Vignette: Ashley Rausch

By Kirsten Floyd, Sincerely, Southern staff

Ashley Rausch is the owner of Rausch Weddings + Events. In third grade, her career aptitude test correctly predicted she’d be an event planner one day. Photo Courtesy: Diana Rausch

Ashley Rausch is a Georgia Southern University alumna from Atlanta, Georgia. She is a summer 2012 graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations.

Rausch began her college career in 2008. Her experience at GSU changed her original plan from majoring in journalism to public relations. After taking an introduction to PR course, Ashley realized public relations was a better fit for her.

“I was able to focus on a variety of areas where I felt I had strengths, rather than one particular subject, Rausch said. “I realized I would be able to choose from a much wider variety of career paths this way.”

While attending GSU, she was a member of Omega Phi Alpha Sorority and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), a senior soar leader and a career educator. As a member of PRSSA, she helped planned most of the organization’s events on campus.

In 2012, she was awarded the co-public relations student of the year and public relations planning student of the year awards at the Communication Arts Department’s semesterly banquet.

After graduation, she interned at the Georgia Aquarium and Edelman Law PR firm, where she wrote press releases and conducted PR research. With the help of her classes and internships, she landed her first full-time job as a PR account executive at MFL Group Company.

“As long as you put the effort into learning and picking everything you learned, you can use that in the real world,” Rausch said. “I think all of the professors did a great job encouraging students and getting them where you need to be.”

Rausch recently started her own event planning business in Atlanta, where she plans a variety of events, including weddings.

Rausch said she still uses everything she learned at GSU in her career today.