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Academic Introduction

 

When I graduate from San Jose State University on May 25, 2022, I intend to get a job as a Copywriter/ Content Creator. For any who do not know who a Copywriter/ Content Creator is, he/she is someone who writes copy for blogs, websites themselves, social media, instructional manuals, etc. In my job, I will always be considering Diversity, one of the Communication Department Cornerstones, and will be adapting my messages using diverse demographic information. Diversity will always play a part in my communication and messaging. Depending on what my work assignment is, I will always have to consider who my audience is.  

           

While I have been at San Jose State, I have been working towards my goals of having a career in Content Creation or Copywriting. In doing so, I have been a part of the Social Media Team at San Jose State. I have been on the SJSU Social Media Team for the past year and for those two semesters, I have collaborated with the SJSU Social Media Team to research, come up with ideas, and write the content for weekly posts to be posted on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. This has really helped me prepare for my future career path. 

I think that the Social Media Team has helped me apply what I have learned in class and “take it to the streets” or put it towards my goals of being a Copywriter/Content Creator.

 

I think that studying Communication will help me to write copy that can be adaptable to different audiences, purposes, and contexts and I will be able to examine messages. Different obstacles in regards to Communication will be easier to overcome because of my studies. Being ethical will be second nature due to the tools I’ve been given from Communication Studies and the classes that I have taken that address ethics. I will use my Communication studies to embrace different perspectives and cultural contexts. I will also be able to frame social issues (both national and international) in a way that is beneficial for all parties involved because of my Communication background. 

 

Writing for blogs and websites and other copy is where my strength in Communication Studies lies. I am a purveyor of words as well as a great communicator which will help me in the future. My job aspiration right now is to get a job on the Santa Cruz Warriors marketing team and put my Copywriting and Content Creating skills to good use. A dream job goal is to get onto the Golden State Warriors Marketing team.

 

I have approached my school and job search goals in the following way. My first goal was to translate something that I was passionate about which is creative writing into a marketable career in business. I started out as an English major but transferred into Communication when I realized that Communication would satisfy my goal of wishing to be creative. From that place, I found Content Creation and Copywriting which fulfills my passion for creative writing. As a result, my goals are to live passionately and creatively through copywriting and content creation, be a global citizen, and incorporate Interpersonal Communication throughout my career and life. 

           

In this paper, I will briefly discuss the Communication Studies Department Cornerstones and how they were embedded in my FIP courses; my Communication Studies Focus and what I want to do with my degree when I graduate, and then a motivational note to my future self and what I should remember from this Senior Seminar class. My analysis of the Communication Department has revealed that Interpersonal Communication is the most interesting form of Communication because it teaches you different skills and ways of communicating. I’m going to highlight this in my Communication Studies Focus. In the meantime, I’m going to take you through the Cornerstones, FIP, we’ll talk about my Focus, and then we will discuss what I have told my future self. 

 

Cornerstones

 

The first topic I am going to discuss is the Communication Department Cornerstones and Learning Outcomes. 

The following are the four Cornerstones that are imbedded in the Foundation, Inquiry, and Practice (FIP) courses undertaken at SJSU. I will give a brief summary of each Cornerstone here and then reference them as I describe FIP: 

Democracy “affirms the balance of individual freedom and socio-political consensus shaped through dialogue, argument, and persuasion between individuals and groups” (Comm. Department 2021). 

Diversity “explores the variety and complexity of communication efforts to shape beliefs, values, and perceptions in different communities and cultures” (Comm. Department 2021).

 

Technology “interrogates the implications of human communication in a mediated world” (Comm. Department 2021).

Globalization “recognizes the interconnectedness, integration, fragmentation, and conflict within human societies and cultures in global contexts” (Comm. Department 2021). 

As a means of explaining how these Cornerstones were expressed in my learning, I will describe FIP by using examples from the classes that I took which best represent each Learning Outcome and exemplify the Cornerstones, beginning with the Foundation Learning Outcome. Most of my Learning Outcome examples embody taking a democratic approach, cultivating trust and respect, embracing difference and diverse audiences, while using technology to communicate.

