It's a communication student's life: preparation for finals at SRU

Tom Parker discusses final preparation for a senior communications student.

3am visits to the library. 6 pack of energy drinks. 2 hours of sleep. Here we have it, that time of the year is approaching once again: the highly anticipated yet always dread finals week. So what does this week mean for students at SRU? The emergence of finals week for the majority of students involves endless studying and preparation throughout the week. Are all students’ preparation for finals the same here at SRU though? Is there a difference, for example, between the sports management major’s preparation for finals and that of the theater major’s? As displayed in the unique programs at the university, this answer without a doubt remains yes, as the various finals throughout the departments differ based off of which skills those specific majors need to highlight.

This week we follow Thomas Parker, a 22 year old Emerging Technology and Multimedia major from Jamestown, PA as he discusses his experience with finals from a communication student’s perspective. What does a final for the typical communications major entail? Projects and speeches compose the typical format of a final examination for this major based on articulation, communication, and synthesis skills. In particular, a final for a senior communications major entails the deliverance of a senior presentation at the end of the spring semester.

The senior presentation is a speech showcasing the culmination of talents and skills learned throughout the comm major’s career at SRU. It serves as a pass/fail test for comm students in their Senior Seminar class. Senior Seminar is a mandatory one credit class that all communication students must take during their senior year in order to graduate. As Professor Strahler, communications faculty member at SRU describes the class, “Senior Seminar may seem like a 1 credit blow-off course to students at first, but then they realize that the synthesizing skills they learn in the class pull all of their knowledge from their various classes together to use.”

Professor Strahler shared insight into the nature of the communication field in relation to finals and examinations

The senior presentation that falls at the end of Senior Seminar serves as the ultimate final for comm majors, as it forces the student to mold their experiences and skills together in a 10-15 minute speech that explains their experience at SRU. The student delivers the speech after the senior dinner, where he or she discusses their experience in front of a 2-3 judge panel in a classroom located in ESB. The judges include knowledgeable professors, alumni, administration, as well as professionals in the communications-related field. The presentation is intended to serve as a reflection by the student of his or her academic and social development, skills, values, ethics, and knowledge gained during the course of study as a communication major at the university.  For more info on the course, check this class overview sheet out.

Tom shares a tiny portion of his senior presentation speech.         

Thomas Parker, ET major in the comm department, commenced preparation for his senior presentation by first reflecting on his overall experience at SRU – both inside the communication department and out. He stated, “The overall idea for senior presentations is daunting at first. Just to think, you’re putting the entirety of what you’ve learned over the course of 4 years in one little speech, it’s hard to figure out how to fit in all of what you want to say.”






That being said, Parker was excited to begin practicing and rehearsing his speech, of which he stated that he went over about 1-2 times a day the week preceding senior presentations.  The following video provides a brief portion of his speech.



Parker proved to not be reluctant in beginning preparation for this major speech, explaining “I never understand why comm students whine about senior presentations. They’re what a student in this major loves to do – communicate to people in the form of a conversational speech. And what’s more, it’s about yourself! How bad can it really be?” Below Tom discusses in more detail the senior presentation.



Parkers’ statements display the appropriateness of the senior presentation as a final examination for a communications student, as a final should adequately test skills that a student in that field will need in the future. The needs of a communications student involve lots of practice in delivering thoughts, explanations, and stories in a concise written and verbal format, and the senior presentation is intended to test just that. Professor Strahler elaborates on this idea, “I think that the senior presentation is a great way to test comm students. After all, speeches are the nature of their field.”



Senior presentations were held on Thursday April 20th, after the formal dinner. Around 25 students from the Senior Seminar course delivered speeches in front of faculty and judges that night.

Stay tuned for next week’s installment of finals preparations, as we follow music thereapy major Liz Biggart as she begins preparation for her finals the music department way.