Advising appointment

 

I attended a meeting with Professor Coopman to see where I stand in regards to graduating with my communications studies degree.  I was surprised to see how close I am to graduating!  I have only 7-8 additional classes that I need to complete before I can graduate. I came to San Jose State as a transfer student 3 years ago.  I was a marketing major for the first year and realized that it was not for me.  I then took a semester off to revaluate my situation and what I wanted to do.  The time off really helped me because I did not have a very good second year and even contemplated dropping out.  After deciding to become a communications major, I finally had a path that I thought I could be happy with and pursue.  I am almost done with my first semester as a communications major and I have really enjoyed what the major has to offer.  It has helped me grow and I can see myself gradually getting better with my public speaking and writing skills. I have also picked up my grades and hope to finish these last two weeks strong.  My meeting today (5/10/12) with Professor Coopman made me realize that if I keep on the path that I am right now I will be done by this time next year.  Knowing this will give me the extra motivation that I need to finish up my tenure here at San Jose State.

Comm Event 5/7/2012 (Trade show)

After attending the trade show today 5/7/2012, I thought it was great experience for people like me to create and learn how to present an idea to complete strangers.  The purpose of the trade show was to create an educational application for your smart phone.  It was interesting to see how people pitch their ideas by looking at the different tables that were set up.  Events like this one gives communications studies majors great experience with presenting an idea to potential investors.  It shows students what it could potentially be like after college and how you need to be articulate when trying to sell an idea to somebody. This trade show showed a lot about what it means to be in the communications department at San Jose State. The department clearly wants to help its students become contributing professionals, and has come up with creative ways to help them get there. Each table presented an educational application for a smart phone, and had to come up with a market analysis, a marketing plan, a budget, and an advertising plan. This shows that communications is a field of study that incorporates all facets of business, and really focuses those different factors on the most important part: how to communicate what you want to communicate to the right people. The communications program at SJSU is an excellent program, I have learned a lot in my time here.  The classes that I have taken thus far have given me perspective on what it takes to be successful in the real world, where communication skills are a necessity.  The communication events that this department puts on for its students are a great way to welcome other students that are interested in the major.  These activities and assignments that professor Lim is doing in the business and professional speaking course are very useful and helpful.  I have learned a lot this semester about how to work well in team settings. 

Reflection

This semester I have learned a lot about myself.  When this semester started I did not know what to expect because these were my first communication courses.  I learned to be more confident with my writing and speaking, especially public speaking which was previously a huge fear of mine.  There are still things I need to work on, for example being more vocal in class discussions and sharing my thoughts, but at least I now know these are things I need to work on.  I have a few goals to work towards as a communications major, and it is time to start making my goals reality. One of my goals is to become a sports broadcaster. Through my business and professional speaking course I had the opportunity of an informational interview with a broadcaster for the San Jose Giants, and I learned about the steps that need to be taken in order to achieve this goal.  Although this is just one of my dreams, I am taking steps in the right direction by meeting people in that field and trying to make connections.  I am only a junior and I still have a lot of improvements to make with my writing and speaking, but I hope by completing my communications degree it will give me the opportunity to actually accomplish my dreams.

Relational dialectics

            I found the theory of relational dialectics very interesting because it is very true that relationships can be pulled in more than one direction.  If you have been dating someone for a long time you may think it is easy to tell him or her anything, but sometimes it is not always easy.  Not being able to share things with your partner could end relationships.  It is important to find a balance between two things, like we discussed in class, the balance between connection and separation, certainty and uncertainty and openness and closeness.  If you cannot find a balance, then you will just be unhappy all the time.  Relationships give and take and you have to be willing to do both; you never will get your way one hundred percent of the time.  It is important to have this balance because you do not want to feel abandoned or smothered.  Remembering this theory will help keep one partner from dominating everything in the relationship.  For relationships to work you have to give and you have to know when to take. Nobody wants to be a part of a one sided partnership.  The text also mentions being spontaneous when you are in a relationship.  This is important because if everything becomes a routine, you could get that feeling of boredom which is not good for a relationship.

Kinesics

            There are many different ways of communicating, verbal (with words) and non-verbal (without words).  Kinesics is an example of non-verbal communication; it is a study of different gestures using your body language.  Everybody uses this form of communication in our daily lives, whether giving a presentation and using hand gestures to the audience or giving somebody a handshake when you meet someone.  There are many different ways of communicating non-verbally, and people can see this body language through your eyes, hands, arms, and posture.  I have learned that even if you are not a very big talker and are more reserved when you speak, people can still figure out what you are thinking or how you are feeling through your facial expressions or body stance. We are always communicating to people, even without using our words.  For example, in sports Kinesics is used more than verbal communication because you want to be able to fool your opponent and catch them by surprise.  It is very important for coaches and teammates to be able to communicate using this form of communication because you do not want the other teams to know what play you are going to run. We should always keep in mind to carry ourselves how we want other people to perceive us because we are always communicating, whether we mean to or not.

Citation

 

This is an important subject for college students who have to write a lot of papers over their time in school.  I started school as a business major, but have recently switched to Communications. Already I have had to write many more papers than I ever did as Business major.  This has created a whole new experience for me because now I have to write a paper almost every other week and all of these papers need to have proper citations.  This is challenging because of all the different citation styles that exist, such as MLA or APA, etc.  I have been marked down on a couple of papers for not citing the source correctly.  I agree, of course, that credit needs to be given for others' research, but I think the specific style requirements are too rigid.  I do not think students should pay so heavily for mis-citing a source, if the appropriate information has been included.  As long as the author's name and page number are included, and the book or article information is included in the bibliography, this gives proper credit to the author, and it should not matter what order it is written in or if the format is exact.

