“Communication? Oh really? Now what are you planning on doing with that degree after graduation?” This question, typically posed with raised eyebrows and thinly disguised skepticism, is asked at least once of every communication major at some point in their academic career.
Unlike nursing, engineering, or education, communication is a not a field in which a specific career is built into the program. As such, a certain level of ambiguity shrouds the major, a shroud which many “helpful” friends and family attempt to penetrate with the above question. Personally, I have been asked this question a dozen times since declaring my communication major. And to be quite honest, even though I defended my field with a similar vigor and intensity of a mama bear protecting her cubs, there were days in the early stages of my education that even I asked this question of myself: what can I do with my communication major?
In my third year of college, I can safely answer this the same way one of my professors so pointedly expressed one day. The answer? Everything.
Truly, one can do almost anything with a communication major. Students who graduate with this degree may find themselves in areas of business, human resources, public relations and marketing, advertising, or media. Some of the most obvious positions communication majors have found post-graduation include business executive, public relations specialist, advertising representative, news reporter, magazine editor, or social media/web content manager, just to name a few.
However, there are also numerous other discrete careers that may call to graduates with a communication degree; you could open your own bakery, start your own publishing business, work for a non-profit, and so much more. Studying communication doesn’t present you with a ready-made, cookie-cutter career path, but it does give you the skills necessary to pursue whatever jobs interest you after graduation.
So what are those necessary skills? Studying communication here at Geneva equips you to work in almost any business or field, as the program seeks to transform you as a whole person: mind, body, and spirit. Taking classes such as Foundations of Communication Inquiry, Communication Theory, and Interpersonal Communication will give you the theory behind what it means to be a full-functioning human being today, while classes such as Advanced Public Speaking, Field Production, and Digital Communication Design will give you more of the practical experiences necessary for whatever work you find yourself in after school. Theory combined with practice is the recipe the communication department uses to produce students who can speak and write well, think clearly and articulate those thoughts to an audience, operate a camera and shoot video, or craft the perfect message to a public.
As with any field of study here at Geneva, an undergraduate degree in communication transforms you internally, preparing you for whatever God has called you to after you leave campus. Though practical skills are obviously good and necessary, and of great importance of the communication department, it is the heart of the student the professors are after. They desire to equip students for faithful service after graduation, students who are passionate about communicating to the world in a way that reflects the love of Christ. And as a communication major, you can do that in almost any field of work.
To learn more about the Communication program at Geneva or any of our more than 115 majors and programs, contact Admissions at 800-847-8255 or admissions@geneva.edu.
-Emily Walker ‘20Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.
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