If you chose to major in communication (sometimes Mass Communication or Communication Studies) in college, you have probably heard a number of annoying things that people say about the major (or to the students who are communication majors). I hear these comments all the time, and decided I would share the top four.
1. "So you're basically majoring in journalism, right?"
No. We are not journalism majors. Communication majors study the way people interact along with many other things like media; and while we do write a lot of papers and could end up being a journalist, journalism is not our major. If we had a dollar for every time someone asked us if we were journalists, we would have enough money to pay for the rest of our college education.
2. Communication is an easy major.
No, no, no. While our major may not be as challenging as biochemistry or engineering, it definitely isn't easy. We have to make sure our writing and speech skills are on point. We have to use APA citations almost every day and need to create flawless annotated bibliographies (so often we can do it in our sleep). Memorizing multiple communication theories isn't a walk in the park either. There is only so much room in my brain. Point being, communication is just as hard as any other major. We did not take the easy way out and we did not choose to major in communication because we had no idea what we actually wanted to major in. Stop saying our major is easy, because it most definitely is not.
3. "So you're a communications major?"
Nope. Communication without the "S," because as one of my comm. professors once told me, communications deals with systems or networks that allow communication to take place. A person with communications skills is good at working with systems like phones or e-mail. You will probably be correcting people on a daily basis and get annoyed when they keep referring to it as "communications."
4. "You won't be able to get a job with a degree in communication."
Actually, communication skills are highly sought after since most people don't know how to properly talk to other people anymore (thanks, technology), and our field is incredibly versatile so we can get a job practically anywhere.
There are many more things Communication majors are tired of hearing, but these are the most common things we hear and it's getting old. So, If you're friend is a Communication major please refrain from asking these questions.
Sincerely,
Communication majors everywhere
(If you are a communication major, I hope this made you laugh a little.)
