What's Next

This semester has been a whirlwind. It has flown by so fast. I have taken quite a few communication courses previously, so much of this was repeat for me. Being exposed to the material multiple times is always useful though. With each communication course I grow a little more each time. I learn more about myself and the people I interact with on a daily basis. I always learn more effective ways of communicating with others. I am usually really blunt and straightforward which can be too much for people sometimes. I come off too strong and rude, so I have learned to phrase my comments more appropriately. I have also applied listening skills I have learned. When friends ask me for advice I make sure I ask plenty of questions about the situation before giving my advice. I have one year left and then I graduate spring of 2013. After that I plan to move back to San Diego. I will probably start looking for jobs in the event coordinating field and look into grad school. I haven't decided on graduate school 100% yet, so I think I will take some time figure out what exactly I want to do.

Graduate School or Not?

I am a junior and have 1 more year left before I graduate next spring (hopefully, if all goes as planned). I have always been 50/50 on grad school and wasn't sure if I wanted to do it. I think I would definitely like to take some time off before I do if I decide to go that route. Deanna actually brought grad school up with me and told me I could come sit in on one of her grad classes, so I took her up on that offer. I went to her grad class on interviewing where they learn to conduct interviews for their research. It was really great to go and observe a grad class since I didn't know much about any grad program.Watching them interact compared to an undergrad class was very intriguing. They all participated and they participated more than most undergrad classes would. They could easily talk about a topic for the entirety of the class if they didn't have to move on to other things. I love that kind of interaction so that gave me a little inspiration right there. The students were all very welcoming, gladly answered any of my questions, and wished me luck with my classes on my way out. If at all possible at any time during your studies as an undergrad and you're possibly thinking about grad school, even remotely, I recommend sitting in on a class if you have a teacher that allows you to. It was a great experience that definitely got me thinking and inspired me a little bit. I immediately came home and started looking up some grad programs. I am still undecided, but it got some wheels turning in my head and answered a lot of questions I had. 

Legacy of Poetry Day at SJSU

The other day, Thursday April 19th, I was leaving my class in HGH and walking to Washington Square Hall for my other class. Outside the library there was a canopy with a microphone stand and a bunch of chairs. People were sitting down listening to speakers. I was interested, so I stopped. Turns out they were having an event for SJSU Legacy of Poetry Day. They had many different poets who had graduated from SJSU reading that day. I had about 45 minutes to spare before my next class so I sat and listened a few readers. I myself am not a poet and haven't really tried writing poetry, but as I was listening to the speakers read their poems I made a connection with communication. Obviously they are speaking, but this is their way of expressing their feelings and emotions. It got me thinking how I express my emotions. I am not really afraid to disclose my emotions, I actually need to talk about them to someone to make myself feel better. I realized that it doesn't come as easily to some but they still have beautiful forms of expressing their emotions. It is the same with musicians, dancers, any art form. Many of us use art forms to express ourselves because it is easier than the spoken word. It is still communication though. This was not specifically a communication event, but I felt it still pertained to communication a lot. I particularly liked this one poem about waves because I am from San Diego so it reminded me of the beaches back home I grew up on =) Every time I go home, even in winter, I go sit on the beach and watch the waves.

It Was All A Big Misunderstanding

We discussed misunderstandings in class last week and there is nothing that irks me more than when something so little gets blown out of proportion because of a little misunderstanding. It drives me crazy when I am watching a movie and you can see what two people are thinking but won't say to each other and I think to myself "just tell them that because they are thinking something completely different!" I often end up talking too much or giving too much detail because I want to make sure my listener completely understands. My friends make fun of me when I tell stories because I take forever. What also pisses me off, and I am guilty of this sometimes, is when someone gets upset because person A told them something about person B and they jump to conclusions, getting pissed at person B without first confronting them calmly and asking for their side. There has been a lot of miscommunication and misunderstandings in my family lately and we finally sat down and had a family discussion. After listening to everybody for a while and finally hearing everything everyone was thinking I got all "communication studies major" on them and talked about what terrible communication we have and that we need to fix it. I think this is one reason I am a communication studies major, because I feel it is one of our biggest problems as a society. I love that moment of clarity when people finally sit down to talk and things are cleared up. 

