By Hannah Hanson
This past August, Katie McGhee packed up all of her belongings and left her life in Richmond, VA. Along with her cat, Toulouse, she moved to Raleigh, NC. for an amazing job opportunity with Special Olympics. Katie said, “moving away from Virginia was something I’ve always known I wanted to do, but when I actually did it and left, it was almost like I was experiencing culture shock; even though I was just once state away.”
As a student at Longwood, Katie was active all over campus during her four years. Katie was a sister of the sorority Alpha Gamma Delta, a member of the Communication Studies Honor Society Lambda Pi Eta, a member of mortar board, a volunteer all over campus, and held several positions in all her organizations. Going from a very active college student to a graduate was a huge change for Katie, especially because she had surrounded herself with the same people for the last four years.
Katie graduated magna cum laude from Longwood in May of 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies, a concentration in Public Relations and a minor in Rhetoric and Professional Writing. Three months ago, Katie landed a job working as the Manager of Communication and Social Media for Special Olympics. Her job responsibilities include posting to social media platforms, writing press releases, creating media kits, attending events to prepare the media that come with media kits, creating graphics and writing stories for the organization.
Spending a day in the life of Katie is getting to the office around 8:30 am. Katie starts her work day by checking her emails, sorting clippings, and doing various tasks on a need to be done basis. She focuses her day mainly around social media and making sure everything is up to date and all posts are timed correctly. Occasionally she will help local Special Olympics with their projects by creating graphics, flyers, and brochures for them as well.
After work Katie comes home around 5 o’clock, makes dinner for herself, and spends time with her cat. Her weekends have been spent showing her friends and family from Richmond that come visit around Raleigh.
Katie said her coworkers are the reason her transition into her new life has been so easy and is so excited to be working for such an amazing non-profit organization that’s making a difference in so many people’s lives. Katie said, “The communication studies department has prepared me for this role for the past four years and I’m so thankful that Longwood has gave me so many wonderful opportunities for my future.”