CORE SKILLS
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
The learner will exchange ideas and information with others using written text in a manner effective and appropriate for the intended audience.
To represent my written communication skills, I chose to use my report from ENG-112 (Writing/Research in the Disciplines), which I took in the spring 2022 semester of my senior year in high school. Before this class, I had already written papers with similar structures in some of my other courses, such as American History II and Writing and Inquiry, so I was excited to see how I could further develop my writing skills. The assignment called for us to pick a very specific topic within our subject of interest – mine was psychology – and use scholarly sources to write an informative but unbiased paper. My topic was “The Relationship Between Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Sexual Assault in Adult Female Victims.” I have a keen interest in researching mental disorders, which is why I picked that topic in class as well as for my artifact. In this report, I was able to discuss the relationship between PTSD and sexual assault and its development.
My first goal within this assignment was to make sure that it was organized properly. I knew that my paper would have multiple parts to it because it was heavily based on research findings and discussions. Due to this, I had to figure out how to structure it so that the information flowed and the reader was able to easily follow along. In class, the instructor taught us how to use headings and subheadings to organize papers into sections, so I incorporated that into my report. I divided up the paper by having a heading for each of the main topics mentioned in my thesis statement, which were the connection, risk factors, and uncontrolled factors. I also used subheadings within those sections to divide them up even further based on what I had written in the next paragraph. Definitions of terms, discussions, and other related results had received subheadings. Doing this significantly helped give my report the structure that it needed, and I learned organizational skills that I still use whenever I have to write a paper!
My second goal was to make sure the paper was simply not a recollection of data and statistics and flowed together. This was a little difficult because my paper was about the results from various studies, but I wanted to keep the reader’s interest and not have them feel like they were reading a textbook. The way I did this was by including what I would say are transition paragraphs, such as the definitions, discussions, and other results. I put these paragraphs in between the main topics as a way to prepare the reader for what information I would be discussing in the next part of the paper. I found that this was also a good way to reemphasize the purpose and not stray away from the thesis statement. By doing this, my writing flowed much better in between paragraphs, and it connected the main topics I chose to discuss!
Written communication is a vital skill that will always be used in life and within almost every career path, whether the context is casual, formal, or professional. From this assignment, I learned that organization is key to having your writing flow well and reinstating your purpose. I am quite familiar with research papers because I have written so many of them, and I know that I will continue to write them during my journey through university and graduate school. Having an interest in conducting research means that I also have to be able to effectively share my findings, and one of the main ways is through writing. I will always be learning new methods of writing for specific contexts, and this assignment taught me one of them.
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.
To represent my oral communication skills, I chose a video of my recorded presentation for an honors research project in my PSY-150 (General Psychology) class. I took this class in the fall 2020 semester of my junior year in high school and had newly entered the South Piedmont Honors Program. I was given the freedom to choose a topic of my liking as long as it was Psychology related and my instructor approved of it. I decided to research “Authoritarian Parenting and Its Effect on Teen Depression,” which was a topic that piqued my curiosity, and that is also the reason why I chose to use it as an artifact. In the presentation, I compared two parenting styles, defined depression, summarized findings from multiple studies, and did a couple of other things as well.
Speaking clearly and concisely is something that I have always struggled with. For this presentation, my first goal was to relay all the information I needed to share while talking at a normal pace and not focusing too much on unnecessary aspects. What worked for me was to create a mental list of the general order I wanted to talk about the studies and then use it for each of the slides. I started off by explaining where the study was conducted and what they researched, then moved on to the methods and results, and lastly discussed possible reasons for that occurrence. During the presentation, this method helped me stay calm and collected, which slowed down my talking speed and made sure that I was highlighting the parts that I wanted the audience to focus on. Overall, my presentation flowed much better after I implemented these techniques!
My second goal was to emphasize the importance of this topic to the audience and sound confident in what I was presenting. This was a project that I had devoted a lot of time and effort to, and I wanted that to be showcased in the presentation. I had an introduction portion to grab the audience’s attention, where I mentioned teen suicide rates increasing over the past couple of years, which helped stress the gravity of the situation. Along with spending multiple weeks researching the topic, I also rehearsed the presentation countless times in order to make sure that I knew all the information that I was presenting. Doing this significantly increased my confidence levels because it made me familiar with the content, and I got self-reassurance that I was able to present successfully without making too many mistakes!
