Core Skills

Oral Communication

"The learner will exchange ideas and information with others using the spoken word in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience."

This artifact I have pulled from my Fall 2021 Semester COM -132 Public Speaking Class, instructed by Mr. John Muir. This artifact explores Oral Communication, which is considered quite a hurdle for many. In this video, I present a presentation titled, "Should We Censor Classic Literature?", in which I

discuss some important books that have been added to a list of banned books for content labeled as inappropriate for most audiences. However, I note that many of these banned books outline an important lesson to be learned, and they carry a great deal of history in them as well.

My first goal for this presentation is to demonstrate how far I have come with my public speaking skills and to demonstrate many important components of a speech, like appropriate posture, eye contact, hand gestures, and a load of confidence. Throughout this speech, I use my hand gestures, which helps to engage the audience further, retain enthusiasm to keep the audience captivated and maintain a good posture, to show the audience that you are in a good mood and am eager to share a presentation. Even though I am presenting to the camera, you can take this video and translate it to a real life situation, which is exactly what Public Speaking is like. It helped me to realize that a speech isn't just about gathering information to give a presentation just for the teacher to grade, but it's about trying to interest your audience in something possibly new to them and using these public speaking skills to give the best presentation you can to a willing audience. Throughout this class, I did many speeches that have showed to me that the purpose of a speech is to impress your audience and provide them with a takeaway. I can still remember some of my classmates' presentations because they captivated me with their skills.

My second goal was to be able to seem knowledgeable to my audience, demonstrating that I did my research and am credible enough to give a presentation on the topic. A good way for an audience to know is by verbally citing sources, like saying that you got a certain tidbit of information that might be shocking to an audience from a well-known credible source, so that way they think, "Wow, This must be true because I know this website is credible." Also, using statistics or numbers can also be helpful in demonstrating your knowledge of the topic, like using infographics or charts, like I did in my presentation. Other assignments in Public Speaking, like Annotated Bibliographies, help to get you in the mindset of being an expert on your topic. This is also part of how I remember classmates' presentations: They utilized their sources and were able to show that through their expertise on their topic. This class has helped me to develop important skills that might be needed in my discipline because you never know when you might be called upon for a report or presentation of your findings. Having these skills at my fingertips is crucial when I might need to do a report or presentation.

Written Communication

"The learner will exchange ideas and information with others using text in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience."

This artifact showing Written Communication is my Report Essay from my Fall 2022 ENG -112 Writing in The Disciplines class I took with Dr. Stephanie Stripling. This artifact is the first paper I wrote in my English 112 class. This paper is from when I first started

to explore my discipline (pharmacy) and tried to familiarize myself with many areas of my discipline. This paper is a report from within my discipline: "Vaccine Scarcity and Hesitancy: How Are They Linked?" that explores the COVID vaccine and the Hesitancy experienced by a number of people that is unmatched compared to previous vaccines. I discuss the possible correlation between the scarcity of the vaccine and how this could possibly be linked to the hesitancy of many. Additionally, I brought in another vaccine to compare current scarcity and hesitancy to: Monkeypox. Doing this paper and conducting this research will be very helpful to me down the road in my discipline when I am exposed to vaccines, and possibly even having to make them or be a part of the creation of one.

My first goal in writing this paper is to make sure that I am staying professional, using terminology related to my discipline, and communicating my information in a way that is understandable to a variety of readers. This includes using proper terminology for my discipline but evaluating this terminology for readers, reviewing formatting to make sure there are no issues, and using and citing sources correctly. I also used a map in this paper, to help demonstrate the range of COVID vaccine hesitancy across the world, so that my information is also visually appealing to my readers, instead of just words on a paper. Some disciplines require just words, but most will also be benefitted from the use of your information in a visual way.

My second goal for this paper was to make myself knowledgeable in this area of my discipline not just to inform my readers, but also in hopes of gaining some important knowledge for use later when I start to pursue a career in my discipline. This assignment helped me to truly become more knowledgeable in this area of my discipline, and I am hoping that I am better equipped for my discipline than before thanks to the research I did throughout the class. Although there will still be a lot to learn, I can show my interest with prior knowledge and research I have done to demonstrate how I really want to pursue this discipline.

Intercultural Competence

"The learner will demonstrate cultural awareness and objectivity through critical reflection."

I have chosen my final paper from my MUS-110 Music Appreciation class from Spring 2021 I took with Dr. Nicholas Stow to represent my Intercultural Competence. Although I was evaluating a music piece, the composer of this piece was from Venice, Italy. By evaluating his piece, you can see how his background is a crucial component of his music

composition. Additionally, the time period in which this composition was created was called the Baroque period, which began in Italy and placed emphasis on specific characteristics that were popular at the time.

