Communication is a very important competency to me, and I think I exercise it quite well, both in academic and professional settings as well as in my personal life.
I think the area I probably struggle with most in my written communication. Though I would consider myself a decent writer, it typically takes me much longer than the average student to put my thoughts to paper in a coherent way. However, I have worked to improve this. After receiving a B on my first paper in my classics course this semester, Body Politics, I met with my professor to discuss the second paper to organize my thoughts, and I ended up getting an A! I also visited the Writing Workshop to get help with organizing my thoughts for the first tier of my final essay, which has been quite intimidating, but the meeting was incredibly helpful and gave me a lot of confidence in my ability to successfully complete the assignment. I’m glad I took the initiative to do so.
In terms of oral communication, in an academic/professional sense, I think I do a pretty good job of this. My Body Politics professor has told me that I provide great insight during our rigorous class discussions. Also, I applied and interviewed to be a tour guide for Wesleyan earlier this semester, and I got the job! I’d say that this is due to my strong ability to communicate things about which I am passionate, which I definitely demonstrated in the (group) interview.
In my personal life, I do really value and prioritize good communication. I have been able to navigate a lot of friendships, especially tricky situations with regard to them, very well as a result. For example, this semester, I was having some frustrations with a friend, and instead of letting them fester and not saying anything, I brought them up to said friend. We ended up having a really good conversation in which she also pointed out some frustrations she was having with me, and I’m so glad that she did because I had not even realized that I could have been doing something to upset her. Since then, our friendship has been so much stronger. Also, in terms of listening, my friends have told me that I am a great listener. I find that I practice this best with utilizing active listening skills, which not only help others feel more heard, but they also help me better comprehend and remember things people tell me.
