Robert Peaslee serves as department chair for the department of journalism & electronic
media in the College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University.
Robert Peaslee
What classes do you teach? Writing for Series Television; Writing for Feature Film; The Blockbuster; Writing
for Media & Communication; Qualitative Research Methods; International Electronic
Media; Fandom: Understanding Media Production and Consumption.
What would you like your students to take away from your classes? A greater understanding of the importance of hard work, persistence, attention to
detail, and craft.
What is your favorite book? “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. I've also just read William Gibson's “Neuromancer”
for the first time and have fallen deeply in love with it.
What is your favorite restaurant in Lubbock? La Sirena in Cactus Alley.
If you could choose anyone, who would you pick as your mentor & why? Neo from “The Matrix.” Or Gandalf.
If you could tell your 18-year-old self one thing, what would it be? “Talent” is by and large a myth. Success comes from lots of productive failure. Go
make stuff.
What was the defining moment that helped you determine your career path? Joining the staff of the Colby-Sawyer Courier, my undergraduate student newspaper.
It led me both to media production and to the faculty members that would be my first
true professional role models.
What advice do you have for anyone seeking a career in the journalism field? Learn, practice, and hone the journalistic skills of concise writing, dedication
to accuracy, absolute deadline consciousness, curiosity and research acumen, ethical
treatment of others, and multimedia production, and you will never, ever want for
a job. It just might not be at a newspaper or TV station. And that's okay.
Judy Poffenbarger, commonly known as JPoff, is the academic adviser for communication
studies students in the College of Media & Communication at Texas Tech University.
Judy Poffenbarger
What advice do you have for students in order to help them stay on track for graduation?
“Maintain a good relationship with your academic adviser. Make appointments prior
to advance registration periods and be on time for any appointment you have made;
it's rude to miss your appointment and not let your adviser know the reason. Use e-mail
rather than phone calls. If you have any questions about your degree program or your
life on campus, ask your adviser first; your peers may be in different majors or colleges
with requirements different from yours, so don't rely on them for information about
your major.
Attend class with your mind as well as your body; really pay attention to lectures,
discussions, and conversations that occur in the classroom and in related study groups.
Education is more than merely building a collection of data in your brain, and making
good grades is not the same thing as mastering new information and relating it to
previous learning. The goal is to learn best how to learn and adapt information so
that you can become a life-long learner. Yes, your goal here is graduation, but graduation
is not the end of your journey; rather, it's the beginning of a new phase of it.
Look for every opportunity to make the world around you a better place. Be kind, be
generous, be compassionate, be supportive, be curious, be passionate, be involved—in
the best sense of that word. See every day as an opportunity to be your best self—a
good student, a good friend, a good family member, a good citizen of the world.”
Ariana Martell Public Relations, Senior Hometown: El Paso, Texas
Ariana Martell
How did you become an ambassador for the College of Media & Communication? I had initially come to college with the intention of being an opera singer. I know,
it's kind of a far stretch from public relations, but I had a friend that was in PR
and she told me all about it and about the College of Media & Communication. So I
made an appointment with my adviser and switched majors. That same friend told me
about ambassadors, so I applied. I met with our awesome recruiters, Emily Balke and
Candace Trevino, and we bonded over a restaurant in El Paso. The rest is history!
What do you like best about CoMC? The college has prepared me to become the best public relations practitioner I could
possibly be. By making sure I am prepared with the right tools, to giving me opportunities
through various organizations, I feel like I can go into the real world after graduation
100 percent confident! I have also had some of the best professors in the college
and found mentors in them.
What has your experience been like being an ambassador? I absolutely love being an ambassador for the College of Media & Communication. I
get to show prospective students all of the wonderful things the college has to offer
and brag about how awesome Texas Tech is. I've made some really good friends through
Dean's Student Ambassadors and learned there is so much more than meets the eye in
CoMC.
In your spare time, where can we catch you hanging out in Lubbock? For the most part, you can catch me on campus, but when I go out with friends my
favorite spot is J&B. I think it is one of the coolest cafés! The people and the atmosphere
are great, and the drinks are so good!
What are your future career goals? After I graduate in May, I want to go to graduate school and get my Ph.D. in public
administration. I ultimately want to be the president of a university one day (hopefully
Texas Tech *insert guns up*), so I'm going to keep striving for honor and do my best
to achieve that!
What is your favorite place to eat in Lubbock? I've recently taken a liking to Fuzzy's, and Chimy's nachos are so good, but I also
really like Thai Pepper, so you can probably find me at any one of those places pretty
much any day of the week.
What is your advice for prospective students? My biggest piece of advice to a prospective student is don't be afraid to try new
things. I did and, I couldn't be happier with my time here at Texas Tech!
Anna Farmer Advertising, Senior Hometown: Allen, Texas
Anna Farmer
When eating mac and cheese, fork or spoon? Spork.
When taking notes, do you handwrite or type? Handwrite always.
Would you rather live in an age of only books or only movies as your source of education?
Why? Only movies. Because, they're faster and more entertaining than books, in my opinion.
If you were stranded on an island with only the belongings in your backpack what would
you survive with? I always have water. I would be prepared for a rainy day with my umbrella and jacket.
I could start a fire with how much paper I have and, I would stay entertained with
the billions of pens at the bottom of my backpack.
