By Rachel Blackburn – May 8, 2018
Penn State University offers more than 160 four-year degrees, and more than 200 minors as well. There are so many different paths people can go down that sometimes it’s difficult to find someone with the same combinations of majors or minors as your peers.
When I started at Penn State in the fall 2016 semester, my advisor told me that along with my Public Relations studies, I would have lots of room to double major or minor in something. I was enrolled in a course titled “Lands of the Bible” that I had originally scheduled to fill my general humanities requirement. We were about a month into the semester by this point, and I already knew that my Religious Studies class was my favorite. I decided to minor in the field just based off that one class, and I have not regretted it since.
As a sophomore at Penn State, I have taken many different religious studies classes, some of which were prerequisites for other classes, and many of which were specific to my degree. Still, I have not met another person pursuing this unique combination of PR & Religious Studies.
Unfortunately, Penn State has slowly been doing away with many of the Religious Studies courses offered, as students can no longer pursue a major in Religious Studies, only a minor. I feel that I am very fortunate for a program like DISC that allows me to take classes that wouldn’t be offered otherwise so I can continue with my minor. Religious studies classes have taught me things about cultures I’ve never experienced and wouldn’t have learned elsewhere.
People often tell me that this seems like an odd combination; PR majors usually choose a minor in Business or Economics. The way I see it, I am a better candidate for certain jobs than my counterparts with more popular minors because of the fact that it is so unique. With the knowledge I have gained from my religious studies classes, I can offer a different perspective than someone else could. I think that this unique combination helps me understand people of different backgrounds than me in a way that I wouldn’t be able to otherwise – a skill set that will likely prove very useful in the PR world and one which has linked nicely with my internship as the Social Media and Communications Intern with DISC.