Core Skills
Throughout my time at SPCC, I have learned many skills that I will carry with me into the future, both in my education and career. However, there are six main soft skills I have learned that will be the most important to my future success, which include the following: written communication, oral communication, intercultural competence, technology, analysis and interpretation, and problem solving.
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Written Communication
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The artifact I chose for written communication is an essay I wrote in ENG-111: Writing and Inquiry, which I took in the fall of 2015. The essay is called “Is Cheating Really Worth it?” and explores the different methods of academic cheating, reasons for cheating, and the effects of cheating. For this assignment, I had to choose a topic I was interested in and write a six to eight page paper in MLA format. I selected this artifact because it is a great representation of all the writing skills I learned during my time at SPCC. Some of these skills include the following: creating a well-organized essay, incorporating a strong thesis statement, utilizing outside information, and creating a cohesive essay that maintains the same idea throughout, and using MLA formatting.
I wrote about this topic because of two reasons: I wanted to explore cheating on a deeper level in order to understand why people cheat, and I wanted to show the audience just how big of an issue cheating has become in schools. When I was in high school, cheating was very prominent. Students would cheat on almost anything they could get their hands on. Although I would constantly encounter this, I never quite understand why, until I researched it.. Writing this paper opened my eyes to what was really going on, especially when I researched the percentage of students that cheat at other schools. In addition, I included my personal experiences with cheating in order to show just how common cheating had become in schools. Sometimes things do not seem real until we have encountered them ourselves. Lastly, I really wanted this essay to allow the audience to understand how cheating in school can lead to cheating in other areas of life that can cause bigger and more life-altering consequences. Overall, cheating is one of those topics that is constantly overlooked and was a topic I felt strongly about, so I wanted to use my knowledge and research to shine light on it.
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The first goal I set for my myself with this artifact was: “I will improve my ability to write a strong thesis statement that will give insight on the purpose of the paper.” In this essay, I included the following thesis statement: “In order to explore deep within the problem of cheating, this essay is going to explore the different methods of cheating, the reasons for cheating, and the effects of cheating.” I wrote a thesis statement that was clear and concise, and that would hint to the audience what the paper was going to be about. I included the three main body points in the thesis statement in order to create organization. Overall, the thesis statement allowed me to organize my thoughts and ideas in order to clearly convey my message to the audience. From achieving this goal, I learned that this was a starting point for writing a paper. I realized how to use a thesis statement to synthesize the three points into a cohesive paper.
The second goal I achieved with this artifact was to improve my ability to effectively organize an essay. In order to do this, I utilized the following techniques: outlining, topic sentences, focus, and transitions. In this essay, I essentially used the techniques seen in a full-sentence outline, in which I started the paper off with a brief introduction, continued into the main points, and then concluded with a brief overview. In each paragraph, I used a topic sentence in order to explain to the reader what the paragraph was going to be about. I then maintained focus throughout each paragraph to make sure I stayed on topic. Lastly, I used a transition into the next paragraph to create cohesion between paragraphs.
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This paper not only represents my achievement in written communication skills, it also represents my desire for excellence because I put a lot of work into it. In fact, I had actually written an entirely different essay for my rough draft. After reading my rough draft, it felt like something was off, but I did not know how to fix it. I then decided to start from scratch and rewrite the essay. I did not want to settle for an essay that I was not proud of, so I put my hands to the keyword and did not stop typing until I wrote an essay I was happy with. This essay will help me in the future because it not only taught me how to write a professional paper, it also showed me that when I get stuck on an assignment that seems nearly impossible to finish, I just need to take a step back and analyze it from a different perspective.
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Oral Communication
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The artifact I chose for oral communication is an informative speech I presented in COM-231: Public Speaking, which I took in the summer of 2017. The speech is titled “Tennis” and explores the history of tennis, the grand slam tournaments, and one of the best players in the game: Serena Williams. For this assignment, I had to speak for five to seven minutes about a topic I was interested in. I selected this artifact because it showcases some of the most important oral communication skills I learned. I was able to take a full-sentence outline on paper and translate it into a well-organized speech, and I showed my ability to connect with the audience and maintain proper eye contact.
