To me, being a student of Communication and Media Studies means identifying knowledge gaps and finding ways to repair them. The past three years, I have primarily learned the different ways to communicate messages and how to approach different audiences. The skills I’ve learned through this department has enabled me to be a better person in all areas of my life, not just in the classroom. Taking Social Identities and Intergroup Communication particularly opened my eyes to how to communicate similar messages to diverse crowds. 

While at SNC, I’ve volunteered with St. Johns Ministries in Green Bay. My communication courses have greatly helped me have meaningful conversations with guests, and have shown me in real time how I can use my interpersonal skills with people I am unfamiliar with. I also give campus tours for The Office of aDmissions, and learning how to successfully reflect an organization message and values through Organizational Communication has greatly improved the way I talk with incoming students and families. Each tour is specifically catered towards the student, as we try to have one on one tours. After taking Organizational Communication with Dr. Smith, I started to notice my tours becoming stronger and more meaningful for myself and those I met with. 

Within the Communication department, I concentrated in Media Studies. Through this track, I studied how mass media technologies are used to share messages and the impacts that those messages have on both an individual and large group level. In my courses, I primarily studied the links between political messages and public reception of those messages, and how branding impacts an organization. Since I am also pursuing a degree in Political Science, I have tried to combine the two aspects of my education in most of my communication classes. While it was much easier in Political Communication to link the two, in other courses my independent research projects were often rooted in political messages. For example, in Social Identities and Intergroup Communication with Dr. Maisano, I created an infographic on how differences in political opinion can be reconciled to reach bi-partisan decisions on land conservation and water quality improvements. In my media capstone course, I am researching the differences between inorganic and organic social media content produced by political candidates to see if one is more effective than the other. Overall, I primarily engaged in social scientific research. Within the classes I took for both media studies and communication, I learned how people approach similar situations differently, and how one sends messages and the content of those messages plays a big role in an audience’s reception. 

After graduation, I am hoping to pursue either public affairs, government affairs, or legislative work. With a dual degree in Media Studies and Political Science, I truly hope to be a bridge between the public and government bodies. All too often I find that people don’t know things, but it is not their fault. Knowledge gaps permeate every space, but I feel like knowledge gaps within our most basic democratic processes are the most dangerous. 

Through what I’ve learned about tools to communicate messages on a large scale, I plan to be the one directly sharing complex messages and ideas to the public in an understandable and accessible manner. At the end of the day, I want to find not only the best way to combine Media Studies and Political Science but to help people in any way that I can. While I am not graduating until December, this summer I am going to intern with a public involvement firm. The Department of Transportation contracts them out to help facilitate communication and public comment between the department, construction crews, and the neighborhoods impacted by road construction. 

I am very fortunate to have been exposed to a lot of different areas of study and industries prior to graduation. Right in the first semester of my first year, I was a Media Psychology Research Fellow under Dr. Kretz through the second semester of my sophomore year. This position introduced me to different types of research and how broad the field of communication is. Going into my freshman year at SNC, while I knew that this degree path opens many doors and career paths, I still didn’t have a full grasp on what all is done with communications (and I still don’t). 

Additionally, I worked with the City of De Pere in the Fall of 2023 as a communications intern. I worked with the Marketing and Communications team, and primarily created social media content for the Parks, Recreation and Forestry account and the Fire Rescue account. I really enjoyed seeing how marketing communications works from a municipal perspective. Instead of working on selling a product or company, it was solely providing essential information to residents who interact with the social media accounts. Compared to a Public Relations internship I had with an agency in the summer of 2023, it felt like there was a lot less pressure. The goal was a little less defined, but I really enjoyed learning about the city while informing others about it. 

Beyond roles that are formally rooted in communication, I create a lot of the marketing materials for the Cassandra Voss Center as a programming assistant. This role has enabled me a lot of flexibility and freedom to explore with different visual content creation platforms, and it has been really fun to be able to create content in another low-stakes environment. When it comes to writing and visual assets, I have a hard time with perfectionism. I never want to turn something in or submit it for review if I don’t think it is the best of the best. However, through this role and other internships, I’ve been able to explore and try out different writing techniques to see what sticks. I feel as if over the past three years, I have become gentler on myself and have allowed myself to engage in content creation and feel okay about the revision process if something isn’t perfect the first time. 

All in all, I have greatly enjoyed my three years as a member of the Communication and Media Studies department. I am very excited to see what next semester will bring, and I am very confident that no matter where I end up in the future, I will be fully prepared for all of the challenges and opportunities that come my way.