Telly Staley ’27 on Changing Majors and Thriving

By Gabe Hendershot, October 22, 2025

IC Is the Place for Me: Student Stories, Told by Students

IC Is the Place for Me: Student Stories, Told by Students

Telly Staley ’27 is an advertising, public relations, and marketing communications (APRMC) major with a minor in legal studies. However, when they came to Ithaca College their plans looked a lot different.

Telly is from Needham, Massachusetts. When they were deciding what college to attend, they were looking for somewhere they would know their classmates well but still be able to meet new people on campus and spread their wings a bit. With that in mind, there were a few things that pushed Telly toward IC.

Telly enrolled as a theatre production and design major in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance (MTD). They valued the experiences they would get at IC where they would be challenged by the views and work of other students and be forced to examine their own beliefs to grow and learn. The school also offered a lot of hands-on experiences and assistance in the transition into professional work.

Like most students, there were aspects of the transition to college life that Telly found challenging. For one, they are close to their family, and it was hard being away from them. “I couldn’t just pop into my mom’s office anymore to tell her some random thoughts I had.”

Telly at the Cafe Du Monde.

As they developed a solid group of friends, though, Telly found people with whom they could share all those little things. With these friends, they were able to navigate the transition to a less scheduled life: “When you’re in high school, so much of your schedule is decided for you.” Telly quickly developed skills to deal with this and began scheduling times for things like laundry and classwork that they now say are second nature to them. “Especially freshmen year you’re like ‘I’m not an adult’ and then you’re thrown into the deep end, and you realize that you are.”

When Telly realized they can do things for themselves rather than for the appeasement of the adults in their lives, the next big change came.

During the spring semester of their first year, something felt off with their major even though the classes were amazing and they were even assigned to be on the crew of a show. This was their dream and IC was delivering. After a summer of consulting with family and working in the field, the ah-ha moment came. Telly realized “I like the process of theatre but not the work of theatre.” Despite what they thought before college, theatre was not for them.

Telly was not sure what they wanted to do or how their life at IC would change, which was worrisome. For some students, the thing they find interesting during the college application process turns out to be the thing they want to pursue. For the students that do not have that kind of luck, it can be difficult to self-advocate and do the introspection required to make that change. And Telly will attest to it taking work.

"My aspirations and goals had changed, and I was extremely lucky to be at a school that accommodated that.”

First, Telly made a list of all the majors they might be interested in and then sat down with the chairs for those majors and discussed what the classes are like, what the expectations are, and what they could expect to learn. “They (the department chairs) were very willing to share, and they set it all up during the summer, which I think is very telling of who Ithaca professors are.” Telly found this to be an incredibly helpful part of the process, specifically all the guidance they received from the chair of strategic communication, Scott Hamula in the Roy H. Park School of Communications.

Telly Staley at an American Marketing Association meeting.

Now that Telly is in the APRMC program, Hamula has much to say: “Telly is an amazing student! Smart, curious, enthusiastic, and kind […] Telly excelled both as an individual student and as an integral part of their final project team.”

Telly also found the Academic Support Center to be very supportive during their transition into the APRMC program. The center helped them review their schedule, assisted with registration, and reviewed credit requirements to ensure Telly would still graduate on time. “My aspirations and goals had changed, and I was extremely lucky to be at a school that accommodated that.”

In their new program, Telly is feeling right at home. They have a real love for their APRMC classes. They have greatly enjoyed learning how to market products and create brand identities. Telly spoke excitedly of the end of the program where they will have the opportunity to create marketing content that is on par with professional work.

When Telly switched out of the theatre production and design program, they worried that they would lose the friends they had made in MTD and that maybe they would struggle to create new ones. The opposite was true: Telly kept all their MTD friends and made even more friends in APRMC. They also worried, when they first came to IC, that they would not get to be as close to their mom, but that was not a problem either. As they talked about their transition to APRMC, their mom came to campus frequently. She was someone to talk things through with, someone who helped Telly initiate the change in major, and a person for them to turn when things felt overwhelming or scary. Just because college students are adults does not mean they don’t need their parents to back them up.

Telly is also grateful for the year they spent in a different program; Ithaca would look a lot different for them without the time they had in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Now that they have adjusted to life on campus and in a new major, they are more confident than ever.

About The Author

Gabe Hendershot ’27 is an Ithaca College junior majoring in Film, Photography, and Visual Arts. He enjoys all kinds of creation and wants to tell the stories of the people who have, just like him, found a home at IC.