Alumni Spotlight: Nour Almasri

Alumni Spotlight: Nour Almasri

Deciding to take a new step can be intimidating but also rewarding. Recent Sam Houston State University graduate, Nour Almasri (‘25), didn’t find the prospect intimidating and decided to take her academic journey into her own hands. 

“I originally went to East Texas A&M University to run track, but transferred to Sam Houston State,” she said. 

When Almasri arrived at Sam Houston, she wanted to pursue occupational therapy. While she had skills for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), she did not have a passion for the career path, which led her to take a deep dive into activities she is passionate about. 

“I felt the need for more freedom in the career I wanted to pursue, something I could have a drive for,” Almasri said. “I was looking for a major in a field that was not fully by the book.” 

After searching, she felt public relations and advertising fit her best because the program and career were unconventional to her. The field consists of doing a little bit of everything, and every day is never the same within the public relations and advertising field. 

“I’m a person that’s very outside of the box, I like to make my own rules as I go so I can be as creative and innovative as possible, and public relations allows me to do just that,” she said. 

Organizations within the mass communication department, such as the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), reassured her passion for the field and helped her create relationships centered on how she and her peers can become better communicators in the field. To grow her skills even more, she also joined the staff of SHSU’s student-run newspaper, The Houstonian. 

“My professor encouraged me to attend the first interest meeting for the Houstonian, and since I joined the newspaper, I have attended editorial meetings every Wednesday. As the sports editor in chief, I really enjoyed watching my peers who have the same drive as I do to get the program off the ground and on its feet,” said Almasri.  

The Houstonian gave her the opportunity to develop her storytelling and interviewing skills during her time at SHSU. As a sportswriter for the newspaper, she wrote articles about football games and attended press conferences. She was also given the opportunity to interview Head Coach Phil Longo regarding his first year leading the Bearkat Football Team and was able to interview former NFL player and fellow Bearkat alum Davion Davis. 

“Working at The Houstonian gave me the opportunity to travel and connect with people from different universities who are just as hungry to gain experience as I am, which was really motivating,” she said. 

Throughout her journey, Almasri realized she had to support herself through college and found that working through adversity became her main motivation for finishing her degree. Despite it all, she’s grateful to have gone through this experience of ups and downs.  

“The biggest roadblock I faced was my junior year, when I took 19 credit hours. I worked almost full-time to be able to pay my bills and tuition, which led to working late at night and opening early in the morning. My biggest motivator was making it to graduation,” she said.  

Two of the things that helped Almasri through the hardest moments of her academic career included taking things one step at a time and having the support of the community she found at SHSU.  

“I’m going to miss the community I’ve built around myself, but I know that same group of people I met during my time here will be cheering for me in the future,” she said. 

She hopes to start her journey as a young professional, rising in the strategic communication industry.