I have known what I wanted to study in college ever since my first day of high school. I began to love communication, specifically journalism when I began to watch sports. It was my dream to grow up and be a journalist one day, and from that moment on I knew I needed to study communication in college. During the first semester of my sophomore year, I applied for a job at the Phonathon on campus. The first day I was able to speak with alumni and build connections over the phone, while also raising money for the St. Norbert Fund, I developed a new sense of communication that was also very interesting to me. In my junior year, I was a Phonathon supervisor, and I was able to use the skills I had learned from experience as a caller, but also skills I had learned through my communication classes to improve my conversations and master proficiency. Throughout my time as a communication major, I have learned so much about all you can do with the degree, and especially that you can achieve anything with the skills obtained in this degree. I learned that I can choose one path I find fascinating in this intersection of a career, but also branch out and work successfully in other sectors of the field as well. Throughout my four years at St. Norbert College, the communication classes I have had the opportunity to take, and the people I have been able to meet, have solidified that I made the right decision in choosing communication and media studies as my college major.
The concentration I chose for my major was media studies. I loved learning about the different types of media, how media is made, the large conglomerates that make up the media and all about the new and ever-changing media and how our world continues to evolve around it. Throughout my media studies concentration, I engaged with social scientific research. Specifically, in my Mass Communication Theory class, I created an original research study in which I analyzed specific Emotional Responses to Televised Sports, to follow in my interests of sports communication.
What I have learned throughout my four years in the classroom at St. Norbert has led me to grow as not only a student, but as a person. I have learned the importance of ways in which I communicate with others. I have learned how to improve my interpersonal skills, how to be a persuasive communicator, how to be a professional, and so much more. I learned how to develop relationships, and how to effectively get my message across to others. Deciding to study Communication and Media Studies was one of the best decisions of my life, and I can’t wait to take all the skills I have learned at St. Norbert with me into the professional world.
Throughout my time working at the Phonathon, and also working as a Student Philanthropy Intern for College Advancement, I discovered a passion for fundraising. Particularly, I enjoyed combining my communication skills with the fundraising skills I have developed. Post-graduation, I want to look into jobs working in fundraising, particularly in higher education. I have loved the opportunity I have had to work with all aspects of the college, while also fundraising for my classmates, as well as students of the future. Although this route is different from my initial sports journalism dreams, I know that with a communication degree, the opportunities for careers are endless, and I can always pursue that dream later on.
