Today I sent in my application for another scholarship.  It sounded like something I qualified for, but I’m sure there are plenty of other great PR students applying for it as well.

But I started thinking: Applying for internships and scholarships is a good alternative to lotteries and casinos. At least they are judged on some sort of merit rather than random chance.

Even though I live near a casino, there’s a better chance of me getting this scholarship than winning the jackpot or a Harley Davidson. That’s why I invest the time and the postage costs into applying for internships, scholarships and awards.

I know I’ve spent more than $50 in the past few months on priority mail alone. Fifty bucks doesn’t sound like much…unless you’re a college student and advertising account executive working on commission.

It’s also tough to apply for scholarships because more often than not, you will not get them. Some people won’t bother to write the essay, gather the letters of recommendation and fill out the application unless it’s a sure shot.

So far, I’ve done pretty well “winning the lottery.” But, it really wasn’t luck. I’ve worked pretty hard to get where I am today. I know I wouldn’t have gotten any awards if I wouldn’t have had the guts to apply for them in the first place despite past failures. Sometimes, you need to take action over uncertainty.

For example, I applied for the Edelman Award and the Deveney Communication Summer Scholar Program. I may have lost, but I applied for the next great internship program I heard about, which was the Founder’s Award. I was amazed when I got it (even though I wanted it more than anything and I’m sure it showed in my application). At my own university, I also was given the Allan Schoenberg Award.

Every student has self-doubt. In an old post on Penelope Trunk’s blog, she suggests just pushing through it (with a box of Oreos if you need them).

So if you’re a college student, try the gambling alternative: Apply for scholarships, internships and awards. If you’ve worked hard, you might just hit the jackpot.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

In no particular order, here’s a list of my favorite blogs by Gen Y women:

1. Dorie Morgan’s Rising Up by Dorie Morgan, @brstngphnx
Dorie weaves small ideas into major themes, and seems to have an outlook that is always a step to the side of my own. Which is exactly why I like reading her.

2. McKinney-Oates Cereal by Marie McKinney-Oates, @mckinneyos
Marie is the new Dooce. Wildly entertaining, transparent and hilarious, she writes about such topics as sex, her cat, the Snuggie, religion, her husband and whatever else crosses her mind. She has a special aptitude for dialogue.

3. Twenty Set by Monica O’Brien, @monicaobrien
I rarely feel the competition I do with other bloggers like I do with Monica because she’s one of the few people who can write about careers in a way that’s not completely boring.

4. Small Hands, Big Ideas by Grace Boyle, @gracekboyle
Grace and I have almost identical situations. I love that she’s also working for a start-up company and is super into social media and the environment. She’s what Gen Y is all about.

5. Intersected by Jamie Varon, @jamievaron
When I first discovered Jamie she had a completely different writing style. Now she writes in the vein of Penelope Trunk – on the edge of topics. But be sure to explore some of her archives too for the really introspective stuff.

6. Smile Like You Mean It by Caitlin McCabe
Caitlin is a fellow Madisonian and offers sarcastic and irreverent vignettes on life next to hipster finds in art, fashion, design and music videos.

7. Shouting to Quiet the Thunder by Milena Thomas, @MelonCamp
A lot of the times, Milena feels like my blogging sister. I don’t always agree with her, sometimes I don’t even know what she’s talking about (in politics), but I’m always interested to hear her opinion. Exceptionally self-aware, her posts never fail to delight.

8. Quarter-Life Lady by Akirah Wyatt, @quarterlifelady
Akirah’s blog is full of such fun, sincerity and enthusiasm that it’s hard not to get caught up in it all. Alternating between personal stories and smart career advice, Akirah is someone you instantly like.

If you want to re-post this list to your site, please do so and spread the word. Just please be kind and link back to Top 8 Under-Appreciated Blogs by Gen Y Women.

Blogging Female.

All Things Workplace says you should work on being likeable to be successful. I thought this was interesting. Recently I had a conversation with Jessica Lawlor from PRowl Public Relations about negative blog comments, which obviously mean there are a few people who don’t like you.

According to All Things Workplace, “your like-ability impacts your credibility and your credibility impacts how influential you become.”

I think this is interesting. I don’t work too hard at trying to make people like me. I think you learn in elementary school that you can’t be everyone’s best friend. I’ve been very focused on being driven, credible and ambitious. I am always willing to help people out, so I thought that made me likeable enough.

But, I’ve found that some people find it strange that I spend so much time blogging. Some have even reacted negatively.

In a reply to a Twitter post by Penelope Trunk, I said, “I’ve found that people think I’m not normal because I have a blog…I tell them that I’m just ‘driven’ and ‘ambitious’“

A PR professional I follow replied, saying “That’s ridiculous…“

It is. But this is how I replied: “If they only knew the doors my blog has opened for me in my career…they would be starting one too!“

And it’s true. This blog has opened countless doors and windows. I’m pretty sure the roof is about to blow off.

I’ve met a lot of great PR students and professionals through this blog. I’ve also attracted the attention of those who are offering internships. I’ve been blogging for almost a year now. It has helped me develop my own style in writing, has improved my skills overall and has taught me a lot about PR and social media. It also has given me confidence-I would never have written such a personal post six months ago.

Maybe these people are just jealous (link from Guy Kawasaki). But they could have a blog too. It’s not very hard to start one. Maybe they simply don’t understand.

How do people outside of the blogosphere react to your blog?

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

First of all, I think Penelope Trunk is a fantastic writer. She’s the kind of writer that makes you think.

You can check out Penelope’s blog here. She’s down to earth and doesn’t mince words. She’s not scared to write about controversial subjects or her personal life.

I read her book Brazen Careerist in early January. Even though there were some parts I wasn’t sure of, there were a lot of points she made that got me thinking. Her book has inspired me to change 10 things about myself.