In this speech, I spoke about tennis because it is a sport that I am extremely interested in. I have watched more tennis matches than I can remember, and I have gotten to know many of the players. I wanted to use this topic for my speech because for one, I wanted to explore the history behind the sport; I wanted to find out how the sport got started. This sport has grown so much over the years, especially since it is an international sport, so I wanted to learn and understand the past of a sport I am so fond of today. But even more so, I wanted to share facts about a great sport with my audience. It is a sport that is oftentimes under appreciated, so I wanted to bring it back and show people how such an intricate sport came about. In addition, because I am passionate about the topic, I was able to really connect with the audience when presenting my speech.
Ever since I was young, I remember always having a hard time speaking in front of an audience. As with many people, I suffered with something similar to “stagefright”. I could write down a great speech, but when I would go up and present it in front of people, I would get really nervous and start mumbling my words. I would speak quickly and wind up staring at the powerpoint. At the end of the presentation, I could tell everyone was bored and disinterested. When I was given this speech assignment in COM-231, I wanted to learn to become a great public speaker; I wanted to change my old habits and prove to myself that I could do it. In order to do this, I focused on completing two main goals: improving my ability to maintain eye contact with the audience and improving my ability to speak slowly and clearly.​
Because I had always struggled with eye contact, my first goal for this speech was to maintain good eye contact with the audience. I made sure to switch my gaze back and forth across the room to capture every person in the room. I also made sure to focus most of my attention on the audience, rather than on the PowerPoint. In order to do this, I had to make sure I knew my topic backwards and forwards. This speech allowed me to push myself and showed me that standing in front of an audience is not as daunting as I had originally thought.
My second goal for this artifact was to improve my ability to speak slowly and more clearly. I made it a priority to focus on my speaking since I had always had trouble with speaking slowly and enunciating my words. Performing this speech helped me improve this skill tremendously. I made sure to speak at a medium pace and annunciate my words. I essentially wanted to make sure my audience could understand me clearly.
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This speech is truly a milestone in my education regarding oral communication. Before I presented this speech, I was never confident speaking in front of people. I did not understand how to calm my nerves. With this speech, I worked really hard to ensure I would be confident while giving the speech. In fact, after I created my powerpoint presentation, I wrote flash cards for myself to guide me when I was practicing. I practiced at least ten times to ensure that I not only knew the material backwards and forwards, but that I could work on my eye contact skills and my ability to speak slowly. I also had my sister be my audience so I could practice presenting in front of someone. All in all, all of the preparing I did for the speech paid off in the end because it allowed me to present a speech I was proud of.
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Technology
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The artifact I chose for technology is the ePortfolio from HUM-115: Critical Thinking, which I took in the fall of 2018. When creating the ePortfolio, I had to start from scratch and build my own website. I had never done anything like this before, so the ePortfolio was certainly a challenge for me. When I first created my Wix website, I had to choose a template and modify it to create my own design. The template is essential to the ePortfolio because it is the foundation for the website. Choosing the right template for my design needs was difficult because there are an endless number of different templates that can be chosen from, and each one has its own layout and design. In addition, I had to come up with a design that would reflect who I am. This design had to match well with my information in order to create a complete, cohesive story. I also had to make sure the website was neat and well organized in order to make navigation for the audience simple.
Throughout the process of creating my ePortfolio, I faced many challenges. However, I also learned a lot of valuable technological skills that I had never encountered before. I was able to take my own ideas and design elements and incorporate them into a website that essentially tells my story as a student and as a person. Even more so, I was able to convey this story to the audience.
