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After initially struggling to find a college that truly felt like home, I visited the University of New Haven and I instantly fell in love with everything that the Communications department had to offer.

When I first arrived at the University, I was very impressed with the amount of hands-on experiences students receive. At most schools I had visited, students were unable to step into a television studio until their junior year. I was ecstatic to find out that this was not the case at the University of New Haven. As a first-year student, I was able to work in the television studio, including on my very first day of classes back in August 2018.

The first class I ever attended at the University was a course called �Ӱ�ԭ��Fundamentals of Production I,�Ӱ�ԭ�� which was taught by Professor Wayne Edwards. This course runs alongside �Ӱ�ԭ��Fundamentals of Production II,�Ӱ�ԭ�� as these courses are often taken by students during their first or second semester at the University.

These courses can be seen as an introduction to the Communications department. During �Ӱ�ԭ��Fundamentals of Production I,�Ӱ�ԭ�� students learn what it takes to produce a television show. By the second week of class, we were practicing with professional cameras and studio equipment, which was absolutely mind-blowing to me.

I truly do not know where I would be in my life if it wasn�Ӱ�ԭ��t for some of the people that I have met throughout my time in the Communications department. Sarah Carman �Ӱ�ԭ��22

Now a junior, I have been fortunate to have many opportunities to work in the television studio, both in and out of class. During both my first and second years, I had the opportunity to work on a student-run television show called �Ӱ�ԭ��On the Spot with Mike Maguire.�Ӱ�ԭ�� On this show, young entrepreneurs pitched their business ideas to a panel of judges �Ӱ�ԭ�� a concept quite similar to �Ӱ�ԭ��Shark Tank.�Ӱ�ԭ��

I started as a social media manager for the show, and I quickly fell in love with the role. This opportunity helped me decide to pursue a digital media concentration within the Communication program. Having an opportunity to work on a production as soon as I started college was a great way to really figure out what I wanted to do with my time at the University.

Last fall, I was enrolled in an �Ӱ�ԭ��Advanced Television Production�Ӱ�ԭ�� course in which we recorded a game show called �Ӱ�ԭ��Charger Code.�Ӱ�ԭ�� Due to the pandemic, we faced several challenges, but the class rallied together to make sure that the show was everything we wanted it to be.

I truly do not know where I would be in my life if it wasn�Ӱ�ԭ��t for some of the people that I have met throughout my time in the Communications department. This class is a memory and experience that will stay with me for a lifetime, as I will always be able to tell the story of creating a virtual game show from scratch during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sarah Carman �Ӱ�ԭ��22 is a communication major at the University of New Haven