Entering into CSUMB as a junior was a very different experience. Right away I was thrown into a world of MLOs, ULRs, and foreign language requirements. At first, I wasn’t sure I had made the right choice. I looked into transferring out after my very first semester here at CSUMB, but after realizing I would have to retake an entire semester over again at SJSU, I decided to stay. Once I got past the initial shock of the bizarre foreign language requirements and the frustrating required specialty classes like the GWAR course and Major ProSeminar, I began to appreciate the classes that make CSUMB unique.
“Human Communication, as opposed to what other kind of communication?” was the inevitable response I got from any person who asked what my major is at CSUMB. A degree in Human Communication (HCOM) is quite interesting to describe to people who have never heard of such a major. Honestly, when I started at CSUMB I had no idea what the degree entailed either. As I sat in the painfully boring, and somewhat pointless class of Major ProSeminar, I figured out that HCOM means that I will receive an interdisciplinary degree in all forms of communication, written, verbal, non verbal, creative, and critical debate. HCOM was not just about learning how to talk to people, it was about how to effectively communicate in daily life no matter what setting I was in.
As I progressed in the HCOM department I took classes that at the time made no sense to me as to why they had anything to do with a communication degree. I took classes such as Slavery & Race in the Americas, Intro to Creative Writing, Philosophy, Chicano/Chicana studies and Spanish I, II, & III. After taking these classes, and looking back, I can appreciate the idea behind making them a requirement. It is my assumption that through each of these courses I would expand my worldly knowledge in order to effectively communicate in whatever setting I found myself in.
In my first semester at CSUMB I discovered among many other things that I needed a concentration to go along with my HCOM degree. This was interesting to me because I had no idea what I wanted my concentration to be. Suddenly I was handed a list of possibilities and told to choose one. I had no idea what these classes entailed nor did I have anything more to go from than a title. So, the most interesting to me was Practical and Professional Ethics. I chose this concentration because I figured that in the workplace ethics are very important, and are a desired quality to be knowledgeable about.
As I progressed through the classes that helped fulfill my concentration requirements, the only one that I felt really had anything to do with my concentration was Relational Ethics. The other class that I took for my concentration is Free Speech and Responsibility. I do like my concentration because I know it will look good on a resume, and I learned some really great decision making skills in Relational Ethics.
One of my most favorite HCOM experiences was Service Learning. I took my service learning in the fall of 2008 with Deb Busman. I chose to work at Wellington High School inside Juvenile Hall Salinas. At first I was a little taken back by where I was and the fact that it was a locked facility; once I saw how the students responded to me as a teacher and friend, the experience was very rewarding. Putting everything I was learning in the classroom into lesson plans for the students at Wellington was a great experience connecting with them on an intellectual level.
Putting all of my experiences and what I have learned into one big senior project was quite daunting. Entering in as a junior I only had about a year to wrap my head around what exactly my Capstone would entail. Luckily for me I found a topic of interest while doing a research paper in my first semester for my HCOM 112 class, Cooperative Argumentation. I was able to use my research from that paper, as well as surveys I conducted at Gilroy High School to help jumpstart my Capstone process.
As my project progressed through PreCap, I was able to pull in more resources to help add scholarly backing to my findings at Gilroy High and help back my statistical findings as well. My service learning site also added great depth to my Capstone by giving me an opportunity to get surveys from the students inside Juvenile Hall about how they view police officers.
Having an interdisciplinary framework to build a Capstone project on made the process easier. Because I had such a broad spectrum of disciplines to pull from, I was able to incorporate many different resources into my paper. For my paper I used surveys, statistical data, personal interviews, books and information from the internet.
My experience at CSUMB has been both challenging and rewarding. Challenging because I didn’t quite know what I was in for when I started here. I was unaware of the foreign language requirement, and of how independent you must be in terms of putting together your ILP. Coming from a small community college, this was a very different experience.
Having an HCOM degree from CSUMB is very rewarding because I know that I have so many doors open to me. With such a diverse degree, I am able to apply skills I have learned to any situation I will find myself in, both academically and professionally. One thing HCOM has offered me that no other major did was freedom. With an HCOM degree I can make connections across disciplinary divides and think about problems ethically. With my HCOM degree I plan on going into graduate school at San Jose State University. I will major in Educational Counseling and along with my M.A. I plan on getting my credential which will allow me to counsel from grades K through 12 as well as at the community college and university level.
Without my HCOM degree I wouldn’t be the person I am today nor would I be the thoughtful critical thinker I am today. Thank you to all of the HCOM professors who helped make my time here at CSUMB a memorable and rewarding experience.
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