Name: Desaray Hickombottom
Hometown: Corpus Christi, Texas
Major: Communication Studies 

Desaray Hickombottom looks back fondly at her first experiences at Texas Christian University and why she chose to be here. As a transfer student, she knew she wanted to attend TCU after her first semester at her previous institution. “TCU was actually my first choice for college, but I knew more people at my last university,” she said. “But once I attended transfer days and saw what it was like to be a TCU student, I knew I wanted to be a Horned Frog.” 

Hickombottom started out as a pre-med student before she changed her major to communication studies. She chose this major because she was inspired by her mother’s achievements in the field. Her mother is a vice president of marketing for a credit union, and she focuses on planning events that the company sponsors throughout the community. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this major before,” she said. “Growing up, I always went to the different events my mother planned, and I think she modeled it for me.”  

After choosing communication studies as her major, Hickombottom was pleasantly surprised that it perfectly fit what she wanted to do in her career. “I thought it was going to be mainly about giving speeches, but then I learned it was so much more than that,” she said. “I realized that the major teaches you about marketing and public relations, which is what I want to do.” 

Hickombottom believes the best part of her major was making connections with teachers, since they all wanted to see her succeed. She also enjoyed the various classes in her major. One of her favorites was Power and Influence. The class had a semester-long project, where the students picked a campaign to analyze. “I really liked that at the end of the semester, the instructor invited professionals from the different companies of the campaigns to come to class,” she said. “That was a great way to make connections and even get internship opportunities.” 

Hickombottom recalled all the lessons she learned from her classes and professors and how that helped her thrive in her internships. She was an account executive at the TCU Ad Lab, which is a part of TCU Student Media. There, she reached out to businesses in the Dallas and Fort Worth area for them to advertise in the Skiff newspaper and the TCU 360 news website. One semester she was also the marketing and communication intern for the Bob Schieffer College of Communication. “The biggest thing I worked on was helping film and produce a video about what people didn’t know about the Schieffer College,” she said. “That was really cool to be a part of.” 

When she was not in Moudy South, Hickombottom was involved with her sorority, Gamma Phi Beta, as its homecoming chair. She also loved to go out to eat at her favorite restaurants, Eatzi’s Market & Bakery and Blue Sushi Sake Grill, and she worked out at CorePower Yoga. 

Hickombottom hopes to obtain a job in Dallas marketing for a sports team, but the memories she made here will carry with her as she moves on to her next stage in life. Hickombottom smiles when asked about those memories. “My favorite has to be when we beat UT Austin’s football team this last fall,” she said. “My friends came to visit from UT, and we had a great time at the game.”  

When asked to share some advice for incoming students, Hickombottom says that they don’t have to know exactly what they want to major in during their first year in college. “Take different classes from areas you’re most interested in and see which ones you like the most,” she said.  

Click here for more information on the Communication Studies department at TCU.