The Culmination of Comm 107

Comm 107 was the first class of my first college career. Being stuck with an 8am course did not initially seem exciting, and clearly my classmates would tend to agree with me, as many times there were as few as 8 people in class. At times this was annoying because it seemed pointless to come to class to watch someone else speak at 8 in the morning, with little to no reward for yourself. It is also pretty tough to think about public speaking and communication theories at 8am. The subject also seemed redundant at times and the textbook was riddled with concepts that most 3rd graders could figure out with ease. I also did not like how the blog was relied on so heavily because it was difficult to remember to check it every time I logged on to the computer, which in turn put stress on me to remember to comment for the weekly grade. Perhaps if the Facebook group has been created earlier, minor inconveniences such as class cancellations could have been avoided. While it was out of the professor's control most of the time, it sucked to wake up early in the morning to go to class only to enter the classroom to find that it had been cancelled. This made the already sleepy, groggy students want to come to class even less, and it showed at the end of the year.

All this being said, I have no real complaints about taking the course. Not only because it is a requirement for my major, but there's actual value in the course. It certainly improved my public speaking. It made my realize not only my own personal problems in my speaking technique(reading off of a script, eye contact, motions), but also has aided me in analyzing other people's flaws in their speeches. Through looking at other people speak and reading the chapters on public speaking, it has taught me what to do and what not to do. I can see that I have adopted the book's tips and my other classmates' strategies. I liked the expertise that the guest speakers brought to the class. They carried with them the real world knowledge of how the things we learned in class about communication applies to life, as this was at some points difficult. In a totally different sense, I also enjoyed how the class congealed towards the end of the year. While people were getting ready to present their persuasive speeches, it was hard to stop talking about whatever subject someone had brought up, whether it was the disappointment in the world cup being in Qatar or how Maryland's basketball teams were doing. Much like the guest speakers, the use of social media brought a real-life aspect into the class and encouraged us to communicate with the outside world. The career field interview also achieved this goal, as it forced us to use our resources and pester someone in the real world to tell us about their own personal experience in their career field of choice.

My overall impressions of the class is: a class you have to take to fulfill a major requirement. It can however be a useful class, but you have to keep focused and take from it what you can. If you pay attention in class and do all your work, you will find that your communication skills will have improved.