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  • What is Communication Studies??

    “What is Communication Studies?” is the question I asked my best friend, Lindsey, when I first moved to UNCW as a transfer, mathematics major in the fall of 2007.  Like some other unaware individuals, I assumed the discipline dealt with mere public speaking and presentations.  Lindsey, a graduating senior in the COM Dept, didn’t verbalize her interpretation of COM Studies; instead she showed me the beginnings of her COM 490 portfolio.  As she flipped through her artifacts that highlighted her successes in the department, she was so excited to tell me just what COM Studies was to her and what her department did.  With her enthusiasm and zeal in demonstrating her COM history, I began to question my craze for my then major of math.

    Several weeks later I was out running errands with Lindsey when we realized we lost track of time, and she needed to be in class in ten minutes.  Somehow Linds convinced me to go to class with her, and now looking back I have no idea how she did because who really does this??  Running into Randall Library Auditorium, I found myself halfway embarrassed, but trying to go with the flow sitting in on Tammy Bulger’s Interpersonal Communication class.  She opened with a quiz and then began to lecture about romantic relationships and the dynamism that occurs within various contexts and associations.  I can remember thinking to myself, “People really study this junk?!”  After the fifty minutes ended, I was fascinated by Tammy’s lecture and envious of Lindsey’s ability to call herself a COM major.  I know you’re wondering why I am telling you all of this, but this particular day changed my college career and life forever.  Lindsey influenced me to pursue communication further the next semester by enrolling in COM 105, the introductory course to the major, and COM 220, Interpersonal Communication, with none other than Tammy Bulger.

    Tammy’s glory doesn’t stop with the above reference.  As a converted Pre-COM major, Tammy was my advisor and knew I was interested in Public Relations.  As we all know, you cannot enroll in PR at UNCW until after meeting the prereqs to be a full COM major.  She suggested taking a new course to the department, Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC).  Without having a clue what that was, I agreed because she said it related to PR.  So in the fall of 2008 I remember sitting in on the first day of then Mrs. Persuit’s IMC class, still wondering what in the world I got myself into.   The whole semester involved her persuasion of my class to realize IMC wasn’t a foreign or absurd idea, but it truly connected to all of us and our society ubiquitously.  By the end of the semester, her hard work paid off because I became an advocate for the sub-discipline.

    After completing Intro to IMC, Dr. Persuit asked me to participate in a DIS with her to explore the IMC world further.  Over the course of next year, I researched, planned, promoted and executed an event titled the IMC Workout in the fall of 2009 provided to student organizations who wanted to learn more about marketing strategies to enhance their organization in various areas.  In addition to the event, Dr. Persuit asked me to present a project from my intro class in the fall of 2008 at the Carolina’s Communication Association Conference.  Toward the end of last semester, I was also asked to present my IMC Workout experience at the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium.  All of these memorable experiences expanded my appreciation for the field and ignited a passion for IMC.

    Looking back on my time at UNCW in the Department of Communication Studies, I ask myself again, “What is Communication Studies?”  I don’t have my portfolio to show you on this blog, however Tammy might croak as we did do an electronic version in 490, but I can tell you this:  Communication Studies is more than an academic discipline and public speaking; it is all around us, all the time; it is ever-changing research with newfound and old discoveries waiting to be explored; it is the means to the rest of the world’s intricacies; it is a love of mine that no math problem ever gave.

    My experience at UNCW is priceless and something I will treasure for a long time.  Because of the opportunities given to me in the department, I am certain that this field is one that I want to stay in forever.  I have been inspired by so many of our professors that I want to seek higher education and return to academia.  I am proud to say that my aspirations are on their way of coming true.  I will be graduating on May 8th as a Seahawk, and I will be leaving for Milwaukee, WI, in August to be a Golden Eagle at Marquette University to pursue a master’s degree in Communication.  I am even more proud to soon call myself an alumni of the Department of Communication Studies at UNCW, and hopefully one day I will answer other undergraduates wondering, “What is Communication Studies?”

    -Allyson Corbin

  • Just Keep Moving – Lessons Learned on the Job Hunt

    “It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction. “ Pablo Picasso

    Tonight, I would like to share some of the things I’ve learned while searching for jobs, and make some friendly recommendations for anyone either in the hunt for, or already in an entry-level position.

    I’ve never been one to make New Years Resolutions (can you imagine anything more arbitrary?), but this year I decided to jot down a few regarding my professional development. Here’s a few that made the list:

    • Make more mistakes. Fail more often.