While working on the ePortfolio, the first goal I set for myself was to be able to understand how to create a professional looking website. During the creation of my ePortfolio, I had to learn and maneuver through Wix. Wix has a lot of great features that can be accessed, but I had to search around in order to find what I wanted. For example, one great feature of Wix is the "button". The button gives you the ability to link a document to it. When I was working on the ePortfolio, I had to add my documents for the core skills and program outcomes. The documents would appear as word document links. I really wanted a cleaner look to the ePortfolio, so I kept searching through the Wix features to find something. That was when I stumbled on the button. The button allowed me to add a title describing the artifact, as well as link the artifact to the button. Although it took a lot hunting, this feature allowed me to create a more professional look. Lastly, I made it a priority to make a website that was professional and clean. I wanted to make something that reflected all of my hard work at SPCC.
The second goal I set for myself was to be able to come up with a theme and design to tie each aspect of the ePortfolio together. There are many parts of the ePortfolio, two of the main ones being the information and artifacts. However, as I was creating my website, I felt that the theme and design were going to make it special and unique to me. I wanted to create a theme that truly reflected who I am as a student. I made sure to include a design that reflected my style and taste. After coming up with a theme and design, it really helped me see the big picture. It made the different aspects of the ePortfolio come together and unite as a website, versus individual pages.
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The ePortfolio is a wonderful display of my technology skills. Even more than that, it represents who I am and how hard I have worked. This can be seen in each page on the ePortfolio, but it also can be seen throughout my journey of creating the ePortfolio. In fact, this is my second website for the ePortfolio. When I created the first website, I was new to Wix and the idea of the ePortfolio, so I chose a very basic template that would be easy to navigate. In addition, I chose a design that was colorful and inviting, but it did not necessarily represent me as a person. The design was not very professional and was just not something I felt proud of. Just like with the written communication essay, I decided to start from scratch and create an entirely new website. I chose an entirely different template and design, based on the knowledge I gained regarding the ePortfolio. I ended up creating a website that I feel represents me and my best work, and I feel this will translate with my audience, whether it be a teacher, friend, or interviewer.
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Cultural Literacy
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The artifact I chose for cultural literacy is an essay I wrote in SOC-210: Introduction to Sociology, which I took in the fall of 2015. The essay is titled “What Teaches Kids to “Do Gender?”” and is about how society views “males” and “females”. For this assignment, I had to go to Target and inspect the toys and clothing specifically sectioned off for girls and boys. Then, I had to write an essay summarizing my findings. The goal of the assignment was to gain an understanding of why males and females grow up wearing what they do, and ultimately act the way they do. I chose this topic because it is one that I have always been curious about. I have always wondered why girls and boys wear what they do and why they play with the toys that they do. In addition, this topic explores a culture that a lot of people fail to understand/recognize. I wanted to be able to push aside opinions and biases I had formed about the male/female culture in order to observe the culture from an objective viewpoint.
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The first goal I set for myself for this essay was to be able to push aside my biases and remain objective when evaluating the male/female culture. Before I completed this assignment, I assumed that boys and girls wear what they wanted because that was the way they were wired. I had no idea that it had anything to do with society. However, after conducting research, I was able to see that my assumptions were not completely accurate. I remained objective in my research to make sure I received the facts and reality of the culture.
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My second goal was to be able to understand how society can influence the way I see a specific culture. While conducting research for this essay, I could see how society was influencing our view of males and females. For example, I found that males are “supposed” to play with cars and dinosaurs while females are “supposed” to play with barbies and babies. In addition, males are “supposed” to wear dark-colored clothes with images of sports and action figures, while females are “supposed” to wear bright, pretty clothes with images of butterflies and princesses. After viewing these types of clothing and toys, I could see why many girls and boys are looked down up and judged if they wear something different.
This assignment allowed me to see first-hand how society can impact the way we say a specific culture. In addition, it made me realize that if society is placing stereotypes on the male/female culture, it is most likely placing similar judgements on other cultures. This assignment also helped me see that it is important to understand a culture objectively in order to view every aspect, not just the ones I am hoping to find.
