For Michigan State University junior advertising student Anash Persad, a recent trip to New York City offered a firsthand look at the fast-paced world of advertising, public relations and media — turning classroom lessons into real-world industry experience.
Persad participated in the ADV 402 New York City immersion program, where students spent four days visiting agencies and communications companies across the city, meeting with industry professionals and Michigan State alumni working in the field. The experience is designed to connect classroom learning with hands-on exposure to the communications industry.
The program gave Persad the opportunity to explore career interests while seeing how lessons from the classroom translate to real-world work.
“I’m very interested in pursuing a career in ad sales or account management,” Persad said. “With this trip, my goal was to explore whether this path truly aligns with my interests and passion.”
Throughout the visit, students heard from professionals about their work, toured agency offices and learned how campaigns are developed, managed and delivered across the industry. The trip also highlighted the project-based nature of agency work that Persad has already encountered in his coursework.
“Advertising is very project-oriented,” Persad said. “Through classes like ADV 330 with professor Greg Taucher, I’ve worked on case studies that mirror real agency work. It was fascinating to see different agencies showcase their own case studies on a larger scale during this trip.”
Among the many stops, a visit to NBCUniversal at 30 Rockefeller Plaza stood out as a particularly memorable moment for Persad, who is also pursuing a minor in theatre.
“The most memorable moment for me was seeing how I could combine my love of advertising with my passion for TV and film into one potential career path,” Persad said.
Students visited a range of organizations representing different parts of the communications industry, including creative agencies, media planning firms, brand management teams and public relations agencies. Seeing the breadth of roles helped Persad better understand how the skills he is developing at MSU can apply across the industry.
“Seeing the different parts of the industry — brand management, media planning, creative agencies and PR firms — helped me realize how much of what I’m learning in my classes will directly translate into my future career,” he said. “It also reinforced that learning never stops. There’s always something new to explore and understand.”
The trip also highlighted the strength of the Spartan alumni network. During one visit to WPP Media at the World Trade Center, nearly half of the guest speakers who met with the students were Michigan State graduates.
“It was amazing connecting with fellow Spartans,” Persad said. “I was really impressed with the scale of the MSU alumni network, especially in a city like New York.”
Hearing from alumni about their professional journeys offered valuable perspective as Persad prepares for life after graduation.
“One piece of advice that really resonated with me was that every career path is not linear,” Persad said. “Everyone’s journey will be different, but if you keep the main thing the main thing, you can achieve any vision you have, even if it means taking a slight detour along the way.”
For Persad, the trip reinforced his career goals while demonstrating how experiential learning opportunities at MSU can help students explore the communications industry before they graduate.
“It was one of the best opportunities I could take, especially in the latter part of my college years as I start preparing to apply for jobs,” he said. “The trip reinforced my career dreams and gave me a renewed sense of motivation to keep pushing forward. It opened my eyes to a much bigger world full of endless opportunities.”
By Claire Dippel