Communication | When Makayla Twigg, a senior broadcast journalism major from Buffalo, New York, transferred to Harding as a sophomore because of her family ties to the university, she found her family in the Black Student Association (BSA). “When I met the group from BSA, it was the first year it started,” Twigg said. “They just became my family immediately as soon as I met them. I think BSA is important for people so that they have a sense of community with people that they are comfortable with when they come to Harding because all of us come from different backgrounds, and it’s just good to have people that share the same culture and experiences as you.” After serving as the event planner for BSA as a junior, Twigg stepped up and took the responsibility of president of BSA. Twigg’s goals for this year include making BSA more known for what it is and getting the group involved with other people and other parts of campus. “People a lot of the time, have a misconception of what BSA is,” Twigg said. “It’s just a group of people who share the same backgrounds, and even some people that don’t. We just get together, we talk about issues, we have game nights. It’s just a place for us to come together and have fun. It’s not supposed to be a secluded thing. It’s just a place where we can feel comfortable but also get involved with the rest of campus.” Through being in this leadership position, Twigg has learned even more about communication — learning the significance of making both connections and conversations. “Being in a leadership position, you have to deal with a lot of different kinds of people and catering to those people and how they received things,” Twigg said. “I definitely think that being president of BSA is going to help even more with communications with people once I graduate and leave into the real world. It has just helped me learn how to talk to different kinds of people and make connections with people, not just have conversations, but make connections and network with people.” After graduating, Twigg plans to stay in the communications field, even if it is not specifically in reporting. “I really love the whole field of communications because it is so broad and you can do so much with it, whether it be PR, advertising, broadcasting, event planning,” Twigg said. “There are just so many options and roads for you to go down.”
