As a person who is newly a part of the\nenvironmental sciences, I have undergone education to prepare me for work in\nthat field. As a part of that process I have taken communications courses that\nhave given me valuable skills required for future careers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most valuable skills I\nlearned this past year was how to write as a process. Meaning that we were\ntaught when tasked with writing a paper or report or any piece of writing, to\nfirst start with a first draft that was terrible but got down what you wanted\nto say. A second draft would be written to clean it up and make it readable and\nsomewhat good. After that we would finalize the writing with one more revision\nand present it as complete. This was the first thing we learned in\ncommunications and it was used as a part of every major writing assignment\nafter. Not only were we taught to write as a process but we were also marked\nbased on completing first and second drafts and providing peer reviews and\nfeedback for others. This experience was a way of writing I had not ever\nattempted before and I found it surprisingly effective for me. I kept me in\ncheck when given an assignment to work on it throughout the time period I had\nto complete it as opposed to getting it all done in a few days. I learned the\neffectiveness that comes with drafting projects before completing them and this\nis something that will come in handy when I am given a writing task of\nimportance in my career, such as a document that will be seen by the public or\na letter to higher ups and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first thing we learned about in\ncommunications 2 was the topic of discourse communities. Understanding what a\ndiscourse community is a valuable because it allows you to analyse the forms of\ncommunication going on within the community as well as some of the roles\npresent. This becomes even more valuable when you realize that any community\nthat communicates in some form can be a discourse community. We were tasked\nwith an analysis of discourse communities on our field of study and we wrote a\nmemo to analyse the community and make recommendations for steps to take to\nacquire a career in the community. I initially struggled slightly with the order\nof the information as indicated by my feedback for the draft \u201ckeep in mind that\nthe Background section is supposed to provide any related knowledge necessary\nfor a newcomer \u2026 rather than a discussion of the means of communication \u2026 which\nis reserved for the Research and Analysis section.\u201d This will be helpful in the\nfuture because many of the recommendations and steps one can take are\ntransferable to multiple communities and areas of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What follows is a number of samples\nof my writing from the 2 semesters of communications courses, that are examples\nof times when I wrote well. Each piece of writing is paired with a short\nintroduction to provide context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writing Samples<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. \nThis first sample comes from my This I Believe paper from Comm 201. In\nthis sample I am discussing misconceptions people have about ADHD, a disorder I\nhave, and how the misconceptions are partially caused by broad criteria from\nthe DSM 5. This piece of writing I think shows off how I can write with an\nauthentic voice, and showcase relevance for the reader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn media, people with ADHD are\nportrayed as very energetic and often dim-witted, which like all mental disorders\nleads to stigma. This is a stereotype that people know, and they would agree\nthat it\u2019s not what the average person acts like, but for some reason it\u2019s\nespecially common for people to say that everyone gets distracted and people\nwith ADHD are nothing special, those two thoughts don\u2019t exactly agree with one\nanother. So why don\u2019t people think it\u2019s real? Well the symptoms listed in the\nDSM are in my opinion very broad and can apply to a lot of people, however,\nthere is strict criteria about how many of those symptoms must affect a person\nand when and how they do, so just having a symptom doesn\u2019t mean you might have\nthe disorder. I\u2019ll relate to another mental disorder, everyone get\u2019s sad, but\nnot everyone has depression. Here\u2019s one of the symptoms I feel illustrates the\nmisconception people have, \u201coften avoids, dislikes or is reluctant to engage in\ntasks that require sustained mental effort.\u201d (ADHD Institute, 2017). Doesn\u2019t\nthat sound like something everyone can relate to? That basically means doesn\u2019t\nlike to do things that are hard. So, this is a problem, because people with\nADHD who have an extremely hard time functioning in everyday situations are\nbeing treated as if everyone has the same problems they do.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. My second sample comes from my Discourse\nCommunity Analysis from this course. The sample comes from the end of the research\nand analysis section of the memo and highlights the formality my writing can achieve.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTaking the proper courses in\npost-secondary education can familiarize yourself with the language these\nbiologists use as well as get you used to preforming the duties that would be\nexpected of you in this career. When entering the field there will be higher\nups with much more experience than you, this too satisfies John Swales\u2019\ncharacteristics of a discourse community, namely that the field has novices and\nexperts (Swales, 2011). You will need to acquire skills like proper sampling\ntechniques, writing detailed field notes, analysing data both in the field and\nin a lab, and writing technical reports to specify their findings which is\nsomething virtually all Environmental Biologists do (EnvironmentalScience,\n2019). As such, taking courses and programs where you get hands on experience\nwith the work these biologists are doing will help prepare you for working on\nthe job. You\u2019ll find that people coming into this field may have already\nlearned the skills and knowledge they need from their education, but the\nexperience that you get on the job will be different. There will be other\nmembers of the community that have been working there for years and might have\na similar education to you, but can work a lot better due to their experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. This next piece of writing is from my second\nblog post from Comm 202. In it we were asked to discuss how the skills we\u2019ve acquired\nfrom a discourse community we\u2019re a part of will be helpful in the workplace. I\u2019ve\ntaken parts from 2 of the skills I highlighted in the blog. This sample\nhighlights my ability to be persuasive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe base of