Final Blog (COMM 401)

Communication Theory has been an interesting and challenging course. One skill I tend to lack is critical thinking and this course has had a lot of it. COMM 401 has given me the motivation to improve my critical thinking skills. I’ve always found myself second guessing when dealing with critical thinking exercises, but this course has helped me gain the confidence to trust my skills.

Throughout this semester we have learned about all different types of theories; from expectancy violations theories all the way to cultivation theory and some in-between. While I may not use all these theories throughout my career I will use some. Some of these theories will be used to evaluate certain situations. Having knowledge of these theories will give me an advantage that many may not have.

When reading the directions of the ePortfolio this semester I thought it was going to be easy, but little did I know. Being a Communications Major I’ve done several WIX curations through my time at Old Dominion and each time it seems to get harder and harder. There is only so much that can be done. However, I’ve learned that each professor has their own particular format they prefer on the WIX site and you must accommodate to that individual at the time. This has helped me realize that I must do the same when applying for jobs or prepping for interviews. You can’t use the same tactics for each. Adaptation to the situation is key and having to curate a WIX site so often has taught me that.

Another part of the ePortfolio involved watching three movies and applying certain concepts or theories to them. I found this to be the most difficult part of the class because this made me work on my critical thinking, which as I said earlier is not my strong suit. I was concerned that I wasn’t going to do the project correct, but after talking to the instructor I realized that I knew what I was supposed to be doing the entire time. I kind of think of applying concepts and theories like a poem. Some people read poems and interpret it a certain way while another person can read it and interpret it in a total different context. This is just like part two of the ePortfolio. I probably interpreted scenes in some of the movies totally different than my fellow classmates but that’s the whole purpose of this, right?

Although this course has been challenging in more ways than one it has taught me to trust my instincts and just because my theories or answers are not the same as others doesn’t mean they are wrong. A different view on something isn’t wrong it’s just different.

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