Critical Reflection

 Communication, at its simplest, is the act of transferring information from one place to another. The ability to communicate information accurately, clearly and with breadth is a vital life skill and something that should not be overlooked. Throughout my life, I always knew that at the back of my head but I have never put myself out of my comfort zone to work on that attribute in me. 

University life is about to begin and I noticed a communication module on my timetable. I was intrigued and I was envisioning on what this module could offer to me. At the same time, I was afraid and worried because I knew that communication, both writing and speaking are not my forte. Furthermore, In a university setting, the students are academically engaged and vocal. Thus I felt pressured to be sitting in the same class with such students. First lesson began, I was surprised and taken aback as the lessons were conducted by Professor Brad who was a native American.

 

Through the short 13 weeks, I am utterly grateful for the lessons conducted by Professor Brad. The knowledge taught and ingrained to me will benefit in the many years to come. In this module, I learned how to present effectively to an audience. It includes speaking clearly, loudly and engagingly. It also includes body language, positioning and contact with the audience. I believe these skills will allow me to set a good impression in my future workplace. These skills will ensure me some credibility towards my future supervisors or potential clients. I learned how to write proper report as well. I am now able to write a structured and organised report comfortably. This skill would definitely be useful in a workplace environment as it encompasses my reports to be professionally written. Furthermore, In-text citation and proper referencing using American Psychological Association (APA) style were taught to be applied with discipline. There is still much to learn even after this module but this was a great stepping stone for me start upgrading myself to be a better speaker and writer.

 

This module also provides opportunities to work on a group research project that includes writing a technical report, and elevating a pitch to the relevant stakeholders. It was a fruitful experience as we had to  brainstorm on issues that needs to be addressed and coming up with brilliant ideas to tackle them. I was the scribe for the team. It was challenging for me because I have to record down what deemed to be a potential source for the discussion. The brainstorming process was so exasperating. It can take hours to come up with a feasible to work on. While the process was a lot of work, It was an enjoying process. The satisfaction of delivering the pitch and forming the report was one that I longed for in a while. Initially it was hard, having to work with teammates I barely knew, and unsure of their strengths. However, I took it positively as I foresee the future would be a similar case where we work with colleagues from different walks of life. Henceforth, setting us up with random teammates would exercise adaptability to different working style.

 

To conclude, I would like to thank Professor Brad for the great guidance and the resourceful knowledge that he has taught. I would like to thank my teammates, Shafiz and Bari for making the group research project a fun and thrilling ride and to my classmates as well for the constructed feedback to my work in the past 13 weeks.