The word communication can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, I play lacrosse and I need to have the ability to communicate on the field at all times, the most important time is when I am on defense and need to communicate slides and who I am covering and all of that. If it were not for communicating while playing I would simply not be as good of a well-rounded player as I am today. As for some challenges when communicating, I work landscape and there are a lot of people who I work with who speak Portuguese and because of that, I have to find different ways to communicate. That could be through actions instead of something as simple as typing it in and translating it and vice-versa. Over time we began to understand each other better by learning each other’s languages so at first I struggled to understand however after time I learned to overcome. Academically communicating can also be huge because if you are assigned group projects then you need to be able to communicate who is doing what and if there is no communication you can easily get a bad grade on that assignment.
Communicating is a universal function, every human being, every animal, even plants communicate with each other. Communication takes many different forms, it can be both verbal and physical. We communicate verbally by sounds, singing, talking, yelling, are all examples of verbal communication. Physical communication is an action which we do to convey a message or information. Hand gestures, dancing, kissing a loved one are ways of conveying feelings and thoughts.
We are limited in our methods of communication verbally more than physically. It has taken the human species generations to perfect the English language and most Americans can only speak one language. It can be very difficult for people of different origins to communicate with one another. In some countries speaking in a different dialect may even confuse someone speaking the same language.
I personally have struggled with this issue first hand, I work at a retail store where I am from. We sell boating supplies and fishing equipment. People from foreign countries might come into the store not knowing how to speak english. Many of my coworkers would turn away and leave the customers to shop for themselves. Since I have taken Spanish in my past I have a basic understanding of the language and oftentimes that allows me to assist the customers in finding what they are looking for.
At home however, I sometimes find myself arguing with my parents more often than not with my mother. It generally stems from a miscommunication but oftentimes we are able to talk through the problem. Hearing each other’s thoughts and feelings and taking them into account.
To me, communication can take many forms, something that many don’t seem to pick up on since they aren’t neurodivergent like myself. I feel that there are many barriers to communication for me, I’m always thinking about if the other person is judging me as I speak so I cram up, almost as if my vision is blurred but it’s my mind. I’m constantly struggling to absorb social cues and trying to match the other person’s speaking pattern. For others and me, barriers surrounding communication can stem from several different gestors. I’d say that lack of eye contact could be a communication error, or something as broad as thinking in a different way based on how someone was raised. I felt like most of my life I’ve struggled to be heard because of communication errors and having an abnormal thinking pattern compared to neurotypical peoples. Many don’t understand how I think or my thought process, and I’ve been told that face to face by many adults and kids my own age throughout my life. I think it makes me different and that’s a beautiful thing, but many are stuck in their heads and prefer to see the world from one angle; hence why we all tend to communicate differently. I try to make eye contact as best I can when communicating one on one, but often I get so focused on making the actual eye contact that I forget to hear what the person is saying. I’ve also been told I’m good at finding common ground with people since I have multiple interests and music is one of them. Academically, however, I’ve always found myself at a loss for communication. There are certain subjects that I’ll never be able to absorb and keep in my mind, like math where no matter how many times something is explained to me, even in my own learning style, I’ll always need it to be repeated.
When I think of communication, I think of conversation or verbal communication. I would say communication is the way that we convey our thoughts, feelings, and ideas to others. The biggest barrier to communication I would say is language. Thankful, with modern technology, communication can be made easier by using translators (although they are not 100% accurate. I have always been a quiet person and sometimes struggle with communicating my thoughts. Often my mother has a hard time understanding me and I don’t know if it’s her or how I’m communicating to her. I sometimes struggle to understand instructions and I like to ask for clarity, most of the time it’s not necessarily that the other person isn’t communicating effectively, but just how I process what they are saying. I try to iterate my feelings more clearly and concisely for my friends and family so they can better understand what I am going through and what help I want or need from them. My first year of college helped me communicate professionally. Not only did I learn how to send more professional emails, but I’ve always learned how to communicate professionally from many calls for making appointments, managing my medications, and what’s expected of me in those situations; to speak clearly and politely.
Tony D’Arcangelo
How I would describe the word or idea of communication is the way that people share their ideas and express who they are and what they wish to put into the world through the use of verbal or nonverbal. The barriers to communication are, when people don’t respond or listen to the message that is being put forward. The other being a lack of cell or internet service. There were more barriers in communication before the culmination of modern technology like computers and cell phones. Some of the barriers before technology was mainstream was geographical location, or if the letter got lost in the mail. I’ve really only struggled to be heard when I was younger, when most of my ideas were dismissed as a “kids thing” but, as I grew up my ideas and my contribution to family discussion was more valued. I’ve tried to communicate more effectively by being as articulate as possible. In academics I learned to self-advocate, and I made sure I wasn’t sounding unprofessional by having my mom proofread my emails to some of my professors. Even in my college recruitment process I had coaches comment on how most kids my age can’t engage in a professional business style conversation.