My first goal for this paper was to analyze Vivaldi's musical composition in a way that was culturally aware of who Vivaldi is. Being an Italian composer, there was a lot that he went through, and he has a lot in his history. Italy is big in music and many ways of art. Vivaldi's father was a violinist, and so Vivaldi had his early beginnings in violin and in the clergy, as churchgoing was additionally very important at the time. When he had grown older, many fell out of touch with his music and no longer held appreciation for it. This piece of music tells of the life that Vivaldi lived in Italy, growing up in the church and in the midst of one of Italy's most important ways of art.

My second goal for this paper is to look at the big picture of how talented someone from another culture is and appreciate this for a lot of reasons. Vivaldi was a prevalent composer in his time, and in his composing, he contributed greatly to the history and reputation of Italy. It is important to look at the great things that people from other cultures have been able to accomplish, instead of thinking that one can do it all. Writing this paper not only showed me not only the importance of composition analysis but about how certain cultures produce the same things in a different but just as amazing way. Even though the main focus of this paper was the music, it demonstrates a lifestyle and through that, I have sharpened my skills of cultural analysis and competence.

Information Literacy

"The learner will locate, identify, evaluate, use, and disseminate information ethically and responsibly."

This artifact is my final paper from My Fall 2022 ENG-112 Research in The Disciplines class with Dr. Stephanie Stripling. This is my proposal essay, in which I explore the problem of high prescription drug costs, and offer solutions on

how to lower them. This paper I would consider the most relevant to my career in Pharmacy, and so it would be important to me to have this artifact even three or four years in the future, and to keep this information in mind as a possibility for important research in my discipline. Even President Biden foudn it very important to address this topic in his debate, which shows that high drug costs really is an important issue.

My first goal with this paper was to demonstrate a mastery of problem-solving and addressing problems in a manner most effective. I believe that this paper really shows what I am capable of in many ways, and I put a lot of work into this paper. I took an important problem that will be relevant to me in the near future and I proposed a couple of solutions in order to problem solve. Additionally, these solutions could be applicable if they really were to be used as a solution for high drug costs. I believe that this paper shows a level of mastery in problem-solving, which is one of the most important skills to have.

My second goal for this paper was to remain unbiased and ethical throughout my evaluation of solutions to such problems. For example, It wouldn't be ethical just to let people die because they can't afford the drugs they need to survive, like insulin. Additionally, it was important to me to remain unbiased, because this is an important criterion for many many careers in research and such, and it will be of much use to me to be able to remain unbiased through a report. I will likely keep this artifact for a while because I believe it demonstrates a mastery of many important skills, and it would be a good document to share with future employers or supervisors. I know that I will always remember how good I feel I did in writing this paper.

Critical Thinking

"The learner will identify, interpret, analyze, or synthesize problems before developing and implementing solutions in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience."

My Critical Thinking artifact comes from my Spring 2023 HUM-115 Critical Thinking Class with Mr. John Muir. In this assignment, we explored the concept of a zombie apocalypse and what we would have to do to reach a safe area. In

this assignment, we really had to harness critical thinking in order to come up with a plan to get to safety unscathed. It is important to be able to show critical thinking nowadays because It is a skill that is becoming rarer and rarer everywhere. Even something as impossible as the zombie apocalypse isn't far off from what could be, and how you could critically think in the midst of the zombie apocalypse could be applied to many current-day situations.

My first goal with this artifact was to demonstrate critical thinking at an expert level. With this assignment, I tried my best to dive deep into brainstorming about this hypothetical situation of a zombie apocalypse and think about all aspects of this particular situation. For example, Professor John Muir mentioned that at the point of a zombie apocalypse, the infrastructure of the country is collapsing. This led to a snowball effect in my mind: From there I built off of that by demonstrating that speed limits or stop lights no longer apply, and if you were desperate, to go so far as robbery or murder if it depends on it, but their ethics are brought into question. We needed to come up with a plan, and analyze it to make sure there were no holes, ethics weren't necessarily being questioned, and the overall goal was reachable and thought through, and I demonstrated this flawlessly with this assignment.

My second goal was to start and integrate the level of critical thinking demonstrated by this artifact into my daily life. This is obviously going to come in handy for the rest of my life, so why not start now? I am already by nature observant when I want to be, And I think that in some situations I do critically think, but in those situations when I'm making assumptions, being biased, etc. It would be much more polite and educated of me to critically think before I speak or act. I am becoming more education-oriented by being able to reduce my procrastination, stay active, and eat healthier, and eventually I will start working out to maintain my shape too, just in my lifestyle. It makes you feel better too and clears your brain, which can also increase the effectiveness of critical thinking in the long run. I would love to be able to be an effective critical thinker for a lifetime, and it would be such a huge green flag for future opportunities.