A conversation with Rick McGuire ’07 and Emily Morgan ’27, journalism and political science.
Rick Mcguire ’07, communication studies, discovered his passion for communication at the beginning of his junior year after switching majors to communication studies. After graduating, McGuire worked in television production for companies such as NBCUniversal and MTV. He went on to found two social media companies focusing on showcasing New York City’s culture from the perspectives of New Yorkers, SubwayCreatures and WhatIsNewYork, in 2011 and 2018, respectively.
Why did you choose to study at URI?
I grew up in northern New Jersey, just outside of New York City. URI was one of those schools that I fell in love with immediately because the campus was so beautiful. I guess they had the right people out there showing me around because I really liked the people as well. It was kind of that distance, far enough from home where I didn’t always have to come back, but if there was an emergency and I needed to go home, it was only about a three-hour drive. There were so many things that I loved about it, academics aside.
What made you choose your majors?
I had no idea what I wanted to do when I first went to URI. I started off as a sociology major, but I realized I didn’t necessarily want to do that. I tried the business route, and to me, it was boring. With communication studies, I felt there was such a wide array of things that fall under it. I thought I would stick with it because there are so many different things I can do with it. Right off the bat, when I started taking some classes, I immediately noticed that was where I felt comfortable and where I could thrive. The public speaking classes really helped because you’re kind of forced into getting up in front of people to talk, which definitely helped with building confidence and forming relationships. Going into the workspace, I felt more confident, which I can credit to my public speaking practice.
How do you use the skills you learned while at URI today?
Public speaking is such a big part of it, especially because right out of college, I went into television production. I had to do an internship my junior year, and I didn’t necessarily want to do one since it was over the summer, but I wound up working at VH1 in Times Square. It was very overwhelming, but I had to make the best of it, and that internship was where I fell in love with television and production. I knew that right out of college, I wanted to do this and make a living out of it. Even though I am not doing that now as a career, there is a lot of overlap with what I am doing now.
What is your favorite memory from URI?
It was the people I met who I still consider my best friends. I try to get up there as often as I can. There is just this community feeling up there where you don’t feel like you’re getting lost in the mix. It would be an injustice to pinpoint just one thing, but honestly, it’s just the community up there that is a big one but feels small.
What one piece of advice would you give students who are preparing to enter the workforce?
Don’t freak out. Everyone has this mindset that the second you graduate, you have to find a job that you want to be in 20 years down the road. That’s not true. You can reinvent yourself at any point. Don’t think that there is only one route you have to go and that you have to know what it is the second you graduate. When you’re entering the workforce, just get your foot in the door, network, and make as many connections as you can. It’s going to open a lot of doors if you do it that way, but do not put blinders on and think that this is the only way to go. Especially with the Harrington school and communication studies, there are so many things that fall under that category that you can do. Eventually, you will figure out what you love and then that is when you can really dig in and move in that direction.