Megan Turner

Statement of Purpose

Application ID#: 792559

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some

extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds: your

mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every

direction... Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive,

and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you

ever dreamed of.”

– Pantanjali

I received the above quotation on a wooden plaque in eighth grade, a gift from my mother representing her

greatest lesson to her daughters: Find your passion, chase it, and an amazing world where nothing is impossible

becomes yours. A paragon of her life lesson, my mom taught me that we become more self-aware and alive when we

find work we believe is important and that we love doing. People who imbue their passion with their career feel

energized, respected, and excited about their work. Despite the obstacles people may face, their ferventness for their

work protects their independence and thus, their dignity and freedom. After years of quest and experimentation and

with my mother’s words continuously echoing in my head, I am elated to announce that I have found my life’s zeal in

a field that perfectly epitomizes and embodies passion, advertising. Far from an ephemeral obsession, advertising’s art,

science, and mystique increasingly fascinates me, fueling my dreams and ambitions that I am now determined to take a

hold of and transform them into reality.

While my adoration for advertising stems from numerous factors, a complete description would require the

composition of an epic novel. Despite the enticing allure of a thousand page essay, I am sorry to disappoint you since

my words must be limited at this present time. Thus, I’ll start at the beginning with what I consider to be the three

chief motivators that initially ignited my passion for advertising: my lifelong admiration for Katie Couric, personal

experiences and traits, and finally, an amazing professor I met in my first advertising class.

While Katie Couric did not inspire me to explore advertising specifically, she did ignite an intense interest for

the field of journalism, an allurement stemming from my early childhood when she anchored for the Today Show.

Starting around first grade, I developed a rather diligent morning routine centered around Katie. Nearly every

morning, I would groggily roll out of bed (6:50a.m.), put on my catholic school uniform (6:55a.m.), trek down to the

kitchen (6:56a.m.), pour myself a bowl of cereal (6:57a.m.), turn on the TV (6:58a.m.), and patiently wait for Katie to

make her greatly anticipated morning debut. I remember admiring the way Katie confidently carried herself while she

enthusiastically performed her journalistic duties and the powerful effects she had on people. Even at the age of six,

her passion for her work and journalism resonated within me, inspiring me to diligently pursue my journalistic interest

throughout junior high and high school.

Prior to entering college, I started to acquire a notion as to what I wanted from a career, criteria primarily

derived from high-school classes, talking to other people, and slowly beginning to better understand my unique self.

While I initially dreamt of pursuing broadcast journalism, I realized that despite the news content changing on a daily

basis, ultimately, reporting the news would become a monotonous, droning daily routine. I knew I needed a more

dynamic and versatile industry in order to not just capture, but also maintain, my attention, interest, and enthusiasm for

my career in the long-term. In the last years, I have discovered that advertising is one of the few careers that actually

meets this rigid, personal requirement. While the principals, duties, and processes may perpetuate over time, clients

and industries are constantly changing, thus continuously presenting new problems to tackle and opportunities to seize.

Advertising’s dynamic nature greatly appeals to my love of facing challenges, fully engulfing and educating myself

about a particular topic, figuring out how to resolve problems, implementing a successful solution, seeing the end-

results, and then crossing it off my “to-do” list and proudly continuing on to a new enigma.

I entered college with an obdurate desire of being accepted into CU’s competitive Journalism School, hoping

to explore different journalistic fields and determine what area most intrigued me. By relentlessly focusing all my

energy into my academics throughout my freshmen and sophomore years, I was accepted into the program on my first

attempt, which was a significant feat, beating out hundreds of other applicants. It was through this accomplishment

that I fortunately meet Mindy Cheval, the professor who sparked my advertising passion, fittingly, in my first

advertising class. Mindy previously worked at Ogilvy & Mather in NYC as a senior partner and media director, and

her advertising tales, adventures and feats from her professional days increasingly fascinated me. I fell in love with the

industry’s vivacious nature and Mindy’s portrayal of the practice of advertising as a form of art; an art of intuition,

persuasion, and profound insight. Over time, I noticed that Mindy’s personality oddly mirrored my own, including her

avid curiosity and her somewhat eclectic idiosyncrasies that allowed her to see things differently and from other

perspectives. I quickly realized that in addition to being extremely interested in advertising, it was also something I

was perfectly tailored for.

