Amanda Brooks attended UNW and was a part of the communications program from 2017-2020, majoring in public relations and minoring in media production.
After graduation, she began working for Life102.5 in Madison, WI, where she is now the morning show producer and listener engagement director. Her experience in the communications program influences her work in radio and projects she is doing, such as preparing for her station’s winter fundraiser for a new HD tower.
From her time at UNW, Brooks claims that one of the biggest things she learned was how to try new things without fearing making mistakes. She emphasized how her time in the communications program taught her how to “take risks” and see what works, making calculated decisions to help her achieve success, even if those ideas didn’t always work out the way she had planned.
“The biggest thing I learned was to be teachable and to take risks.”
– Amanda Brooks
Brooks also discussed the importance of being flexible, especially when it comes to event planning. As she says, “Be willing to change as things around you change. You don’t have to stick to a schedule, and nobody’s perfect.” As a current communication studies student at UNW, I can already attest to the fact that several of my attempts at certain projects have not gone the way I had wanted them to. Brooks believes little incidents are only natural when you attempt anything in life but that it is what we do in response to these incidents that counts.
Brooks claims that “Pretty much everything that I’m doing every day is something that I learned through my time at Northwestern. Everything from being on air, I learned a lot of that from being on the media side of things.” She cites her ability to connect with listeners as a direct result of her time at UNW, giving high praise to the professors in the communications department and the wisdom they were able to provide her that she uses in her career now.
“Pretty much everything that I’m doing every day is something that I learned through my time at Northwestern.”
– Amanda Brooks
As a current student in UNW’s communications program, I was really inspired by my interview with Brooks. I hope to take her advice to heart, remembering that it’s okay to make mistakes and experience failures. That’s what college is for!
