Amanda Michelson (PC 14) has important advice to share about making the best use of what you have, *including time*:

The greatest piece of advice that I can give to Honors students is to know how to leverage resources. There are so many people on campus, especially professors, who are willing to take the time to help students become experts in their Capstone topic.

My professors sometimes came across sources for me that I didn’t even know existed, such as an old case study that was written by a public relations organization. They also gave me very useful advice on what aspects of each crisis, as well as what specific facts, I should try to find in order to make my study as professional as possible. Professors enjoy helping students who are passionate about a subject in their area of expertise, so I encourage each student to take advantage of this and meet with as many professors as possible about their project.

It is also important to create a solid timeline of milestones for oneself in order to manage the size of the project. A Capstone Project can seem really overwhelming at first, but if each week is broken down into smaller objectives, the project becomes manageable. I also recommend starting as early as possible to have time to make many revisions.

Amanda’s Capstone title is “A Sinking Ship: An Extensive Crisis Communications Case Study of Carnival Cruise Lines” and Prof. William Jasso was her advisor. She made it safely into port!