Samantha Mesa (BA ’13) 

"I’m currently a primetime anchor at the ABC affiliate in Des Moines, Iowa, where I co-host 'We Are Iowa' and Midday, while also filling in on evening primetime shows and enterprising special reports. I graduated from CU Denver with a joint degree in communication and political science. During my time at CU Denver, I worked extensively with Professor Stephen Hartnett for much of my communication courses. I came to the Communications department hoping to find a support system of solution seekers and community builders. Professor Hartnett’s classes profoundly affected my growing passion to pursue finding solutions to our worlds pressing issues through research and dialogue. I was one of few undergrads accepted into his masters course that included working in the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility as a tutor. This was a transformative experience as I observed Professor Hartnett skillfully navigate communicating amongst graduate level students, while simultaneously adapting to the women in prison who had limited to incomplete educational backgrounds, while also carrying immense trauma. It was through that experience that I learned that immersion into a societal issue is critical to creating a solution. That interpersonal experience of diverse backgrounds and levels of personal freedom (we as students could leave the prison after the class. The women could not.) showed me that we cannot ever assume we have a solution to a problem. We must unpack issues in layers and be intentional with our words and actions, while remaining open to other perspectives, and perhaps acknowledging our own blind spots. We compiled the women’s poetry in “Captured Words, Free Thoughts,” a sobering illumination of the traumas, mistakes, and injustices that lead to these women serving time in prison. In addition to that course, the classes I took in global communication and media shaped my path towards working in media. I research and condense complex stories from political scandals, to education, to crime and the justice system. Every day in the newsroom, I’m a part of writing history into digestible daily newscasts. I honed my ability to speak in front of a room through the communication courses under Professor Hartnett. I was terrified of public speaking when I first started my degree. I found my voice and how to command the facts through completing my communication degree. Professor Hartnett encouraged a deep commitment to understanding cultures, social justice issues, and the power of words. I'm a better journalist for completing his coursework."

Check out our Communication Program alumni on LinkedIn

Undergraduate and graduate students in Communication qualify for a wide variety of jobs. Check out the University of Colorado Denver Department of Communication Group on LinkedIn to learn about our alumni.

The following list suggests some of the careers for which students might qualify:

More Resources

Many excellent resources are available in the library of the Career Center of the University of Colorado at Denver and at the Auraria Library.