these skills is the\nsinging, acting and dancing training I\u2019ve received, which are among the less\nuseful skills. However that being said, there are aspects of each that are\nuseful. Fist of all, dancing. Learning choreography taught me many things\nthrough my years of community theatre, and most useful of them was learning the\nvalue of a minute. … That\u2019s something that I\u2019ve taken with me in all aspects\nof my life … Singing and learning how to sing comes with some other life\nskills as well, especially if you\u2019re singing in a group. Most noticeably is\nlearning how to breathe. … Posture, inhalation, exhalation, volume, all these\nthings affect your ability to sing and they also come in handy in life. I like\nmost people experience periods of anxiety in my life, and knowing how to\nbreath, how to sit and oxygenate, is instrumental in helping me stay calm or\nget back to calm. And volume control is something that I take with me in times\nof argument, to help things stay civil, when you\u2019re aware of how loud you are\nand you control that, you can keep unhappy situations from getting out of\ncontrol.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. The forth sample I\u2019ve selected is from the\nTrend Analysis we were assigned in Comm 202. For this assignment we were to\nfind a trend in our field of study and work collaboratively. Though my group\nmay have been more cooperative than collaborative, and so this is the section\nof the analysis that I wrote. This piece of writing I think illustrates my\nability to integrate quotations well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA number of factors are killing of\ncoral reefs, Threewitt (2019) lists \u201cpollution, overfishing and the rising\nocean temperatures associated with global warming\u201d. A large cause of the death\nof all of this coral is warmer ocean temperatures, an article by National\nGeographic stated that the corals lose their source of food in warmer\ntemperatures and if exposed for long enough will die (Howard, 2016). The more\nacidic conditions in the ocean are also at fault, cause by the increase of\ncarbon dioxide in the ocean which leads to a lower pH \u201cwhich can make it harder\nfor reef-building organisms to construct their hard skeletons\u201d (Howard, 2016). Coral farming is a new practice that is being\ndone to help save coral reefs from being wiped out completely, whereby coral is\nremoved from the ocean, grown in aquariums and then put back in the ocean\n(Threewitt, 2019). New ways of re-growing this coral are being put into\npractice, some species grow well on structures made from PVC pipe, and coral\nhas been found in 2006 to grow faster after it\u2019s been cut which has led to reef\nbuilding on a massive scale in recent years (Threewitt, 2019).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. The last sample is from my first discussion\npost from this course. This is almost the entirety of the discussion post\nexcept for the brief introduction I gave. I think that this sample once again\nshows how I can write with an authentic voice as well as write clearly and concisely\nto create an organized piece of writing that reads well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are 2 categories of a\ndiscourse community that theatre definitely satisfy and those are specific\nlingo and novices and experts. When I was 9 or 10, whenever I started, I had\nnever done anything like it before and had to learn everything about how a show\nwas put on and the different parts of a show that have to happen. There were\nothers then who had been in shows for years and had a lot of experience and\nwere able to help teach newcomers like me about the practice. Now I consider\nmyself more of an expert and have seen many people over the years participate\nin their first show and learn things about theatre that they never knew and\ncontinue to come back. There is plenty of lingo in theatre that most people\nmaybe have heard before and some that they wouldn’t know about. The subject I\nchose, Blocking, refers to a rehearsal where the director and production team\nwork with the actors in a scene and go through where the actors will be on the\nstage during the scene, how and when they move around the stage in conjunction\nwith what’s happening in the story. There are of course many other examples such\nas, down-stage, up-stage, spike and strike, and places, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EnvironmentalScience.\n (2019). What is an Environmental Biologist?<\/em> Retrieved from\n EnvironmentalScience.org:\n https:\/\/www.environmentalscience.org\/career\/environmental-biologist<\/p>\n\n\n\n Howard, B. C.\n (2016). Corals Are Dying on the Great Barrier Reef<\/em>. Retrieved from\n National Geographic: https:\/\/news.nationalgeographic.com\/2016\/03\/160321-coral-bleaching-great-barrier-reef-climate-change\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n Institute, A.\n (2017, January 15). Diagnosis of ADHD using DSM-5TM<\/em>. Retrieved from\n ADHD Institute:\n https:\/\/adhd-institute.com\/assessment-diagnosis\/diagnosis\/dsm-5\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n Swales, J. (2011).\n Writing about Writing.<\/em> Boston: Bedford St Martins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Threewitt, C.\n (2019). Scientists Develop Quick-Growing Coral Method to Save Dying Reefs<\/em>.\n Retrieved from HowStuffWorks:\n https:\/\/science.howstuffworks.com\/environmental\/green-tech\/remediation\/scientists-develop-quick-growing-coral-method-to-save-dying-reefs.htm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a person who is newly a part of the environmental sciences, I have undergone education to prepare me for work in that field. As a part of that process I have taken communications courses that have given me valuable skills required for future careers. One of the most valuable skills I learned this past […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1520,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpflemingcollege.com\/nshanksmcommblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/83"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpflemingcollege.com\/nshanksmcommblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpflemingcollege.com\/nshanksmcommblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpflemingcollege.com\/nshanksmcommblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1520"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpflemingcollege.com\/nshanksmcommblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wpflemingcollege.com\/nshanksmcommblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/83\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109,"href":"https:\/\/wpflemingcollege.com\/nshanksmcommblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/83\/revisions\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpflemingcollege.com\/nshanksmcommblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}