Communication is constantly changing as our society evolves and the “Communication in Action” event Thursday showcased the best that the students in the School of Communication Studies have to offer.

The event itself was set up by Molly Taggart’s Senior Seminar class, a group of 25 students who were asked to “act as an organization” and create an event that showcased the School of Communication Studies and the work the students put out.

“It shows that the students have power and most of the times in an academic setting students who have that much power don’t live up to their responsibility but I feel like my class and our professor (Taggart) exceeded the expectations placed on us,” said Devin Bates, senior public communication major.

On display at different tables throughout Taylor Hall were the different career paths communications can lead you in, the curriculum, conferences a student can attend and different clubs in the school such as Kent Communication Society.

The senior seminar class was split into different teams and were in charge of running the event from every aspect, including each individual table.

“As a student first, this is important because it’s the first time we’ve been able to apply what we’ve learned in an organized fashion,” said Ryan Anderson, senior organizational communication major. “We’ve done a lot of theory work throughout our first 3 or 4 years but we haven’t had a class where you work together as a 20 person team to create an event for the college.”

“Communication in Action” was a showcase of work in communication studies. Classes from all across the communication studies curriculum displayed various projects including student work from classes such as Interpersonal Communication, Communication and Influence, Small Groups and Teams and other communication studies courses. The best work from each of the classes was awarded with scholarships from the School of Communication Studies.

“When I explain my major to some people they don’t really understand it at first so basically this is so people have a better understanding of what you can do with a communications degree and what future you can have with it,” said Nick Gambetta, senior interpersonal communication major. “I want to go into sales and marketing, and being an interpersonal major I’m able to learn one on one talking skills that i can use in a sales situation in the future.”

The event was designed attract freshman exploratory majors and show them the work that is done in communication studies and how you can make a career out of a degree in the discipline.

“I came in as exploratory student and didn’t know what I wanted to do, and it was information made available to me by students that got me into communication studies itself so I think it’s important to reach out,” Anderson said.

By informing students of all the possibilities that a degree in communications can do for a students career, the class hoped to dispel some of the rumors surrounding the communications field.

“A lot of people think communication studies is a backup major, if nothing else works I can go do communications,” Bates said. “But, they don’t understand the extensive work we do in research, writing, our critical and analytical skills have to be near perfection to graduate from this program.”

Jacob Majka is the CCI reporter. Contact him at [email protected].