Reflection Paper: I, 21st Century Communicator by Christian B. Agtarap

Growing up as an introvert, I always get intimidated by the word “Communication.” Conventionally, when we say “communicate”, the very first thing that would come up in our minds is conveying our thoughts in a verbal manner, basically -- speaking. If this is the case, then it would be very hard for me to “communicate”.  But thankfully, due to technological advancement, many platforms have been developed giving us introverts and those who aren’t comfortable in verbal face to face interaction chance to express thoughts and ideas in our preferred way . From this we can say that there has been a change in the landscape of communication from pure orality to converged media offering people a wider range of approach to effectively participate in the society and communicate.

              Communication plays a vital role in shaping one’s identity and fostering relationships in our society. Communication is so important that absence of it can cause extinction of human race. That’s why I was very happy knowing that one of the GE’s we will be taking this semester is COMM 10 which is Critical Perspectives in Communication. I am glad that I am able to extend my knowledge about Communication because this is very useful in our daily lives as social beings. Throughout the course, I learned that to be a proficient communicator one must understand verbal and non-verbal cues and behavioral differences brought by cultural differences. Unlike the old times, we are not limited to verbal approach of communication. Due to media convergence, other forms of literacy skills like critical thinking, collaboration and visual literacy came to existence and one must enhanced it. Furthermore, since our technology is kept in advancing, our world has become a global community. Throughout our lives, we would be often meet people (not necessarily face to face) that have different culture from us. And in order for us to arrive at mutuality, we must communicate effectively to them by not just learning their language, but also, comprehending their culture. By doing this so, we will be able to build and maintain good relationship which is very essential in keeping peace and order.

              As a Computer Science student, I can use the things that I learned from this course by applying it to my everyday life and my future workplace. From the moment that I will apply for a job to job interviews to the actual employment, I can edged others by being an effective communicator. As a citizen of this country, I can also use my voice to help the marginalized people to raise their concerns by learning from their point of view as well as teaching them how to be effective communicators . And that for me is the real essence of communication, the act of constantly learning from each other to achieve common ground.