 

Foundation 

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The definition of Foundation in Communication Studies is to “demonstrate the understanding of at least one major theory in the field of Communication” (Comm. Department 2020). Out of the Foundation courses that I took, my favorite was the Performance class because I love storytelling and I think that you really get to know someone by learning their story. 

By learning a person’s story, you get to know more about them, their culture, and upbringing, which embraces the Diversity Cornerstone, and also gives you the opportunity to accept them for who they are embracing the Democracy Cornerstone. The assignment that I chose to share here was my Final Project- Creative Assignment #2 from Performance Studies. By describing an event that occurred one day in my sixth-grade English class, this project allowed me to really understand the “notion of a single story” as well the theory of stigma and the theory of impression management. 

 

When reflecting back on that assignment, I need to refer to the people whose work we studied, Lam, Adichie, and Goffman. My story which was about my not understanding the dual meaning of a word and my sixth-grade class laughing at me, relates to the storytelling of Lam because I’m telling the reader about a single event that happened in my own life. In this version something happened to me. I am also narrating painful memories in the 1st person. The stories that he narrates are the reason he is who he is today and the story I told is part of why I am who I am today. Also, my family plays a large part in who I am today just like Lam’s did.  

This story relates to Chimamanda Adichie's notion of a “single story” because I only viewed the story from a lens of “oh my class is making fun of me”. Whereas I could have also looked through the lens of “oh this is a funny joke let’s laugh about it”. I was a very emotionally sensitive child, and I think a lot of the stuff that happened to me, if I had looked through the lens of “oh this is a funny joke”, would not have been so traumatizing. I think that Chimamanda’s “single story” notion would have helped me growing up because it would have shown me different ways of viewing situations. It would have shown me to maybe laugh instead of cry or get angry. It would have introduced me to a different perspective that I could have used.  

 

This story relates to Erving Goffman’s theory of stigma because my ignorance in not knowing the meaning of a word is being stigmatized. I know that the word stigma is used normally to compare race or disability or gender. But I’m using it in its very basic form to say. Stigmatising someone and then making fun of them because they don’t know what a word means is just stupid and wrong.   

 

This story also represents the theory of impression management by Ervin Goffman because I would go to school get bullied and maintain that impression there but then I’d come home with my mum and be a completely different person with my family. I have to manage my impressions both at school and at home. The theory generally means that you are performing a face outside yourself and personal life. However, once you come back, you are yourself again. The next learning outcome I will describe is Inquiry.   

 

Inquiry

 

Out of the two Inquiry classes that I have taken, I enjoyed Comm. 154I: Ethnography for Comm. Studies the most, because of its very interpersonal, interactive, and immersive nature. It embodied the Democracy and Diversity Cornerstones because, once again, there was an emphasis on acceptance and embracing one another’s differences and diverse backgrounds. We were asked to pick a community that we belonged to already, or that we were considering joining, to do our weekly field study assignments and our final project. I liked the experiential learning, which in this class was the field study assignments, because they immersed me in the community that I chose and helped me decide whether Unity Village Chapel was a group I really wanted to belong to or not. The final project was called the “Unity Village Chapel – Ethnography Showcase” and I am going to give some context and then share some of the learnings from that project. 

 

I appreciate Ethnography as a qualitative research method because of its immersive nature in a community or organization where you observe the members’ behaviors up close. According to the course description for Comm. 154I: Ethnography for Comm. Studies, Ethnography for Communication Studies is the “introduction to ethnography from a communication studies perspective, i.e. ethnographic approaches to study situated communication practices in particular cultural milieus, such as ethnography of communication, critical ethnography, digital ethnography, autoethnography, and/or other types relevant to communication studies.” In studying the Ethnography of Communication, we satisfied the Communication Studies’ Department PLO#2: “Demonstrates an understanding of methods of communication, research, and analysis such as rhetorical, critical, interpretive, performative, and social scientific approaches and their ethical implications” as well as PLO#3: “Developing and applying analytical skills and ethical practices for understanding, conducting, and evaluating communication research studies.” 

