Lessons In Public Relations

I have been thinking a lot about where I am at in my career path and where I intend to go from here. I already made a huge step by finally ceasing one of those much coveted government jobs but this job will only take me so far. I have a friend here at NIDA who has been working as a GTA (my position) while working on her master's degree at UMUC. I can tell she is on her way up. She knows that she wants more than where she is at now and is thankful that she has the experience that she has but is ready to move on. I wonder when I have been here three years and I am about to get my seven where will I go from there? So I started thinking about maybe applying to UMUC to complete an online Master's course in Public Relations. I visited the website not really sure what I wanted to do and then read more on this career. I was thinking about how neat it woudl be to be a Director of Public Relations or Director of Media Relations. Although this could be another one of my schemes where I go full hog into something and then back out when something else comes along but I was thinking that I am at a pretty stable place in my life in terms of career. I know for the next three years or so I will be working for DEAS at NIDA and I will have fun with this job but I think it will be a way of ensuring that the next step I take isn't just something that falls into my lap but rather a chosen step. Also, it would be a smooth transistion from one government position into the next.
This job is great for now but I don't want to get stuck here. I love planning the meetings and I really love hearing the science before it is a discovery. The people here are all so fantastic and I have fun when I come into work. When I look around at the people who have tried to go far with DEAS I realize they are all really old and that makes me think that my promotion potential maybe more limited than in other areas of the government. Plus as great as this job maybe it is not using my talents as much as I would have liked. Although I do have to say that the Director of OEA is an extraordinary person and an amazing role model. She looks at each of us and wants to foster our talents. She told me that I have a real talent for reading in between the words that a person is saying that I can sense things about them and that I am astute when it comes to people. I love that she pays enough attention to pick up on that. I have to admit I am partial to her because she has this warm smile and inviting presence. I think she is a real reason why I want to do well here. I see what an accomplished person she is and how great she is to each of us and I aspire to be like that.

I have realized though that my Bachlor's in Theatre Film and Media Studies can only take me so far in this world and I need to expand out and explore my skills. I am just wondering if I will be any good at Public Relations. I know this sounds weird but I think I want to choose a career that comes easy to me because of who I am. Well maybe saying "comes easy to me" isn't putting it correctly, I do want to work for the career but I want it to be something that access my knacks. An example would be Audre who loves to write and has a knack for picking up things within someone's writing. She can see the author's point sometimes clearer than they can and I think that is real talent and she is putting it to work. I think if I put my talents to work and really use them I will love what I do. I got a lot of this theory from working here and associating with people. Our office has become so popular, not just for the GTAs but also the SROs. They all love to come in here and we all talk about things and get along so well. Maybe I am good at bringing people out of their shells and making them talk, and we all know that I am good at covering things up.
I guess it's natural when you have gotten somewhere and felt already like you have achieved a lot to then look at what will be next for you so you are not some fallen high school football star wishing your glory days weren't wasted when you were younger. Plus HELLO I want some $$ yes cold hard cash because mamma needs a new TV (a nice big one so Audre and I can watch all sorts of SMG movies while dinning on cheesecake).