Final Reflection

I still vividly remember the self-introduction session during the first ever class for ES2007S. Though it honestly felt silly to me, I realized it took a fair bit of courage to come up with something catchy yet try to minimize embarrassing myself as much as possible. In a sense, I was facing my fear of embarrassment and dealing with it because I had to. Perhaps due to this short session, some of our reservations diminished and this seemed to have facilitated the rest of the course as none of us seemed to have much trouble speaking up in class. And so my course in Professional Communication started.

Shortly after, we all divided ourselves into groups and soon we worked on peer teaching, as well as individual work such as writing personal statements, cover letters and resumes, where everyone reviewed each others’ work. I find this method of learning really useful, as we all had the chance to learn from each other. Before taking up this module, I had no idea what I needed to prepare for job applications and I am really thankful that the module taught me exactly what to prepare for, and how to prepare reasonably good ones (cover letters, resume, etc.).

Finally, we worked on doing up a proposal, which was the project that took up the bulk of the course (or so it seemed). The experience was a first for me, as I have never been involved in drawing up proposals, and I am happy that I actually learnt a lot from this assignment. I learnt the useful skill of writing minutes, and even though the whole process of putting the proposal together was “grueling”, I learnt a lot about cooperation and a fair deal about the art of maintaining good working relationships. As tedious as the whole process had been, it was enjoyable and at the end of the day, I am satisfied with the final product of the proposal. J

Overall, the module was effective and crucial skills necessary in the real world were aptly taught. This module definitely serves its function as a platform for preparing us for work in the real world. I felt that the pace of the class was good, and that everyone was respectful of each other and had no problem communicating our ideas across in class. Most of all, I felt that the lesson on the 7 Cs was one of the most useful part of the course as the 7Cs really constitute the core objectives of effective communication.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Chris for her guidance and kind understanding, as well as my group mates, Huushun and Yuzi for their patience and cooperation :) It was also a bonus to have made new friends through this module!