My decision to pursue a degree in communications was influenced by my love of writing, and by my family members' career paths as well. Since both my mom and dad are police officers, I grew up with people always asking me if I was going to follow in their footsteps and be a police officer, too. Although I love and appreciate what my parents do, the answer was always no.
Growing up with an older brother who loves history more than anyone I know, I would always see him writing extremely structured essays, with very specific topics and requirements, which did not excite me at all.
I’ve always been that one kid who loved creative and critical writing assignments. In high school, I was able to nurture my writing skills through a class called SUPA. SUPA stands for Syracuse University Project Advance. With it's focus on critical and creative writing, this class asked us to write about whatever we wanted, as long as it related to the coursework. Even though I thought it was the hardest class I’d ever taken, it helped my transition into college writing, and, most importantly, taught me how to write a seven page paper in two hours.
In college, I was able to expand my knowledge of writing in different fields such as public relations and marketing. I learned that my love of writing didn’t mean that I had to be an English teacher or a journalist. Public relations and marketing classes taught me how to use persuasive writing skills in order to benefit people, businesses, etc. I loved these classes because the writing was a lot less structured than an English or history class. Writing for public relations and marketing is a lot shorter and more creative. I was also able to take design classes that gave me the opportunity to use my writing capabilities to create advertisements, brochures, and websites. These are the main reasons I chose communications, because it gives me the ability to create content by using my own ideas and influences.
Even though communications doesn’t involve enormous amounts of lab work, it involves a lot of time thinking about what to write, and planning the most efficient way to get the point across to the audience.
I hope I was able to get my point across to you, if not, I might have to pick a new major!
Best,
Brittney