This project taught me that organization is key to oral communication. Without a method to follow, the delivery of information will sound messy and inconsistent. I also learned that the best way for me to manage my anxiety is by repeatedly practicing what I will be saying. Oral communication will always be a part of my journey because I enjoy doing research, which comes with orally presenting my findings as well, especially since I plan on going to graduate school. I have used this skill in the past in other classes, such as Art Appreciation and Public Speaking, where I have had to give multiple speeches and presentations, and these experiences have also helped me master oral communication. There will always be room for improvement, particularly in managing public speaking anxiety, but I know that I shouldn’t be scared of it. Techniques such as learning how to increase my confidence in this General Psychology class are tremendously helpful when practicing oral communication.
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.
For this artifact, I chose to use the zombie apocalypse assignment from my HUM-115 (Critical Thinking) class that I took in the spring 2023 semester. I’ve completed several assignments in my classes that required me to find logical solutions to problems such as Public Speaking, Sociology, Writing/Research in the Disciplines, and Principles of Management. I chose this assignment because it portrays creativity alongside critical thinking, which is a good representation of myself. I was told to write about how I would survive the zombie apocalypse, but I could not take more than four people and three objects with me. Ultimately, I decided that the only person I would bring with me was my sister because she has a sense of direction and is somewhat athletic, which would be helpful on our journey.
My first goal for this assignment was to decide which object I should take with me that would be useful and practical as a weapon. I thought about taking a gun or a knife, but realistically, I don’t know how to operate a gun or use a knife in self-defense. I learned to consider all the options that were available in my own house, as well as identify their advantages and disadvantages in case I was faced with a life-threatening situation. There weren’t many items in my house that could’ve been used as a weapon, and I needed one that could be easily stored and didn’t require much skill to use, so I ended up taking a cast iron pan. I actually got inspiration from one of my favorite movies called Tangled because the characters use a frying pan as an effective weapon when they do not have anything else. From personal experience in the kitchen, I knew that cast iron pans are heavy, so if someone – or a zombie – were to get hit by one, it would most likely injure them. This taught me how to analyze the problem logically, and the idea worked perfectly in my plan to survive the zombie apocalypse.
My second goal was to decide how I was going to navigate through the apocalypse and then pick the most beneficial route with the least amount of risk. In an ordinary world where the zombie apocalypse did not exist, I would have taken the route that would bring me to my destination in the shortest amount of time. However, this assignment made me consider other aspects, such as how much traffic there would be, the type of area I would be driving through, and where most of the zombies would be. I learned that when figuring out the best solution, it is crucial to think about all the elements that you would be dealing with in order to be fully prepared to face them. Due to this, I decided to take the back routes even though they added an extra ten minutes to the journey. I knew this would be the way to avoid traffic or getting bombarded with zombies, and there were going to be a lot of trees nearby in case I needed to hide. This was a practical solution in my plan because I had accounted for the various factors I would be dealing with while escaping from my house.
This assignment may have fictitious components, such as zombies, but it still required me to use my critical thinking skills and figure out how to survive in this scenario. I learned to analyze problems logically, consider the different components, and devise a practical solution. I had a lot of fun doing this assignment because I could dive into my creative side while also thinking about how to work under the pressure of life or death. The skills I learned can also be applied to almost any problem I face in the future, not only in my educational journey but also in my personal life. I can use them when completing assignments and conversing with others, especially when debating an issue. The more problems I have to solve, the better I will get at finding the best possible solutions.
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
The learner will demonstrate cultural awareness and objectivity through critical reflection.
For this artifact, I was in between the options of using an assignment from French or Sociology, and I decided to go with my diversity interview from my SOC-210 (Introduction to Sociology) class. I took this class in the spring 2022 semester of my senior year in high school, and I would say that it is one of my favorite classes that I have taken at South Piedmont. This assignment required us to interview a person whose demographic profile was different from ours, and we were given a general list of questions to ask them. I decided to interview a friend of mine and was able to connect with her on a deeper level after our discussion.
My first goal for this interview was to understand how western culture has impacted her faith in her religion, which is Islam. Both of us grew up as minorities in the United States, and there are a lot of misconceptions about our religions from people who don’t practice them. I wanted to know about her personal experiences with living in a society where it is difficult to meet people who practice the same religion or are accepting of it. I found it admirable how she was able to use her religion to refrain from unhealthy habits and hold herself accountable for her own actions. As a teenager, it can be a little difficult to avoid peer pressure, but she is able to handle it in a great way. I also hope that one day her family is able to outwardly express their beliefs without being shamed for them. I find it discouraging how even today, people can still make racist remarks toward someone simply because of their religion. From this question, I was able to have a more profound understanding of some of the positives and negatives that my friend faces by being a Muslim in the United States.