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This assignment was certainly a challenge for me. Remaining objective is something that I have always struggled with. With this assignment, I was able to see that sometimes it is necessary to push aside your own judgements in order to see the big picture. Facts are out there for a reason, and I need to do my best to analyze the facts before I make any preconceived notions about something. This lesson will certainly help me in the future because understanding the whole story is important in any aspect of life, whether it be personally, educationally, or professionally. In order to learn and grow, I need to be open-minded to what is out there and make sure I learn all the facts before making a conclusion.
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Critical Thinking​
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The artifact I chose for critical thinking is a report I completed in MAT-152: Statistical Methods 1, which I took in the fall of 2018. The project is titled “Random Sampling of Pickup Trucks” and is a report about creating a random sample of pickup trucks and evaluating the results. For this project, I had to create a simple random sample of at least 100 using all pickup trucks in Union County. The objective was to see how many trucks were white versus any other color. I had to analyze several sampling methods and pick the one that would be the most appropriate for the situation, as well as the one that would allow me to achieve the highest level of randomness. Then, I had to compile the results and analyze them. Lastly, I had to answer a real-world question, stating how my results could help local pickup truck dealerships.
For this assignment, I had to really think about how I was going to achieve a high level of randomness. This can be extremely tricky to do because I had to make sure I stayed completely objective and did not mistakenly insert a bias. I had to compare four sampling methods I learned in class, three of which could be deemed appropriate for this assignment, and decide which one to choose. I had to fully understand what each method meant before I could choose one. After I chose the method I was going to use, I had to figure out how I was going to use that method to draw up a sample of at least 100 trucks in Union County. This required careful thought because I could not just research the numbers online. I actually had to go out in the county and count trucks. Once I had my sample of 105 trucks counted up, I had to analyze the results and then explain how accurate and fair my results were. I had to look at my results objectively in order to consider if I made any mistakes. Lastly, I had to apply my results to a real-world scenario, regarding how my results could help actual truck dealerships. This was challenging because I had to actually apply what I learned to a real-life situation.
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The first goal I set for myself was to be able to examine my results/conclusion from an objective viewpoint in order to see where I needed improvement. One thing I had to do in this assignment was analyze how my results could be skewed or inaccurate in any way. I had to take a step back from what I originally wrote in order to see from an objective stance how I could have made my results stronger. For example, I only chose the seven largest cities in the county to represent the entire county. Although these are the biggest and most populated cities, they are not the only cities. They do not account for the other nine smaller cities in the county, so this is where I could have improved my results.
The second goal I set for myself was to be able to interpret my results in order to form a conclusion about a real-world scenario. In this report, I had to discuss how my results could be useful for local pickup dealerships. In order to do this, I first had to understand what my results meant. Then, I had to come up with a realistic way that these results could help truck dealerships. For example, my results showed that about 34% of trucks in the county were white. From my prior knowledge of business from economics and accounting classes, I was able to see that keeping a large stock of white trucks at local dealerships would be good for business because part of running a business is knowing what the customers want. According to my results, 34% of the time, customers purchase white pickup trucks.
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This assignment was an exciting one to me. I enjoyed being able to create my own experiment, per say, and be able to analyze and interpret the results. The most challenging part of this assignment truly was the critical thinking aspect. I not only had to analyze information I learned from Statistics in order to create the sample, I had to bring in some of my knowledge from economics and accounting in order to form a solid conclusion and proposal for local pickup truck dealerships. This assignment forced me to think outside of the box and analyze a true, real-world scenario. I really enjoyed this assignment because of its practicality. I always enjoy learning something that is useful in my life. This assignment is definitely going to carry with me in my business administration studies. Business administration is very complex and requires tremendous critical thinking skills, and this assignment allowed me to achieve that.