Turning Your "Wants" into Your Reality

Tina Powell, MCM Candidate, May 2015


It happened when I got my first book published. It happened again when I ran a half marathon … and when I visited Italy. It even happened when I told friends and colleagues that I had signed up to get my Masters of Communication Management at USC Annenberg. It seems that whenever I do something even remotely interesting or exciting, someone is bound to say, “Oh, I’ve always wanted to do that!”

The truth of the matter is … if a person really WANTS to do something, he or she finds a way. Somehow, someway they make it happen.

I had always wanted to get my Masters. At least that’s what I thought … however, I always seemed to have a great excuse. My family needed me. My business would suffer. Should I really invest all that money? Would it make any difference in my career at this stage? Finally, I realized that if I truly wanted to get my Masters, now was the time.

In the fall of 2013, I started my online MCM courses and in short order I realized that I actually wanted much more than a piece of paper.

  • I wanted to be at the forefront of communications research and theory.
  • I wanted to learn from the very best in the industry.
  • I wanted to connect and bond with communications leaders from all over the world.
  • I wanted to be academically and intellectually challenged as never before.
  • I wanted to expand my mind and expand my business.
  • I wanted to be a USC Trojan for life!

Now twenty short months later, as I prepare to cross the stage as a USC Masters Graduate, I have never been more proud. I absolutely got everything I wanted and more.

So, if you’ve always wanted to write a book, run a marathon, visit Italy, or get a Masters Degree, just do it. Life’s too short, not to do what you want.