Q Topic 3: Looking Backward, Looking Forward By the end of Week 2, you will need to submit a draft of the Reflective or stand-alone Alternate Analytical Essay that you're preparing for your portfolio project. This discussion is designed to help you think through the classes you took as a Communication Studies major. Think about your Communication Studies classes. What specific theme or idea from your studies has proved meaningful to you, personally and/or professionally? How will you take the insights that you have developed from this project/idea into the future? At UMUC, the Communication Studies courses comprise classes with the designators COMM, JOUR, or SPCH. You might also think about the relationship between your COMM Studies courses and any WRTG classes you have taken to gain the business-, technical-, or grant- and proposal-writing skills useful to professional communicators. You may want to consult a course catalog from the year you entered the program, to help you think through the courses that you have taken. The university keeps a selection of these catalogs, including its Asia class lists from 1989 - 2005, Europe catalogs from 1949 -2006, and U.S. materials for 1954 through 2012 here. For newer catalogs (2002 - present), go here. As you reminisce, think about the ideas that made the course meaningful to you in some way. Which areas of study stand out for you? Describe the project or idea in detail and discuss its significance. That is, what makes the project valuable to you now, as you remember it? Did the experience lead you to develop a particular insight about communication, about life, about people, about yourself? And how will this insight serve you personally and/or professionally in the future? Senior Communication Studies majors often say in this class that a particular theory or project in the Communication Theory or Mass Communication Theory classes led them to insights that have served them well (in understanding communication in the workplace, for example, or in making a case for advancement at work). Some students have said their analyses of non-standard language varieties (dialects) in their speech classes helped them feel proud of their own dialects and their regional identities. Learning that dialects are just as rule-governed as standard languages can bolster people's perspectives on themselves and on others who speak their language. Still other students have said they had world-view changing experiences in their speech class about gender and communication, which lead them to richer relationships at home and at work. The speech classes in general often help us to understand different communication situations and contexts, thus giving us an enlightened view of--for example--someone's nonverbal cues or listening behaviors. Students who have taken the PR class often comment on the extraordinary impact the internet has had on the skills needed for that profession. Your undergraduate degree affords you an opportunity to broaden your view of the world and your place within it, as well as the work that you do to earn a living. Use this discussion question to help you crystallize your thoughts for the draft Reflective or stand-alone Alternate Analytical Essay that you must submit in Week 2. Please post your initial response to this discussion prompt by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday. Then, respond to the initial posts of at least two other students by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Saturday. Continue your conversations through the end of the course week.