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Academic Advising
Tara Jones: "My Communication Major Has Served Me Very Well"
Text Transcript
(In this video Tara Jones [Miami 1996], an attorney, talks about how the skills she gained at Miami are the important skills she uses in her job. She also offers advice to current students.)
"When I first started at Miami, I did not know what my major was going to be. I started taking Miami Plan courses and then started looking at the different course descriptions in the different majors.
"I found that the speech communication classes were the most attractive to me. I found that the core tenets of the speech communication major were public speaking and writing and interpersonal skills. I felt that those types of skills would be important and relevant to many different career paths.
"I use the skills that I have learned at Miami University every day — I use my public speaking skills in the courtroom; I use my interpersonal skills that I learned in my different courses everyday when I meet with clients; and I use my writing skills in legal pleadings, in communication with clients, in letters and emails. I have never second-guessed the decision I made to be a speech communication major at Miami. It has served me very well.
"I would advise students who don't know yet what their major is going to be to look at the course descriptions. I also wish I had done this: I wish I had spent more time talking with the professors and the advisors that are assigned within those majors. These people are there to help you and I really wish I had taken advantage of that more, and I would definitely advise students to do this. Talk to these people and find out more about the major and what the courses entail."
[January 2013]