Self-disclosure

I found the topic we recently discussed in class of self-disclosure to be very interesting.  I am a person who keeps personal things inside; even though sometimes I wish that I did not do this.  I am very quiet person when I first get to know somebody. Sometimes it takes awhile for me to open up, and sometimes I never do open up.  Self-disclosure however is important in relationships because if you do want to take things further in a friendship or a relationship, it can help you get closer to the person if you want to open up and get to know that person better. Interdependency is also important in relationships in order to keep things balanced. If you had only one person who was dependent on the other and not both on each other, then the person being depended on may feel overwhelmed, and the dependent may feel less important. In my relationship with my girlfriend we have become interdependent and I also try to use self-disclosure. I have opened up, and it feels good that somebody else can see what I am going through and be able to relate and help me through things.  Also, with some of my close friends it is important to be able to communicate about what is going on in their lives because we can help each other work through problems.  The relationship with one's parents is also discussed in the text regarding self-disclosure. It is difficult to be able to open up to your parents about certain subjects.  My parents usually have to pry into me to get anything out, even when they can tell from my body language that something is bothering me.  I hope that as I get older I will get over my difficulty with self-disclosure and be able to share and be open up about personal issues with my family and friends. This will open up a whole new experience and feelings that will help me feel better.

Impression Management

I found our discussion in class last week (3/8) on impression management to be a very interesting topic to discuss. This topic is very important for me because people are always going to judge me by my actions, and this could have an impact on what kind of job I can get in the future.  Even though we may not think it is ok, everything we do is going to be judged; whether it is in a classroom, at a job, or trying to impress your friends.  The definition of impression management “is a goal-directed conscious or unconscious process in which people attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event; they do so by regulating and controlling information in social interaction” (Piwinger & Ebert 2001, pp. 1–2).  It is an interesting thing to consider now that we are getting to the time in life where we will be applying for professional jobs. Especially with all of the different online applications like Facebook, Linkedin or Myspace, it is important that you keep yourself reserved so that a future potential employer does not get the wrong idea of who you are and what kind of professional you will be.  It is important that you manage your impressions and control the information that is distributed about you so that people will take you seriously.  Your reputation will always follow you, so make sure that you think things through before taking action. 

1st Public Speech of the Semester

I presented my first speech of the semester yesterday in my 114P class, Business and Professional Speaking.  The topic that I chose for my briefing was tips to help someone become a better public speaker.  The assignment was to inform the class on something they do not already know or can improve on.  I did research before presenting my speech, and my three pointers were knowing your audience and know the material, breathing tricks and what you do not want to do when public speaking. I thought these were well informed and organized.  I also got the class involved by asking a question at the start of the speech, which helped take some of the emphasis off of me and also keep the audience engaged.  After giving the speech, I believe my delivery can be improved. One of the reasons my delivery was not up to my standards was that I was not able to use my power point slides because the connection on my computer did not match the connection that was in the class.  I learned for future reference that a way I can improve on this is to be better prepared with the visual aid and have a back up plan by either bringing in a flash drive or emailing the presentation to myself, so that I can open it up on another classmate's computer.  Another thing I could improve on is to focus more on my eye contact with the class. Sometimes I relied too much on the notes in front of me and did not look at the class as much as I should have. Knowing the positives and negatives of my first speech will definitely help me in preparing for my next one. 

My central communication struggle of my life.

My most central communication struggle is public speaking.  Being in front of an audience gets my emotions all out of whack.  My heart starts pounding and sometimes I will even shake at times.  I do not have problems speaking when it is one on one, but there is something about getting in front of a group of people that I have been intimidated by.  The only time that I remember feeling a little comfortable in front of an audience was the Comm 20 public speaking course.  I was able to feel more comfortable with each speech I gave, but it was a few years ago that I took that course, so I lost all my confidence that I had.

             I believe that studying deeper into the communication major and taking more classes will help me get a better understanding of how to communicate more effectively. It will help me better understand issues to be able to elaborate more on topics that we are discussing in class, whether it is an interview or a presentation, etc.  Although I am not yet a great public speaker, hopefully by the end of this semester I will at least have a firm understanding of how to put together a good presentation.  I am looking forward to this semester, hopefully to get a better understanding of these topics and to be able to apply them in my everyday life.

Before becoming a Communication studies major, I had thought that Communications was just communicating different topics to people, largely through public speaking.  I have been learning though that it is not just speaking, it can include different things like research communicating and business communicating.  Almost anything applies to Communication studies. Communication studies bring an integral skill to all individuals because if you do not know how to communicate effectively, it will be hard for people to understand or take you seriously.  Whether for a job interview or a presentation in front of an audience, these skills will be extremely helpful. 

I am in the beginning stages of my communications, but what I would like to get out of this degree is to become a better speaker and communicator.  I believe with these tools it will open a lot of doors in searching for a career.  I have not done much research into the different types of careers that come with being a Communications major yet, but I believe it will help me in many different areas of organizations.  My dream job would be to become a Sports Center broadcaster, but I would also like to consider management positions in a variety of organizations.  In these areas of work you need to be able to communicate to your peers and employees, and that is where Communications studies will really help me to become successful.