Meet junior Communication Studies and Advertising/Public Relations double major Hanna Schmidt!
How did you find Communication Studies?
I’m originally from Minnesota, and I came here for the dentistry program and I was taking summer classes at the U. I was taking Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication and I really liked it and honestly did better in that kind of field than science, so I decided to switch over.
What do you like most about being a Communication Studies major?
I like the flexibility, that I can choose classes that are related to communication and what I’m interested in, instead of being told I have to take specific classes. I can do Family Communication, Theory of Persuasion, and things like that. I’m not big into politics really, so it’s not like I have to take Political Communication or anything. I think that it’s cool that I can take what I want. I’m interested in health communication and being in those classes is big for me.
What is your favorite class?
So far, my favorite class has been Interpersonal Communication just because I thought it was very interesting to see how different meanings, symbols, and metaphors related and they go so unrecognized if you don’t know about it, and I’m taking Theory of Persuasion next semester which I think is going to be very interesting to me.
What cool experiences have you had at UNL?
I currently have a Community Outreach internship at NET, and they do PBS and NPR stations here in Nebraska. It’s been really cool because I work under the Director of Community Outreach, so we do a lot in the community and sponsoring events and she’s really cool because she lets go up and talk, it’s not like I have to work my way up. She has full trust in me. It’s also really cool because they work closely with the university so a lot of our events happen here on campus, so I have that experience outside and within the university at the same time, so it’s really cool to build those connections and just be able to put what I’ve learned here to use in the outside world.
What are your post-graduation plans?
My dream goal is to work Communications for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, but I’m open to wherever a job takes me.
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