Degree: BA Communication '21
Hometown: Kennett Square, Pennsylvania
Co-ops:
- Special Events & Donations Co-Op, Child Life Department, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- Dornsife Center Co-Op, Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships
Extracurricular activities: Gamma Sigma Sigma (Service Sorority), College of Arts & Sciences Student Advisory Board

What led you to choose your major?
I started at Drexel as a psychology major. Although we have an amazing psychology department here, it wasn’t the right fit for me. Communication seemed interesting, so I decided to take Mass Media & Society as an introductory course. The course was more stimulating for me than any of the other courses I had taken. After a few weeks, I officially changed my major, and I haven’t looked back since!

Read More About Hana

Degree: BA/MS Communication ’19
Minor: Sociology minor, Writing and Publishing certificate
Co-ops:
- TV news intern, NBC10 Philadelphia
- Digital and Internal Communications, Comcast NBCUniversal
- Employee Communications, Comcast Business
Extracurricular activities: When I’m not creating or curating content, I like to roller-skate and travel.
Awards: Dean’s List, Liberty Scholarship, Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Scholarship (two-time recipient)

What led you to choose your major? Was there a specific course, faculty member or experience that convinced you of your decision?

I came to Drexel knowing that I wanted to be a communication major, but I didn’t make that decision much before arriving here. About two months before beginning my freshman year, I read through Drexel’s undergraduate programs to figure out what I would major in. It wasn’t long before I decided on communication after realizing that writing, interviewing and relationship-building are the foundation of the field. Those are things that I have always loved and been naturally good at, so I knew this field would be a natural fit for me.

Read More About Kerri

I was told that work experience and networking would be two of the best things that I could do for myself while in college. In addition to my schoolwork, extracurriculars, and two co-ops, I decided to complete an internship for credit in my third year at Drexel. I landed an amazing opportunity at Fox 29 studios in Philadelphia, working on one of their entertainment television shows called “The Q.”

On my first day, I remember being so nervous yet so excited to start. For the first week, I took in my surroundings and the amazing talent that was around me every day.

This article was previously published in the College News in the summer of 2019.

A lifelong North Philly resident, Roy Aguilar knows a thing or two about neighborhood pride.

“People who live in prideful places in Philadelphia tend to be biased toward their neighborhood,” says Aguilar, a recent graduate of the communication major at Drexel University. “There is a sense of community. We feel like we are a special people, because we support one another.”

Aguilar says that he saw the same passion — and compassion — across the city in filming “In the Heart of Brotherly Love,” a 40-minute documentary that chronicles the identities and subcultures of three Philadelphia neighborhoods.

This article was previously published in the College News in the spring of 2018.

As the plane hovered 13,000 feet above the Earth, Kathy Chen didn’t feel fear until the adventure-seeker beside her hurtled out. Moments later, she and her skydiving instructor were free falling as well, the countryside of Japan and a distant view of Mt. Fuji unfurling beneath them.

Over the previous few weeks — even as she worked long hours at her event planning co-op in Hong Kong — the Drexel senior and New York City native had spent her weekends traveling and testing her personal limits: paragliding in Taiwan, bungee jumping in South Korea, skydiving in Japan.

“With the act of going abroad, I was already outside of my comfort zone. I wanted to further expand that comfort zone and overcome my fears,” she says.

Ashley earned her BS in communication with a public relations concentration in the spring of 2018 and is currently an associate at the public relations firm AKCG. She is also working to earn her MS in Public Communication here at Drexel.

My interest in crisis communication developed in the very beginning of my journey as a Dragon. I transferred to Drexel in the spring of 2016 and found myself in a public relations writing course with Professor Rosemary Rys. One day, she invited me to stick around and sit in on the guest speaker who was coming to lecture next. ‘I think you’ll really like him,’ was all she said to me.

Opting to stay truly changed my life.

It all started with a twist of fate.

As a high school freshman, Brandon Medina had life after graduation planned out: he would stay in his hometown of Philadelphia and join his father’s taxi business. When the family business closed, he began a journey that would ultimately change his mindset, leading him to the Communication major at Drexel and illuminating his passion for educating others.

“I attended one of the lowest performing public high schools in the city,” Medina says. “There was no college-going mindset there. There were massive budget cuts, nurses who were fired, not enough books to go around — the amount of resources was greatly diminished.”

This article appeared in the 2015 issue of the College of Arts and Sciences' Ask magazine.

“I was standing in the restaurant of the Four Seasons in Beijing. Camera lights were flashing, a model was posing; I was in the middle of it all. This was my ‘aha’ moment. It was when I realized all of my hard work spent networking, traveling, organizing photo shoots, staying up late to design and maintain my website — it all paid off. ‘This is happening,’ I thought. ‘I created my own career.’”

Ian Michael Crumm, a senior communication major at Drexel, smiles as he recounts one of his fondest memories: helping to organize and model in a fashion shoot for Beijing’s LifeStyle magazine with one of the city’s well-known fashion bloggers. His friend and fellow Drexel communication major Mollie Snyder was on co-op with the magazine at the time and invited Crumm to be a part of the spread.