I Major in Talking [Guest Post]
Recently, I asked a friend of mine, Katy Biddle, to write a short post on what her major was to give a different view of Vanderbilt academics that is unrelated to my usual pre-med talk. And so, I present to you: Katy Biddle.
Hello! I’m Katy Biddle, guest blogging for Jae. A little bit about me: I’m from Normal, Illinois (yes, it’s actually called “Normal” and no, it’s not really normal), I’ll be a senior next year, and my favorite things are the Chicago Cubs, turtles, and my intramural flag football team.
At the beginning of my first semester at Vanderbilt I was dead set on majoring in Physics. Although I was able to survive a semester of Physics and Calculus exams, by mid October I had already found myself thinking, “Can I really do Physics for the rest of my life?” I was fairly certain the answer was “no,” so when it came time to register for spring classes Physics was nowhere to be seen on my registration page.
This was a problem for me. You see, I’m a planner. I plan well in advance and I don’t change my mind, so I rarely have back-up plans. I’m that girl that writes her fall finals schedule in her planner in June. I decided I was going to Vanderbilt when I was only 15 and planned my high school courses and activities accordingly. I didn’t even apply to my second choice school. I started planning my wedding to Nick Carter when I was seven (I’ll see you there, June 14th, 2014) and haven’t dated much because I’m holding out for Nick. When I decided not to major in Physcis anymore though, I had no back up plan. I had no idea what classes to take because I had no clue what direction my life was going in. I was scrolling through the course options when CMST 100: Public Speaking caught my eye. If there’s one thing I know I’m good at, it’s talking. So I signed up immediately.
Now I considered myself a public speaking veteran. I had competed in speech tournaments since the 5th grade, and fared pretty well for myself. I was captain of my high school speech team, which was ranked 2nd in the state of Illinois. I thought this class would be a breeze, but boy was I wrong! The assignments were difficult, the exams were nearly impossible, and our professor was brutal in cross-examination. Nonetheless, I learned more in that one class than I had learned the whole last semester. We had to integrate research and argumentation and be able to present ourselves well. Thinking on your feet was a must, and using “ums” or “likes” was fatal to your presentation. We had to learn about national, international, and environmental topics so that we could argue for or against them and then answer questions from our professor and other students. The class was incredibly difficult, but worth my time and effort.
Once I took CMST 100 I was hooked. I declared my major in Communication Studies (I like to tell people I major in talking) at the beginning of my sophomore year and never looked back. The reason I love my major so much is that it integrates current events, history, rhetoric, writing, and speaking. I firmly believe that knowledge is worthless if you cannot communicate it to others, and my professors teach me how to do that. My major courses have helped me succeed in other courses by giving me the tools to write great papers and give flawless presentations.
It also helped m
e to get my current summer internship at a non-profit conservation and advocacy center in California. My now supervisor was impressed by my willingness to give public presentations during our phone interview and offered me the position on the spot. This summer I’m using my communication skills to perform outreach and create educational materials on behalf of sea turtles. In the future, my options are endless. With a major in Communications, I could go into advertising, marketing, PR, outreach, communications within a company, or even go to law school (I started studying for the LSAT last week).
As a rising senior, I have found myself in the position once again of not having a plan. I have no clue what I really want to do after graduation, but I know that the Communications department has prepared me for whatever life brings!
Illinois (yes, it’s actually called “Normal” and no, it’s not really normal), I’ll be a senior next
year, and my favorite things are the Chicago Cubs, turtles, and my intramural flag football
At the beginning of my first semester at Vanderbilt I was dead set on majoring in
Physics. Although I was able to survive a semester of Physics and Calculus exams, by mid
October I had already found myself thinking, “Can I really do Physics for the rest of my
life?” I was fairly certain the answer was “no,” so when it came time to register for spring
classes Physics was nowhere to be seen on my registration page.
This was a problem for me. You see, I’m a planner. I plan well in advance and I
don’t change my mind, so I rarely have back-up plans. I’m that girl that writes her fall finals
schedule in her planner in June. I decided I was going to Vanderbilt when I was only 15 and
planned my high school courses and activities accordingly. I didn’t even apply to my
second choice school. I started planning my wedding to Nick Carter when I was seven (I’ll
see you there, June 14
When I decided not to major in Physcis anymore though, I had no back up plan. I had no
idea what classes to take because I had no clue what direction my life was going in. I was
scrolling through the course options when CMST 100: Public Speaking caught my eye. If
there’s one thing I know I’m good at, it’s talking. So I signed up immediately.
Now I considered myself a public speaking veteran. I had competed in speech
tournaments since the 5
school speech team, which was ranked 2
be a breeze, but boy was I wrong! The assignments were difficult, the exams were nearly
impossible, and our professor was brutal in cross-examination. Nonetheless, I learned
more in that one class than I had learned the whole last semester. We had to integrate
research and argumentation and be able to present ourselves well. Thinking on your feet
was a must, and using “ums” or “likes” was fatal to your presentation. We had to learn
about national, international, and environmental topics so that we could argue for or
against them and then answer questions from our professor and other students. The class
was incredibly difficult, but worth my time and effort.
Once I took CMST 100 I was hooked. I declared my major in Communication Studies
(I like to tell people I major in talking) at the beginning of my sophomore year and never
looked back. The reason I love my major so much is that it integrates current events,
history, rhetoric, writing, and speaking. I firmly believe that knowledge is worthless if you
cannot communicate it to others, and my professors teach me how to do that. My major
courses have helped me succeed in other courses by giving me the tools to write great
papers and give flawless presentations. It also helped me to get my current summer
internship at a non-profit conservation and advocacy center in California. My now
supervisor was impressed by my willingness to give public presentations during our phone
interview and offered me the position on the spot. This summer I’m using my
communication skills to perform outreach and create educational materials on behalf of sea
turtles. In the future, my options are endless. With a major in Communications, I could go
into advertising, marketing, PR, outreach, communications within a company, or even go to
law school (I started studying for the LSAT last week). As a rising senior, I have found
th
, 2014) and haven’t dated much because I’m holding out for Nick.
th
grade, and fared pretty well for myself. I was captain of my high
nd
in the state of Illinois. I thought this class would
myself in the position once again of not having a plan. I have no clue what I really want to
do after graduation, but I know that the Communications department has prepared me for
whatever life brings!