By Gabbie Granoff '27
Soaking up the rays in Hawaii while on a national student exchange her junior year, UMass Journalism PR concentration alum, Amaya Morris, managed to land an internship that would jump start her career. Even though she was 5,000 miles away, Morris’s connections at UMass helped lead her to an internship with The Castle Group, a women-owned PR agency that specializes in events management, public affairs, crisis management, social media and marketing
Morris came into UMass as an environmental science major but soon realized that her passions were leading her elsewhere. Morris has always loved to read, write and talk to people and when she discovered the PR concentration, she knew it would be right up her alley.
“The concentration will set you up so perfectly for a field in public relations or communications, media, that sort of thing,” Morris said. “I think it’s so well-rounded and you get really good hands-on experience.”
During the spring semester of her junior year, Morris studied at University of Hawaii at Manoa through the National Student Exchange program. While she was there, she heard from her friend, Maureen Del Villar Cuevas, who was also a PR student at UMass, who had an internship opportunity with The Castle Group but passed it up. However, the two friends had almost identical resumes, so she encouraged Morris to apply.
“I was honestly really blessed just to have someone give me a recommendation and network that way,” Morris said. “I think that’s one of the easiest ways to get a good internship position, to have someone vouch for you or connect with people.”
Morris' friend was not her only connection, both the Principal and Co-Founders of the Castle Group were UMass alumni. Sandy Lish was a journalism major while Wendy Spivak was a communications major.
After completing the summer internship, The Castle Group asked Morris to return for the fall. Morris decided to broaden her horizons instead and take a position as a digital communications assistant for UMass Humanities and Fine Arts. During her time in the position, Morris developed her storytelling skills and also got to do photography, interviewing and writing. She also did work on the side with a longtime friend’s nonprofit, Mental Health Declassified Inc., by helping with media and brainstorming opportunities. After the fall semester, Morris returned to The Castle Group as an intern. When she completed her second internship, The Castle Group asked her to come back full-time.
“They liked my work and they (said) ‘We have an opening for an entry-level position, if you want to take it,” Morris said. “It was really helpful because I already knew the processes of everything. It was just jumping in from a part-time intern role to full-time.”
After her graduation in May 2024, Morris began working full-time as an account coordinator in July. Even though she started in an entry-level role, Morris got to do hands-on work quickly since The Castle Group is a smaller agency. In her day-to-day work, Morris does media planning, writes press releases and pitches, talks to the media and sets up interviews.
“I’m very fortunate where I feel like I’ve learned a lot in a short amount of time,” Morris said.
Morris works with multiple non-profit organizations, such as IBA Boston and the International Institute of New England. IBA Boston is "a community development that offers affordable housing and supportive programming to increase social and economic mobility to Boston’s diverse communities,” while the International Institute of New England works with immigrants and refugees coming into the United States.
Morris credits her current position to networking, and her key piece of advice to current students is to reach out to people in the field. Whether it be messaging someone on LinkedIn or asking what the day-to-day life looks like in the industry, making those connections might just land you a job.
“Just connect with people, let them know that you’re interested in what they do and that you would like to learn from them,” Morris said. “Just talking to people is the best way to make connections and get into the field of PR.”
Journalism student Samantha Craddock also contributed reporting to this story.