Comm Week 2025 sharpens skills for post-grad success

Each year, Virginia Tech’s School of Communication hosts Comm Week, a week of professional development events and workshops to prepare students for their post-graduation plans.

The week of programming is organized by the school's Undergraduate Director Brandi Quesenberry, in conjunction with various campus and community partners, and student organizations, including the Public Relations Student Society of America, Lambda Pi Eta, Aspiring Journalists, and the Society of Professional Journalists.  

Quesenberry said the program was launched in 2018 to create opportunities for undergraduate students to learn professional skills, network with alumni and industry leaders, and to promote numerous student organizations. This year’s goal, she said, was to “be intentional with designing workshops that appealed to students across our five majors.”

“The School of Communication is dedicated to equipping our students with relevant and impactful career preparation opportunities inside and outside the classroom,” Quesenberry said.

Read below for an in-depth look at how the late-March programs impacted students. In addition to events and speakers, the week also featured job seeking, personal branding, and resume review workshops.

Guest speaker Ryan Ripken 

When former major league first baseman Ryan Ripken decided to hang up his cleats in the summer of 2022, he wasn’t sure what to do next. He didn’t want to give up his passion for baseball, but his playing career was finished. After some thought and exploration, he found his next step in sports media.

The now owner of Ryan Ripken Media LLC took time to speak with Virginia Tech School of Communication students, offering stories of resilience and words of advice to young journalists. 

In the early stages of his media career, he recalled figuring out what he wanted to do in sports media as a major hurdle.

Similar to many young journalists entering the sports media world, Ripken had to figure out what he wanted his medium to be. His first step was finding opportunities to speak on radio, which proved to be more difficult than he expected.

“For the first six to eight months of me getting into TV and radio, I got paid nothing,” he said. “I scrambled for any opportunity. I wrote to anybody I could.” 

Ripken faced the same challenges that every journalist deals with as they try to break into the field. He had to learn how to market himself and create content that people cared about, all while facing rejection in a tough market. Despite being able to land a few speaking appearances on radio stations, he still felt like he wasn’t breaking through.

“I finally felt like I was starting to make ground, but I wasn’t getting any job opportunities, and I was getting a little bit frustrated,” Ripken said. 

He decided to bet on himself.

He eventually found a business partner who offered to let Ripken use an open space he owned to help him build his skills. The same space is now the recording studio of the popular “Ryan Ripken Show.”

Ripken credits the relationships he’s built and maintained as a large reason for his success.

“When I asked someone ‘Why did you want to take a chance on me and help me build this,' they said ‘I liked you. I thought you were genuine,’” he said. 

While his authenticity was able to open doors, Ripken emphasized the importance of being relentless in the face of rejection. He cited stories of failure and how the lessons learned have helped him grow and reach the heights of success.

“You only really get one chance at what you want to do in life,” he said. “If you want to chase something here in the media side, and especially with how things are nowadays, there should be nothing that should stop you. There are things that can scare you, that can make you feel that it’s daunting and the challenge is so high, but that’s how I felt.”

Much of the broadcaster’s advice resonated with students in attendance. Many of them are navigating the same obstacles that Ripken faced early in his career, trying to find their place in the sports media field.

“In 2022, this [job] was not on my bingo card — to have this podcast and doing TV and radio,” he said. “But through the process of it, I failed, failed again, and then I found the things I liked and went through those really hard moments.”

Senior sports media and analytics student Bradley Winterling appreciated Ripken’s advice and stories as he plans for his career post graduation.

 “Ryan’s advice helped me realize that I have plenty of options in front of me,” Winterling said. “It was so valuable to hear his perspective on the world of sports media.” 

Ripken spent over an hour with students in professor Bill Roth’s Introduction to Sports Journalism class, answering questions and sharing stories with the next generation of journalists.

LinkedIn and networking workshop

Journalism students met with Leigh Anne Byrd, assistant director for career development and college relations, to kick off Comm Week.

The workshop gave students insight and guidance on how to expand their network and connect with professionals in the field. 

“It depends on what field you're in sometimes, but about 80 percent of jobs are found through networking,” said Byrd.

Byrd offered students tips for effective networking, making impactful first impressions, being confident, and following up with potential employers. Attendees also had a chance to practice their elevator pitches with each other while implementing what they learned.

