Why I Chose My Major
I wish I could tell you that I had a very intellectual reason for choosing to major in communication, but in actuality, 17-year-old Casey Harrison chose communication because I loved to talk to people. I had always been a good communicator, and I did not graduate high school with a true passion for something obvious like math or history. I needed a major, and communication sounded like fun. As a senior, I can now give you stronger, more educated reasons why I decided to stick with communication instead of changing majors.
My communication courses have stretched my knowledge and understanding of the world around me and how I fit in it.
In my Conflict and Communication course, I learned that a person’s conflict style greatly affects the way they communicate in an argument. If their conflict styles do not work in harmony with other’s conflict strategies, finding a resolution to the problem at hand will take much more time and effort. In Intercultural Communication, I learned that different cultures communicate in different ways. Even the stereotypes we have of cultures—whether an entire country’s culture or a student organization’s culture—often do not match up with the actual aspects of what that culture is.
This is just a glimpse into my experience as a communication student here at Texas A&M, but as you can see, this major is about much more than talking to people. Communication is about respecting people’s differences, about interpreting non-verbal cues and about knowing when to speak and when to listen. There is not an exact science to choosing a major, so knowing if you have picked the right one can be difficult. At the end of the day, I believe that if you are enjoying your classes and are learning and growing as an individual, you are in the right place. I have grown into a more worldly individual because of the communication courses I have taken at this university, and I am so grateful to have chosen this major four years ago.
I wish I could tell you that I had a very intellectual reason for choosing to major in communication, but in actuality, 17-year-old Casey Harrison chose communication because I loved to talk to people. I had always been a good communicator, and I did not graduate high school with a true passion for something obvious like math or history. I needed a major, and communication sounded like fun. As a senior, I can now give you stronger, more educated reasons why I decided to stick with communication instead of changing majors.
My communication courses have stretched my knowledge and understanding of the world around me and how I fit in it.
In my Conflict and Communication course, I learned that a person’s conflict style greatly affects the way they communicate in an argument. If their conflict styles do not work in harmony with other’s conflict strategies, finding a resolution to the problem at hand will take much more time and effort. In Intercultural Communication, I learned that different cultures communicate in different ways. Even the stereotypes we have of cultures—whether an entire country’s culture or a student organization’s culture—often do not match up with the actual aspects of what that culture is.
This is just a glimpse into my experience as a communication student here at Texas A&M, but as you can see, this major is about much more than talking to people. Communication is about respecting people’s differences, about interpreting non-verbal cues and about knowing when to speak and when to listen. There is not an exact science to choosing a major, so knowing if you have picked the right one can be difficult. At the end of the day, I believe that if you are enjoying your classes and are learning and growing as an individual, you are in the right place. I have grown into a more worldly individual because of the communication courses I have taken at this university, and I am so grateful to have chosen this major four years ago.