Wanting to satisfy my unquenchable thirst for advertising, I immersed myself into a panoply of courses and

work experiences, all which further piqued my amazement for the field. My professors’ diverse personal perspectives

have equipped me with a broad conceptual framework, showing me that there is never just one right solution, but

instead infinite possibilities. Throughout my courses, I have developed numerous integrated advertising campaigns for

real-world clients, including Burger King, Coca-Cola, and Visa. Although I have acquired invaluable lessons through

my courses, I believe advertising is an incredible art that is better practiced and directly experienced, rather than

simply theorized. I consider my internship with Crispin, Porter, & Bogusky as my utmost enlightening and valuable

experience, an experience that reaffirmed my passion for advertising and my dream of working in an agency.

Furthermore my time at CP+B showed me account planning was where my true passion and talents reside.

Despite being offered a full-time position at CP+B, I am opting to return home to Texas, with plans to move

to Austin in the next few months. I recently applied for an internship at Austin-based GSD&M, an agency I have long

admired for their strategic creativity and work and whose advertising philosophies I wish to explore. Aside from

Austin’s obvious spectacular charm that makes it such an ideal place to live, my overriding desire to attend UT’s

Graduate Program for Communications in the fall is my primary motivation for moving to Austin. Consistently

recognized as one of the premier advertising programs in the nation, I have wanted to attend UT for graduate school

since I first delved into advertising during my sophomore year. If accepted, I plan on obtaining my Masters in

Advertising and specialize in Account Planning, a dedicated program many graduate schools fail to offer. My earnest

desire to be accepted into the program arises not only from its prestige and their specialized programs, but also from

my genuine enjoyment of learning, exceeding challenges, and the sense of accomplishment that subsequently follows.

Although the combination of my collegiate and work experiences have helped me develop into the ambitious, self-

motivated individual I am today, I eagerly acknowledge there is much more I can learn through education and

experienced professionals. If given the opportunity, I hope to utilize such lessons and experiences offered by UT’s

program in order to further develop a well-rounded conceptual framework and perspective that I can then integrate

with my past experiences and acquired knowledge in order to further improve myself as an advertising professional.

UT’s appeal further arises from its renowned reputation as a leading research university, as well as their

Center for Brand Research, which tailors to account planners. With the emergence of new media channels and the

continuous increase in global competition, advertising research has never been more crucial because it can provide the

critical edge necessary in creating effective advertising, a task that is increasingly more difficult to achieve. There are

two specific areas of concern that I am interested in investigating. First, the topic I am most intrigued by combines my

two primary undergraduate areas of study, advertising and psychology, and relates to how the music in marketing

communications cognitively affects consumer’s cognitions, memory retrieval, and behavioral responses. This interest

arises from actual challenges I have faced while working on a particular campaign, one in which the importance of

music was greatly debated and questioned. I contend that music is becoming an increasingly important determinant in

creating effective advertising, by affecting audience’s moods, associations, and relevancy, along with other vital

aspects. Although I was limited in available resources and research at the time, the subject has remained an area of

extraordinary interest for several years, a topic I wish to further empirically explore in graduate school. A second area

of interest I wish to research is how digital-video-recording (DVR) is affecting the advertising industry. DVR is

becoming an increasingly common household item that will progressively impose greater obstacles for advertisers. I

believe the issue of DVR is imperative and needs to be addressed in order to capitalize on future opportunities.

Thanks to the relentlessness of my mother, I can confidently declare that my greatest strength is my passion; my

passion for learning, challenges, and most specifically, my passion for advertising. This passion inspires me to prove

to myself and to the world my boundless capabilities and potentials. This impervious passion prevents me from

fearing failure, rejection, or obstacles because the risk will always be worth it. As my mom has exemplified in her own

career, those who are able to overcome life’s deterrents and keep going in the face of seemingly insurmountable

obstacles, derive their energy and initiative primarily from their passion. In my future life journey, I am bound to

encounter countless difficulties and challenges. However, as long as I maintain my steadfast faith in my career dreams

and objectives, I am confident my passion will carry me through and I will always prevail.

Maybe, for once in her life, my mother was right.