Communications is what I study! HOLLA! “What exactly IS Communications?” you ask? Oh, it’s exactly what it sounds like! We just talk a lot. My REAL dream is to work at Disneyland as a princess. Okay, that last part may be true. However, there is a LOT more that goes into COMM than communicating.
Yeah, we are pretty good at making fun of ourselves. But that doesn’t mean that we are not proud of who we are! I could go into all of the reasons why studying communications is not only important in our society – seriously, sometimes I really wonder how some people learned to talk – or how a Communications degree can easily work it’s way into any field – ahem Humanities scored higher scores on the MCAT than science majors… – OR how Australia’s highest paying jobs are ones relating to Communications – I’ll take that internship on the Golden Coast please, and thank-you! – but, I won’t do all of that. Because what it means to be a COMM major and what it takes to be a COMM major are the most important points to get across.
Once upon a time I was a fifteen-year-old high school student who had some MAJOR problems. Super klutz? Check. Bad at sports? Check. Lead in any school musicals? *BIG SIGH* let’s not talk about it. It’s not like I was getting super down on myself or anything, because confidence is a strong suit for me. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t complain to my mom about my lack of talents and abilities. Her reply was simple: “You’re good with people.”
Bam. That’s it. I LOVE people! Passionate about connecting with people? Check! Obsessed with being everybody’s friend? Check! Comfortable in a room full of people AND giving a presentation without using “um’s” or “uh’s”? Double check! I am in no means saying that people who are not in the field of communications are not good with or passionate about people. Those psych majors have definitely got some brains and people skills, just to bring up one example. But when I work my silly help-me-through-college retail job and have a blast talking marketing technique with my boss and being able to convince customers how great our product is – Bath and Body Works has their fabulous fall fragrances out right now, just throwing that in there!—I am reminded of how blissful I feel toward my degree of choice.
Communications majors tend to get asked, (especially by those busy engineers….at least in my case) “What classes do you even take? Other than public speaking?” For the record, I have never taken a public speaking class in college. A fair amount of our studies are spent doing internship classes – one class in particular is called P.R. Cases and Campaigns, and it throws you into the real world of Public Relations. I am currently enrolled in a Freedom of Expression class, where I deeply study the first amendment. The classes a Communications major takes are engaging; they take a person who can think on the spot and come up with a lasting impression.
I think my time is up, and I really could continue. I really hope I communicated my feelings well. (Ha-ha.) One more thing… the next time someone asks (and you know it’ll happen soon) “So what are you gonna do with that degree, nothing?” With a glimmer in your eye and that dashing smile I know you’ve got, respond with “Actually, anything.”