Laura Roosevelt graduated in 2017 with a degree in strategic and corporate communication and minors in advertising and Spanish. She started her career at Just Media in San Francisco as a media account associate. Now she is back in her hometown of Denver, CO working for Vail Resorts in their paid media strategy department. Connect with Laura on LinkedIn.

Where do you work and what is your job title?
I work at Vail Resorts as a Senior Specialist, Paid Media Strategy

What does your job entail?
I am a specialist on the media team supporting the paid media strategy for our 19 (and growing) mountain resorts and other lines of business. This is my Experience of a Lifetime.

Tell us about your job search process.
Right out of school, I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and started working for a media agency (Just Media) as a Media Account Associate and subsequently earned a promotion to Media Account Manager. I found the company and role after presenting on a panel my senior year; a mother of an incoming freshman was impressed by my acumen and offered to network with me connecting me to several companies including Just Media. There I worked on a variety of accounts from B2B Technology to Museums to Non-Profit.

When I was ready to return home to the Denver Metro area, I started looking for jobs in media at both agencies and brands. I’ve been skiing at Vail since I was little and I have been a season pass holder for over 20 years so to find an open media role with the company was so exciting. I have a friend who works in another department at Vail Resorts who I met at an internship in college, so I reached out to her via LinkedIn, spent New Year’s Day formally applying to the role, and the rest is history! I’m stoked to be working for a brand that I’ve looked up to my whole life.

Tell us about your internship experience while at Chapman.
I interned with both the USA Pro Challenge (professional cycling race) and at the Orange County Transportation Authority (regional transportation).

I also worked as a Tour Guide in the Office of Admission, worked in the tutoring center on campus, babysat for a family in Newport Beach, and sold popsicles with Front Porch Pops (at many music festivals and farmers markets, most notably at Coachella).

Why did you choose Chapman University and the School of Communication?
Very simply, I chose Chapman for its size and location. I was an Undeclared student from Colorado and sunny southern California sounded like a good idea. When touring the school, I read the quotation behind Charles C. Chapman and started crying (“I can liken life before you to that of a ship…”). That’s when I knew Chapman would be my home (it’s a good read right before graduation right before you step into the “real world”).

What I found at Chapman was so much more than its size and location – it’s filled with students who are happy to be there and I think that makes a difference. Students tend to be engaged in and out of the classroom: during discussions, with their professors, in their arts, athletics, and social clubs. Students are also eager to support one another. The community is really unbeatable.

I heard about the School of Communication during my Freshman Orientation and was taking classes by my second semester. I chose the Strategic and Corporate Communication major because it seemed to be a good training ground for practical applications of communication skills in the working world. The professors are also very interesting – I encourage you to take classes with adjunct professors who hold full-time jobs in their industry. You get to learn about their day-to-day while connecting it to the classroom curriculum.

How has your School of Communication degree benefited you in your career?
What has benefited me most in my career is how I was “raised” to be a young professional by the School of Communication and Chapman University: sending handwritten thank you notes after interviews, speaking up in meetings, putting forward innovative ideas, challenging the status quo, recognizing it’s okay for the status quo to continue for the time being, networking, volunteering in my community, seeking a life and career that align with my personal values.

What advice do you have for undergraduate students or recent graduates?
Network. Network. Network! Talk to the people you know, make it known what you’re interested in, reach out for informational interviews, follow up on your networking leads, thank those people for their time, seek opportunities where you can continually grow.

If you’re looking for a job post-grad, spend at least 80% of your time networking and 20% of your time applying to jobs cold. Those are totally made up percentages, but of all the jobs and internships I’ve held I think I’ve filled out one application cold.

Undergraduates – enjoy your time at Chapman. It is a really special place and once undergrad is over, it’s over. While your duties may feel overwhelming at times, take time to just enjoy college and this part of your life.