In high school, I was never really sure of what I wanted to pursue in the future which made applying to college that much harder because I had to pick a major in my college applications. I knew that science or math was not for me, so I thought the Communication Studies major was the safest route. Maybe after taking a few Communication Studies classes throughout the years, it would help me discover an area of interest I was truly excited about? The major was flexible enough to allow me to branch into different types of careers and offered a variety of classes that promised to help me discover what I was most interested in. I could end up as a teacher, lawyer, public relations manager, etc. And if anything, I could switch out of my major if it was not for me. So there it is; there is no inspirational and fascinating story of how I chose my major, but little did I know that it was the perfect major for me.
When it was time to take my major courses my sophomore year at USF, I was a bit nervous because I had no idea what to expect workload wise and content wise. I met with my academic advisor who walked me through my four year plan and gave me advice on what Communication Studies classes to take. She mentioned a public relations introductory course that she was teaching and suggested that I try it out and see if I liked it. I had no idea what public relations was but after she explained what the class would entail, I decided to just go for it because after all, that is what college was essentially about. It is about trying new things, learning new things, and not being afraid to step outside of your comfort zone. Little did I know that that class would be one of my favorite classes I have taken in college so far.
This public relations introductory course was a very practical class as it also acted as a career building class. We had different guest speakers from the public relations industry and the class work was all related to real world events and news which really helped me to imagine myself doing this type of work post college. We even had lectures on all the different types of jobs there were in the public relations sector. These career type lectures were my favorite types of lectures because it forced me to start looking into what I wanted to do in the future after college. We learned what types of industries we could work in depending on our interests and work styles. I found myself really discovering my interest in the public relations, social media, and marketing sector and it has always been that way since that class. Quite honestly, if I had not taken this class, I probably would not have found something as fitting for someone like myself who loves media.
It felt good to finally have some sort of direction career-wise. Whenever people asked me what I wanted to be in the future, my answer was “I don’t know.” I hated saying that because it was such a boring answer. But looking back, of course I did not know what I wanted to do back in high school when all I was ever really exposed to was basic math, science, history, and English classes. There was a whole nother world out there I did not know of until I went to college and took new courses. I am so happy I ended up applying to USF as a Communication Studies major because the major helped me to finally realize what type of work I want to do in the future!