Hi, my name is Alonzo Torres and I attend St. Norbert College. I am majoring in Communication and Media Studies with a concentration on Media.
Background:
I’m from Chicago and I come from a family of six. My three siblings, parents, and myself. I would often go to sporting events such as the Chicago Cubs, Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks games that brought us all together to enjoy. That being said, I played two sports growing up which were baseball, and football. I participated in these up until college when I didn’t find much interest in them anymore. During high school, I was involved in many art classes such as graphic and visual design.
What it means to you to be a student of Communication and Media Studies?
A Communication and Media Studies student means being knowledgeable in a number of fields that relate to many different topics. In general, the main takeaway from my experience in courses at St. Norbert College includes the transitions and development of technology over the decades. How media has changed over the years relates to how people are affected by this media in addition to various amounts of opportunities to study the way media impacts the lives of people all over the world. Furthermore, the types of media such as radio, television, and social media are explored to help define and outline communication and media courses. Plenty times concepts and terminology are interchangeable within the wide range of communication and media topics. Terms within these media sources are differentiated based on their relevance to society. For example, advertising plays a major factor in media overall; so these concepts will likely be different based on specific ways to advertise but will be consistent throughout based on techniques and steps taken.
On the other hand, concepts and terms are vastly different considering the problem or reason for thinking that the topics concern. For instance, gender and media focused on stereotypes and subjectivity media. We learned that media may inform both our subjectivity and identity such as presenting us with representations that show us what femininity and masculinity are according to the prevalent discourse at a certain time and place. However, communication and well-being focused on self-compassion, self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. These topics were related to mostly intrapersonal communication which is between you and yourself. While gender and media focused on examples of interpersonal communication which is between two or more people. These concepts in addition to plenty more have influenced my thoughts and beliefs about the world in general.
Studying many topics and learning from different courses has impacted my life personally and professionally. Communication and well-being made me knowledgeable about mental diseases and offered a way to think with sympathy. It has made me a more caring person in addition to taking into account hardships that peers may have encountered in order to advance friendships and make it easier to form new ones. Professionally speaking, this is a great achievement in social life that will transition into success for the simple fact that I am reasonably able to communicate about sensitive topics. Furthermore, communication and media courses have helped me personally and professionally in the way that I know how to properly navigate around simple functions such as word and creating a website. I also have had to make informative posters and slideshows that make it easy to effectively display research and critical thinking.
My concentration is specified toward media rather than communication since I found that I enjoyed the technical aspect of the field. For example, gender and media incorporated information based on societal issues regarding television and music amongst other media. Television criticism also focuses on these issues which interest me as well. Finally, I am particularly interested in pursuing communication and media positions for college or professional sports. This would include things from ticket sales or designing media for departments to social media management. I am also a Threatre minor which helps with creative projects and backstage technical work. I am also interested in assisting with the carrying out of events whether they are sports, festivals, campus activities.
Contact:
alonzo.torres@snc.edu
