UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An advertising/public relations major will serve as student marshal for the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications during the University's fall commencement exercises on Dec. 15 in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Meghan Shiels, from Julian, Pennsylvania, was selected as one of 10 inaugural Bellisario College Fellows and will graduate with minors in theater and business. In her time at Penn State she has achieved success both in and outside of the classroom.
Meghan Shiels Credit: John Beale / Penn State. Creative Commons
“I’m most proud of taking advantage of every opportunity,” Shiels said. “It was taking the things that I learned in the classroom and really bringing them into my extracurricular and professional life.”
A recipient of the President’s Freshman and Sparks Awards, an Evan Pugh Scholar Award and the Bill Nielsen Scholarship for Academic Excellence in Public Relations, Shiels has always had a passion for communications.
“I really believe in what the Bellisario College can do and I’m incredibly proud to have been chosen for this because I see all the good work that they do in the world,” Shiels said. “It’s been really amazing to be here and to have such a network of people that care about me and want to see me succeed.”
Shiels worked as a video production intern and Sage Corps Fellow with Deenty and Excedent in Santiago, Chile, and has also completed internships with WPSU-FM Public Radio, WPSU Public Broadcasting and the Dow Chemical Company. Through those experiences she developed skills in creative services, radio news, public affairs and video production.
On campus, Shiels served as executive producer for 46 LIVE (the annual webcast for the Penn State Dance Marathon), a Lion Ambassador, a video team director for CommAgency, and as a consultant for the National Elder Law Foundation.
Shiels is excited to pursue a career in comedy television and hopes to one day work for NBC in New York City. She will graduate again in spring 2019 with a sequential degree in telecommunications.
“It has been truly such an honor to be recognized by the Bellisario College, especially because they’ve given me so much over the past 3-and-a-half years,” Shiels said. “I’m excited that they see my love and passion for communications as well.”