Q+A: Sophia Galu
By Elizabeth Heuser
Sophia Galu, through her loyal involvement in various organizations, has proven herself to be a passionate worker and the ideal future colleague. She is a lighthearted and outgoing second year public relations major coming from Huntsville, North Carolina. Galu has created a strong personality and confidence in it as well as her abilities through being thrown into an unfamiliar crowd at the University of Georgia. Despite knowing no one originally, she now actively participates in many organizations that have sparked a passion for her success in the future.
In addition to her challenging public relations major, Galu is an active member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority as well as a social media committee member for UGA PRSSA, but her fashion merchandising minor is what seems to impact her the most. While a major may have taken it into overkill, Galu said she’s “obsessed” with the content of the fashion merchandising classes, and plans to incorporate that interest in her future career path. With the fashion industry and public relations in mind, Galu has learned about organization and the importance of creating an authentic product that reflects her own passion. However, this does not mean she wants total control over projects. Galu emphasizes her desire to work with a team of like-minded individuals, working towards a common goal while still maintaining each of their unique abilities. Galu says she believes and hopes that her skills as well as her passionate and willing attitude continue to serve her well in her various commitments, and prepare her for a perfect job combining all of her interests in the future.
Elizabeth Heuser
So, I know you must have been asked this a lot during [sorority] rush, and every single day, but is there any particular reason that you ended up in Georgia, from North Carolina?
Sophia Galu
So, I’ve never had any affiliation to Georgia whatsoever. I was born in Atlanta, that’s the only affiliation I’ve ever had. My parents didn’t go to Georgia and no one in my family went to Georgia, my family’s Clemson fans and my dad’s from New York so like completely random, but my Spanish teacher went here, and she’d, like, gas it up every day, so I was like okay what’s so special about it and then one of my best friends, her parents went here, and she also gassed it up every day. And I was like okay, let me just tour it and then I was just like, it was done, like I loved it. So it was really completely random and not on purpose, at all.
Elizabeth Heuser
That’s fair. So, do you think, obviously you like it here but, do you think that you want to stay in Georgia after graduation, or do you want to head back to North Carolina immediately?
Sophia Galu
I probably won’t go back, ’cause like I live close to Charlotte, but it’s not really like a PR city, it’s banking, like that’s really all, it’s banking, and it’s obviously not what I’m interested in. Yeah, so I probably won’t go back home. I might go to Atlanta or stay in Athens but the bigger goal is a big city, like I love DC I Love New York,
Elizabeth Heuser
So you don’t need to stay close to home?
Sophia Galu
No, I mean my parents have always been like you’re gonna be the one that’s gonna leave and I’d be like no, but I probably will.
Elizabeth Heuser
… And so how are you different there than you are now?
Sophia Galu
In like high school?
Elizabeth Heuser
Yeah, or just like at home in general.
Sophia Galu
I think coming here, and I’m sure you can relate to this like coming here, not knowing anybody. I mean, I didn’t know anyone, I don’t know if you knew anybody. It was way different because my high school was so small and I like had always lived in such a small town and like I knew everybody’s business in other towns and like I think you really had to like branch out and it was harder than I thought it was going to be for sure way harder. And I struggled a lot like having to, because I’m an outgoing person but like having to make your own friends was so hard, and I never thought I’d be that hard so I think that, like I’m more outgoing, if that’s even possible, than I was at home. Only because I literally had to be,
Elizabeth Heuser
Yeah. You were thrown into it.
Sophia Galu
Literally thrown into it.
Elizabeth Heuser
[S]o I know you don’t want to move back but what would your ideal career be, wherever that is?
Sophia Galu
So, I’m minoring in fashion merchandising.
So, I’ve always thought about working for a brand of that nature, not necessarily fashion but, I like makeup stuff, I like fashion, stuff like that. So, I don’t know, I always said working for a cool company that I like, if I could work for ASOS or Revolve or something like that would be so cool. I don’t even know if they need a PR department because everyone knows about them already, but like, definitely doing something like that.
Elizabeth Heuser
So more variety than specific?
Sophia Galu
I didn’t realize how much I loved the fashion part of it until I took the classes and I’m literally obsessed with it.
Elizabeth Heuser
[S]o in your social media and how you display yourself there, you display a bunch of your humor. So how do you, or do you at all, want this humor to incorporate into a PR job in the future?
Sophia Galu
I mean, I would think so, I think it makes it more fun. I think that I find myself to be, like, the funniest person, who knows if people agree with me but, I don’t know, I’ll post and I don’t care what people think. I can post like 20 stories at one point and be like, whatever that’s me, who cares. And I think it’s been good because it shows your personality. I don’t know, it’s so stupid to be talking about the content your stories but like that’s who you are, or it’s who you want to put off to people. So I think putting my own humor in it is just me being myself. Like, like it or leave it but I’ll keep doing it clearly.