 

As illustrated in my class project, in the “Unity Village Chapel – Ethnography Showcase”, the most important, meaningful course concept that I learned about was Norms, Rules, and Premises. According to our textbook, Exploring Culture Communication From the Inside Out, "Norms are informal "social rules" that tell us what we should and should not do in a given context. Rules are similar to Norms like they are both expressions about what should or should not happen in particular settings under particular circumstances, Like Norms, Rules guide communicative behaviors and also provide a measuring stick to evaluate communication. Unlike Norms, Rules are a "must" not an "ought to”. Premises are defined as the communal beliefs and values that undergird people's conclusions. (The all-important reasons, the whys and the becauses).”

 

The most important thing I learned about using the Ethnography of Communication as a research method was to get permission from a subject which then starts creating trust and a safe container. If you apply the "get permission" rule to the interview, the subject will be more open and share a lot, sometimes more, than you ask and provide a great picture of the topic. Once again, getting permission to interview and write about specific topics and people was the most important thing I learned about the Ethics of doing Ethnographic Research. The most useful thing to me right now is that I've learned to be more sensitive to people's feelings around certain topics. Ethnographic Research will help me in the future. I now know to be more curious and a good listener; these traits will help me be a good person in life and will help in work as I try to capture my client's stories to message them well.

 

The other outstanding learning was about Unity Village Chapel as a cultural group. The most important thing that I learned about the Unity Chapel Community was that they are not a religious group but a spiritual one. They are open to everyone. They live what they preach which is evident through the events and groups that are created within the community. An example is Strength Builders which helps strengthen your physical self as well as your Mind and Spirit. The most important thing that I learned about myself, and my own culture or cultural identity was that I may believe in God. This learning will be helpful to my future self because it could become a way of life. I could choose to embrace the spirituality of the Unity Village Chapel Community and the Mind, Body, Spirit concept.

 

In summary, and as represented in my “Unity Village Chapel-Ethnography Showcase” project, learning how to do field studies, conduct interviews, and the whole interaction with member subjects is hugely valuable as I am doing final projects in my Communication major for my classes this semester. For example, I will be applying it to a group assignment that was just assigned where we have to interview SJSU Seniors and Juniors on the stressors of Covid-19 and the effects on their interpersonal relationships. I have also been using the interviewing skills that I have learned as I perform my content creation and special projects roles on the SJSU Social Media Team. I have employed my interviewing skills from the Inquiry class to the Social Media Team as a whole.

Next I will describe the final learning outcome I will highlight is Practice. 

 

Practice

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Within Communication studies, Practice represents “the application of communication theories and concepts to real world contexts”, with an emphasis on social responsibility. What I just described satisfies PLO #4- Communication Competence: “demonstrate the ability to communicate competently and in a theoretically informed manner in a variety of contexts” and PLO# 5- Social Responsibility: “demonstrate social responsibility, ethical awareness, and community engagement”.  This learning outcome and the class examples that I chose embody the Technology, Globalization, Democracy, and Diversity Cornerstones. 

 

Since taking 111P: Interviewing, I think that my preparing for and performing of interviews has become better. I learned about different types of interviews which I thought were interesting (i.e. phone interview, video conference interview, etc.) and different types of questions to ask: probing or open ended, for example. Although interviewing can be intimidating, in the end, the class was fun because we were addressing interesting issues and interviewing interesting people. In 176P: Gender and Communications, I studied male-female and same sex couples and the public’s reactions to both. I got to study how the male-female and same sex relationships fit into different situations and cultures.  “Different roles (i.e. race, class, sexual orientation, language background, assigned sex at birth, and other socio-political factors) determine gender expression.” After taking this course, I was expected to take what I learned and apply it to my life and add it to my arsenal of life skills.  I do have a better understanding of how to relate better to the groups that we studied. 

 

What I have described above demonstrates communication competence and being able to apply what I’ve learned. The social responsibility learning objective has come about through the Oral History Project that I engaged in as part of 111P: Interviewing because the person that I interviewed for that project, Graydon Ramey, is the embodiment of social responsibility. This is the case because he lives his values, he walks his talk, and the following quote said by his girlfriend, Sandra, describes him best, “When someone meets Graydon they get a sense of his way of being. He asks how they are and fifteen minutes later they’re still talking because he genuinely cares about their well-being. He has this effect on his friends as well as strangers.” 

