Whether you’re a timid freshman taking gen-eds, or a senior who is trying to find enough classes to fill the graduation requirements, knowing what classes to take is always a struggle. There are sites to help you, like ratemyprofessors.com, but I have compiled a list from some of the Her Campus ladies and myself to lay out some of our favorite classes so far.
Community Media: I took Community Media my first semester at Iowa, and it is by far the most important class I’ve ever taken. The class focused on getting to know parts of the community that are out of our comfort zones. I ended up doing a video, audio, and written story on all aspects of IC Compassion, the local food pantry here. The content that you produce is great for resumes and is a good introductory course for those taking Multimedia Story Telling and Feature Reporting and Writing. I took it with Rachel Young, who took the time to get to know every student and who is more than happy to help students even after the class ended.
Gender Communications and Culture: Our HC president, Liz, took this class and loved it because of its eye-opening value. She said that it gave her more information on how to move around the world and respect others for the way that they were. I recommend classes like this especially on such a diverse campus. Learning more about how to interact with everyone in a way that they feel comfortable and respected is an important skill to have.
Elements of Graphic Design: This class is on my list of things to take next semester. Our Social Media Director, Rachel, recommends this class regardless of major because of the experience it offers. She says that you get to obtain the skills to use Adobe Creative Cloud, which looks great on any resume. This is important with how much the world is changing, and more often than not companies value computer skills, even if you’re not trying to be a graphic designer.
Applied Digital and Social Media: This class always seems to have a waitlist because of how popular it is. One of our members, Paige, recommends this to anyone wanting to hone their writing skills or find their voice. The basics of this class involve starting and maintaining your own blog. The content can be about anything you want to, which can either be important to build your resume or even be thereaptuic in putting your thoughts on paper. Another class similar to this is Writing Commons, which is more of a workshop style class.
Social Media Marketing: Take this class if you want to learn about marketing, without taking a real business class that’s all about numbers and analytics. One of our members, Zoey, took this class and suggested it to gain real world experience. The focus of this class is to work with an actual business to promote their business. Not only do you get to work with and support a local business, but you can use what you do in this class to promote your own social media or even build your resume.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation: I took this class last semester with Joseph Sulentic. The projects that we do in this class gave me more insight on what I wanted to do career wise, and how to get there. Joseph preaches on front site focus and visualizing exactly what you have to do to obtain your goals. While I am not a business major, I got to collaborate with other students on how to build a business brand and felt like I learned what it takes to become an entrepreneurer.
While a lot of these classes are focused on writing or social media, they all give real world insight on how to achieve your goals and build your own brand. Learning how to write and communicate cohesively, or market yourself are all experiences that can help you land a job somewhere in the future!