Why I Became a Communications Major: Real Students’ Stories
This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Moriah Kofsky in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.
What’s Covered
Why Study Communications?
When asked what made them decide to study communications, college students Kiya, Justin, and Katie shared their responses.
Why Kiya Chose Communications
According to Kiya, a college student at Wake Forest University, she has always liked communicating with people despite considering herself to be a shy person who is not extremely outgoing. But once she is in a comfortable space, she enjoys meeting and getting to know new people.
When Kiya was in high school, she took film and public speaking courses, which helped her decide that she wanted to major in communications. In both of those courses, she got hands-on experience and was able to talk to and be mentored by college professors. Ultimately for Kiya, communications was something that she already had an interest in.
Once she got to college and went to Wake Forest’s career center to talk with an advisor about a major, Kiya realized that communications might be a good fit for her. It was aligned with the things that she was interested in academically and what she enjoyed doing for fun.
Why Justin Chose Communications
Justin is a communications student at the University of Michigan. He believes that communications is one of the only majors that you can take in whatever direction works best for you because it applies to so many different disciplines and industries, including law, business, marketing, and agriculture. For example, Justin is studying film and applies communications to this field.
He feels that communications is one of the most versatile majors out there, and that’s what makes it great. Once you begin exploring the communications courses that interest you, you can develop your own path within the major.
For Justin specifically, his interest in communications lies in wanting to understand audiences and what appeals to them, as well as communicating messages and storytelling. Additionally, he appreciates that communications can be unique to the individual pursuing it.
Why Study Communications at Your College?
When asked why they decided to study communications specifically at their schools, Katie and Justin shared their responses. They reflected on components of the curriculum, internship opportunities, and class structures that stood out to them. They also shared how their major is unique at the university that they attend.
Communications at the University of Arkansas
Katie studies communications at the University of Arkansas, where the major is agriculture specific and housed within the Department of Agricultural Education, Communications, and Technology. Katie is technically pursuing a communications concentration.
Choosing a program that was specific to agriculture was important for Katie because she feels like there are many consumer misconceptions in agriculture, and communications plays an important role in helping the public understand those misconceptions. Katie thinks that people often don’t understand how intertwined agriculture is in their daily lives if they aren’t personally connected to the industry or believe that they aren’t.
For example, everyone needs to have food to eat and clothes to wear every single day. The fact that communicating these messages is a job and that there are so many different areas you can pursue within agricultural communications was something that Katie didn’t even realize when she started college.
Initially, Katie first thought that she wanted to be an engineer. Once she started studying agricultural communications, she realized that it was something that she had been passionate about her whole life. Finding a major that fit that particular interest was incredibly exciting.
Communications at the University of Michigan
As a communications major at the University of Michigan, Justin shared that the program was a perfect fit for him based on his interests, But he didn’t even take a communications course during his freshman year. When he entered college, he only knew that he wanted to do film.
During his freshman year, he took psychology courses because they seemed interesting. While Justin enjoyed parts of psychology, he realized that he wasn’t interested in pursuing the scientific research components of the major.
Afterward, Justin looked into communications and realized that it would enable him to communicate messages and understand audiences, while serving as a springboard for him to pursue other interests.
Justin found there were many classes and extracurricular opportunities related to communications. For example, at the University of Michigan, many communications students also participate in the TV Club.
Since it’s so broad, a major like communications is a great way to expand your interests and meet new people who have different interests from you.
