Reflecting on Communication

My time as a Communication student at SCU has been invaluable. I treasure the opportunity to grow, reflect, and create in many formats. My minor in creative writing has also enabled me to engage in my true passion, and my exploration of creativity has provided a vehicle for my communication research. Taking this path and getting a chance to create and express myself so freely felt like the answer to a question I forgot I’d even asked. 
The themes of advocating for change and storytelling have been hugely present and influential in my study of communication. At the beginning of my first year, I was introduced to the importance of multivocality—of understanding the role of media in a global society—and I took this lesson to heart for the rest of my college career. Given the freedom to choose my own research topics, I have time and time again chosen to focus on stories and questions of identity—of queerness, ethnicity, and the medium of animation. All the samples I have chosen for my portfolio, I created with the sentiment in mind that the project would not disappear the moment my time at SCU was “officially” over with graduation. These selected projects carry themes of storytelling, advocacy for multivocality, and celebrations of diversity.
Studying communication has brought me so many moments of growth, reflection, and joy as I’ve considered my role in a diverse world. I am a queer and Mexican-American student, among other identities, and many lower division courses have made me look inward and consider my position in society. Media in a Global World (COMM 2) and its discussions of representation and the diffusion and melding of cultures made me especially aware of the processes occurring in society that determine what is popular. I also acknowledge my privileges, one of the most visible being the fact that I have been able to attend university and complete my degree. 
Overall, I think communication has contributed to my interest in the entertainment industry, as I endeavor to enter it either through animation development/production or dramaturgy. In my creative work so far (including but not limited to scripts for stage and screen), I have made it a point to focus on issues of diverse social identities by featuring ethnically diverse and queer characters at the forefront. I want to continue this thread through my professional career—and my personal life. Going forward, I want to emphasize underrepresented voices and continue to grow and learn about how to be a responsible citizen, both for my own sake and for the sake of those around me. I genuinely believe that studying communication has made me a better human being, and I carry my lessons into my relationships with my family, my friends, my colleagues, and beyond.