When I think of the idea of communication, I would describe it as a way to express information to others clearly. If people could not communicate with each other, then they wouldn’t be able to share their ideas and opinions with others. I think the biggest barrier to communication is language. I grew up in a household of Portuguese immigrants and I would say that the biggest issue I had was not being able to understand what my great grandparents and grandparents were saying to me and it always had to be translated. I felt that those personal conversations having to be relayed to a different language sort of weakens the connection you are having with the person you are trying to talk to; because some phrases and words don’t translate exactly the same from one language to another. Slowly, I began to understand many of the common greetings and sayings in Portuguese, however I still struggle very much to hold a fluent conversation with my grandparents. I have definitely struggled to be heard in the past as I used to be very shy and did not talk much to anyone, but my best friends and family. However, when I went to high school the teachers made us learn accountable talk and have in-depth discussions with the whole class. My first job was an exhibit interpreter at an aquarium, meaning my job was to stand at the different exhibits and talk to guests about the animals and answer any questions they may have. This was another struggle I had to overcome because I have a very hard time memorizing information and for each exhibit. I was a little discouraged at first, however I stayed determined and memorized all the information. Going to highschool and getting a job where public speaking is the main aspect has definitely allowed me to communicate more clearly and effectively with people.
When I hear the word communication I immediately think about human-to-human communication, especially on sports fields. Communication is extremely important in sports because everyone needs to be on the same page with what is happening whether it is player to player, coach to coach, or player to coach. I would describe communication as a necessity in everyday life because you are constantly communicating throughout your day no matter how average or boring your day is. When it comes to barriers in communication there can be a lot of them. An obvious one is the fact that there can be language barriers anywhere you go in the world so you would have to find other ways to communicate. There is one point in my life that I recall struggling to be heard and that was when I was a freshman in high school. I felt like anything I said was falling on deaf ears and that no one cared about what I was saying. There have been a few times where I have struggled to understand and that is when me and my family go on vacation out of the country and have to try to communicate with some of the locals. To have more clear communication with people around me I have tried to become more open minded. By being more open minded I now communicate with people that I did not like communicating with before.
Communication and the ability to communicate is the skill to talk to and interreact with other individuals in any given situation. The idea of communication is that it is a pillar of a functioning society, and it determines how social and interactive a society is. There are multiple barriers to communication, whether it is a language barrier, and understanding and meaning of context or words, or even the physical ability to speak to one another and communicate. I find it most difficulty to unstained and comprehend others in communication when it understands of context and the meaning of different words, especially since the English language is the most complicated on the planet. I have struggled to be heard within my family and it has been hard to feel heard when I have problems or issues. I try to communicate more precise and clearer when I am speaking to people of importance or acquaintances because it shows a level of respect and understanding to everyone else. It is important to communicate within our team and as teammates because we all need to be on the same page, communication is a pillar of our team, and it determines whether we win games or not.
When thinking of the word communication I try to define it broadly, as communicating is something that every organism can do, each in a unique way. The best definition that I could come up with is that communication is any intentional interaction between two or more things which can receive or observe the said interaction. As stated earlier this is a broad definition and has many key words that can be interpreted in many ways. To help distinguish my thought process, I feel the word “interaction” must be clarified in the context of communication. What I mean by interaction is any sort of physical movement, spoken or written words that are used to relay information. Examples of interaction are broad as well and can range from a bird calling out to warn of danger or a person casually emailing a friend. With communication being so common among life and the world around us it is important to recognize when two parties do not have the ability to communicate. These barriers can be massive and impossible to overcome differences such as the parties are not of the same species, or small and niche barriers such as regional differences in a common language. Some examples of barriers I can draw from my own life range from not being able to figure out why my dog is barking to not being able to effectively communicate with an employer due to my rank within the workplace.
