The Course To Take

College application forms are never easy to fill out.You’re being given the freedom to choose where and what you want to study for the next four (or more) years of your life. You stare at that piece of paper–which could have come from a green folder, a stamped brown envelope, or a Xerox machine ^^ –and you wonder how ticking a box could be so life-altering and momentous. It’s the future we’re talking about, after all, and it all depends on which course you tick among all those being offered. Perhaps the most eye-popping list is that of U.P.’s, which beats all the other schools in terms of the number of courses offered (among other things ;p). Listed in that application form are courses you’ve thought about applying to, courses you’re familiar with, and courses you never knew existed. Food Technology? Sports Sciences? And what the heck is Organizational Communication?? Organizational Communication is probably one of the more unfamiliar courses that the premier State U offers. Given the eye-strain inducing list of courses U.P. has, there is a huge possibility that the U.P. applicant could just shrug the course off and move on to looking at a course that he or she has at least heard of.  As a student of the said course myself, I would advise the U.P. applicant to read up, and not just disregard it due to its unfamiliarity–doing so would be making a grave mistake. Take a closer look Organizational Communication, or OrCom for short, is a course offered only by two universities in the country: University of the Philippines-Manila, the pioneer of the said course, and De La Salle University. Organizational Communication in UP Manila was established in 1984 and has been continuously taught by the school ever since. Hearing/reading the course title could throw you off; the course could easily be branded as “just like Mass Comm or Broad Comm”. But stay awhile and the course curriculum, as well as its highly able faculty, will prove how OrCom is much, much more than that. Aimed to teach its students how to become “business people involved in communication (Barrientos, 2008)”, the course has a diverse curriculum consisting of subjects which all contribute to molding its students to be holistic, multi-disciplined individuals who are greatly valued in the workplace. Among the long list of subjects to be taken by the aspiring organizational communication student are: Interpersonal and Intercultural Communication, Public Relations, Technical Writing, Debate and Argumentation, and Communication Trends and Styles. From the mentioned subjects alone one could see how multi-disciplinary the course is and how it is dedicated to teach all it can offer to its students. Are you meant for it? Dynamic, responsible, and not easily stressed? These are but some of the many qualities required of OrCom students. Always on our toes, OrCom students have jam-packed schedules consisting of project proposals, case documentations and group reports. If you’re skilled at, or have a passion for writing and speaking, this is the right path to take. Bid farewell to the usual 100-item exam; final papers and mid-term debates and presentations await. In exchange for all the hard work and frequent no-sleep-to-finish-a-paper sessions, OrComm students are given a positively promising reward: a bright future. Graduates of the Organizational Communication course turn out to become successful advertisers, Public Relations practitioners, events organizers, managers, marketing executives, and lawyers. Some even establish their own businesses and make it big. One such example is Ms. Ingrid Cudia, who started her own SEO Company, which you could learn about here. Don’t be scared Sure, college applications may be tough to answer, but look at it this way – choosing your course isn’t a decision that comes along often. It’s hard because it’s supposed to be that way, to make sure you’ve weighed out all your options. Now that some light has been shed on one course that would otherwise seem alien on the course roster, it’s time to consider if it fits you or not. If it does, don’t be scared, because in OrCom, a lot of opportunities abound. ^^,