Reflection - Blog post

Taking COMM 351 has been an amazing experience! This class has helped me in more ways than I could possibly put into words, but I’ll try my best to share my favorite aspects of it.

Having to create my own WIX site definitely helped with improving my professional presence. When I took Professor Lietzenmayer before I created a site, but it definitely wasn’t as good as the one from this semester. This time around I had more experience with WIX, so I was able to create my site the way that I wanted to with little to no complications. Professor Lietzenmayer stressed making sure that our sites were professional because it was very possible that professionals could be visiting our site. When it came down to designing my site and the layout I kept it simple, but with a little flair which represented my personality. Having to create a site made me aware that my work must be up to par because I never know who may be visiting my site or when an opportunity could come about for me just from my work on the site. My professional presence has improved tremendously because my site is not only professional, but I made sure they my work exceeds expectations and it represents who I am.

The things that I like the most about my ePortfolio are the layout and my work that is showcased up there. WIX can be a little challenging at times but after using it previously I had mastered it, so it was very easy creating it the way that I wanted to. When it came down to designing my site I wanted to make sure that it was appealing to my readers and that it would make them want to visit it frequently. I worked so hard on making sure that might sight represented how passionate I am about my future career field and when I look at it makes me very proud, because I know that all of my hard work was not in vain.

My favorite writing sample/course project that I posted to my ePortfolio was the executive summary. It was my favorite because that was during the beginning of the semester when we really started getting into interpersonal communication in the workplace and the different aspects of it. I enjoyed writing that course project because I enjoyed reading the chapters for that module and learning about what creates a great work environment along with what also hinders it as well. I loved expressing how important verbal and nonverbal communication is so important in the workplace even when we do not realize it. Writing the critical assessment for that project was my favorite part of that assignment because I learned so much from researching on what is really taking place in the workplace when it comes to communication.

The most challenging aspect of the ePortfolio was making sure that my course projects were informative while making sure that my voice was heard in my writing. Sometimes I struggled with having so much information in my course projects and it made me feel that no one was going to visit my site and read them. I had to learn that providing my readers with very thought out and well put information but keeping them interested while reading them was just as important. There were plenty of times when I asked Professor Lietzenmayer what exactly was expected for the assignments and how we needed to execute them. I always wanted to make sure that my readers not only learned something from my work but they enjoyed reading it.

The only advice that I would give to future students is to make sure that work really hard on creating a professional ePortfolio and making sure that their work is just as good. Your ePortfolio sells yourself without you actually having to do it yourself and they should use it accordingly because they never know who might be visiting it. They should definitely use this site to their advantage and really market themselves! Also, after receiving feedback from Professor Lietzenmayer on the assignments they definitely should take her comments into consideration and to change things accordingly. As long as they create a professionally appealing site and make sure that their course projects are up to par then they will do very well in this course.

Interpersonal and organizational communication goes hand in hand with one another in various ways. However, the most important aspect of both of them are needed in order to have a successful and functional workplace. Interpersonal communication is very prevalent in the workplace because it is the process of sending and receiving information. Organizational communication is when persons work collectively to complete something. Employers as well as companies need to realize that these two things are needed in order for them to be and remain successful.

Having knowledge of ethical communication is very important in order to have an inclusive work environment. Ethical communication is based upon creating trust and respect amongst others in the workplace along with many other things. When persons working together in the workplace do not have trust and respect for one another not only does it create a bad work environment, but it also makes it hard for the company to get things done successfully. Employers and companies have to make sure that they do everything in their power to make sure that they have this squared away amongst their company.

After taking this course I have a better understanding of what interpersonal communication is and the many aspects that go along with it. This course not only opened my eyes to what I will be dealing with in my future career path, but it helped me understand the importance of working together professionally. This course helped me understand that there is more to the communications field than persons actually know about and the most important aspect of it is working together so that everyone can move up on the professional ladder and reach towards greatness.