By Allison Hagen |Contributor
Sentiments of success and sandwiches filled the Coffeehouse at Augusta University on Friday afternoon, Feb. 2.Daniel Roberts, a 25-year-old success story, spoke at the leadership luncheon in the Jaguar Student Activities Center. The luncheon was open to students and the public, and the first 25 people received a free lunch.Students began arriving at the coffeehouse at noon where they received their sandwich, chips, cookie and a drink, and then they proceeded to their seats. Roberts mingled throughout the group of about 40 students taking time to introduce himself.“Be bold and build a strategic network” is what Roberts encouraged students to do to aid in finding careers and being successful after college.Roberts graduated from the University of Mississippi with a degree in Public Policy Leadership. He spent his time in college taking every opportunity that was offered. He studied abroad in three different countries, was active in his fraternity and leadership council, and eventually went on to be accepted in the Ole Miss Hall of Fame.Being active in his school and community is what eventually landed him his dream internship in the Obama White House. There he worked for First Lady Michelle Obama.“I fell for Washington and knew I did not want to go back to Oxford, Miss.,” he said, “so I decided to go after another internship.”Through connections he had made at the White House, Roberts landed a full-time internship for Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings while finishing his senior year of college through online classes.“It was challenging,” he said of juggling work for the congressman and finishing his degree.But he did both successfully.Since then, Roberts has worked for Edelman’s in New York, the largest public relations company in the world, and now for a multinational media conglomerate, Viacom International. He is doing communication for multiple television networks, including BET and Nickelodeon. He also does corporate and crisis management.“Do these things that are scary, and the worst thing someone can tell you is no,” Roberts said.Roberts also advised that the most important keys to being successful are to have trustworthy mentors and to be bold. He told students to figure out a brief personal narrative that would get the attention of a potential employer—one that would share one’s passion but also show how the individual could help the company he or she wanted to work for.After the speech, Roberts held a Q&A and gave students advice on their own personal struggles and successes.Roberts had given a similar lecture the previous night in University Hall 170. Before that talk, he was introduced by Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis Jr.