Sarah Medeiros had a nomadic childhood as a “Foreign Service kid,” and, armed with her MA in International Media* from American University School of Communication (AU SOC) she just started her next adventure as Assistant for Communications and External Affairs at the National Women's Law Center in DC.

Medeiros started working on her capstone “From Superpowers to Soft Power: China’s influence (or lack thereof) on the Marvel Cinematic Universe” during her first semester, and the hard work paid off – she took second place in the AU Graduate Student Showcase in the 2017.

SOC: Why did you choose to attend American University School of Communication (AU SOC)?

SM: Out of all the graduate programs that I had researched or visited, I was the most impressed by AU's focus on professional development and diversity. A number of the other schools I felt were really limited in scope and focused far too much on the theoretical application of our studies rather than practical application. I was attending graduate school in order to learn more and make myself more prepared to enter the workforce, and I felt like AU understood that. The fact that AU attracts students from all over the world and from so many different backgrounds was also an important part of my attraction to it.

SOC: What did you take away from your experience as a student in SOC?

SM: I think what I valued the most from my experience at the SOC was everything that I learned from my peers, which is generally far too much for me to even begin to list here. I had the honor of getting to attend class and work with some truly great fellow students, and I am a far richer person for it.

SOC: What is the most important skill that you learned during your time at American University?

SM: The examination of the ways in which both old and new media continue to intermingle to make our world function today. Not everything has evolved or changed overnight in the glut of new technology, and not everything should change so drastically. Studying those aspects of modern life and the way we must use old and new tools will have numerous real world applications going forward.

*The MA in International Media has been renamed the MA in Global Media.