O'Hallarn Wins University Advisor of the Year Award

By: Elizabeth Proffitt

Brendan O'Hallarn

Brendan O'Hallarn, Lecturer for the Department of Communications and Theater Arts, won the University Advisor of the Year Award for 2018 for his involvement with the Old Dominion University chapter of the Public Relations Students Society of America (PRSSA).

PRSSA was founded in 1968 and is now comprised of over 11,000 students and advisors over 300 chapters worldwide. The ODU PRSSA chapter was chartered in 2014 and its mission is to "advocate rigorous academic standards for public relations education, the highest ethical principles and diversity in the profession."

O'Hallarn was overjoyed with his achievement, "First of all I was flummoxed, happy, delighted to even be nominated. It's my first year doing advising for PRSSA and I would joke all the time with my executive that "I don't know what I'm doing" so I covered up my lack of technical skill with just being really excited about it," O'Hallarn said.

However, sometimes the best thing someone can offer is a listening ear and some enthusiasm. "It seems like the thing that the students want more than anything else is to feel that their advisor is invested in them and their success and I did try and do that, so other than that I think everything else can be learned," said O'Hallarn.

He credits his success in advising with having ambitious people to work with along the way. "I was really lucky that, certainly I've done PR, I like communication, I like these things but the core members of PRSSA were just wonderful men and women, I just so enjoyed spending time with them and doing things with them."

His enthusiasm for public relations and helping others succeed inspired acting President of the PRSSA, Hang Tran, to nominate him for the honor. "We all could tell and see how much work he was investing into PRSSA and how passionate he truly is about the members, so I wanted him to be recognized for that because even though it was his first year, he really threw in everything he had. I don't think many other advisors would put in the amount of effort that he did, and still does," Tran said.

O'Hallarn moved from Canada in 2007 and started working at ODU in 2009 as a PR specialist. He worked as a PR specialist for eight and a half years before finally branching out into teaching last summer. Teaching felt like a natural transition for him, and advising has turned out to be an extension of that.

"I've been on this campus for almost ten years and I see the work that our advisors do in every college with every organization and it's laughable to think that I'm the best advisor but the recognition was just so gratifying and humbling and I was just really thrilled," O'Hallarn said.

While receiving the award was a gratifying and humbling, the most personally rewarding part of O'Hallarn's experience, as an advisor for the PRSSA, but also a professor in general, is to see his students become successful by realizing their goals on their own terms.

"I love my student's success. That is, when I hear of a student who, whether or not I assisted in any way- who has made a tangible step toward getting something closer to their goals, that is so rewarding. I think any professor will tell you just how exciting that is, for a student to go from your classroom or your club to somewhere really cool," O'Hallarn said.

Success however, is subjective by nature, and he believes that learning to enjoy the journey instead of just enjoying the end goal is valuable advice for undergraduate students or even someone in his position, coming in as a first year faculty member trying to make their mark.

Overall he hopes that his students can find their own versions of success and that they know they have the skills to make their goals come to fruition, "I'm eager to try and impart a skillset that's portable and transferrable."

"Honestly many of the PRSSA students, they've already got a lot of those skills, and the big thing is so many students in this age range, the 19-24 age range, they have everything they need to go out and get a job, but it's that nudge to put themselves out there," O'Hallarn said.

He hopes that his PRSSA students learn to utilize their freshly fostered confidence to thrive, "I want to empower my PRSSA students with the belief that, "Yeah they've got skills to offer and to not be afraid to just go sit in someone's office and wait for them to be free to talk," O'Hallarn said.

This spirit of empowerment has helped many like Hang Tran realize her potential. "Dr. O' Hallarn made me feel confident in my abilities and my choice of career. As someone who has been in the field for quite a while, it felt very good to know that he thought so highly of me and my skills. He's also just a great friend! He was never too shy of telling the cold hard truth, but he was also very trusting in our abilities," Tran said.