Name: Lauren Malette 
Majors: Strategic Communication; Design Studies 
Class: Sophomore 
Hometown: Coppell, Texas  

A Texas native with a creative flare, Lauren Malette found the strategic communication major at Texas Christian University to be the perfect path for her education. With her interest in art in high school, she knew she wanted to find a major that allowed her to express her creativity, while also pushing her to make a difference in society in an impactful way.  

Advertising is an aspect of the strategic communication program that really intrigued Malette. “I thought I had to be a business major to get into advertising, which I did not want to be, but then I found strategic communication and eventually design studies,” she said.  

Malette recently decided to add a design studies major to her plate. “I would recommend the strategic communication and design studies pair,” she said. “It’s more challenging but it allows you more creative freedom in a design aspect.”   

With her passion for her majors, Malette identified Design as the most valuable and impactful class she has taken so far. “It made me realize that I really like working with the Adobe programs like Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop. It also just gave me a really solid skill set for putting something I’m passionate about into practice,” she said. “Design made me realize I definitely was in the right place because I really liked what I was doing and what I can do with those skills.”  

Malette has put those new skills into practice in the real world. She had an internship with Academy Four, where she worked 14 hours a week. At the nonprofit, Malette helped create digital content to attract volunteers to mentor fourth graders. She also utilizes her skills within her sorority through public relations efforts.  

Malette’s internship opportunity was made available to her through connections within the strategic communication department, and she’s very appreciative of that. She heard about Academy Four from Madison McQuary, a friend Malette met in her Diversity class.  

Malette also identified the impact that her Diversity class had on her. “Broc Sears has honestly been the most impactful person in my education. I took Diversity with him, and that’s really important in the market I want to get into in advertising,” she said. “I’ve also gone to him for a lot of design advice, and even though he wasn’t my design professor, he’s had really valuable feedback.”  

Overall, through strategic communication, Malette says that her time in the program has not only benefited her in other endeavors, but also affected her vision of the future. She has realized that she wants to work for a full-service advertising agency, as opposed to an in-house agency. “I like having multiple diverse projects to work on and not just working for one company,” she said.  

When asked what one thing about strategic communication she wished she would have known or think most people don’t know, Malette immediately thought of her writing. “I always thought that I was a really good writer in high school, and I was under the impression that good writing was the kind of writing that nobody can understand,” she said. “But something that I learned is that good writing is putting complicated subjects into easy to understand words. That’s what communication is all about.” 

Malette believes that developing professional skills in the strategic communication program, dedication and working hard will lead her to great things in the future.  

Click here for more information on the Strategic Communication department.