Humber College BPR
FEATURE STORY CONTACT
Humber Gratitude Kaitlyn Nguyen
April 5, 2018 kaitlynnguyen1011@gmail.com
Life is an adventure
“Be engaging, have the courage to go out of your comfort zone, be fearless and you will realize that you can be more confident than you though,” said Jennifer Leonard.
Anyone can see that Jennifer is confident. She walked in with her matching outfit, from the earring and necklace to her vest. She shared her life as a PR professional, as an active volunteer at the Toronto Zoo and as a professor at Humber College.
Surprisingly, PR was not Jennifer’s first intention. She studied journalism at first, and through life’s journey, she eventually got a job as a PR person. Jennifer has held a wide range of jobs in the PR field. She acknowledges the change in the industry right now with the rapid development of social media, which can make it busier for future PR professionals.
“Have the strongest work ethic you can have, show up on time, be present, look for opportunity and do the quality work. And then, nothing can hold you back,” said Jennifer when giving advice to future PR practitioners.
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The love for animals has driven Jennifer to volunteer at Toronto Zoo for the last seven years. What she learned from her volunteer work is that communication is key. Her job at the zoo is mainly about educating people, providing information about conservation and climate change and how people can be a part of it. “If I volunteer for the humane society, I would have a house of animals. But at the zoo, they won’t let me take home the lion,” said Jennifer..
Jennifer did not hesitate to take on the challenges of a professor, and has been creating many remarkable memories with her students. Since 1991, she has been a professor at Humber College’s public relations program. When she was asked to choose her favorite course to teach, she picked presentation skills as she explained she can see how students improve dramatically after the course. Jennifer remembered a student who could not present in front of the class as she was too scared to do public speaking. Yet, a few months after the course, the student confidently presented a nomination speech for the PC party. For Jennifer, that was her reward as a professor.
An active volunteer, an experienced PR person and a dedicated professor at Humber, Jennifer is living her life to the fullest. Still, It seems like Jennifer has a lot of plans for the future where she is not scared to try new things. “Don’t fake it till you make it, fake it till you become it,” said Jennifer.
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