Communication & Leadership Portfolio
Anthony Zhang
The growth of my interpersonal and communication skills through specialized university-level analysis and a multi-faceted approach.
Communication showcase
Axioms of Communication
Week 4 - Tutorial 3: Rahyan, Sam, Kevin
In a tutorial of the effective engineering communications course, small group discussions were held to discuss the axioms of communication. Students were made to present a topic individually to a small group without preparation, which was a difficult and slightly awkward experience. Engaging several strangers in conversation after attempting to spark their interest in a topic was quite a challenge, bringing light to the complications of communication. I personally handle myself better than most of my peers in situations like these, and I engaged my group well. I believe that this was a good representation of my work, but that the challenge was still present and felt.
Mutual Interviews
Week 5 - Tutorial 4: Rayne, Gabriel, Sarah
Practice interviews between students provides a valuable challenge. Through asking each other questions, my group discovered the difficulties of answering pointed questions, as well as the awkwardness of asking them as an inexperienced interviewer. Answering interview questions is inherently difficult, but I did a relatively good job of doing so. Previous job experienced at this point made it so that this was not an entirely new experience for me, although it is not common either. It was not particularly uncomfortable, and it felt like a very manageable experience.
Digital and Professional Correspondence
Week 8 - Lecture 8: Daniel, Nathan, Terry, Varrshan
Interpersonal experiences largely do not depend on the content of the topic at hand. In communication with a group of students in a lecture, the lighter and easier tone of conversation makes for much more comfortable interactions. The connections made in these environments is much more useful than the more forced engagements of other experiences. I believe that this experience held the most interpersonal growth for me in this course as a result.Â
Community Engagement
Group project: Playcheck sports companion app
Over the course of the semester, I have been building an app as part of another course along with a team of 5, originally 6. We have held meetings frequently and worked together on the planning and development of this app. Many of us made very good efforts to learn to communicate with each other. A member of our team did not have the best attitude towards me though, and handling his distaste of me was a difficult experience, which I believe was well-handled. I stayed calm in a conversation while being yelled at and berated, and I think that this is an exemplary display of conflict resolution. It is far beyond my, or anyone else's comfort zone to be yelled at, and I'm glad that my maturity allowed me to handle the situation as well as can be.
Reflections
University Course Reflection
The effective engineering communication course at York University's engineering faculty has been a very lackluster experience. The theory of communication is an important topic to have some understanding of, but the everyday development of interpersonal skills through experience is so much more natural and valuable. The lectures of this course held some meaningful content, but the delivery was very unfortunate. I feel heavily for professor Mondal, who had a very difficult time in lectures. With the ease of the course, many students did not take it seriously.
I believe that this shows a lack of empathy and consideration on the part of many students, but also a failing in presentation of the professor. It is a skill to attract the attention of a large group of disorganized students, be it by demand or by interest. The forced communications between students felt a little uncomfortable, but for many, I believe that they can be a valuable stepping stone in developing some much needed social skills. The gap in social ability for many is a crucial flaw and its improvement would be valuable towards society as a whole.Â
I believe that these small experiences can absolutely be part of students' interpersonal growth, but that the content of the course could be more conducive to the experience. The role of the professors and teaching assistants is also very important here, and I believe that their guidance in the course should be well impressed upon students, but also that it should be very limited. Â
The content of courses such as these should be much less academically focused, and much less on topic. The theory and academic thinking is a huge limiting factor for the development of instincts and natural skills, a flaw common to many academic and scientific disciplines.Â
Personal Growth Reflection
My personal growth is always a heavy focus in my critical mind. Emotional intelligence, empathy, and consideration are important values central to my character, and I enforce them upon myself strongly. Social confidence is not always something that I've found easily, but I've grown to hold it as a strength now, part of my personal balance. I sincerely appreciate the idea that it is personally valuable to be "the best chef among my scientific peers", recalling the various skills people might hold, that are not as immediately present in every environment.
Throughout this course, I have found the opportunity to make certain connections, aided by interactions in other courses. I believe that my natural ability to connect with people and interact with them in a healthy way is a strong factor in my personal growth, and I see developing relationships and connections as progress. Peers that I consider friends are more valuable than what most people choose as connections, and will likely be rewarding, when made with no expectations.
This course has not been particularly important to my personal development, but it is part of a series of ongoing experiences, each one of which provides me valuable insight.Â
With every experience, I gain confidence and grow in my ability to understand and interact with people. Handling social situations is a skill I have not always had, and am always happy to work on it more. Over the course of this semester, through this course, my software development group project, and various social experiences such as the climbing club, I have gained much.