Finding Purpose in the Process: Communication Major Embraces Growth, Balance, and the Power of Connection

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences 

Communication Major Noah Cameron says he is one of many students who looks around at the world today and often thinks, “I’m not doing enough.”  

But the most important aspect of staying motivated for him is realizing that when he is doing the best he can at everything he does on campus, the impact ripples to the people and community around him. And that impact matters. 

“I know a lot of us have the thought of, ‘The world is falling apart, and I am doing nothing,’ Cameron said. “That is a damaging and halting thought for anyone, and even if you are the most motivated person and the most in love with what you are doing, that thought can still bring you to your knees.” 

The important step: keep going and realize the efforts of a collective can grow to have a large, long-term impact. 

"What motivates me to move forward most days is that if I can focus on what I am doing on a small scale, and do that really well, it has a trickle effect,” he said. 

A GSP Trustees’ Scholarship recipient and sophomore honors student serving as a Communication Department Student Ambassador and Resident Assistant, Cameron used the example of serving as a Student Orientation Staff member (also known as an “SOSer”) for Admissions this past summer as a way of making life better for others during difficult times. 

“When I was an SOSer this summer, I put my all into that. I focused purely on being an SOSer and I knew that if I could be the best SOSer I can be, and give the students I had in all of my groups the best resources and make them comfortable for college, and feel prepared, that will help to set them up to be better students,” Cameron said. “And the better they set themselves up, the more equipped they’ll be to help others. The point is we are getting ourselves ready to fight, to do amazing things. If I can make the students feel like they have resources and support, and new avenues to explore, it allows them to do their best.” 

“If we are all doing our best, that builds us all up enough to make a bigger difference.” 

The son of a salesman and a marketer, Cameron has always lived in a world that is very communication minded. Being a student in the Communication Department has allowed him the space to explore different experiences that will inform his eventual career path. While he grew up interested in content creation on YouTube and beyond, he also wonders if he’d like to be a talent manager in the entertainment industry.  

That exploration is a critical aspect of the process, he says. 

“The more I dip my toes into, the avenue splits,” he states. “My focus on what exactly I want to be doing or what I think I will be doing in the next five years is – I don’t have one. I really don’t.” 

Learning what he likes or doesn’t like is helping to guide him to the right eventual career path. For instance, as a Communication Student Ambassador, he has learned that for him, putting together an actual social media post feels boring. He’d much rather guide the strategy and process behind it, than be the person executing it technically. 

“I don’t really know where I am going yet, but my experiences in the Communication Department and on campus are making me feel like – wherever I land, I am going to be really good at it, because I am able to get so much practice and so much content under my wing,” Cameron said. “I am getting the chance to explore. I am getting the chance to have a trial run at some of these things that I could end up doing more large scale. At this moment in my life, it is less about how these skills are going to prepare me and more about how these skills are going to guide me to what I end up doing and that is really exciting.” 

He does know that he wants to use his career to have an impact. 

“One of my overarching goals is to find ways to make people happy,” Cameron said. “If you can communicate well with them, you can get to know them, find out what makes them happy...that is what drew me to communication. Because a lot of people look at it and it’s very broad, but that’s because you can also get so specific.” 

Another valuable skill he has been refining is time management. He uses Google Calendar to set reminders before appointments, classes, and meetings, and also has been shifting his mindset. 

“I always want to do so much, and I have to remind myself – hey, I can do anything I want, but I cannot do it all at the same time,” Cameron said. “It’s a lot about choosing my battles and knowing when to step back; knowing when to let something go, too. I didn’t take any honors courses this semester, which put a little bit less of a class load on me, so I could do some more of the campus organization activities. This is also the first time in my life I have had to balance work and academics – I have a job, and I am in school. I have had to learn how to take breaks and that’s a big thing.” 

“Just because you take a step back doesn’t mean you’re not moving forward.” 

From serving as an RA to being a Communication Student Ambassador to also being a Young Communication Professional member, Cameron, projected to graduate in 2028, says every experience adds to his personal and professional growth. 

“These experiences have not just shaped my time at UofL, they have made it,” he said. “If I wasn’t involved in these things, it wouldn’t even feel like I am here. College is what you make of it. It’s about what you get involved in and what you say yes to. It’s more than just experience, it’s what my life is at the moment. It’s getting to be a leader, getting to define my skills and figure out what I am motivated in, it’s getting to, in a small way, accomplish the things I have always dreamed about but on a more local college scale. And that’s really interesting and really great.”