In my line of work, I'm constantly communicating with anyone and everyone. I bar tend at the Los Gatos Brewing Company in Los Gatos (not the one in San Pedro Square). For me, it was easy to make my decision on what I wanted to study when I came back to school. Communication has, for the most part, been one of my strong points (Granted, those filler words are still hard to get rid of). One of the main things that I find the most interesting about communication studies is that everyone has their own way of communicating. Some people are extroverts and are shouting out what they feel left and right, and other's can be introverts that shy away from speaking loudly and being the center of attention. Regardless, both parties are able to communicate in a way that they're able to get there points across. I also find it interesting how culture plays a role in how we communicate. Each culture has its own sub-culture, that might have another sub-culture within another sub-culture that shapes the way we are and how we might communicate with each other.
This leads me to my own personal definition of communication studies. In my opinion, communication studies is the way of learning how to interact, listen actively, and communicate responsibly within one's culture or society. When I say "Listen Actively," this means to intake what a person has to say and paraphrase it with understanding and meaning.
When asked: "What counts as communication studies and what doesn't?" I immediately thought to myself, "Is this a trick question?" I feel that everything surrounding us is a way of understanding communication studies. I know that this is quite a vague statement, but hear me out. Communication studies are always in effect. As a human being, we're having to be open and understanding to a lot of situations that surround us. Whether it's studying another topic, such as: Economics, Psychology, or Philosophy, we're engaging in learning shared experiences from other people's past experiences and findings. Or, even if it's visiting a friend and their house looks like a tornado hit it, this may communicate to you, that either this person hasn't had a chance to clean their house, or they just don't care about how they live. Silence is even a way of communication studies. Now, the hard part. What doesn't constitute as communication studies? Well, I'm honestly in limbo upon this question. Does somebody from the class have an answer that might help me take off the blinders from my eyes?
What can I do with a communications degree? Me, I want to become a professor. I would love to teach public speaking at the college level. I had a professor while I was attending De Anza College that shaped me to really enjoy communications and public speaking. I want to do the same for other's that are entering this field. I want to impact them, just as Joel Sakakihara, my Public Speaking professor, did for me.
