Mass communication is such an underrated major. Communication is everywhere and all businesses have a branch of it present in their companies. I love what I do and would not trade my four years of being a mass comm. major for anything. I'm here to clear some things up and to show you daily things we journalism, broadcasting and public relation concentrations deal with every day.
1. Getting the question, "oh, so you want to be on television?"
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This always seems to be the first thing out of people's mouths when I tell them what my major is. They assume I want to be in front of a camera when in reality that's the last thing I want. Mass communications deals with yes, broadcasting but also journalism and public relations.
2. Having to answer "what is public relations?"
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For PR majors this is by far the worst question because everyone has their own definition of PR and what it means to them. Most easily put, public relations is beneficial communication between organizations and their publics.
3. Hearing: "your major must be easy because all you do is write."
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I have learned so much from my four years of being a mass communications major and the main thing I learned is that there is much more to the field than writing and reporting. Between the Media and Law, Media and Politics and capstone courses our major is definitely not a walk in the park.
4. When people assume you're good at public speaking:
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Honestly, I probably should be, but the truth is my face still turns bright red and my palms still get sweaty when speaking in front of a crowd.
5. AP style becomes a second language.
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I can't even remember how to write a non-news related story. Half of the things you learn in your freshman English class pretty much goes out the window when you become a mass comm. major.
6. You're used to having to write multiple stories a night.
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Writing five stories a night just comes naturally now. Procrastination is your worst enemy when it comes to this major.
7. Writers block happens at least once a week.
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Don't you wish we had an endless amount of amazing ideas flowing through our mind? Yeah, so do I.
8. Getting the question: "what do you plan on doing with that degree?"
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Honestly, there are so many opportunities in this field it is hard to narrow it down, and this is a great problem to have.
To all of you mass communication majors; your future is bright if you have love for your major. You just have to push through the pain of hand cramps, late nights and cramming...you've got this.
