While scrolling through Instagram recently, I came across a famous quote by John Kenneth Galbraith that goes, “The conventional view serves to protect us from the painful job of thinking.” If I had to describe my experience as a Communications and Media Studies major at St. Norbert College using one quote, I would choose this one. The classes I took and the meaningful conversations I had with professors helped me embrace the “painful job of thinking” Galbraith refers to. By analyzing different forms of mass communication through a variety of lenses, I learned how to leave my shallow, conventional understanding of media behind and think critically, deeply, and responsibly about the messages I am exposed to every day.
At its core, the Communication and Media Studies major (with a media concentration) transforms passive consumers into socially-aware individuals who understand the value of critical analysis and media literacy. With the help of courses like Political Communication and Gender and Media Studies, my role as a media consumer has completely shifted. I can now point out the rhetorical tools political candidates use in their speeches, explain how some commercials, movies, and TV shows reinforce or destroy damaging gender stereotypes, identify the ways popular television shows maintain capitalist hegemony, recognize media bias in news stories, and more. In an increasingly-digitized society known for information overload and “fake news,” these skills are empowering and incredibly important.
While my critical thinking abilities will undoubtedly help me succeed professionally, my experience as a Communication and Media Studies student has taught me a variety of other hard and soft skills I will utilize throughout my career. Writing effectively is one of these. Assignments such as the semester-long research proposal in Mass Communication Theory, the weekly “newsroom” writing exercises in Writing for Media, and the comprehensive, argument-based quizzes in Media Law and Regulation helped me improve my writing skills and ultimately taught me how to form compelling arguments I can defend eloquently/concisely. Because of my major coursework, I feel confident in my ability to create effective written content for a variety of audiences. Although I predominantly wrote projects from a critical theory perspective, classes like Mass Communication Theory and Gender and Media gave me an opporunity to write from an empirical research perspective, which was challenging and gratifying.
The Communication and Media Studies major also showed me how important interpersonal and small-group communication is. All of the courses I took were focused on collaboration and recognized the value that comes from listening to and learning from each other. By engaging in difficult group conversations and grappling with tough social topics in the company of others, I now feel like a better, more compassionate team member than I did before college. Although it is was not part of my media concentration, Small Group Communication was one of the most rewarding major electives I took at St. Norbert College. It showed me how fulfilling it feels to reach a common goal with a dedicated group of individuals and taught me that our voices have more power than we often believe. I think everyone – regardless of their major – should take that class before entering the professional world.
Over the past four years, I have been fortunate enough to work at a number of great internships that have helped me pinpoint my strengths and passions. During my time as a Media Relations Associate at St. Norbert, I have written over 100 press releases and am responsible for communicating with diverse groups to gather information for upcoming releases. This position has taught me how to write in a fast-paced environment according to AP style guidelines and has provided me with a useful glimpse into the public relations world. Working at CASA of Brown County as an intern has been especially rewarding, since the position gives me hands-on, creative freedom to design effective social media posts and marketing materials that ultimately make a difference for vulnerable children in our community. My internship at O’Connor Connective and my summer publications position at the St. Norbert College communications office helped me understand the importance of implementing storytelling into digital marketing campaigns, which is something I have incorporated into my other internships.
After my time at St. Norbert is over, I hope to secure a social media marketing and/or public relations position (ideally at a smaller communication firm or a nonprofit organization). Social media content creation has always been a passion of mine (I literally managed a craft blog at the age of 12 – it is comical to scroll through now), and I love the idea of helping a company reach its goals through strategic, creative, and compelling social marketing decisions. Communication Technology and Social Change actually opened my eyes to how fun digital storytelling can be/how quickly the social media industry changes. As someone who likes to learn new things, write creative content, and track audience behavior, a career in social marketing seems like the right step. I am excited to move forward, and I am grateful for all of the skills my Communication and Media Studies education has prepared me with!
