I am an Effective Communicator
Click the links below to explore some of my best work.
As an English Writing major, I have honed my skills as an effective communicator by taking a variety of different writing courses, including creative writing classes and more theory-based rhetoric classes.
I also became a more effective communicator by taking courses outside my major. For example, I took many sociology courses because I am fascinated by the theories and ideas put forth by this subject.
Focusing on more than one discipline allowed me to practice many different kinds of writing, and has made me a well-rounded and intelligent communicator. Now, I am easily and comfortably able to articulate myself.
I am a Thinker and Problem Solver.
These are the courses and experiences that have cultivated this quality.
The literature component of my English major seems to have cultivated thinking and problem solving skills in me to a large degree. In Regional Literature, a class that focused on the literature and folklore surrounding America's Wild West, I found myself fascinated by the ideas behind the archetypical characters and the ideas being put forth. Making connections about popular myths of the west was a fascinating exercise in careful thought and articulation.
Mythologies was another fascinating class that enabled me to hone my problem solving and thinking skills. The class was largely discussion based, which meant that there was constant conversation and challenging of ideas connected to mythological texts like Ovid's "Metamorphoses" and Dante's "Inferno." As for problem solving, often my classmates were not the most talkative in class. I, however, rarely run out of things to say, and often found myself in dialogue with our professor and a few other students in the class. I found myself very interested in the content, and was able to put forth my ideas without monopolizing the conversation.
Taking the Bible as Literature has been one of the most enriching decisions of my college career. As a Catholic myself, I was curious to see how the Bible would be taught as a piece of literature rather than in a religious context, and I have not been disappointing. This course has been my most challenging class in college, at least thinking and problem solving-wise. Because of my preconceived notions about religion and faith that I have grown up with, I found that I was challenged in interesting and unique ways as I tried to articulate my thoughts about the Bible and the topics and issues that arose in class.
