Final reflections

ES2007S has been an unforgettable experience. I still remember thinking that the workload seemed really heavy when Jivs first suggested we take this module. But as they say nothing worthwhile comes easy, "no pain, no gain" and this module is a classic example. I have truly developed as an individual, become more aware and tolerant as well as overcome many of my fears in terms of communication and emerged victorious.

Experiences such as the peer teaching and to a larger scale the team project taught me to collaborate and work with people. I had to care for my team members, accomodate their schedules and even negotiate with them at times. So many people skills were honed in this process. Importantly, I learnt to put myself in the shoes of another person before acting and I learnt to treat someone the way I would want them to treat me. As for the oral presentation aspect, I am proud that I managed to overcome the fear of speaking in front of people and have even succeeded in enjoying presenting. The content in this module has also provoked me to constantly try to be an active listener, better speaker and presenter and all in all an effective communicator.

The assignments have also taught me how to structure my information effectively and most importantly how to promote myself, an essential life skill when entering the workforce I must say. I am now able to analyse my audience and not only tailormake emails or letters suiting each of them, I am also able to change the way I would present my ideas verbally to each of them.

What I benefitted most from was the constant participation that was required of us during class and the constructive criticism we had to constantly give as well as receive. This was the part I found the most difficult. It is always easiest to keep your comments to yourself and not bring it up to someone if you think what you are going to say is not something the other party wants to hear. But through the blogging exercise in this module, I have realised that having to give honest comments on someone's post has helped me think critically and receiving feedback from peers has also helped me improve myself a lot.

And yes this is not the end. I see it as the beginning of effective communication in my years to come. Finally I would like to thank everyone in class as well as Brad for having made this learning experience a joyous and wonderful one.