Alex Schumacher

This was a Personal Development Plan that I wrote the first semester of my junior year. It was interesting to look back and read this document. First, I believe that I have grown as a writer. Second, it was interesting to see how I viewed my strengths and weaknesses. I would say my strengths are the same. I still believe I am a likable person that has a generally more positive personality. However my weak points are still in my writing and my delegating of work. I have worked on the writing in the last year and I do believe that I have improved. Delegating is always going to be something that I struggle with. I enjoy getting my work done without the constraints of other people. The last thing is the plans that I laid out for my life, and as of right now things are going according to that plan.

This was one of the first papers I wrote for Com 201 (Foundations of Professional Communication). My writing was at the worst it’s probably been in my college career. However this was the paper and the class where I had the “Ah Ha” moment. This was when I was certain that communication was the route I wanted to pursue. Now at the time I wanted to be a sports broadcaster/analyst, however over the years that has changed to more of a sales or management type of dream. The fact remains this class is where I knew that communicating professional, confidently, and competently was something I could do. At that point I worked hard to improve my writing and speaking skills to get to where I am now.

This paper was a collaboration paper with Logan Schroeder and Leah Mielke. This proposal that was done for our professional communication class and it was a culmination of all the lessons we have learned in our college career. It first showcased the ability to work in a group in order to come to a common goal of a good grade. It also showed our ability to write in a technical manner for a professional setting. This paper/proposal was something that we worked very hard on and it shows how we have grown into professional communicators.

This was one of the last major papers that I wrote in my college career. This paper focused on the NFL draft and the narrative and media stories that come from it. This was a paper that challenged me not only as a writer, but a researcher. I had to expanded my knowledge and view of this sports topic to think more critically about current events. This paper was the hardest I had researched for, it was something that showed how I had grown in the communication program as well as a collegiate scholar.