    You’re either thinking (a) this guy is so full of himself that he doesn’t think he makes mistakes or (b) why the hell would someone want to fail more often? Let me explain! It’s nothing new to point out flaws in the modern education system, but let’s look at one: the absence of failure. With all the extra help offered from teachers, tutors, & classmates, it’s almost impossible to fail. Failure is an immensely important part of any serious development for two reasons. First, if you set audacious goals (which you should!), you will experience occasional (if not frequent) failures. Second, failures offer the best opportunities to learn. So set bold goals and learn from your failures: your professional growth will exponentially exceed that of your risk-adverse peers.

    “Anyone who has never made a mistake, has never tried anything new.” Albert Einstein

    • Quit using the kid sitting next to you in class as a benchmark!

    It’s human nature to compare. Seemingly without fail, humans adapt their expectations to fit their surrounding reality. Repeated studies reveal that lottery winners experience a brief jolt of happiness over their first few months of newfound wealth, and then find themselves either back at their previous equilibrium or even lower. It’s easy to let yourself align with the average of what people directly around you are doing. You need to remember however, that these people aren’t your competition (they’re only a small fraction of your competition). Your competition includes people graduating from MIT, Harvard, Yale, & Columbia. Many of them are MBA students. Beyond them, you’re competing with rapidly advancing populations in China and India. It’s easy to see this as a threat, but welcome this as an opportunity: you have the chance to work with the smartest minds in the world, regardless of their origin. So remember, your competition expands past UNCW, and always aim to associate with people smarter than yourself: you’ll learn plenty and it will help keep you humble.

    “People only learn through two things. One is reading and the other is association with smarter people.” Will Rogers

    • Read. (I know, I know, but there’s really no way around this one. Sorry.)

    I’m guessing half of my audience just left. Two years ago I would have done the same thing. Let’s ignore how awfully similar that sounds to an addict in recovery, and explore why I’ve made this 180 with such conviction.

    A broad range of knowledge is going to be a rare, and invaluable talent in my generation. One of our greatest advantages is also one of our greatest burdens: we have access to more information than any previous generation. The problem, is that our constant 24-hour access to this data gives us much less incentive to remember it. In a job setting, this prevents us from connecting the dots of multiple pieces of data, that alone, would mean nothing.

    Just Keep Moving!

    You are responsible for your own career path. You control where you will go. You control how you get there. This is a lot of responsibility, but it’s an even greater amount of opportunity. You can coast through school, work, & life aiming to meet the bare minimum and avoid criticism. OR You can take pride in your work. You can find a job that you actually enjoy. You can attain fulfillment & meaning from your career. If you ask me, the “easy” path of doing the bare minimum sure seems harder in the long run.

    “I have noticed even people who claim everything is predestined, and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the road.” Stephen Hawking

    A few important notes:
    – I don’t suffer any illusions that I’m being completely original here; much of what I’m recommending is practically cliche it’s been said so many times.
    – I try to follow my own advice as much as possible, but I’m far from always being on the right path. I feel like I’m beginning to get a pretty good grasp of what best leads to professional development, but “knowing” and “doing” can be deceptively far apart.
    – Feel free to disagree with me on any of this, and please share your thoughts in the comments if you do!

    – Terry Hayes

  • A new vision for IMC

    Confession… I am not graduating in May. I am instead one of those few students who graduate in December. Nevertheless, watching many of my friends and classmates prepare to enter the real world upon graduating in a matter of days, I cannot help but feel overwhelmed and excited. My input on senior week will be much different than many of the other students, because my feelings of these next week are more of a pre-senior week and pre-graduation emotion. My emotions are more filled with planning, weighing options, and finally deciding what I want to do when I graduate. So while it is exciting to see so many classmates graduate, I have the opportunity to determine how to bond my education with my future.

    I am a double major in Communications Studies and Political Science, which makes me one of those rare students with double majors or concentrations who are trying to figure out how to merge both areas of study. I plan on going to graduate school for Political Communication or Political Management, and focus on Campaign Strategies and/or Strategic Campaigning. In IMC, the most often type of student you will see are Marketing and Communications Studies students, so you might ask “What is a Political Science student going to do with IMC?” My response…A LOT. In any political campaign or election, you have many different goals which are elemental to the ultimate goal of having your constituents deciding to vote for your candidate. This is very parallel to the goals of companies who hire Marketing, PR, or IMC agencies to advocate for their product, service or organization. Their goals are also very similar in the fact that they want the consumer to choose to purchase their product. As an IMC student you are taught ways to implement the theories and ideas you’ve learned to brand your company in a way that the consumer will choose it. The two goals of campaigning and IMC are so similar that if campaign strategies collaborated with IMC strategies, it seems that both fields would open up a whole new world of development. With this understanding, I plan on taking what I’ve learned through IMC and applying it to what I’ve learned in Political Science in order to successfully brand and market the politicians, their ideas, their legislature and their hopes for the United States. I will call it…Integrated Marketing Communications and Campaigning. IMCC.

