As a rising senior in a communication major at North Carolina State University, largely known for its nationally ranked engineering programs, I get a lot of flak from my engineer-dominated circle of friends. "Oh Communications...so you're just learning how to talk and use Facebook better?" jousts my mechanical engineering roommate as he reminds me with a smirk that I should look into getting a real major. My friends' lighthearted heckles resurrect an argument, or a discussion on reputation rather, that has inundated the professions within the communication industry since they originated, which I am told did exist prior to the Internet.
Albeit, engineers are a smart brood that serves a valuable purpose within our world and economy, but my friends overlook the immense value that public relations and other closely related communication professions play within this same market. Our industry's falsely acquired reputation of being dispensable, with incalculable effects and without any "real" licensing board, have left many, including my friends, with this platform upon which to jest. In terms of what makes up "professionals" it is more or less clear what a doctor or engineer does and why they are necessary. Why then the ambiguity between what a publicist does versus what a public relations practitioner does, or a communications director or any of the other number of fields that make up possible careers for specially-trained Communication degree-holders?
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