About Helen Castro
I currently work as the Senior Manuscript Editor for the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, based at the Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey. I graduated from Rutgers in May 2019 with a Master of Communication and Media and have completed courses in digital media production, marketing communications, and public relations, among others.
I will complete a Master of Labor and Employment Relations in May 2024 with a focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and a certificate in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies. Did I mention that I love to learn?
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I am flexible, patient, and open regarding the opinions of others. Active listening is a communication skill that I think is often neglected in today’s fast-paced world, and I believe it is essential to take the time to understand the points being made by all parties. In addition, I like to take a collaborative approach to solving problems, recognizing and appreciating the potential in everyone. I am passionate about contributing to the betterment of the world and believe that those with a voice must use it respectfully for social justice.
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In my free time, I enjoy studying languages and recently took a course in American Sign Language. I'm currently working on refreshing my French skills and dabbling in Spanish and Klingon. I also enjoy traveling, quilting, tap dancing, riding roller coasters, and reading.
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My Latest Projects
THE QUILT BOSS WEBSITE
In my Digital Media Production class, we were asked to create a website using Wix. I chose to create a new website for my quilting business so that I could share my creations with potential customers and invite them along on my quilting journey.
This was my final project for my Public Relations Strategy class. It consists of a hypothetical proposal for a public relations plan and an analysis of that proposal. Because I was creating this plan for a dance school, I chose to illustrate each step of the plan with clip art showing the five ballet positions.
For the course I took on Corporate Social Responsibility, we had to evaluate a communications problem that was handled poorly and explain how we would use the concept of corporate social responsibility to address the situation for a better outcome. I focused on SeaWorld's Blackfish controversy in this paper.
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PROJECT
The capstone project for my Critiquing Marketing Communications class was a paper analyzing the marketing communications approaches taken by two major competitors in the family leisure destination market in Central Florida. The second part of this assignment was to record a slide presentation using Screencast-O-Matic. My slides were created with Prezi.
PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
The final project for my Digital Media Production class was a 2-minute "corporate-style" video. My group chose to promote the Master's of Communication and Media program with our videos, including testimonials from current students. We worked together to shoot the interviews but were then left on our own to edit the footage using Adobe Premiere Pro. I had a vision for how I wanted my story to go, so I wrote an outline for my video, shot some additional B-roll, added some music (using Adobe Audition), created title slides, and put together the final product that you see here.
helen.castro@rutgers.edu | 732-841-6795