Almost four years ago, senior Imani Burroughs started her journey at Plattsburgh State as a public relations major.
While getting used to the new life on campus, Imani was aiming to get involved on campus during her freshman year. She started out with African Unity, a club on campus aiming to share the knowledge and unity of individuals and communities in the U.S. about African cultures.
Following that, Burroughs became Miss Gold for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity in 2016 and Miss Black and Gold in 2018, while showcasing her talents and running a big show for PSUC’s community. She was also a part of Jedi Dance Productions and Club Caribbean as their public relations chair and dancer.
The list does not stop. She joined the PSUC Cheerleading team and Omicron Delta Kappa National Society and is currently their public relations chair. She used to be the social media intern for PSUC, in which she took over all the social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. She was also the secretary for Cardinal PR, a student-run public relations agency on campus.
However, out of all the activities, Burroughs said ShineOn! is the highlight of her college experience.
She is a third year committee member and second year chairwoman for ShineOn!, a local organization dedicated to fostering resilience, confidence and character in young girls.
“My favorite thing about SUNY Plattsburgh is ShineOn! because I am able to make it my own,” Burroughs said. “Being the chairwoman, I was able to take and try to make it better and bigger than it was.”
Burroughs also said ShineOn! has made her the person she is now because it is “strictly focus on character strings,” and she becomes more aware of those.
Burroughs loves working with kids and public relations. Her goal is to take her public relations skills into a program like ShineOn!.
“Basically make this program for the young kids, not just young girls but kids in general and use my public relations to promote this organization,” Burroughs said.
“Getting super involved” is what keeps Burroughs on top of everything. She said it keeps her away from being stressed from her academic work.
“When you are super duper involved, you have to be extremely organized,” Burroughs said. “Being super organized and as organized as you can be is what helps me the most.”
For prioritizing and organizing time, she recommends Google calendar as a tool.
Other than getting involved and acing her academics, Burroughs loves being a cheerleader and watching cheerleading videos on Instagram in her free time. She has been cheering since sophomore year in high school and is the tumbler on the PSUC cheerleading team.
PSUC senior communication major Jonathan Patron is Burroughs’s boyfriend. He first met her in a class. For him to describe her in three words, those would be “beautiful, hard-worker and kind.” He said Burroughs always makes sure everybody else is good before herself.
“Her work ethic is also crazy, compared to a lot of people,” Patron said. “She works really hard.”
PSUC public relations professor Colleen Lemza’s first impression on Burroughs is that “she was a firecracker.” Lemza also said Burroughs is a “fiery, spunky and zesty” person.
Burroughs is not scared of going up to people and talk to them. That was how she found out about great opportunities and what to get involved on campus.
“Just being involved will make the college experience amazing,” she said. “You can have good grades, but you need something to back that up with.”
Email Hilly Nguyen at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
