Study
Communications
& Media

My name is Jake Troncone and I study a Bachelor of Communications and Media Studies, Dean Scholar. I really wanted to get into marketing and kind of understand how people interact with the world, but I didn't really want to do the businessy, mathsy side. So I decided that comms and media was probably the best option for me because it's like a creative business degree. I want to use technology as a catalyst for social change. 

[Casey Evans] I chose to study communications and media because it has such a real-world impact. 

[Dr Renee Middlemost] It's a field that's always changing. So there's always something new to learn about, to be interested in, and that very much informs the way that we teach as well. 

[Casey Evans] That's about exploring media, about building a portfolio and finding yourself online. I think when I was in year 12, I had this idea I had to have it all figured out. And for me, the communications and media degree allowed me to really explore my passions, both artistically and analytically. 

[Dr Renee Middlemost] The best thing about the media and comms degree is that it's versatile you can take these skills and apply them in any number of areas.

[Casey Evans] Communications here is very practical. It's very much focused on building a portfolio and it's very much focused on building your experience and your learnings. 

[Dr Renee Middlemost] The students often choose their own project that they'll work on, and the important thing about that feedback loop is that they'll be working on the same project potentially for the first year, right up to the third year. And that sometimes ends up being a career for them.

[Casey Evans] So my portfolio with my communications and media degree is extremely important. And it's something that I was building from day one, from my very first subject, where I was asked to make a blog and to make a Twitter. 

[Dr Renee Middlemost] The way that we've set up the media and communications degree is really interesting and versatile, so when students come in their first year, for the first year, they're pretty much all together taking a number of compulsory core subjects. But then after that, they can narrow down their focus and we have five majors. So within the way the core structure is set up, you can even end up taking two majors. So we've got those five majors and you can kind of do a pick and mix and you don't have to know exactly what you want to do when you come in. What we'd really encourage students to think about what they're passionate about and go down that road. 

[Casey Evans] For me, the facilities at UOW and the ones available to me through the communications and media degree, have been amazing in giving me the tools to explore my ideas.

[Dr Renee Middlemost] We've got a number of teachers who come from industry so we've got that really nice balance of people that are academics, they know the theory and we've got a number of academics who've come from industry. So that balance is really nice in terms of knowing the skills that students will need at the end of the day. 

[Casey Evans] Ultimately, what I want to do with my degree is to go into the field of marketing. But in saying that, I'm very aware that there are always new jobs emerging and I would love to do anything involving digital and social media.

[Dr Renee Middlemost] Just be really open to the different experiences that are available when you come on campus. So, you know, you might come in thinking, I want to be a marketing person by you come in and then you take digital media subjects and go, actually, I want to be a digital marketing person or I just want to do something digital. So come in and take every opportunity to try the different things while you've got the opportunity. This is really the space to explore in a supportive environment and learn what it is that you're passionate about and how you could maybe apply that into the future.