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.