Specifically, the way that the Oral History Assignment from Comm. 111P helped me achieve PLO#4: Communication Competence and PLO#5: Social Responsibility was what I described previously, as well as learning how to ask to set up the interview and create a safe container. I also was learning how to gain consent in an ethical way as I set up a safe container in which to conduct the interview; I learned how to formulate questions that were comprehensive enough that I was able to get a clear enough picture of my subject’s life, and see the ways in which his values played a part in molding him into the extremely socially responsible man he is today. 

 

The assignment that I chose to analyze for this reflection was the Oral History Project that I did for my Comm. 111P: Interviewing class. Re-reading the project, I realized that even though my subject, Graydon Ramey, cares about so many things. He cares about raising his daughter the most. I also figured out that he likes to be the boss when working for others, as well as owning his own businesses. He is a very hard worker and held down steady jobs while raising his daughter. However, reiterating my previous point, he thought that his greatest contribution to the earth was his daughter. I learned that asking specific questions about his daughter and him got him to open up about their relationship and their life together. So, now I know that asking open-ended questions and then probing questions are good ways to go when one is interviewing about a topic that could potentially lead to a really solid understanding of the subject, who they are, and what fulfills them the most. This is a great example of leading into discussing my Communication Studies Focus which comes next. My focus is Interpersonal Communication. 

 

Communication Studies Focus

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I started out thinking that New Media was what I wanted to study at university. However, I took an Interpersonal Communication class and that quickly changed my mind. I liked many things about Interpersonal Communication. I learned about the very interesting interactions that people have with one another when you look at them through an Interpersonal Communication lens, such as: Encounter Avoidance, Supportive Communication, Paraphrasing, Content Orientation Listening, and Defensive Communication.

 

I have used all of these concepts in my school life but also in my personal life. For example, I have used Encounter Avoidance to avoid places that hold bad memories for me. I have used Supportive Communication to help a friend through relationship troubles. I have used Paraphrasing during essays and other school work. I have used Content Oriented Listening when performing in classes like Math. And lastly, I have used Defensive Communication when talking to my sister about touchy subjects. At the end of the day, I have encountered and applied all of these concepts in and around my life.     

 

Sometimes people want to stop emotions before they happen. “An alternative to managing emotions after they occur is to prevent them from occurring in the first place, so the arousal flame is never ignited” (McCornack, 2021, p.105). Another alternative is Encounter Avoidance. This means “staying away from people, places, or activities that you know will provoke emotions you do not want to experience” (Gross et al., 2006). Other avoidance strategies include Encounter Structuring, Attention Focus, and Deactivation.

 

Encounter Structuring is “intentionally avoiding specific topics that you know will provoke unwanted emotion during encounters with others” (McCornack, 2021, p. 105). Attention Focus is “intentionally devoting your attention only to aspects of an event or encounter that you know will not provoke an undesired emotion” (McCornack, 2021, p. 105). Deactivation is “systematically desensitizing yourself to emotional experience” (Freundling, 1998). This can trigger deep depression. To illustrate, I can honestly say that I have experienced all of these states and I will give examples of those experiences.  

 

I use Encounter Avoidance to avoid a place in downtown Willow Glen that holds an unhappy memory for me. I avoid that place as much as possible because it elicits sad and angry emotions within me. However, there is also a really good Chinese food place almost right next to where it happened, so I have a dilemma. I could either deprive myself of delicious Chinese food and live in my scared and apprehensive little hole, or, I could take my life by the horns and ride it like a stallion to the Chinese restaurant and order really delicious Chinese food. I choose the Chinese food.  I also use Encounter Avoidance to avoid my high school, which is also in Willow Glen. I didn’t have a horrible time there but going past there just reminds me of stuff that I would rather forget and move on from. I have used Encounter Structuring to avoid talking about what I am going to do after college. When I did not know what I was going to do after college, it frustrated and annoyed me when people asked. Because of this, I tried to dodge the conversation when I could. I have used Attention Focus when my father is berating my sister about her weight. I only focus on the positive comments, so I do not blow up at anyone. I have used Deactivation throughout middle school and high school when I was being bullied and I didn’t talk to anyone about it. 

