By Richard Zagrzecki
Destinie Holiday has some simple advice for new students at the University of Houston: Get involved.
“I love the opportunities that are available at UH. But you have to go out there and take advantage of them,” said Holiday, a senior broadcast journalism major. “You have to do more than just study and go to class.”
She speaks from experience, having wasted no time looking for different opportunities after stepping foot on campus her freshman year. That included getting involved with CoogTV and Coog Radio, dabbling with a variety of roles and jobs, including being a reporter and news anchor. Now, as she prepares to graduate in December, she has a lengthy resume filled with relevant experiences that will help her as she enters the workforce.
“The best things about UH are all the opportunities that exist for students. I feel like that is what sets it apart from many other schools,” she said. “On top of that, the people here are really great.”
For the past year, the Beaumont native has been a communications student employee with Facilities/Construction Management. She and a team of three other students handle a variety of communication-related tasks.
Holiday has written numerous articles and news releases for the website and the department’s monthly newsletter. She’s also assisted with crafting various emails for distribution, as well as making sure Facilities’ social media accounts are active and include fresh content. She even attends orientations to help educate incoming students about Facilities and its services.
“We have a great team of workers. Everybody has different strengths and weaknesses and we help each other and complement one another well,” Holiday said.
After she graduates, she hopes to find a communications/marketing position in the Houston area. She also plans to help her parents with a new venture they recently launched to provide personal development services for groups and companies. That would allow her to give motivational talks to groups – something she loves to do.
Another passion she has is acting. It’s one she discovered only recently, when a friend was working on a short film project. She asked him if he would give her a cameo appearance. She ended up having a main role. She received positive feedback and has appeared in two other short films over the past year, including one that was completed for CoogTV.
Although she stays busy juggling her studies, work and other activities, she does find time to relax and unwind by painting. She also enjoys going to concerts and attending poetry events.
Now that her UH career is winding down, she has no regrets about her decision to come here.
“I always knew I wanted to go to UH, probably as far back as my freshman year in high school,” she said. “It was always a goal of mine.”