From Student to Professional: How I Applied my Education in the Workplace

My middle school band teacher used to encourage us to practice at home by saying, “Practice doesn’t make perfect, but it gets you pretty close!” This re-imagining of the cliché obviously stuck with me, so it was no surprise when I chose to attend a University whose motto is “Theory and Practice.”

College Communication Theory

Lawrence Technological University, my soon-to-be alma mater, has lived up to its motto during my time there. In almost every class, there were components of learning in the classroom that could clearly be labeled theory or practice. Often we would be sent out to the rest of the campus or community to get even more practice. Every month there have been a variety of presentations, symposiums, workshops, and events to further supply opportunities to learn the applications of theories or rack up practice hours. They understand that knowledge is hardly useful if you don’t know how to apply it.

This culture came to its climax as I began applying for internships to fulfill the required credit. Would everything I had learned be enough to step into the real-world? Had I practiced enough?

Professional Practice

Stepping into the big, scary world of professional communication, I immediately noticed I was overdressed. Moncur’s inviting, family culture with Team Tuesdays, Happy Hours, and their “relaxed professional” dress code made all of my initial fears of inadequacy shrink and slink away. These were people, real people, that weren’t all that different from me.

While I didn’t know everything, I didn’t feel the pressure to know it all. I became eager to receive feedback from my friends. Often, I’d sit with a co-worker as they explained a certain theory or process that I would then turn around and use to produce results. In fact, once I made it clear I wanted to learn about several parts of the agency, they set me up to have weekly interviews with different departments about their role in the agency and what processes they employed to provide the best content and solutions for our clients.

Even though internships are supposed to be practice-heavy, Moncur didn’t neglect the theory side of things. Beyond the circumstantial nuggets of information I needed to complete a task, there were other opportunities to learn about new software or changes to processes. Sometimes these were spur of the moment meetings to address a recurring bug, but mostly we would receive emails about changes and invites to lunch and learn events. As someone who loves learning, knowing that companies–like Moncur–integrate opportunities into their culture only made me love coming to work that much more.

Continuing to Grow

I don’t know if I can properly convey the difference that working in an office with a theory and practice approach makes on a growing professional. To have the company constantly cheering me on, giving guidance, and offering constructive feedback was more than I could have hoped for in an internship experience. As I prepare to step further into the world of professional communication, I feel ready to stand on my own. I am ready to test my theories in my own professional practice.