The world has a plethora of choices to indulge in until one finds their niche in life. Through successes and failures one continues to learn until they find what they were destined to do during their duration here on Earth. That is exactly the kind of life that Marriel Hardy has lived and wants to share.
Hardy is originally from Jackson, Mississipi but moved to Raymond, Mississippi for a better life just outside the city limits. He attended Raymond High School in 2000 where is participated in extra curricular activities which included the marching band and the art club. Hardy has a strong sense of family which evolved from his parents Linda Hardy, an AT&T representative and William Hardy, who is a Walmart associate and his brothers Marcus and Michael. According to Hardy, “My greatest influences are my parents because they instilled values and morals within myself which helped me get to the point where I am today. Both of them led by example showing me what hard work and perseverance will get you.”
Upon graduating from high school in 2004, like most young men his age, Hardy pondered what to do in the next phase of his life. He knew that college was in his future but he wanted to go to a university that was away from home but wasn’t too far from home and that home eventually became Alcorn State University. Upon auditioning for Samuel Griffin, the then Band Director of Alcorn’s Sound of Dyn-O-Mite Marching Band, Hardy was offered a full scholarship to attend the university.
Once at Alcorn, Hardy majored in Music Education but chose to leave that major due to some unforeseen circumstances. After leaving the Music Education major Hardy decided to try his hand in the Business major which he also found himself leaving because it just wasn’t for him. At this point he was trying to find his niche in life and chose the field of Mass Communications which was perfect for him. Hardy states, “Choosing the Mass Communications field was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made. For all of the circumstances that I endured it led me to this major and it’s something that I’m good at.” Hardy obtained his Bachelors of Arts degree from Alcorn State in 2010 and in 2014 he received a Masters degree in Workforce Education Leadership also from Alcorn State.
He began his professional career as an Informational Services Coordinator at the J.D. Boyd Library on the campus of Alcorn State University but in his mind he was just biding his time until something better came along. That something better came in 2014 when he accepted a position as a Television Producer/Director for the Office of AREAS Communications within the School of Agriculture, Research, Extension, and Applied Sciences at Alcorn State University. His tasks for this position include spearheading and compiling all multimedia applications, social media initiatives and AREAS NOW, which is an e newsletter that goes out weekly.
Hardy’s advice to any student contemplating Mass Communications as a major is to, “educate yourself before you actually join the department, make certain that you’re up on all of the local trends, make certain that this is something that you really want to become involved in because the field is extremely competitive and make certain to differentiate yourself from the pack.”