    -Shannon Meadows

  • Impossible is Nothing

    I’ll always remember how I felt when I was about to graduate from highschool – excited, elated. I knew I was only a summer away from moving to the beach where I would be at UNC Wilmington for the next four years.

    Once I was here Wilmington soon became my community, UNCW became my home, and the people became my family. But I never expected the past four years to go by so fast. So now, with only weeks until graduation, and as I look back over my experiences, and forward to what comes next, I don’t know how I feel. There is a crazy mix of emotions. I’m excited  for the next step in my life, but sad to close the door on this chapter. I’m confident in my abilities and skills, but terrified of no longer having a safety net to catch me if I fall.

    It didn’t take me long to fall in love with UNCW, and especially the Wilmington community. The idea of staying in Wilmington after graduation was always something that I dreamed about. At the same time, I was always warned to not get my hopes up about that because there just aren’t that many jobs in the communication field in this town. But, there is something to be said about working hard, not giving up and never settling for anything other than what you really want. I am happy to say that I will be staying in Wilmington after graduation with a job in public relations.

    -Nicole Doherty

  • A Framework for Our Future

    I never could imagine all facets of my Communication Studies career at UNCW would come to a close at the exact same time. I am in the cusp of finishing my departmental honors project, currently transitioning positions for the COM honors fraternity Lambda Pi Eta, and now the last day of classes is dawning. I am moderately overwhelmed; however, it is a familiar feeling. As a student entering the department three years ago, I was quite oblivious to what career I truly wanted to pursue come May, 2010. Unfortunately now a week shy of May, I am still just as oblivious. BUT before everyone reading recedes in shock, I DO possess one feeling in regards to my future I did not before, which is passion. Passion for my major, passion for my department, and passion for IMC (not a promo for the class, I promise). Having taken classes in integrated marketing communications truly has opened my eyes to a whole new way of pursuing communication studies.

     Hybridizing marketing and communications while outlying features such as social media, public relations, and advertising, creates a captivating discipline. It is truly unique in that IMC provides a surplus of prospective job opportunities, graduate school programs, and opportunities abroad for students interested in the field of study. IMC students have the advantage of being multifaceted within their major, gaining both client and corporate experience while utilizing new forms of social media to boost their own personal brand. It is such a rich subject that allows students the flexibility for growth and expertise.

    So as my time at UNCW and my participation with the IMC Hawk team comes to a close, more than overwhelmed, I now feel confident. I feel confident in the success of my peers, confident for myself, and confident for our future. No matter what career, school, or volunteer path we decide to take, IMC Hawks rest assured, our knowledge of IMC will be there offering support, and laying the groundwork for all the implausible feats we are surely to face.

    –Stephanie Saulsbury

  • Senior Week

    As the end of their last semester draws nearer, our seniors of The Advanced IMC Class are impatient, yet hesitant, to exchange the all familiar ‘Teal World’ for the foreign ‘Real World.’ We are confident in them and their abilities to succeed because of the knowledge and experience they have gained here at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. So this week on our blog, our seniors will reminisce over their experiences during the past four years at UNCW, discuss plans for the future, and of course, share how IMC has impacted their lives forever.

    – The Juniors – Mandy Baker, Lacey Inman, and Alissa Lockwood

  • Marketing & Advertising

    Let’s go to a place where signs line the streets left to right, up and down, and where thousands of people walk; Times Square in New York City! What more could a business ask for to advertise their product? If you’ve been there, you know exactly what I mean, and if not let me paint you a picture.  Times Square is an area within the City where ads come in the forms of pictures, lit up signs, and even videos.  Marketing and advertising take place in all businesses and is needed everywhere, but Times Square for me resembles the latest trends and a competition of who can attract the most attention to their ad. What element will make people stop and stare at a specific company’s ad?

    These are only some elements and aspects that are studied using a communication studies degree. Within communications we are able to study these questions and find what trend may be the most effective in reaching a target audience. Using a communication studies major you can go into a variety a fields, and marketing and advertising is seen as a growing area.

    Certain characteristics are needed to work in marketing and advertising, such as patience, multi-tasking abilities, creativity, and the ability to work well in a team environment. Just as in any company or organization, to complete the work effectively and efficiently, working with others is essential. To be a successful marketer, it’s important that you are able to communicate well, be it talking to large crowds, other employees, or to clients in a meeting.

    As students, it is our responsibility to develop a strong foundation while we are in school, so that upon graduating we can be confident in our journey ahead into the professional world of business.

    – Alissa Lockwood