My Plan

I went and met with professor Gao Ge, a comm advisor, today to discuss potential classes I should take for the remainder of my time here at San Jose State. I had met with her previously to discuss the amount of credits I needed and in what areas. This time I discussed some of the classes I should take based on my career plans after college. We figured out how many units I need to take these next two semesters to be able to graduate next spring in 2013. I was able to lay out each semester with all the classes I need/want. I am pretty set on what I want to do, so it was easy to figure out. It was very helpful to see it layed out in front of me. I am able to visualize it and see what needs to be done now. I like structure so planning it all out gives me that structure to follow. My next two semesters have to consist of 15 units each. I need to do both my I classes, 198, 199c, and my R and S sections of the SJSU studies. That leaves me with 10 extra units to reach the required 120 to graduate. Since I want to go into event coordinating, we discussed kind of creating my own minor. I don't want to take on a minor because I want to graduate next spring and be done, but for those extra units, I will take classes in PR or hospitality/management to have somewhat of an emphasis. Professor Ge was very helpful and answered all of my questions. Meeting with an advisor was extremely beneficial.

My Classroom Environment

I am usually a pretty outspoken participant in the classroom. I definitely think I get a better learning experience when the students get the chance to interact with each other. I need to be interested in the subject to be engaged as well. I also participate more when the teacher sets up a comfortable environment. I prefer a more casual setting, less formal and structured, where the whole class is having a simple discussion. I like the teacher to be just as engaged as the students. I understand if they want to let the students have a chance to speak, but their word is just as valuable. I see us as equals and I like when the teacher does as well. I notice I am quieter in certain classes and I think the biggest issue is whether I am really interested in the subject or not. The environment the students set up is vital as well. It is important that the students all respect each other, let others speak freely, let everyone have a chance to speak, but also everyone be willing to contribute to the discussion. There is nothing worse than when no one wants to talk at all. My favorite class was a gender communications class at my community college. Each week we were to read a chapter and the first day we met that week we would get in a circle and just discuss it, kind of like we do in this class. It was the most beneficial interesting class ever. That is my ideal class.

Why Should I Tell You?

Self-disclosure can be extremely tricky. There are many risks involved. When you tell a person something you are giving them some sort of power over you. They can now use that information against you to harm you. I feel I am a pretty moderate self-discloser. I definitely don't mind telling just about everything to my best friends, boyfriend, and most my family. Then there are some people I tell most to, but not everything. I am not afraid to self-disclose or share my feelings, but I am definitely more careful about who I chose to self-disclose to. When I was in high school, young and naive, I didn't care. I was such a people person and "friends" (if you can call it that) with a lot of people and shared my life openly. I was constantly changing groups and "best friends" so I realize I probably shouldn't have been telling people as much as I did. I guess at that age I did not have much to disclose or worry about though. Now, I have much more to disclose and choose more wisely. It seems like I disclose a lot because I have quite a few friends that I am very close with and comfortable disclosing to, but they are selected very carefully over many years. Also, I like having various people to disclose to because when I have a problem I want to discuss I can get different opinions and advice. I find that I will share different degrees of different aspects of my life to different people. I may share more information about my family with my best friend and I will also share information about my family with a friend, but maybe not as much as I shared with my best friend. School, work, hobbies, taste in movies, music, food, etc. are pretty generic things that I would disclose to just about anyone. Family life I share with just about anyone to the degree of our lifestyle, how we were raised, my relationship with my parents and siblings, and things of that sort but I won't get into family issues. Overall, we need to disclose to some degree because it helps us shape our identity. It also is not healthy to keep stuff in and never discuss it, so try to find at least one person you can disclose to.