Meet Communication Studies minor, Kyrsten Marie Athan! Kyrsten is a senior majoring in English and Philosophy and a double minor in Communication Studies and Psychology.
How did you find Communication Studies?
I found out about the major/minor program through a friend who had recently switched their major from Global Studies to Communication Studies. They gave me one of their old textbooks for a ‘Gender and Communication’ course and after browsing the text I was intrigued to find out more. I talked with my advisors and realized that double minoring with Communication Studies would add to the breadth of my studies than solely minoring in psychology.
What do you like most about studying Communication?
I love the opportunities for personal growth that occur in Communication Studies courses. Learning how to publicly speak and create plans for interpersonal projects is extremely important. Understanding non-verbal behaviors and the way in which an audience perceived a speaker due to these cues helped me to build confidence. Before taking communication courses, I’d been very anxious when it came to speaking in front of the class. The classes I took for my Communication minor gave me invaluable experience with public speaking and helped me feel more confident to pursue these events for my extra curriculars.
What has been your favorite Communication Studies course?
Interpersonal Communication (taught by Jaclyn Marsh) was my favorite class. The teacher was amazing and made every lecture fun. Her communication skills were inspiring. The information taught about verbal and non verbal behaviors was different than how I learned about these things through the psychology department. There were also exercises that helped give us (the students) informal experience talking in front of the class; the low pressure environment aided in helping the class become comfortable with something most of us were afraid of when coming into this course. Interpersonal Communication was an extremely beneficial course.
What cool experiences have you been involved in as a student at UNL?
I’ve had the awesome experience in the last year of becoming an ambassador for the College of Arts and Sciences. I was undeclared for two years, as well, and it’s been an honor to be accepted into the Explore Center Ambassador program this last year. As a freshman and sophomore, I was too anxious to apply for these positions. I wasn’t confident in my abilities to speak with a large audience. Through taking communication classes and achieving my minor, I realized that I do have the skills to follow my dreams and that each day is an opportunity to practice communication. Every single day, I am (we are) involved in communicating. It is an essential to understand and I am grateful to have taken comm. classes at UNL!
What do you plan to do after graduation?
Currently, I plan on continuing my pursuit of artistic passions. I will work hard towards writing poetry (and maybe a book someday). I also want to give lectures about my experiences overcoming anxieties and continue to speak in front of an audience to get even better with my communication skills.
Do you want this to be you? We'd love to feature you in our next Student Spotlight! You can participate by completing the survey posted here: https://ssp.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3aasXqPkrzPsuqN Prefer to do this in person? Contact our Social Media Strategists at commdeptsocial@gmail.com to set up an interview--they'll even take a professional photo to use for the story if you would like!