Week 1 Journal Post

I am looking forward to this class because I think that it will help me reflect on my communication experiences this semester and improve my skills in the future. As I have found from my other online classes, I think that I will also learn a lot just from being able to read my other classmates' posts. By being able to read about others' experiences and seeing how people interpret differently helps me to learn and to think about things in a way that I might not normally consider. Likewise, I hope this course will help me to learn more about computer-mediated communication as it has become integral to our society today.

We were built as social beings, and as chapter one described, communication with others meets many of our needs. I have previously learned about how touch and communication can play a role in how a baby develops and how it can physically and mentally make us healthier, but I hope to learn more about the health aspect of communication through this course especially since I am interested in nutrition and going into a health field.

In chapter one, as the book described how communication meets our physical needs and how isolation can affect those with stigmas including mental illness and homelessness, it brought back memories of my experience on the alternate-spring break to Washington, DC. My service-learning experience was focused on hunger and homelessness issues in America. One of the organizations that we worked with was Georgetown Ministries. This organization, aside from providing amenities and help with job placement for the homeless and poor also had a psychologist that worked with them. Many of the homeless in the Georgetown area were homeless due to their mental illnesses. The psychologist would walk around the streets of Georgetown to talk with the homeless in order to provide help and to also provide someone to communicate with. Several other people at the organization who are not psychologists also spend part of each day walking on the streets talking to the homeless building relationships with them. While I was there, my group and I had the opportunity to join one of the walks, which allowed us to experience the interactions and talk with the homeless there. Georgetown Ministries recognizes the importance of basic communication needs and saw the importance of building relationships as a means of helping people. This was one of the most meaningful experiences for me in learning more about homelessness issues.

I hope this gives you a little insight into my experiences thus far, and I look forward to sharing my observations with you this semester. Thank you for reading :).

~Holly