I met Rachael in the beginning of the 2014 school year in my Visual Rhetoric’s course. She is not a peer, however, she is my professor. Professor Rachael Sullivan embodies passion and professionalism. Our HC team has highlighted her this week as campus celebrity in hopes that readers will get to know her better, and possibly sign up for her courses for next fall.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Professor Sullivan (Rachael) in her office in Merion Hall to find out a little more about how she choose communications. Unfortunately I came into the office a few days before she was moving to Bronstein, the hip new Communications building so I found her office to be full of packed up boxes and empty walls nothing that reflected her real personality, but the new office is going to be “better then ever” she said. With that, lets get started!
HC: Where are you from originally?
Rachael: Warren Ohio steel mining – blue-collar factories.
HC: How did you end up in Philly?
Rachael: I got this job and my husband and I decided to move here. We have never been to the Philly area besides one time for a wedding. We were excited; we were thinking we were living the dream, getting to explore a new area; we are lucky this opportunity presented it.
HC: What drew you to the profession of Communications?
Rachael: As cheesy as this sounds Communications found me. I was an English and Studio Arts major in college, and I am just super artsy and passionate about poetry, too. After college I got my MFA (Masters of Fine Arts) in poetry then moved on to get an office job. While working my office job, I went back to school for English and heard about this job as a Communications professor at SJU. It peaked my interested because this job is about digital media and programing but also incorporates social justice issues, too. That is what made it unique, and now I find myself in a Communications Studies department. What really drew me to this major was in 2008 I recognized that teaching has changed a ton since 2004. Everyone has smart phones, personal laptops and Facebook was blowing up. I realized, as others have, that this change to digital media was a way to get information and to learn. I want to stay relevant by learning about these programs and becoming more familiar with them, I will learn to do it myself and it will help me teach better
HC: Best advice you have ever given?
Rachael: Advice I gave myself actually, which was if you don’t like something, make a change. I had a great office job before coming to SJU this fall. I was giving intellectual assistance to clients and I was making a great living. It was hard to leave, but I hated it! I hated the mundane 9 to 5 hours. I didn’t want to live that lifestyle. I wanted a change. I decided to get my Ph.D., so I could teach and feel as though I was helping and aiding others.
HC: Do you have a favorite quote or motto?
Rachael: Of course it’s a poet! A modernist writer Gertrude Stein- “What is the answer?” she asked, and when no answer came she laughed and said: “Then, what is the question?”
To me, maybe the problem is you don’t know the question to ask- we can live a long full life still not having answers. So keep asking questions and don’t worry about the answers.
HC: What would you say to someone who had a negative perception about the Communications major.
Rachael: I would want to know where these negative ideas are coming from. Let me guess, do people say Com is easy? Do they think Com majors never have to write anything? Do they think that everyone gets an A? My students would not agree! Com isn’t for everyone, but it has so many options for people to choose from Broadcast Media, Public Relations, various types of writing, literature — the list goes on. Com takes a specific person, a creative person who can utilize digital media critically. Different kinds of industries need to be able to communicate well in digital spaces. This major may not be difficult in terms of calculus or biology, but it makes you think in a different way. It makes you tackle projects you might not have any idea how to do. With Com there is no right answer and there is no formula. I think this is where the misinterpretation comes from. People don’t realize you have to be able to learn, create, and teach yourself. Com encourages one to get out of their comfort zone. You are challenged intellectually in your own way, with guidelines, but no set rules.
I couldn’t thank Rachael enough for taking time out of her day to meet with me in her old office in Merion! Her dedication to teaching Visual Rhetoric’s and her passion for the Communications field in general inspires me, and I hope it will inspire readers as well.
HC XO,
Diana