Lorenzo J.

Ricci 11/08/2020

Senior Seminar Reflection Essay

When I was first looking for colleges to attend, I set out with the idea of finding a good

business school. However, I quickly realized how much I did not want to actually learn business

and wanted to study something far more creative and abstract. That is when I discovered the

discipline of Communications. One of the colleges I attended focused communication far more

on the technical aspects of it, and not the study of how we actually communicate, nor did it have

the creative sort of career specializations Bryant had. I had no idea what being a communication

major would entail, but I am very glad I chose to pursue it.

When I first began studying communication, it all started with Intro to Communication with

Chris Morse. Besides teaching us the basic theories of communication, there were some days in

the class where we would get to be taught by another Communication professor in their field of

study. These included Stanley Baron, who would become my Communication Advisor before

retiring this year, and Health Communication by Dr. Julie Volkmann, Chris Morse’s wife, and

who would later be my professor for Persuasion. Now the personal connections of all the

professors mentioned do not necessarily have an effect on my study of communication, but it

does show that the communication department is small, but close knit here at Bryant. While I

was here, there were at least two pairs of husband and wife who taught classes here. For the most

part, all the professors know and can recommend the other professors in the discipline.

I spent time experimenting with many different paths for my study of Communications.

Originally, I was in Field Production and Editing with Tom Dooley my first semester here at

Bryant. However, I did not feel the class was something I wanted to do and instead chose to take
linguistics with Tony Houston. Thee class itself has not become a major impact on my future

career choices, it was a very interesting class. The ideas that were taught would come up again in

other classes that I have had, and it was also the perfect demonstration of just how versatile and

deep the communication program was here at Bryant.

It would not be until my first semester of sophomore year that I would again be able to take

another Communication class. It was around this time that my general courses were being

finished and I had the opportunity to focus more on my study of communication. During this

semester, I took Interpersonal Communication and Mass communication. They were both

required for the communication major, but they were very different classes. In interpersonal I

learned how to utilize communication to form more meaningful interpersonal relationships, as

well as maintaining the ones that I had. In Mass Communication, we learned almost opposite sort

of idea; instead of focusing on the relationship between two people, we focused on the

relationship between mass media and the people. This class was very important to the world we

live in as it was the first encounter that I had with the idea of media literacy and the ways that the

media can manipulate people.

It was around this time that I began to see a clearer focus for myself when it came to my

studies here at Bryant University. I had switched my entrepreneurship minor to a marketing to

explore a more creative career path as well as one that allows me to further utilize my

Communication studies. With the classes I began taking for marketing, I saw the overlap

between it and the theories within communication. This would become particularly clear later

when I took Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications and Persuasion, and the

ideas were almost identical.

 During my second semester sophomore year I also took Writing for Professional and Creative

Storytelling class and Writing for Social Media. I had always been very fond of writing and I

was very excited to find classes that would help me sharpen my writing skills and apply them to

professions that I was interested in. Being able to effectively utilize Social Media would be

crucial to success in both a marketing career, as well as Public Relations and Event Planning,

which is the specialization that I have chosen for my Communication Major.

In Junior year was when I took the dreaded Communication Research Methods. Having been

a Communication Major about two years at this point, I had heard about Research Methods many

times. However, the class was far less difficult than I had anticipated. Much of what we learned I

had learned in previous classes. For the mathematical part of the class, statistics has proven to be

a good basis for understanding what to do. For the research part, my sociology and anthropology

classes were heavily focused on different types of research and the ethics that were involved in

them. While the class was not the gauntlet that I thought it would be, I do not see myself in a

career that is so heavily based on research. While the idea of it is very interesting, I want to

explore the more creative side of communication than the clear cut and, in my mind, monotonous

career of research, but I can appreciate those who do enjoy it.

The second semester Junior year was when I had very much targeted the kind of classes that I

wanted to take during my final few semesters here at Bryant University. That semester, I took

Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communication, Social Media Communication, and

Persuasion. These three classes had many theories that overlapped as they all had to do with

affecting change from people receiving the messages that were being sent out. This kind of

complementary relationship to other areas of studies showed just how flexible the
Communications discipline could be and how well it would benefit me to be able to graduate

with the degree.

Finally, after this long journey back to where it all started, it is my first semester of Senior

year. I have come back to the idea of Communication Specializations and have chosen to

officially pursue the Public Relations and Event Planning specialization. This career path

combines many theories from many classes that I have learned, with a flair for creativity and

showmanship. It is a career for people person, which my study of communications has taught me

that I very much am. I love talking to people, making connections, and speaking in public. All

these have been made much more effective by my time here at Bryant studying communication.

For classes this semester, I am taking Public Relations, the class that convinced me to change

my plans and pursue the specialization that I chose, as well as Basic Studio Production. While

the class does not really fit into the sort of career that I want to pursue, the basic of understanding

of how to produce content in a television studio is very useful should I hope to pursue more

creative ventures within or outside of public relations and marketing. My public relations class

has shown me that there are perfect career opportunities for someone who enjoys writing and

public speaking that are also viable and accessible opportunities.

As for what comes next in the study of communications, I have some basic plans made. Next

semester I will be taking Event Planning, which will finish my Public Relations and Event

Planning specialization. I will also be taking Writing for Rich Media which is a class about

writing messages for the many media sources at out disposable. I am very much looking forward

to both of these classes, especially the opportunity to get to write again. However, once next

semester is over, it is the end of institutionally studied communication and on to what will
hopefully be a continued education of communication through the work that I do during my

career.

I have considered the idea of pursuing further education in the communication discipline.

Bryant had, in the past, a very acclaimed Communication Graduate program but unfortunately it

has been put on hold due to the ongoing pandemic. I have looked into other graduate programs

for communication at other universities, but none of them have necessarily piqued my interest. I

feel that the best way to continue my study of communication is to find a career path and explore

its possibilities. I want to get into the public relations field, hopefully to become a spokesperson

to social causes that I care about. These causes include mental health and the environment. Both

of these causes hold a special place in my heart, and both are very important issues facing our

world today.

While I feel that experience in a career is the best way to become more understanding of

communication, there are many ideas that I would be very willing to explore on my own. These

ideas include the theories of persuasion which would be very useful the further I go into any

possible public relations marketing career. In the end, communication has led me to finding a

path that I am happy with in my future. I have come a long in my communication journey and I

am excited to use everything I have learned in the practical experiences I will encounter in the

world after Bryant University. My journey has been full of scholarly interpretation of ideas as

well as piratical applications, which all lends itself to a full experience that has made the study of

communication very fulfilling.