Juan's Semester Reflection

This semester was above all a wake-up call. I have coasted throughout most of high school, had a failed run at a university, worked for a while, and finally decided to go back to school and make something of myself. Unfortunately, I did not truly appreciate the fact that good habits would not just "come to me" because I needed them to. Habits, like all things, require self-discipline and patience, 2 things that are absolutely required after your motivation has already expired. They form after repeating it multiple times; falling back on old ways is a given. How long it takes to come back from a relapse is the essence of being a good student, and a well-rounded person in general.

In addition, I learned the importance of socializing. For most of my life, it's been a struggle, and I think it has contributed to me being a deadbeat. One thing I really appreciated about Durgam College over UofT is that there were multiple group projects, which meant I was forced to interact with others. In the end, though, this proved to be exactly what I needed, and that it is a lot harder to goof off when you are not just responsible for yourself but also the grades of your peers. In addition, having friends is a necessary part of being a healthy human being.

As for the course itself, I truly appreciate that someone had the foresight to include communications in the STEM-related fields. A lot of students have brilliant minds when it comes to their area of study but ignore almost everything else, either out of lack of foresight or even ignorance. Far from being "useless" I think COMM is excellent preparation for the working world and will probably have as much of an effect on our performance and employment as what we learned in say programming or mathematics. It is very satisfying to be understood, as well as fully understanding others. It makes for a happier life and more effective working. Thank you very much, Dave, for the classes, and sorry for not being the best student I could have been.

The Importance of Professionalism

Like many things in life, no one is born knowing how to write professionally and in a dignified manner. Yes, you do learn how to write in grade school, but often times it is inadequate or the focus is only on writing essays and other academic papers. When the student graduates and goes out into the working world, they would at least know how to compose a formal text, but perhaps they don't really have the knowledge to write for specific formal settings. Luckily, here at Durham College in Canada where I study, the creators of my program were smart enough to realize -- perhaps from the experiences of their alumni -- that it should include a communications course. The language you should use doesn't just come in an "informal" or "formal" variant, but rather there are dozens of different forms each one with its own intricacies that will give you the best results. For example, giving someone bad news can be a delicate situation. For someone with no training, their instincts are to write from their own perspective, to explain things as they see it and how it relates to themselves. However, on the flip side, the reader's own instincts is also to view things from their own POV. As such, astute writers would use this to their advantage and switch their tone and message to largely focus on the reader. In addition, there are also some handy methods to use for when you want to "land the blow" so to say. In other situations, knowing how to be concise and say your message efficiently is equally as important. Just as tricky as "bad news" though is persuasion since humans by default aren't really looking to be persuaded of anything. The act of persuasion inherently involves entering into someone's space and trying to grab their attention away from whatever they were doing or planning on doing. It requires the same expertise learned by years of psychology and study as bad news messages. However, once you can perfect the techniques, doors will open to you that have never been open to you before.