Discovering her Career Passion through BMS
Fifth year student Emily Fuchs describes how her BMS degree led to many valuable work experiences that would help shape her career path.
An Early Interest in Media
Since Emily was young, she’s had a passion for digital media. In elementary school, she liked to do art projects on the computer, blogged on sites such as Tumblr, and eventually even self-taught herself HTML and CSS, getting into the hobby of designing at the intersection of art and technology.
Emily knew she wanted to learn more about media, and was drawn to the UBC Media Studies program for its interdisciplinary studies – a perfect combination of art and technical courses where she would get to try many different subjects and discover her own special path.
BMS Offers Highly Transferrable Skills
Emily particularly enjoyed how BMS courses effectively combined theory knowledge and hands-on experiences for students to take the skills they learn in the classroom to use in the real-world.
In the visual arts foundational course VISA 110 Foundation Studio: Digital Media, Emily got to use Photoshop for the first time which not only gave her the opportunity to create art work she’s proud of throughout her degree, it came in handy during her work experiences in marketing and graphic design. In INFO 250: Networks, Crowds, and Communities, Emily and her team members researched, analyzed, and established a social media guideline package to help an environmental organization with promotion and broaden their reach. It taught Emily social media management skills and a taste of what work experiences beyond the UBC community would be like. The cohort structure of BMS where Emily got to work with peers interested in similar things also brought a sense of community, which was fantastic in a big university like UBC.
When Emily took CPSC 110: Computation, Programs, and Programming in her first year, she discovered that she liked computer science, which led her to becoming a teaching assistant for four years in the course. As one of the few teaching assistants in arts, Emily felt that her presence was a reassurance for other art students in the program and it made her appreciate the unique perspectives that only arts students could provide in a field predominantly with students that have a science background.
Virtual Reality: VISA 110
Local and International Work Experiences
Having learned digital communication and social media management skills through the experiential learning gained from her media studies courses, Emily felt confident in applying for UBC’s various employment programs – Arts Co-op and Work Learn positions. Emily completed work experiences that would take her across Canada, and across the world. She was an ESL teacher in Weifang China, a Digital Advocacy Support Officer at Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa and is currently a Communications Assistant in UBC President Santa Ono’s office. Emily believes that trying out different work experiences is important, and to not limit yourself to what you, or others expect of yourself.
Teaching English in Weifang: Arts Co-op Program
Discover Passion for Teaching
Through Emily’s studies in media, technology, and experiences with teaching, she discovered that she not only has a passion for learning, she also wants to share the knowledge with other people. After trying different positions and sectors with an open-mind, Emily learned that teaching is something that she would like to further pursue. When she graduates from the BMS program this year, she plans to gain some more work experience before continuing her studies to eventually teach in the media and communications field.
“The Media Studies program provides an experience like no other, especially at an expansive institution such as UBC. Working on a variety of projects across different fields has given me a robust foundation of skills and experience that I couldn’t have gained elsewhere. I’m so grateful to have been a part of such a diverse program and to have met life-long friends who challenge and support me.” – Emily Fuchs
To see more of Emily’s work, you can visit her website or check out her Instagram (@emmeypop).
