conclusive choice that affects you for the rest of your life.

that aside, if you're interested in the field of mass comm/advertising, i believe you have huge potential after seeing what you did for your prom. mass comm is a very broad field most commonly mistaken for being the choice of high-school drop-outs, possibly only after the creative arts. it includes (and is not exhaustive of) broadcasting, marketing communications, promotions, production, event management, brand management, public relations, journalism, creative design, copywriting, business knowledge and international relations acumen...the list goes on.

what separates the mass comm ah bengs in TAR and the creme-de-la-creme is the will to succeed, a passion for effective communication, good people skills and of course, excellent english, a plus point which is your sharp advantage over many, many others.

if you do decide to pursue this path, your career choices are very wide indeed. employment can be found anywhere - every organisation needs people like you. the fact that i'm doing hotel management as a part-time job attests to that, marketing background notwithstanding.

yours,
poster boy for IACT


pinkpau wrote on Jan 8

dear poster boy,

thank you for your reply! it was most enlightening and for that i am grateful .. :D

do you know if it's possible to major in advertising and minor in psychology? and if a double major of aforementioned pairing is possible? i kept getting all sorts of weird reactions at the edu fair yesterday when i expressed my wish to pursue both mass comm and psych :( also, how about major advertising, minor psych, minor PR? or is that going to be just entirely unnecessary?

you were a recipient of the Star Education Fund scholarship, righty?

would you recommend a psychology major or a mass comm major?

the distraught,
lost secondary school girl


lowezra wrote on Jan 9

dear lost post-secondary school girl,

i've never heard of such a pairing before. granted, i've had my options open for psychology, me being a ardent fan of the human psyche, but i've found that that's completely unneccessary especially after going through 3 years in IACT's marketing communications program. (they did have consumer behaviour and media, society and psychology as subjects but that's not the point.)

what happens when you do mass comm is that you get an insight into the consumer mind, which is what usually happens in the brainspace of the modern human anyway. what you get in psychology is a very fancy degree and lots of very (literally) disturbing clients.

i'm not undermining psychology, but it is my opinion that you can learn psychology yourself whereas there's a goldmine of knowledge buried deep within mass comm. the trick is to find yourself a good college/uni which teaches you the right shit.

i am a receipient of the Star scholarship, and a reciepient of the tunku jaafar memorial scholarship offered by IACT which gave me the moolah to come here in the first place.

at the end of the day, i'm drunk and it's up to you to decide. trust me, you know enough of the human psyche.

yours,
poster boy


pinkpau wrote on Jan 9

dear poster boy,

okie so which would make a better minor, psychology or PR? or something else altogether like journalism?

argh so torn!

was the Star scholarship tough to obtain? am thinking of applying .. :)

also, thanks so much for all the advice thus far, poster boy! :)

post sec school girl


lowezra wrote on Jan 11

dear post-secondary school girl,

journalism goes very well with PR. in fact, these two are sworn arch-enemies, or the yin and yang of free publicity, depending on how you look at it.

you could well try to go for something of the sort, a related major and minor. then again, you may argue that psych is related to PR. or vice versa. my advice is to choose a related minor. PR and journalism. psychology and psychiatric pharmeceuticals? i'm making this up. but you get my drift.

better this than to juggle your brain in two separate ways. anyway if you want the Star scholarship i don't think you have much choices in choosing majors/minors. mine came as one big package. they'll list out exactly what you're majoring for in the scholarship you're applying for. in my time IACT only had one package, so it made no difference. but if you check out the list for other colleges you'll notice that not all their courses are up for grabs under the Star Edu Fund. choose wisely. i don't think you get to switch majors around once you're under the scholarship. different rates mah.

like this PR thingy i'm doing...i didn't get a choice. some of former IACT alumni have gone on to do business, marketing even multimedia though we did exactly the same thing back home. i can't complain, it's paid for. PR was the only choice for a full-scholarship.

i think you'll ace the interview, especially if you remind them how ambitious you are and what you did for your school prom. but don't force it down their throats.

i remember one of the questions they asked me (somehow they didn't ask the others) was "if you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?" muthafcuker. i answered, rather honestly, that i would use part of it to pay off my dad's debt so i wouldn't have to go through horrifying scholarship interviews just to go to college.

noting their expressions, i stammered, "well, i suppose i'll use the rest to set up a scholarship fund to help other students like myself who can't afford college. everybody deserves a chance."

i think that one nailed it on the head. my luckiest break in life ;)

regards,

IACT poster boy


pinkpau wrote today at 3:05 AM ET

dear IACT poster boy,

so psychology is out as a minor? i really dont think i should do PR, even as a minor ... i'm not good at handling people, really :P i think i would ruin the company i work for.

okay say if i pick Advertising as my major .. i'll be going into mass comm at Taylors. problem : ADP or diploma?

bout Star scholarship.. yea okie i'll look thru and pick wisely :) the interview -- do all applicants go for it or is it a shortlisted bunch that makes it?

nice answer to the million dollar question, btw! i love it.

lost post secondary school girl


lowezra wrote today at 4:10 AM ET

dear lost post-secondary school girl,

i just find the pairing weird, that's all. not to say you can't try it. be adventurous, but most importantly, be sure it's something you want.

heck i've no idea about the ADP or diploma. pick the most challenging one. seriously. you'll have lots of competitors in the workplace next time. prove to your future employers that you have the will to go through shit and survive.

i can't remember...but i think it depends? whatever it is, i'm pretty sure you'll at least be picked for the interview. i'm pretty sure you'll ace it too!

like i said, it was a fluke. a very lucky one indeed ;)

best regards,

IACT poster boy


pinkpau wrote today at 5:35 AM ET

dear iact poster boy,

okay i think i've run out of questions .. :D thanks for all the help + advice so far! much much appreciated.

though would you mind if i came to you in the future if i have more questions?

+ lost post secondary school girl


lowezra wrote today at 6:16 AM ET

What's your MSN contact? This Multiply back-and-forth thingy is getting annoying.


pinkpau wrote today at 8:14 AM ET

oh haha sorry..!

lostpostsecondarygirl@someemailaddress.com