 

The counter point to Avoidance Strategies—the way to help and cope so one does not need to use Avoidance Strategies—is Supportive Communication. Supportive Communication is “sharing messages that express emotional support and that offer personal assistance” (Burleson & MacGeorge, 2002). Some ways to improve your supportive communication include making sure the person is ready to talk; make it clear that you care and want to help, and that you’ll be there to listen when he or she needs you. Find the right place and time; find a place and time conducive to quiet conversation and ask good questions. Start with open-ended questions; then more pointed ones, next make the person feel like their problems matter and hold ground. Actively listen and say uh-huh and yeah when appropriate. Do not give unsolicited advice. Build the person up by praising his or her strength in handling this challenge. Showing care and concern helps connect you to someone, while praise will help a person feel better. I have used supportive communication when my friend was having trouble with her girlfriend. I made sure that she was ready to talk. I did not push her to talk when she didn’t want to. Then we found the right time and place which was in our dorm room. I asked good questions and listened actively. I didn’t offer advice, but she did ask/hint that she would like some. So, I gave her some advice. I also told her that she was doing well and that she was in the right. I didn’t just say that to up her confidence. I said that because I thought that it was true.  

 

Paraphrasing is “summarizing others’ comments after they have finished speaking” (McCornack, 2021, p. 183). I have used paraphrasing when I am talking to my mum, and because I have memory issues. I’ll often repeat what she’s said to me, so I get it right as well as writing it down. I will repeat verbatim what she just said, pen in hand, so that I can get all the right information down and do everything she wants me to do.    

 

I have also used paraphrasing in essays. Paraphrasing is very helpful when you want to convey someone else’s thought but with your own words. Paraphrasing someone else’s thoughts and ideas mixed with your thoughts and ideas, mixed with quotes from whatever text you’re using, will give your essay the meat it needs to really punch its points home. 

 

There are different types of listeners. Content-oriented listeners “prefer to be intellectually challenged by the messages they receive during interpersonal encounters and enjoy receiving complex and provocative information” (Bodie & Worthington, 2010). Action-oriented listeners “want brief, to-the-point, and accurate messages from others—information they can then use to make decisions or initiate courses of action” (Bodie & Worthington, 2010). Time-oriented listeners “prefer brief and concise encounters. They tend to let others know in advance exactly how much time they have available for each conversation” (Bodie & Worthington, 2010). People-oriented listeners “view listening as an opportunity to establish commonalities between themselves and others” (Villaume & Bodie, 2007). When asked to identify the most important part of effective listening, people-oriented listeners cite concern for other people’s emotions. 

 

I have practiced content-oriented listening when I am at school, and I am in a subject like math. I am being intellectually challenged by the messages I receive during interpersonal encounters and enjoy receiving complex and provocative information. I have practiced action-oriented listening when I just want a curt answer. When I want brief and to the point answers, I use this listening style. I have practiced time-oriented listening when I want brief and concise encounters.  I have let the person know how much time I have to talk so hopefully they will not exceed that amount of time when talking to me. I use this type of listening when I have to go somewhere or when I do not have a lot of time to talk. I have practiced people-oriented listening when I am trying to establish commonalities between myself and others. 

 

Defensive communication is “impolite messages delivered in response to suggestions, criticism, or perceived slights” (McCornack, 2021, p.223). Some examples include “if you’re at work and you suggest an alternative approach to a coworker, but she snaps, “We’ve always done it this way!”” (McCornack, 2021, p. 223). Or, if “you broach the topic of relationship concerns with your romantic partner, but he or she shuts you down telling you to “Just drop it!”” (McCornack, 2021, p. 223).

