Each major has a unique sense of community that sets it apart from others. Engineering majors bond during labs and projects. Theatre majors bond during rehearsals. Biblical studies majors bond during Greek exam season. We’ve all heard stories about the fast friendships formed by students within their majors — stories about class shenanigans, study sessions, org meetings, and outings that develop into lifelong bonds!
Like a lot of freshmen, I was worried about how I would make friends during college. When I initially chose broadcasting, digital media, and journalism (BDMJ), I didn’t know anything about the community within the major. Thankfully, in BDMJ, there are a ton of ways for students to get to know each other! In my time at Cedarville, I’ve gotten the opportunity to bond with my classmates through a variety of different experiences, both in and outside of classes. It is truly a unique major that encourages students to form friendships and grow together!
Workshops
Some of my favorite BDMJ memories come from class workshops. Many of our classes are hands-on, requiring students to work with equipment and develop their skills during the class period. Oftentimes students will even produce a project as a group during class, each person filling a different role (just like they will in their jobs after graduation).
Workshop classes are special times, offering students a chance to grow as a community in individual classes. Students learn to give their creative input, exercise their skills, and rely on each other as part of a team. They can offer each other advice, ask for tips, and have fun making something as a class without the pressure of a grade! Workshops can take the form of recording and producing a song, writing a short script, and even mini film shoots. Workshops are usually casual classes, with lots of productivity and a healthy amount of joking around.
Group Projects
BDMJ has, perhaps, more group projects than any other major (although I’ve never been in another major, so that’s just speculation). Spending several hours with the same group of students helps break the ice when you’re a freshman or sophomore who is just learning about BDMJ! Since most of our education is based on learning to create and collaborate, there are plenty of assignments that require students to work in groups. For a lot of these assignments, the students get to choose a topic that they’re interested in and develop these interests as a group! Working as a team can take some of the pressure off of an otherwise daunting task- making a short film or audio drama with several other students is a lot easier and more fun than doing all of the work yourself!
Some classes even offer students the opportunity to combine projects. For instance, a student making a short film for a video class can ask a student in another class to help them as a sound designer or editor (for class credit, of course!), which teaches them to form strong teams out of people whose skills can work together!
Hip and Cool Jobs
Perhaps the place I’ve formed the most friendships within BDMJ is on-campus work. One of the best things about being a student worker at Cedarville is the intentional sense of community that extends even to the workplace. Some students may worry that between all these group projects and classes, they won’t have time to work or that there aren’t any jobs on campus that would help them to grow their media skills. This is far from true! BDMJ students can find a variety of flexible jobs that will help them grow as professionals, in places they wouldn’t even think to look!
Whenever I tell people that I’m a BDMJ major, their response is almost always something along the lines of, “Oh! So do you run the cameras in chapel?” The answer is, incidentally, yes, but camera operator is only one of the many jobs available to BDMJ students. The Production Services Group (PSG) handles all the chapel tech, including the cameras, audio, lighting, and lyrics that are used for every chapel service and many special events. The PSG crew is a very special group of students and staff who work together like a well-oiled machine. We like to say that if we’re doing our job right, you won’t even notice we’re there! But even though the students working for PSG are treated like professionals, they still have plenty of time to get to know each other as peers. Each PSG team has their own quirks, traditions, and inside jokes that ensure work is always a fun time!
Another place that BDMJ students can find on-campus work is at Resound Radio, the student-run radio station. This school year, Resound has more than 70 students on its team — mostly volunteers. These students gather for regular meetings (and parties!) to talk about what’s going on at the station and grow closer as friends. Students often gather in the station to do homework, work on projects, and hang out! The main team also meets for Bible studies, retreats and conferences, and outreach days. Since everyone on the team shares a vision, it is truly a unique and special place to work, and I have been blessed to meet many friends through Resound!
While I’ve only worked for PSG and Resound Radio on campus, BDMJ students still have many other options when it comes to work. I’ve known students who have worked for-
- Campus Experience as photographers
- Center for Teaching and Learning as video editors (if you’ve taken an online class, they probably made your class videos!)
- Cedars as writers, photographers, and podcast editors
- Centennial Library, converting and storing video files
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and if you ask around, I’m sure you could find even more cool work opportunities that would fit perfectly with the BDMJ major! Each workplace has its own special community, and I know many students have found lifelong friends in a variety of different jobs.
A Community of Communicators
BDMJ is a small major, but with so many ways to get involved, sometimes it is impossible to choose. Luckily, all BDMJ students at Cedarville have a few things in common: a love for God, a love for creating, and a love for communicating. If you put any amount of effort into getting involved, you’ll quickly find that BDMJ has one of the greatest communities at Cedarville (although I may be a bit biased).
Major & Year: Broadcasting, Digital Media, and Journalism, Class 0f 2024
Favorite Bible Verse: Psalm 22:3-5
Favorite Class at CU: Writing for Digital Media
Tags: #academics, #BDMJ, #community
Posted in: College Life, Student Guide