My second goal was to learn how being a Muslim can affect her in the workplace. Although it’s forbidden to discriminate against a person due to their race or ethnicity, racism is still an issue faced by many minorities in the United States today. I wanted to make sure that I was able to accurately highlight the obstacles that she faces when looking for a job. In order to do this, I asked her about the positives and negatives in terms of employment. I was glad to hear that when she is in a supportive environment, it’s easier for her to uphold Islamic practices such as praying and purification. I wish that this was the social norm because unfortunately, some people are not as accepting of other religions and let it affect the way they treat others. It is hard to stay loyal to your religion, or even anything in general when you’re facing a lot of hatred. This question gave me more insight into her experiences with work and other coworkers.
By interviewing a person from a different background than myself, I was able to understand how other minorities are affected by their religion in today’s society. I enjoyed conducting this interview as it helped me acknowledge the positives and negatives that my friend faces due to her beliefs. As another minority, I think it is important to help others from different backgrounds understand what it is like to live in a society where our religions aren’t as common. A lot of people are unaware of some of the obstacles that we can face, simply because they have never experienced them themselves. While I still have a long way to go before getting a full understanding of Islam, this assignment helped me grasp some of the basic beliefs. The information I learned about different cultures in this interview, and classes such as French, will always stay with me throughout my journey in future endeavors, as I was able to understand how different religions can impact people's ways of life.
INFORMATION LITERACY
The learner will locate, identify, evaluate, use, and disseminate information ethically and responsibly.
Throughout my journey at South Piedmont, I’ve had to create several annotated bibliographies for classes such as Public Speaking, Writing and Inquiry, and Writing/Research in the Disciplines. I decided to use my bibliography from the persuasive speech in my COM-231 (Public Speaking) class which I took in the fall 2021 semester of my senior year in high school. The speech was about how the consumption of Fast Fashion is detrimental to the environment, which is a topic that is extremely relevant today. We had to write summaries for at least five of the main sources that we would be referencing in our speech in order to make sure they were reliable and useful. I always enjoy the research process and liked how this assignment taught me to analyze sources based on their content and the purpose they would provide to my speech.
My first goal was to make sure that my sources were from trustworthy places in order to avoid a lot of personal bias from their authors. I was surprised to see how many uncredited sites there were and had to filter them out. I found out that it is crucial to look at the type of websites that information is retrieved from because not all places are credible to discuss the fashion industry. With a wide scope of internet access in today’s society, it is easy to be misinformed about environmental issues since people can let their personal opinions impact the extent of information they spread. I was shocked to find out from Princeton University that 50% of clothing ends up in landfills and one simple cotton shirt uses up to 3,000 liters of water per day. It was important that I included accurate data from credible sources in my speech because it would put into perspective for the audience how significant of an issue this is. I ended up only using sources from research institutions and organizations that were dedicated to discussing child labor, fashion, and environmental causes because I knew that those would be the most reliable for my speech.
My second goal was to have the sources be relatively recent and not have them be older than the past three to five years. This aspect was crucial to this topic for me due to the recent surge of clothes quickly going in and out of fashion. It was devastating to learn about how the child workers were barely making a third or even a fifth of the living wage in their countries. I was also astonished at how over 160 million children are coerced into working in this industry, simply because their parents were manipulated into thinking the environment was going to be much better than it really was. This data was collected from studies conducted only a few months prior to this assignment in July of 2021, which shows that it was as recent as possible. When I was looking for my sources, I made sure that all of them fit the time frame that I selected, because if I used older ones, then the statistics would’ve been drastically different. I was, fortunately, able to find sources that were all published about a year, give or take, from when I was working on this assignment. This made sure that the information used in my speech regarding the fashion industry was going to be relatively accurate.
I enjoyed this assignment because it felt like a scavenger hunt to try and find sources that would fit my criteria. I learned a lot about how there are so many places that misinform their audience about a topic since they lack evidence to support their claims and rely on their opinions. There were a lot of websites that made hard claims against fast fashion, but they did not include any details to show why they were saying this. As I complete more assignments involving research, I am able to get more practice in identifying credible sources. I have found that library databases are a great way to find scholarly articles and journals! I love the research process and will always be a part of this field even in my future institution and career, so these assignments have taught me a lot about how to enhance the accuracy of my work through the sources that are used!