Just because you leave the eagle’s nest does not mean you are not allowed to flock back—Oklahoma Christian University alumna Mandolin Skipworth is a perfect example. Taking the skills and education she received from Oklahoma Christian as a student to work for the university’s marketing department, Skipworth now plays a role in the rebranding of the university she once called her home.
Could you go into detail about your job with Oklahoma Christian?
I am the social media and production coordinator for the Oklahoma Christian University marketing office, and that entails a lot of different things that are not even represented in my title. With the new brand, we have been working on the website a lot. I have been writing copy for that and helping build the website, which has been a lot of fun. I run the social media accounts for [Oklahoma Christian]. The big things are managing social media and working on the website.
How did you get involved with this job?
I asked for an internship last fall. I graduated in April of 2019, so in December of 2018 I emailed a couple of people who work in the marketing office and asked them if they had any internships open, and they said yes. Starting in January, I began as their social media intern. Once that semester ended and the summer started, I began transitioning to a new role as an interim project manager, and my role just developed from there.
How long have you been in your current role?
I started the job with my current title in July.
What was your major at Oklahoma Christian?
I was a public relations and advertising major.
How did you choose that major?
When I was in high school, I initially thought about becoming an English education major because I like working with people, but I became unsure about English being the major for me. I do like to read but not that much. I kind of looked into journalism, and once I went onto [Oklahoma Christian’s] website and saw public relations, I thought, “Oh, this looks interesting, I’ll give it a try.”
How do you feel your major in PR and Oklahoma Christian as a whole has prepared you for the job you have now?
I think it taught me to work with a variety of different people, because when I was in Eagle PR I was working with the people on the team and my advisor and also interviewing a bunch of people. You have to be persistent and learn to follow up with people and learn that not everyone operates on your same schedule, so you have to understand that and come at a lot of situations with empathy. Some technical things that I learned were how to edit well and how to interview well.
What is your favorite part of the job you have now?
I love the people that I work with. I am so grateful for them welcoming me in even though I am so young. A lot of people in the office have a lot more experience than I have, so I have enjoyed that. I think also getting to work on the website has been one of my favorite things.
What has been the hardest transition or the hardest thing you have had to learn with this new job?
There have been a lot of challenges; one big overarching one has been going from student to employee. I think some people still see me as a student, so trying to break that barrier has been difficult. Everyone has been respectful and kind, but it is just kind of a weird transition for me to go from being a student to immediately being an employee.
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