Hello, seniors of Centennial High School! As your time in high school is coming to a close, you are left with some decisions to make about college and what you want to major in. i have created this blog to tell you about my major of choice: communications! Communications is an interesting, rapidly expanding, and relevant major that would be of great interest to students like you.
Communications Studies is one of the most rapidly expanding majors offered by universities today, and it is gaining popularity at an extremely rapid rate. According to USA today, communications studies is currently the eighth most popular major choice for college students. But what exactly IS communications studies? Eric M. Fife, PhD. and Leigh Nelson, PhD., professors of communications at Texas University, explain in the article “Misconceptions and Beliefs about Communication: Differences between Majors and Non-majors” that communications studies is often one of the most misunderstood majors. They explain in their article that oftentimes students mistake communications for being an “easy” option, without fully understanding exactly what it is and what it entails. That being said, let’s break down exactly what ‘communication’ is. According to Merriam- Webster, ‘communication’ has several definitions, including “a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior”, and “a technique for expressing ideas effectively”. As you can see, these are extremely broad definitions. So, what does that mean for communications studies? It means that communications studies is also a very broad field. Generally speaking, communications studies is going to involve communications systems and interactions, but the field is so broad that communications majors are offered tons of flexibility as far as what they want to actually focus on.
The possibilities of topics that a communications studies major can focus on are really endless. Communications courses can include topics such as media and media systems, interpersonal communications, policy making, public relations, and even general linguistics studies. Communications studies offers students the opportunity to be able to discover what interests them and choose exactly what they want to learn. The beauty of the field of communications studies is that it cannot be exactly defined, and that it does offer so many options for students. When prospective college students see “communications studies” on a list of potential majors, they should recognize all of the opportunity and flexibility that the major offers. Communications studies is a major that allows students to grow and progress, without being limited in their academic careers as well as their future professional careers. (364 Words)
Works Cited
Fife, Eric M., and C. Leigh Nelson. “Misconceptions and Beliefs about Communication: Differences between Majors and Non-majors.” Texas Speech Communication Journal, vol. 33, no. 1, Summer 2008, pp. 35-41.
Stockwell, Carly. “Same as It Ever Was: Top 10 Most Popular College Majors.”
USA Today College. USA Today, college.usatoday.com/2014/10/26/
same-as-it-ever-was-top-10-most-popular-college-majors/.
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