Loryn Thompson
Undergraduate Student
Loryn Thompson comes highly recommended. When we asked Mayborn faculty members for the names of current students to feature online, this advertising major’s name popped up several times, and for good reason. In the fall of 2012, Thompson was the president of SWOOP, the student-managed advertising and public relations agency that works for real clients and produces real results. “I’m very passionate about SWOOP and its potential to jumpstart a student’s career,” Thompson said. “So when I was president, I spent most of my energy working to improve the agency as a whole. Getting the website up and running was probably my best achievement. But I also tried to work on a larger goal – defining the SWOOP culture as a welcoming, friendly environment where students come together to learn.” Most students are a bit lost when they first join SWOOP, she said, and that can be a challenge. “I tried my best to be helpful, supportive and encouraging.”
In spring of 2013, she served as president and presenter for Gravitas, the student ad team that competes in the American Advertising Federation’s National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC), the nation's oldest and most prestigious collegiate advertising competition. Thompson and four other students presented to the NSAC judges and fielded the judges’ questions after the presentation. Talk about intense. “This part of the campaign was the last piece of our NSAC project, so it was hard to stay motivated at times,” Thompson said. “But we kept each other going, and we pulled together and gave a presentation that received the highest score out of any other District 10 team.” Taking control of her education is a priority for Thompson. “You simply must get involved,” she said. “The Mayborn has so many great organizations and opportunities, it would be a disadvantage not to.”
This past summer, Thompson took her talents outside of the Mayborn as an Account Planning Intern at Firehouse, a small Dallas agency where she’s learning valuable lessons. “The No. 1 lesson I’ve had to learn was how to condense and organize that data so it’s helpful to my coworkers – otherwise, it’s just another pile of papers to be ignored,” she said. “Every time someone tells me that I’ve helped make his or her job easier, that’s a win in my book.”
Among her fans are professor Dr. Sheri Broyles and lecturer Bill Ford. The respect those in the industry have for Thompson is mutual, especially when it comes to her professors at the Mayborn. “[Bill Ford is] the professor that plucked me out of JOUR 2200 and set me at the helm of SWOOP,” said Thompson. “He’s been my mentor and confidante, and I can’t imagine where I would be without him. But I could hardly leave out Dr. Sheri Broyles and Peter Noble. This trifecta of professors has encouraged me, challenged me and empowered me over the past two years. Together, they’ve made my undergraduate experience an unforgettable journey.”
Photograph by: Jess Reinelt
