I might want to major in ______

You’re looking at Texas Tech University and now you need to figure out what you would want to do while you’re here. What College should you be a part of? What should you major in inside that College? There are so many different choices out there at Tech. The College of Mass Communications is a choice for those students who want to work in some form of communication. The major areas of study in our College range from Photography and Electronic Media to Advertising and Public Relations among others. The best person to go to would an adviser in the advising office in the Mass Communications building. They can answer a lot of the questions you may have about the College and point you to different resources on the majors within it.

The Advising Dean is Janet Wright and she is in Office Number: 113. I would go to the advising office and talk to the secretary first, because Janet is a very busy woman. You can either set up an appointment with her or one of the other advisers in the office.

Other helpful people:
Christina Flett
Office Assistant to Advising

Kathy Lindsey
Advisor

Leah Carruth
Assistant Advisor

Missy Helbert
Assistant Advisor

If Texas Tech isn’t your first University and you’re stressed out about getting information as a transfer student, you’re not alone. Best place for questions would again be the advising office. If you’re outgoing enough try going to the College and asking students there what they think and if they have any tips. I know this from experience because when I was looking to transfer into Tech I wasn’t greeted with the same amount of information and welcome as the incoming freshman class are. I had to dig deep on the then awful web site to find the littlest things and had trouble getting in to talk with an adviser. Hopefully, if this is you, things will not be so difficult.

New Students... So you're here, What now?

The first thing you need to know about the College of Mass Communications is that all of the classes build on each other. You need to take your beginning classes first in the College and get them out of the way, so that you can go on to the bigger and better things and graduate on time. As simple as that idea may seem, I wish someone had told me that when I first came to Tech.

The best place to go to for information about specific classes would be your Adviser first. My advisers over the years have ranged from amazingly helpful to failing miserably (and causing me to take classes I didn’t need), so make sure you look at your Degree Audits on Raiderlink to make sure that specific classes fit into your degree plan AND (this is very important) ask them questions! Second step would be to get in Raiderlink and look up classes in the major that you want to pursue and also in other majors in the college that you can take as electives. There are always new and interesting classes in the College of Mass Communications and all it takes is finding them first. In most cases you will have to take some of your beginning classes first, like News Writing, but after you get those out of the way you’ll find a plethora of interesting electives you can take. Next step would be to find a teacher that you like and talk to them. For me, I talk to Dr. Ann Rodriguez frequently and would ask her about classes before I took anything. Many of the teachers in the College, Dr. Rodriguez included, know what new and interesting classes are coming up and can point you towards what teachers to take and what to expect.

This leads me to my next point…Find a mentor! I know how silly the word mentor may sound (Mostly because it sounds silly for me to write it) but it is absolutely irreplaceable having someone to go to in your college when something goes wrong (or right!), when you need help, or even if you just need someone to talk to. I took a class with Dr. Rodriguez at the beginning of my career at Tech and ever since then it has been absolutely one of the best things to know I have her office to go to if I need to vent or I need help. She has been there for me through big things (like advising problems) to small things (I needed another quarter for a Gatorade. Yes…she’s that amazing). I can’t push the point enough how indispensible she has been to my sanity at Tech and YOU as a new student need to find someone you can relate to and talk with, who will help you throughout your career.

If you have any questions at all about the College, I don’t mind answering any possible inquiries you could have. Feel free to email me at Sayersttu@gmail.com

Visually Stunning

These next links are things that have caught my eye for some reason or other.

Here are 33 inspirational Illustrations that are at least for me, graphicly inspiring. They push boundaries of what we think we can do, and take graphic design to a new level.

http://designm.ag/inspiration/illustrations/

This made me laugh. Its only funny if you're a graphic designer though.

http://thehottestgadgets.com/2008/06/24-of-the-hottest-eco-friendly-gadgets-and-green-concepts-00378


This guy is strange, but he really does think about things differently than most people, which I can relate to (And possibly aspire to do more of)

http://variationsonnormal.com/

Logos

Today Chambers talked about how a company's brand isn't just its logo, colors or identity. Well I love logos! So here are some different logo web sites that show different and interesting topics in logo design.

This site shows different companies logos and explains the intricacies of them.

http://vector.tutsplus.com/designing/30-brilliant-vector-logo-designs-deconstructed/

Here are some basic rules to live by when creating a logo.

http://www.tannersite.com/rules-of-logo-design/

This site shows 10 successful logo redesigns by major companies.

http://www.logodesignlove.com/10-successful-logo-redesigns

Typefaces

Periodic Table of Typefaces! Very helpful.

http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces_large.jpg

Variations on type. Wish I had more time to spend on projects like these!

http://inspiredology.com/typography/

Yacht!

The first boat on here is really interesting. I like how it doesn't look like any other yachts. The pearl white makes it stand out, and the smooth curves are beautiful.

http://www.baekdal.com/design/architecture/yacht-concept-design/

My take on Design

A bunch of interesting ads. I like 2, 5 and 20

http://villageofjoy.com/33-cool-and-creative-ads-part-i/?bo=1

The new Alice in Wonderland looks amazing!

http://blogs.laweekly.com/style_council/fashion/alice-in-wonderland-fashion-co/

Love the green building in Singapore and the High School in Copenhagen

http://weburbanist.com/2009/04/21/15-cool-high-school-college-and-university-building-designs/

First Post

Heres my first post.. For my Mass Comm class.

That's all.