Name: Reese Stalder
Hometown: Costa Mesa, California
Major: Communication Studies

Reese Stalder of Costa Mesa, California, majored in communication studies major while he was a student at TCU. He chose to go to TCU to gain some different experiences outside of his hometown and for the tennis team, which he played for his entire college career.

He chose communication studies as his major because he was not sure what exact career path he wanted to take.

“Since I did not know what I wanted to do with my degree post-college, I chose a major that was both broad and useful in real life,” Stalder said.

His favorite communication studies class was Communication Ethics, due to the meaningful discussions that engaged the whole class. This class, in addition to others, taught him applicable life skills. “My communication studies classes gave me many skills, such as reading situations effectively and preparing for future interactions with people from a wide variety of backgrounds,” Stalder said.

In addition to Stalder’s studies, he played on the TCU tennis team. He had multiple workouts daily during the season and had to develop efficient time management skills. Being a student-athlete in addition to majoring in communication studies was challenging, but overall Stalder was content with the way he learned to balance his academics with athletics.

From his personal college experience, one piece of advice Stalder would give first-year students is to learn to have balance. “Finding the right balance between social life, sleep, and school is so important so that you can be successful but still have a fun, memorable college experience,” Stalder said. “Also make sure to attend all the football games!”