"Oh, you're a comm major? Must be easy."
"Comm majors don't get any homework."
"What do you want to do with your degree? Talk a lot?"
"What job can you get with a communications degree?"
If you are a fellow communications major, you've probably heard this all before. Like me, you're probably tired of it. People are often pretty quick to dismiss the significance and the necessity of communications as a major. I'm here to change their minds.
Let's start first with "I wish my major was as easy as yours." First off, dear friends and colleagues, please never, ever say this to me, or to anyone else for that matter. To say this is to imply that we communication majors do nothing, thus undermining all the hard work we have put in our education and in our field of study. Although they don't intend to come across this way, commenting on how easy the major is implies that anyone can do it and therefore our contribution as a comm major as unnecessary. Whether or not you think the world needs communication studies majors, the fact is, it exists in each and every one of your lives.
"Comm majors don't get any homework." This is one of the most irritating misconceptions I have heard about the major. Nearly every school communication studies program requires students to have an understanding of the fundamental theories of communication. Communication is not as simple as Person A talks to Person B. Person B responds to Person A. Person A and B are communicating through speech.
No, communication is so much more than simple conversations. Communication is like a dance. Person A and B are constantly communicating at all times. Person A is talking to Person B, but while Person B is listening, they are also communicating through their body language and facial expressions. When Person A finishes talking, they are still sending messages out to Person B through other nonverbal forms of communication. Does that sound a little more complicated to you? Good, then you see how communication studies is not anywhere as cut-and-dry as you previously thought it was.
This brings me to my next point: Communications is not just about talking to people. Communication spans across numerous mediums, including explicit verbal and nonverbal mediums, such as talking to someone or texting them. But it also includes implicit messages such as recent American policies toward immigrants or that dirty look someone throws at you. Communications is more than just explicit messages that we send to each other. It is about how we treat each other. It is about how we come together to create an understanding of the world that leads us to friendships.
As comm majors, we often select an area to specialize it. Personally, I prefer written communication; I don't even like talking that much. If you haven't yet, take at least one communication class in your life; hopefully, you'll learn that it was never just about talking.
If you can't tell by now, I'm very passionate about the communication studies major. This is my second semester in the major and my 15th year in the American education system, and let me tell you this: I've learned more practical information in my communications education than I have in any other class in my whole life. In high school, I never once stopped to admire that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. On the other hand, nearly everything I learn in my communication studies class are things that I go out and see in the real world. I see theories play out in real life, on the news, on social media and in my own interactions with friends and family.
Don't you dare tell me this is not useful anywhere because communication is literally everywhere. Wherever my communication studies degree takes me, I will be using my skills as a communicator regardless.
