Ask Aly Couch what her biggest takeaway from her time at TRU and she pauses for only the briefest of moments.

“People with stories, that’s a huge thing that I’ve taken away from my schooling, ” said Couch, who is graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism, with a Major in Public Relations. “I enjoy going out and meeting people and hearing their stories, whatever they may be. People and their stories always intrigue me.”

Couch transferred to TRU two years ago after completing a diploma in applied communications at Camosun College in Victoria. She lists interviewing a bear whisperer, a person with schizophrenia, and alpine skiing Paralympian Lisa Franks as three memorable stories she had the privilege to hear.

Couch’s exposure to people and their stories would normally been largely through her journalism classes and assignments, but was enhanced when she won The River 97.5 FM Public Relations Internship scholarship. As winner, her chief responsibility was to complete assigned and self-generated stories for TRU’s Marketing and Communications department. During the internship, Couch also revealed her skills and talents behind the video camera and as well as her abilities to edit the footage into a cohesive and sensible story of between three and 10 minutes long. Going a step further, like adding candy sprinkles to cupcakes to enhance their appeal, Couch added on-screen graphics and royalty-free music to make the productions all the more appealing.

These mini movies so impressed the Marketing and Communications department that money was found to pay Couch an honorarium so she could create and produce 10 videos of 10 different TRU programs. Computing Science, Retail Meat and Home Support Resident Care were among the programs. These movies have since been posted in various locations within TRU’s website.

A workload like that would have even the most organized of people throwing up their hands and questioning, “Is this really worth the extra aggravation?”. The thought had crossed Couch’s mind, but when framed by the big picture, the answer was easy enough to answer.

“Sometimes you feel like you can’t get it done, but you just buckle down because you made a commitment to do it. I had some late nights.” Couch pauses and laughs before resuming. “But that’s another part of being a university student: everybody has late nights and pulls all-nighters – it’s just an expectation.”