Over Christmas break 22 students from the communication department had the opportunity to attend a viewing of the show “Anderson” featuring Anderson Cooper in New York City while on a class trip.
The Study in Mass Communication course allows communication majors to earn one to three hours of class credit while participating in experiential learning opportunities. This year the students visited Washington, D.C. before going to New York City where they toured news agencies such as NBC. Each year varies in content, but the trip revolves around mass media communication.
When chair of the Department of Communication Dr. Jack Shock began to plan this year’s trip, he contacted the audience coordinators of “Anderson” and they made the group of Harding students VIP guests of the show.
While sitting in the audience, junior Jenna Sampson had the opportunity to voice her opinion about a segment of the show.
“Getting the chance to see the filming of ‘Anderson’ was amazing, but standing next to him was even better,” Sampson said. “I was really nervous when he came over and asked for my question, but I had rehearsed it several times in my head to make sure it didn’t sound silly. It was truly the chance of a lifetime.”
The show gave students the opportunity to see how things work on set.
Freshman Deborah Curry said she was able to learn more about the nature of the broadcast industry from her experiences on the trip.
“In order to go into that business, you have to be a very quick responder,” Curry said. “You always have to be moving forward and doing something. You can’t just stop.”
Junior Laura Chambers said that she benefited from seeing broadcast professionals succeeding at their jobs in the real world.
“I think the most important lesson I learned from them was a simple lesson,” Chambers said. “Go to work. Work hard. Don’t complain.”
Students from the theatre department participated in the trip as well. Under the leadership of Ben Jones, assistant technical director of the theatre department, students saw Broadway plays and met with theater industry professionals.
Shock said he hopes their time in New York and D.C. gave students a positive outlook on their futures in media communication.
“It’s always nice to see the professionals who do what we do,” Shock said.”We visited with the producers, designers and writers, and I hope our students came away feeling empowered about their future.”
To view more photos from the trip visit thelink.harding.edu.
