Row into the future: Majors at UW
February 18, 2022 | Women's Rowing
What is strategic communication and what can you do with the degree in the future?
MADISON, Wis. -- Hello hello, my name is Ellery Craven and I'm a senior on the team! You can find me in bow seat of the second varsity eight here at NCAAs last year.
This piece is the first in a series titled 'Majors at UW'. Here you will find insider information about a variety of different majors some of our student-athletes are currently studying! I will be kicking it off with my degree story but…first things first, a little bit about me: I am a big foodie. I love to bake (especially dark molasses cookies around Christmas time) and roast vegetables in at least 20 different ways. My favorite restaurant in Madison has got to be Cento; it serves amazing Italian food at a cool location right by the Capitol. Right now my favorite coffee shop to frequent has been Leopold's, which just opened up on Regent - a busy street with a lot of student housing near Camp Randall Stadium.
Now into the meat of the matter. I will be graduating this spring with a degree in strategic communication and a certificate in sports communication from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (l'm big on communication, clearly).
Within the J-school (gotta love the lingo of a college campus) there are two "tracks" - strategic communication and reporting.
My studies in the strat. comm. track has primarily focused on learning the ins and outs of the advertising and marketing industries, the theories and psychology behind public opinion, developing media plans for "clients" and so much more!
The strat. comm. major is built as career prep. Nothing you do in any of your classes feels pointless (like learning the Pythagorean Theorem in eighth-grade algebra). Most of your professors are either current or past industry professionals, including reporters for big-shot newspapers, advertising whizzes who worked on campaigns for clients like Betty Crocker Desserts and Golden Grahams, media buyers and planners and authors. My favorite professor was Stacy, but you can check out the rest of the amazing faculty here. Not only does this ensure you receive a stellar education, but these well-versed professors are always available to help with smart resume crafting and career training. With the breadth of experience the faculty possesses, it is easy to find a professor with insight into your specific interests - and they love to talk about the lessons they've learned the hard way so you don't have to. Just like a lot of opportunities at UW, the major is everything you make of it!
The nature of strategic communication is learning by doing. The J-school job board is updated daily (yes daily, thank you Pam!) with possible internships, fellowships, and full-time positions across the country and abroad. Throughout my time at UW I've had three internships. I found my first one as a public relations and marketing intern with the Wisconsin Singers (an acapella/dance group on campus) on the job board! I then worked at Prep Network (a sport recruiting digital media company) as a sports marketing intern for a whole summer on-site in Minneapolis. Currently, I work in the UW Athletics department as a Brand Communication Student Assistant (yes, I am the person behind @badgerwrowing Instagram). Throughout the application process for all of my internships, I had help from J-school staff concerning my resume, interview tips, pay negotiations and anything else you could think of. I was always confident I did everything possible to receive an offer for any job in which I applied.
Speaking of jobs, I have especially loved my emphasis in sports marketing. Many doors have opened as a result of both my student-athlete status and experience with sports marketing/advertising - including a full-time job with Prep Network starting in June!
Yet, after taking a monumental class about health communication this fall (yes…two short semesters away from graduating), I decided I needed to learn more about public health - the main topic of discussion my professor enthusiastically spoke about as if the industry was a living, breathing being, functioning as the ultimate caretaker of society. After a little research and many conversations with my health communication professor, I discovered the JD/MPH dual-degree program at UW. Ever since a high school career quiz professed my future in law, I've considered attending law school numerous times. Yet, without much focus or passion regarding the type of law I wanted to pursue, I decided to give up on the idea. Now, after a year of working, I plan to apply to law school with the ultimate goal of becoming a public health policy advisor!
My plans for the future have fluctuated a lot, but I always knew I wanted to build on my writing and reading strengths in college, which is how I finally settled on strategic communication. The degree is applicable to so many different sectors of the working world - the more I learn, the more I realize how wide and vast my career opportunities are because of my time at UW. The degree itself is easy to manage around commitments to my team, recovery as an athlete, and hanging out with friends, family, and my boyfriend. Learning how to manage your time awake is key. I like to schedule my days down to which assignments I will do at what time of day so that I can also put in the exact amount of time I want to have the freedom to do fun stuff!
As J-school advisor Robert Schwoch once told me, "you wouldn't be here if you were good at math". If you too find that math just isn't your thing, and your strengths lie in the social sciences, writing, reading, personability and hard work, look into strategic communication at one of the best J-schools in the nation!
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