Staff
Matt Gillam
Director of Student Recruitment at The Media School
Matt Gillam, BA '14, Director of Student Recruitment at The Media School
“I pursued a dual degree in economics and psychology at IU, and I also did a marketing minor. I was interested in the business side of life and had been applying to a lot of marketing related jobs, but I wasn’t super passionate about that. I really thought about what I had enjoyed the most about my time at IU, and one of the things I really loved was being a part of the Herbert Presidential Scholars program, which is a scholarship program for underrepresented and first-generation college students.
In that program, I served as sort of an ambassador in the sense that when students who were admitted to IU and had been awarded the scholarship would come, I would talk to them about my experience and what their future could hold. I did some research about how I can turn this love of talking to people about college into a career and that’s what led me to student affairs. I went on to do a master’s degree in student affairs at Ball State University.
One of the big things that I think attracts students to The Media School is the creative community that’s here. They have endless opportunities to get involved and gain experience. I think students really feel they’re getting a head start on their career while they’re here at The Media School. Moving forward, something that we’re really trying to focus on is identifying students on campus who would benefit from and thrive in our programs and getting them here as early as we can.
We now have 33 student ambassadors for The Media School, which is our largest and one of our most diverse groups ever. We look for students who are passionate about their experience in The Media School and want to share their story.
We’re always looking to expand our offerings to more types of students. Students from different backgrounds that have been underserved in the past because media is a broad-ranging field, and it encompasses a lot of different stories and storytelling.”
Written By Mia Galante
Photos By Emma Ramirez