Final Blog

This semester in, Introduction to Communication Studies, has been a journey for me. I began this class by not knowing what I was going to learn. In my head I thought, “Introduction to communication studies… that’ll be easy!”, but oh how I was wrong.  Quickly I learned that this was going to be a class full of constant learning and application. After diving into the first few theories of our book I was somewhat lost. I became uninterested in the material because I couldn’t understand what I was learning in class. Before I got to far I knew that I needed to pull it together and figure out what to do. That is where I joined a study group to get back on track with the class and my grades. After learning about these theories in words that were more understandable to me, it opened my eyes to what was actually being taught. We were learning about theories that related to real life problems, issues, and experiences. Ever since then I started to look at theories with a new light. I seen the importance and relevance they had in my everyday life and started to see where they fit in for me. Every activity and project from that point forward became easier and easier for me to understand because I had a new viewpoint. I no longer seen this as something I was not going to benefit from, but rather something that could change my life. From this class journey I learned that I can accomplish that I set my mind to. The most important thing is to not give up, but also ask for help when needed. At times I become afraid to ask for it because I don’t want to sound stupid, but that’s not the case at all, that is what my teachers and peer are here for. For us all help each other out in understanding the goal of the class. If I were to choose a word to define myself it would be determined. This is because once I put my efforts towards something I want to accomplish, I know that it will get done.

In terms of where I see myself on the map of communication studies I believe that I see myself in the same place that I did in the beginning of the semester. I see myself as an interpretivist, which believes multiple meanings to be true. Especially learning what I did over the course of this semester I believe that it opened up my mind to think more meanings can be true based on the situation. It has caused me to become more open minded and eager to learn.

Learning about theories and their application to real life experiences throughout the course of this semester has grown my interest into the area of communication studies. One experience in particular that I had which was huge for my life this semester was beginning at San Jose State. Life changes dramatically when you move from a community college to a four-year university. When beginning my journey of declaring communication studies as a major in community college, I found it difficult to turn to someone for advice. I was fortunate enough to be able to find a select few teachers who could help steer me in the right direction, but nothing that seemed like a foundation for me to build on. I started by taking a few classes at my community college, but didn’t know what to expect transferring to a university with a department specifically geared towards communication studies. I can confidently say as my first semester is coming to a close, my interest and passion in communication studies has grown tremendously. I am able to see the importance of this major in a whole new light and am excited to continue my voyage towards a degree in communication studies.

One theory that I leaned about this semester that I think firs particularly well with my life right now would be constructivism. Constructivism is a theory which states that people create meaning of the world through the individual constructs that they place over reality. To me these are similar to glasses. We know that there is a huge reality out there with different meaning, symbols, and so forth. But the way that we develop things to have meaning in life is due to the glasses that we wear on a daily basis. The more that you experience and personalities that you come across in life make you have more glasses to see the world, meaning you have a better understanding of people and situations. The deeper understanding of reality and personalities you have due to different experiences in life makes you more cognitive complex.

Throughout this semester starting at San Jose State I feel like I have learned a lot about different people and situations due to the experiences that I have had. These experiences include school, meeting new friends, and adapting to a completely new environment. I believe that when I was at a community college the lenses that I fit over reality were small. I didn’t understand why people did things or acted certain ways because I wasn’t adapted to change. Since being at San Jose State I feel as if I have learned a lot from people and experiences which had made me more cognitive complex. Being able to understand situations and people better changed my meaning I applied to things and the way that I see the world. I am so thankful for what I learned because it has made me such a better person.

In the beginning of the semester I seen myself as, “a communication scholar primarily interested interpersonal communication and the relationships between people”. After studying communication studies for a few months now I still believe that interpersonal communication in the area that I am interested in. In every communications class that I took this semester I have always been more intrigued with how people communicate with each other. Two areas that I learned a little bit about this year and might have an interest in learning more about in the future is the different ways in which different genders interact with each other and the ways in which media affects our communication. Having such a broad major of communication studies I am pleased to know that there are so many areas that I can direct my attention in.

The three questions that I created in the beginning of the semester which I wanted answered were:

• How do people create a personality?

• How are standards made in a relationship?

• Is changing your communication process easy

For the first question I didn’t learn that answer this semester.

For the second question I feel like I did learn that answer. With constructivism we created standards based on what we see as acceptable in a relationship and what you, essentially, are ok to put up with. If you decide you are not going to do so then that is what will cause you to change.

For the third question I don’t know if I necessarily learned that directly from this class, but throughout this semester of taking COMM classes I learned that it is not easy but it can be done.