I recently had a conversation with my younger cousin who just got into Kings College. She said she wanted to major in aerospace engineering, and she asked what my major was. I told her communication.
“Communications, what is that, how is that a degree?” she replied.
“It’s communication, and what do you do with aerospace, build a spaceship that will blow up?”, I retorted.
The conversation left me once again doubting my major and angry at the allegations of it not being useful.
First of all, it’s communication major, not communications major.
Enough is enough with the eye rolls and rude remarks about how I’m too smart to be majoring in communication. To start, I’m not just a communication major. I’m a communication major specializing in public relations and minoring in journalism.
The communication major by definition is the study of effectively communicating information in various fields. The key phrase being “various fields.” Now, look up the definition of a business major.
A common question directed toward COM majors is: “What are you going to do with that?” This just happens to be a question for anyone who doesn’t major in nursing, business or a science. Some people automatically ask that question and add the words “journalism” or “public relations.” To those people who don’t know what you can do with a COM degree, here are a few options.
There are many career paths a communication major can take. We can go into management, marketing, advertising, event planning, film production, hospitality, broadcast/print journalism, human resources, public relations, arts and entertainment and a boatload of other high paying professions, so eat your heart out.
Did you know that being a COM major is actually hard? Yes, hard, because we do what business majors would do and then some. Think about it, public speaking is not easy, especially in 2018, where people crucify you if you say one word that is not politically correct. The fact that 27 million Americans say they fear public speaking and that public speaking is what we do almost every day, goes to show just how much work it is to be a communication major.
Communication is very different from most degrees because you don’t technically get a degree in communication, there is always a subdivision. For example, my undergraduate COM degree will be in journalism, while my graduate degree will be in public relations.
A communication degree is so versatile yet underrated for no reason. It plays a major influence my writing — writing papers, writing about research, public relations, social media posting, etc. This is one of the most translatable skills, and so many businesses look for good writers and planners.
Everyone should take a communication course of some sort. Just like the major, the courses are very versatile, so learn to appreciate the skills this degree actually teaches.