The majority of the workshop focused on LinkedIn, featuring suggestions for crafting effective professional profiles. Students brainstormed ways to update their accounts by following industry trends and reflecting on their technical and transferable skills. In addition to discussing LinkedIn, Byrd suggested Handshake as a website for students to use for job searches and networking.  

She challenged those in attendance to make a connection with at least one industry professional by the end of the week.

Byrd summed up the goal of the workshop as an opportunity for students to build confidence in their networking abilities through practice in a low-stakes scenario.

“I think the elevator pitch was the most helpful,” said Thomas Hughes, a first-year sports media and analytics major. “I liked streamlining those thoughts and communicating them with a familiar group of people that I'm used to being around. It’s a low-stress environment that is still helping you develop those skills.”

Hughes is a member of Aspiring Journalists, the student-run organization that co-hosted the event. For students broadly interested in journalism, the organization provides opportunities for members to build their portfolios by practicing and publishing work. They can also work on their own time on writing, photography, and videography to post on the organization’s website.

“We don't pressure anyone into turning something in or creating something that they don't want to create,” said Evan Hull, president of Aspiring Journalists. “We want to be a place for students to do what they want to do and be happy about what they're putting out there. By doing that, we like to think that we're getting the best of their work — the work that they're really interested in and the work that they really want to share.”

Aspiring Journalists provides students with opportunities to learn new skills through workshops, including reading off teleprompters, using electronic news-gathering cameras, and polishing their mastery of Associated Press style.

“I find it really fulfilling to get in touch with the underclassmen and connect with them,” Hull said. “It's not just about what's happening at Virginia Tech, it's about opportunities outside of that. I think for me it's finding ways for them to get the most out of their time here and uplifting their work at the same time.”

The path to financial success workshop

Alex Lucas, vice president of community impact at Member One Federal Credit Union, and Monica Van Arsdale, a senior financial success educator at Virginia Credit Union, visited McBryde Hall to share insights from their diverse experiences in the fields of financial planning and management as well as applicable stories from their lives outside of their work. 

The presentation alternated between reassurance and numbers, combining the two when possible. The duo also provided a sense of validity to the concerns that many college students experience with regards to a lack of knowledge about personal finance.

“Not everything you learn in school applies to real life,” Lucas said. “Why do we know Saturn but not savings? Why do we know Saturn but not retirement?”

Lucas has a degree in English from Virginia Tech and taught finance in high school before accepting a position at Member One. He informed the participants that only around half of the states, including Virginia, require a personal finance component as part of a grade school education. He said he perceives his current job as the perfect inroad to help reduce people’s feelings of financial instability.

Lucas’ recommendations for students include to get a job, maintain three to six months of emergency savings, and work on financial self-control.

“Paying attention to your personal finances can be the most important factor of your overall well-being,” he said. “If you take time to genuinely consider your own financial stability, you’ll have more to grow and more to give.”

Lucas said that knowing your cash flow – your income minus your expenses – is one way to transition into financial adulthood. He also discussed budgeting, credit, investing, asset protection, and debt management.

“Our goal is to empower students with greater financial confidence and prepare them for life after graduation,” Van Arsdale said. “Comm Week is an incredible opportunity for students, and we believe our efforts complement the outstanding programs offered at Virginia Tech.”

Personal branding workshop

Kate Renz, assistant director of employee relations and career services for Virginia Tech’s College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, conducted a personal branding workshop to close out Comm Week. 

“You are your own PR campaign,” Renz said.

The virtual session emphasized the importance of personal branding regarding how students market themselves and communicate their values to potential employers. Just like the well-known brands Nike and Adidas, Renz said professionals need to establish a clear, consistent personal brand. 

She added that employers are looking for public relations professionals who can brand themselves effectively because it shows they can do the same for clients or companies.

Renz also discussed the key elements of a strong personal brand that make job candidates stand out, including visibility, consistent messaging, authenticity, thought leadership, and having a unique value proposition. 

To close out the workshop, Renz challenged students to engage in a 30-day public relations branding challenge and encouraged them to set three goals to enhance their portfolios and bolster their personal brands in the upcoming month.

This year’s nine Comm Week events were co-sponsored by Virginia Tech's Career and Professional Development Center, the College of Liberal Arts and Human Science's Employer Relations and Career Services, and the Virginia Credit Union.  

School of Communication student media content assistants Irianna Adkins, Emelia Delaporte, and Javier Mico-Crump contributed to the writing of this story, as well as and Jack Brizendine, the school’s communication and marketing specialist.