Things I learned in First Year COMS
Updated: Apr 27, 2020
By: Marieta Osezua
1. What COMS is: going into my first year as a COMS student. I did not know what to expect from the program or exactly what Communications and media studies was all about. But this first year has helped me understand it. In summary, communications and media studies is the study of how media and communication affect people. We study a lot of different things in COMS and you can take it in many different directions. From advertising and marketing, to journalism, to music and film, copyright issues in media, video games, social media, or even photography. Basically any medium that can be used to transmit messages to people can be studied in COMS as well as how people receive and interpret these messages.
2. COMS is a very diverse area of study: as mentioned above, you can study anything about media and communications that interest you. So you have to focus on what you to do and be the best at it so that you can stand out. If you are not sure yet, that’s okay too. ;)
3. There are jobs in COMS: if you are in first year and you are wondering what kinds of Jobs are in COMS, fear no more. The jobs in COMS are as diverse as the number of things there are in COMS. From public relations, to strategic planning or being a consultant, working in digital and content creation there is something for you in COMS—If you are interested in it and are willing to put in the hard work. I personally came into COMS because I wanted to get a chance to write a lot. So even if you’re looking to do that you can find that here. If you are still in doubt about whether there are jobs in COMS or not, come to any of CUSS events and meet the professionals. You’ll be happy you did.
4. Discourse: Although I’m just finishing my first year, I can tell that COMS is filled with different discourses. A discourse is basically talking about things. It can be written or spoken and the way a discourse is shaped can affect the way people think about things. My favourite discourse so far is metadiscourse.