Final blog post! Already?

Rosa Saucedo                                                                                                      Comm101C

            My third year of college has come to an end and I feel that my communication skills have strongly improved. Taking this junior seminar has taught me to take different behaviors that I never even knew there were theories for and apply to them to almost anything. It has taught me to think ‘outside the box’. For example, I did my communication analysis project on the Kardashians. Who would have thought I could have so much to analyze from a family who’s famous for random reasons? I analyzed each aspect of this family using the relational dialectics theory and came up with so much out of this show. Every time we discussed a theory in class, I learned to be able to speak it into my every day conversations. There are aspects of every theory every where and it’s so interesting for me to have been able to notice that through this class.

            In my future as a communication scholar, I do not wish to focus on creating new theories. My plan is mostly to use these theories and to apply them wherever I choose to take my career. There are parts of all the theories we have gone over than can help me in my everyday life and in my future as well. It helps me open my eyes, because it is like putting your finger on something that is not necessarily visible.

            My communication skills and behavior have obviously changed from the moment I declared my communication studies major my sophomore year until now. What are now different are the skills I have learned that are probably not noticeable to others around me, but they are to me. Yes, I have gotten less shy and more talkative in the past year. Two years ago, I would be up in front of the class giving a presentation while shaking from being nervous. The fear slowly disappeared as I transitioned into being a communication major but at that point, all I feared was WHAT exactly I was going to say and if it was going to make an impact.

            Preparation for speeches, and the poster presentations, is especially important and comm101C has proved that to me. Of course, it is crucial to go prepared to ANY class presentation and I did, but now I have learned a new way to practice. I learned that not only are you presenting the material you have researched, studied or gathered up; but you are presenting that you know every in and out of the topic. When I presented my poster for relational dialectics, not only did I have to make a poster and read the chapter on the theory. That is not what it takes. I spent days, hours preparing for what possible questions the professor or any student could ask me about my topic. This project helped me open my eyes, that no matter what kind of presentation you are giving, you have to put yourself in the audience’s shoes. It is simply not enough to sit there and write down 10 note cards and memorize a speech.

            What if you were an audience member? Would you understand what you are saying?

            Another way this class has helped me is through the mock interview I mentioned before. I have never actually sat down and thought of what kind of job I would apply for after I graduate. In fact, every time I did, I would get stressed and do something else. When I heard that for one of our biggest assignments, we had to pretend we were trying to get hired for a job we want after college, I freaked out. I made myself sit there and think. I looked up jobs online. I searched for jobs previous communication majors have chosen with their degree. I juggled between choosing minors or a second major. To put it simply, I was stressed. It was a different type of stress, not like the stress I experienced last semester, because I had two jobs, a sorority and school. It was a stress that made me realize that I am really growing up quick. I knew that I had to get my plans together and even if I did not need to have a set career in mind, I needed to at least have an idea by the end of the semester.

            There are obvious things I can go into as a communication major, but that is what I do know. I know what I DON’T want to do. If I ever end up having an office job, I at least would like to have frequent business trips so I can travel. The only thing I knew I wanted for my future was to be around new people everyday.

            As I prepare for the mock interview on the last day of class, I am challenging myself to random questions that could possibly be asked in a real world job interview. If it was any other assignment from before this semester, I would simply write down points I have on my resume and wish myself luck. This is one way this class has helped me improve and I believe this is something I can carry with myself in my future as a communication scholars. I began looking into internships, applying and I joined a mentor program on campus for kids. I started to go every Friday morning to Washington Elementary school to mentor two children. We read and then would go outside to play. I realized that maybe; just maybe, I wanted to be around kids with my future job. They all loved me and even children I knew would run up to me looking so excited just to say hi. I decided that I wanted to do more.

            Then the person in charge of the mentor sent me a forwarded message of an organization on campus about interning abroad. I usually ignore these e-mails. But this time, I looked into it and read about it. I was eager to apply, so I interviewed with the girl in charge the day after I e-mailed her. I spoke to my parents about going to a different country and convinced them to let me. Soon enough, I made myself a profile on their website, and began receiving e-mails from different countries such as Colombia, Taiwan, Brazil and China. I contacted Brazil back about an internship that involved playing soccer with underprivileged kids and working with a team to help them. I had the interview over the phone and was approved. I am now going to Brazil this June for six weeks to intern for this program. I am happier than ever and it is crazy to think that it all began with that e-mail.

            Looking back to the beginning of the semester, my goals in how I want to pursue my career as a communication studies major sound similar. I sound unsure back then, because that is exactly what I was, unsure. I said, “My career path in communication is not something I have determined yet, but I see myself working around different people every day. I think diversity is really important in communication.”  Re-reading this statement makes me that much more glad that I am going to take on this awesome opportunity this summer in Brazil. I go on to say that “I am very interested in how different cultures communicate…” I have always imagined that I would travel at least once in my life to somewhere totally different. I am so passionate about learning about how Brazilian culture will be different from our American culture. I wonder if it is similar to the Mexican culture and am so curious.

             My point is, is that I love that I have changed since the beginning of the semester. You could say that in the beginning, I sort of expected everything to fall into place. With how confused I was with what I wanted for my future, it stressed me out to even think about it. I expected to just “go with the flow” and keep doing what I was doing. But I now realize that there is always room for improvement as an individual.

            I’m not going to lie, it still stresses me out, but I have been doing more for myself personally in order to help my future. I have been trying to not procrastinate as much and do better at managing my job and school.

            This summer might change my outlook on what I want and that is exactly what I want to get out of it. Besides the usual learning about different cultures and helping people, I want to learn more about myself. I am eager to see the children I will be working for to help them.

            In being able to apply how I feel about my life now after this class and this semester is the social penetration theory. Imagine an onion: as you peel it, you find that it has so many layers, some thicker than others. The outer layers are more of the everyday conversation topics, such as what kind of music you enjoy or what you like to do on your free time. The very middle is considered the concept of self. In my opinion, I might not have been sharing these things with others, but as the semester went on, I began to realize some of my own “onion layers”.

            Personality structure is defined as onion-like layers of beliefs and feelings about self, others, and the world. The theory says that the deeper layers are more vulnerable, protected and central to self image. This is true between my parents and I, because this semester I kept all my feelings to myself. I never once asked them for money. If I ever needed money, I would learn to figure it out. I am the kind of person that wants to earn what I get. For example, my trip to Brazil is going to be paid by myself. My dad is giving me extra money for when I am there, but everything else is on my own.

            Independent is one quality I have learned through this semester and this is because I don’t want to rely on anyone to help me or tries to change my ideas. I realize now that this is needed, though. I can’t do everything on my own. Just recently, I opened up to my parents and showed them my ‘inner layer’. It is important to open up once in a while. After this talk, I was clearer on how to approach my future.

            Overall, this class triggered a numerous amount of thoughts about me and what I want in my future. It seems unbelievable, right? Well I am glad this is true. What’s the point of taking upper division major classes if they don’t affect your mind in one way or another? J