While everyone was making new year’s resolutions, I was inspired to come up with 10 ways to work on my career and life after reading her book.

10 Ways I’m Being Brazen:

1. Accept uncertainty. Since I don’t know where I will be in five years, I am focusing more on how to develop the skills I will need to have perfected in five years.
2. Be adventurous. There are so many opportunities to try new things. I’m heading to New Orleans in March to go to the PRSSA National Assembly. That will be an adventure in itself!
3. Work on marketing. My Web site, blog and resume are all tool that market me and my brand. In mid-December I had launched a new design for my site. Now I plan on reevaluating my blog and resume so I can market myself better.
4. Study harder. I’m not talking about school here. I’m studying the PR industry harder so I can be more knowledgeable when I get my summer internship.
5. Become a negotiator. In order to get what I want, I need to be able to negotiate. Penelope offers great tips on negotiating salaries, which can be applied to other situations as well.
6. Solve problems. I think Penelope said it best when she said, “Your success depends on your ability to get control of a problem and solve it.”
7. Clean up the inbox. A few weeks ago, I had more than 250 e-mails in my inbox. I’ve followed Penelope’s advice on getting a “real to-do list” and have been able to keep my inbox organized by filing away and deleting messages as soon as I get them.
8. Make time. When my schedule is packed, I don’t have time to think. When I do start thinking about stuff, I don’t have time to work on the ideas I have. This semester I’ve squeduled all evening meetings on Monday and Tuesday. I now have more time to breathe, think and blog.
9. Be organized. According to Penelope, having a messy desk makes you look incompetent. I’m usually fairly organized at my desk, but not at home. I now have a better system of keeping things together at my apartment, which has made me more productive.
10. Delegate. I used to say, “I might as well do this myself so it gets done right.” Since I have committees and teams in the various organizations I am in, I have started to delegate work more. Not only does this give them experience and portfolio pieces, but I also have more time to do things that matter more.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

Penelope Trunk’s latest post on steps to figuring out your next career move only makes sense because most people don’t want the responsibility of change. They will read what she has to say, feel a bit uncertain, but will nod along anyway.

This is good for those people, most people. Most people either don’t have the balls or are not well-equipped to do what they want.

The can cross off the “career-equivalent of winning the lottery,” because that dream was making them feel anxious anyway. And while they love to write, they can see that it gives them some sort of peace to admit that they may not really love it if they never make time for it. They’re good to go with the cubicle.

This is all okay. It’s called settling. And it’s a viable option. A good one that will make you happy.

Some others, well, they’re not settling. They are different from most people. This is the group that seems to find the prize in the cereal box every time. They’re leaning into the wind and winning, and the book industry is making a good deal off the fact that most people want to be just like them.

Along with the crowd that is Oprah, I’m currently reading, A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, in which the author predictably states that the book, “can only awaken those who are ready.”

It is both a shame and a triumph that the most banal statements are always the most obvious, the most difficult, and the most necessary.

The only way you can be ready is if you’re ruthlessly transparent, authentic and honest. In the book The Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge argues that a commitment to truth is a “restless willingness to root out the ways we limit or deceive ourselves from seeing what is, and to continually challenge our theories of why things are the way they are.”

This is much different than knowing that you’re afraid to talk to your crush because you have unrealistic expectations of the happy movie ending.

Rather, it’s an advocacy and inquiry that rivals trying to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Or if you’d prefer, finding the one good-looking guy at the bar on a Friday night.

There is a shortcut, the sound of settling. It’s comfortable like a blanket over your shoulders, spaghetti in your stomach, sex in the dark.

Settling leads to mediocrity. It’s the acceptance of the “good enough” status quo.

Successful people know that the gap between our vision and current reality “can make us feel hopeless. But the gap is also a source of energy,” Senge argues. “Truly creative people use the gap between vision and current reality to generate energy for change.”

In encouraging yourself to rely more on your concepts of reality, rather than your observations, and in discarding your dreams and goals in order to be realistic, to settle, you lose this creative tension.

That’s why Generation Y is uniquely positioned to create real change in our next career move. We’re idealistic and yet keenly aware of the world’s scorecard. We understand, as Senge argues, that “the juxtaposition of the two, the dream and the present reality, [is] the real force for change.”

Fall into the gap.

Impressions are vital in the public relations industry. If you are on camera, you have 30 seconds to make a good impression of you and your company. In the newspaper, you have one story to make a good impression. Sometimes people won’t even make it past the lead, so it needs to leave a great impression right off the bat.

But you also need to be able to make a good impressions on clients, coworkers and potential employers. Business Week’s Rules for Making A Good Impression offers seven rules for making good impressions.

First of all, respond within 24 hours. I generally check my e-mail several times a day. If there is an e-mail I cannot immediately reply to, I will usually let the person know that I will give them more information later. It’s nice to receive the acknowledgment that contact was made, even if you don’t have the answers yet. You also should keep the e-mail short and concise. Penelope Trunk offers great tips and I really suggest reading them.

Next, be enthusiastic. Nothing drives me more crazy than people who act like they hate what they are doing. If I can hear it in your voice or see it in your face and posture, your negativity will transfer over to me. I won’t like your product just because of the way you present it.

Give people your full attention. One of my biggest pet peeves is to be having a conversation with someone and have then start text messaging. One person I know text messaged while I was talking on the phone with her! It made me want to hang up. We all have things we need to be doing, but don’t multitask when having a conversation.

Send thank you notes and other small touches. It will make you more memorable. I send Christmas cards to two professionals I job shadowed and have stayed in contact. This year, I wrote personalized notes in Christmas cards to every person I worked with at CMU Public Relations and Marketing. I also try to send interesting and relevant articles to people if I know they would like them.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.