There are four types of Defensive communication. Dogmatic messages are “when a person dismisses suggestions for improvement or constructive criticism, refuses to consider other views, and continues to believe that his or her behaviors are acceptable” (Waldron et al., 1993). Superiority messages are “when the speaker suggests that he or she possesses special knowledge, ability, or status far beyond that of the other individual” (Waldron et al., 1993). Indifference messages are “when a person implies that the suggestion or criticism being offered is irrelevant, uninteresting, or unimportant” (Waldron et al., 1993). Control messages are “when a person seeks to squelch criticism by controlling the other individual or the encounter” (Waldron et al., 1993).

 

I have encountered dogmatic messages when speaking to my sister. For example, my sister is extremely overweight. When talking to my sister about her weight she dismisses and shuts down any help that is offered to her. Although she may see that her weight is a problem, she ignores the health concerns, and she still goes about like her behavior is okay and fine and that it’s not a big deal when it is. I have also encountered superiority messages when talking to professors. For example, I had a professor who acted superior and omniscient to all of us. She was a really nice lady. She just acted like she knew everything about the subject that she taught and that she was far superior to us in our pursuit of knowledge. It’s true she knew more than us because she was the professor, and we were the students, but she acted like she had special knowledge. I have encountered indifference messages when talking to friends or just people in my peer group. I’ll be talking to someone, and they will be on their phone acting as though what I am saying is of little consequence to them and doesn’t matter to them. I have encountered control messages when talking to, once again, my sister. When she was younger, and she was approached with an idea or criticism that she didn’t like she would squelch it. If it was me, she would manipulate me by saying something like, “If you continue to do this, I’ll tell mum you took a cookie when you weren’t supposed to”. Of course, being a kid and being afraid of mum’s wrath, I would do what my sister told me. So, she would take control of the person and the encounter by manipulating me and getting what she wanted. 

           

From studying Interpersonal Communication there are different kinds of ways to handle situations that I would not have known if I had not studied interpersonal communication and then know what to look for and how to address the situations on that basis.  

 

Conclusion 

 

This paper was a manifestation of Communication Department Cornerstones combined with Interpersonal Communication and how they will guide me on my path toward my favored career. To reiterate, the Communication Department Cornerstones are Democracy, Diversity, Technology, and Globalization. These four Cornerstones are going to help me on my way to becoming a successful Copywriter/ Content Creator because the combination of all four of them create an ethically aware, community-engaged, technology savvy, globally aware, and socially responsible individual. I am proud to say that I believe that I have become that individual through my studies here at the San Jose State Communication Department. 

 

I believe that my studies of Interpersonal Communication have helped me on my way towards becoming a successful Copywriter/Content Creator because that class taught me how to communicate in different ways to different people. It also taught me how to diffuse arguments which I think is a great skill to have in the work world. I can also create different copy for different audiences.   

 

In conclusion, I have learned a lot of interesting things in my classes that I have unknowingly applied to my personal life and school life. I am really glad that I took the Senior Seminar class because it proved to be very engaging and thought-provoking. Although we did not get to meet like a regular class, I thought that the format of the class was good because it made us as students more responsible for our coursework. In the end, I really enjoyed this class because it taught me very useful information about how my previous coursework would be invaluable to me but also how school can be useful in the work world as well.  

 

 

Final Message 

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I love creative writing and will never give that up so Copywriting/ Content Creation seems like the next logical step, especially because I want to be in the business world. When I get my Copywriter/ Content Creator job, I’m going to be so excited because I’ll be writing for a world full of diverse people and it’s going to be so much fun!

 

This summer I’ll be looking for a Copywriter/ Content Creator position and I’m excited about that and I tell myself: “Don’t worry! You’ll find something that you want to do! Why not shoot for the moon? The worst you can do is land among the stars.” Cheesy I know but whatever. “Your dad is going to help you look for a job so that’ll be really helpful, and your mum is going to help you as well! You may have to pick an industry though. Basketball, Fashion, and nature. I don’t think that you can do them all at once. Haha! 

 

Now listen up. I want you to take a breath and relax. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. There’s enough weight on your shoulders already there’s no need for you to add anymore. Just take deep calming breaths. Your life is going to be awesome, and it has just begun. So, take a step forward, take a deep breath, and remember, kid, you got this!” 

  

 

 

 

 

 

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