Communication & Media Studies Major Portfolio
Self-Reflection
To be a student of Communication and Media Studies is to delve into what connects people—whether that be through one-on-one conversations, engaging with online trends, sharing stories, or simply learning to listen. During my time at St. Norbert College, I gained an understanding of what does, and what doesn’t, work in the communication process, honed my writing and editing skills, learned to look critically at the media I consume, and even how to be a better friend.
From my perspective, Communication and Media Studies is one of the most applicable majors to everyday life. Nearly everything we do is connected to the lives of others; we want to initiate relationships, maintain friendships, impress our family and friends, and help them in times of need. We also want to understand how media, whether through TV, social media platforms, books, magazines, or other mediums, impacts our cultural outlook and society as a whole. Through the base of knowledge I built in my Communication and Media courses, including:
- Mass Media
- Communication Inquiry
- Communication and Mental Health
- Interpersonal Communication
- Persuasion
- Business and Professional Speaking
- Writing for the World
- Women and Media
- Intergroup and Interpersonal Relations
- Intro to Public Relations
- Writing for Media
and
- Relationship-Driven Sales,
I believe I’ve become more attuned to others’ needs, more adept at navigating relationships, and more understanding of the role of media in modern society. I feel more confident taking on new endeavors and speaking with business professionals.
My concentration was Communication, meaning there was a greater emphasis placed on interactions between people. Through my courses, I have learned how to thoughtfully and appropriately take part in daily exchanges. Nearly all of my courses required appealing to past scientific research in order to support both lecture content and personal arguments. Critiquing the communication strategies used in online content and by my peers has been especially helpful in gaining analytical skills, and I find myself referring back to course content when communicating with others or engaging with media.
After graduation, I’m interested in pursuing a career in the newsroom. Whether that be through anchoring, reporting, journalism, or something entirely different, I want to use what I know about communication in the workplace. While I have my eye on broadcast journalism, I’m interested in all things communication—no communication role is off-limits!
Outside of the classroom, I have participated in campus clubs related to my Communication and Media interests. Perhaps most notably, I became editor-in-chief of the St. Norbert Times, the student-run newspaper on campus. In this position, I took charge of scheduling and leading meetings, generating article ideas, setting deadlines, uploading articles to our website, and even taking myself and three other members to San Francisco for the ACP National Spring College Media Conference. Having to lead and coordinate a newsroom, even a small, low-stakes one, pushed me to become more disciplined and organized in a role outside of my comfort zone. I am also recognized for being an anchor on the Knight News, St. Norbert’s weekly news show. As an anchor, I present campus news and upcoming events between segments while also providing support in the scriptwriting process. In both of these positions, I’ve gained experience in fields relevant to communication and leadership.
As editor-in-chief of the St. Norbert Times and as service chair of my social group, The Electric Company, I helped create service events for our members to fulfill their semesterly requirements. This also encouraged me to become more organized, involved, and willing to reach out to my connections. Both positions had me reconnect with Amy Murphy—the director of De Pere Christian Outreach. I worked under Amy the year before as DPCO’s Media and Marketing Intern, and our need for service hours culminated in an opportunity to reach out to and foster a connection between ourselves and a local thrift shop. While interning at DPCO, I posted for an older audience of shoppers and learned to cater my content for a different age group. A lot of my work there involved regular thrift store operations, which meant I had to interact with altruistic volunteers and shoppers. Regularly interacting with others outside of my age group opened me to new perspectives and made me more comfortable speaking with them, which will be valuable moving forward in any career.
I also dipped into graphic design, which gave me the foundations I needed for my job as an Office and Marketing Assistant at the Academic Advising and Career Development Center at St. Norbert. There, I greeted students and directed them to career counselors and academic advisors while also assisting with daily office tasks. I had the opportunity to post short videos on the team’s social media during important events, which included two career fairs and an etiquette event. All of these roles have provided me with the real-world experience necessary to pursue a career in communication, and I am grateful for each of them.
Coursework
LO1, LO2
This video was created for Writing for the World in April 2025 and intended for an audience of readers on TikTok. Since short-form content is most common on the platform, I opted to record a short recommendation covering the basic arguments of a book chosen from a list of approved choices. I decided on a soft, “bedtime” gimmick and a laid-back approach that I figured would appeal to readers online.
LO1, LO2, LO3
This real-world application paper was written for Intro to Public Relations in December 2025. It was written for a hypothetical audience of PR professionals, and of course, the eyes of the professor. I chose to apply Strategic Communication Theory to the aftermath of Blackfish, a popular documentary associated with SeaWorld’s decreased attendance rates and drops in revenue. Here, I criticized SeaWorld’s initial response and proposed an alternative reaction to mitigate PR damage, using past research and analysis on Blackfish, SeaWorld, and applicable strategic communication theories in order to make my case.
LO1, LO3
This TikTok account was created as part of my final project for Communication and Mental Health. The goal of this assignment was to bring attention to the negative impact of excessive social media use in a cute, easy-to-digest format that appeals to young TikTok users and encourages alternatives to screen time. In one of the videos, I include research paper citations that add evidence to support my claims.
LO1
This audiovisual script was written in November 2025 to advertise Bigelow Tea in Writing for Media. Its purpose was to appeal to TV watchers between programs and other advertisements.
LO1, LO2, LO3
This was created for Women and Media Studies in May 2025. Its purpose was to critically analyze the messages about women in films produced by Studio Ghibli, a renowned animation studio based in Japan. Research was conducted to strengthen the arguments presented on the poster, with previous research articles being cited to support the positive tone of the project.
LO1
This was created in December 2023 for Mass Media. We were instructed to pitch a TV program to any network, and my group settled on creating a children’s show for PBS Kids. These slides were used to describe the foundations of our idea and how it aligns with the network’s goals. This was intended for hypothetical producers, the class, and our professor; PBS Kids does not allow pitches in this format, but to suit the needs of the assignment, we decided on a standard slideshow presentation.
LO2, LO3
This was an in-class activity completed in April 2024 for Communication Inquiry. Here, I came up with an idea for a content analysis and looked into one sample involving romantic messaging in songs over the years.
LO1
This infographic was designed in Writing for the World in February 2025. It was intended to help St. Norbert students manage their time effectively in a simple, viewer-friendly format.
LO2
This critique and reflection was used to assess another group’s tongue-in-cheek video essay in December 2024 for my course in Persuasion. I analyzed the key messages of their video and then reflected on my own learning experiences in the class, strengthening my critical thinking and evaluation skills.
LO2, LO3
This short essay was written in October 2023 for my Mass Media course. We were instructed to critique a popular song based on the messages it perpetuates. I chose to critically analyze the 1999 hit “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child by focusing on the gendered expectations found in its lyrics, where the male partner is expected to be financially responsible for the female singer’s expenses. Though brief, I hit on every part of the song that underlined that message and used my own critical thinking skills to argue against the song’s implications.