When thinking about the word communication, I think about having a conversation with someone. Whether it be personal or professional, it is the idea of talking to someone and listening to them. Communication is the ability to have a conversation and continue a conversation with someone. The barriers to communication happen when the person who you are communicating with doesn’t hear what you have to say, and doesn’t listen to the points you are making. There have been many times in my own life where I have been struggled to be heard, and the conversation isn’t going anywhere to benefit anyone. Sometimes I have had a hard time understanding, but I really try to make sure that I am listening and understanding what the person is telling me, and understand how to make them feel like I am hearing them. Ways that I have tried to communicate more clearly, is just being able to understand the person and understand what they are saying to me and how I can help them feel like they are being heard. Communicating is hard but showing genuine interest and understanding to what someone is saying to me is the best way to make sure that they know that I care about what they are saying, and how to do better moving forward.
When I think of the idea of communications the first thing that comes to mind are all the basic forms in which people have communicated through the years. For example, there was once a time where people would literally have to be face to face in person to talk and communicate with each other. Not too long after, people figured out that they could write a message in the form of a letter and have that message transported directly to the recipient’s front door after just 3 to 5 business days. Next came the invention of the telephone which would eventually turn to the cell phone. This would allow people to communicate while being in two separate places. Nowadays there are an infinite amount of ways to communicate, such as TV, social media, text, video conference, and the list goes on and on.
Times when I have struggled to be heard are usually the same times that I’m the youngest person in the room. On my father’s side of my family, I’m the youngest cousin at all the holiday gatherings and vacations. So when my family is talking about serious things, it’s hard for me to offer my ideas because I’m always going to be the “baby” in their eyes and they think I’m too young to understand. Now that I’m a little bit older, they’re starting to listen to me and hear me out more often. I catch myself doing the same thing to my younger cousins on my mom’s side of the family. So I think it’s important to always listen to people’s perspectives regardless of age, class, status, or anything like that.
There’s been many points in my life where I’ve felt lonely, not listened to, or even alone, but if there was an exact moment in my life when not heard, was the time period when my parents were splitting apart from each other. In 2020 my parents were going through a really rough patch in their relationship that didn’t just affect them, it affected the whole family. At first I thought they’d get over it like they always do, their Bonnie and Clyde, almost inseparable from each other is what I had always thought, but at a certain point you realize not everything you believe as a kid is true. Over time the arguing got worse, and so did I. Watching my parents crumble apart thinking to myself, “Is there anything I can do to help? I have to try,” is what I’d always tell myself as a kid. So my seventeen year old mind thought it was a good idea to tell them how I was feeling. “Guys I know you guys are going through a lot but this is really starting to affect me too”. That has to work right? I was obviously incorrect, because seconds after that I got the speech you hear on TV. “Wes were going through things right now you’re not gonna understand right now, maybe you will sooner than later or maybe when you’re much older”. Come to find out they were right, did they help my situation and did they get better, some more than others. Though overtime I learned to adapt and grow on my own and I believe that has helped me mature faster and help me become who I truly am today.
When I think of the word communication, I think of attempting to convey your wants and desires to other people. To most people, it comes easily. To me, however, it is a challenge. Not only do I have a lisp which can sometimes lead to confusion in what I’m saying but on top of that I have some sort of mental disability. I was diagnosed with PDDNOS at a young age but I feel that is inaccurate so I saved up to get a rediagnosis this October for closure purposes. Regardless whatever I have often leads to me misinterpreting what other people are communicating to me as well as communicating to others in ways that are not normal or easily understood. This often leads to me feeling as though I am not heard and often times feeling like I’m stupid for not understanding what are seen as basic social cues. It hurts, truly. That’s part of why I am taking this class. While yes, it is required for my degree I hope it will allow me to somewhat make up for my shortcomings. I’ve been striving towards self-improvement in the past two years, albeit in my own way. For communication, I’ve been trying to be completely transparent when talking to people. Like, brutally honest to a degree that isn’t normal. But this beats beating around the bush and not being understood. I’d rather people understand more than they should than to not understand at all.
When I think of communication, I think of several different things, but the most prominent one, and something that they all have in common is relationships. Communication is when individuals or parties exchange some sort of message or information. During (and typically also outside of) the communication, there is a relationship between those who are communicating. In personal relationships, professional relationships, or even news and advertising, there is a give and take of information that connects those in the exchange. Sometimes there are barriers to communication, such as language barriers, cultural differences, or even just differences in the ways people interact and understand the world.
I often struggle with being heard in spoken communication, either because of nervousness leading me to not put words together the way I wanted to, or to speak with a quiet voice. Not only that, but I also struggle with speaking out. There are also times when I don’t understand what others are trying to tell me, either due to lack of context or because I thought they had meant/intended something else. In order to communicate more clearly, I have worked on asking more detailed questions, and follow up questions if I didn’t get the answers I was looking for, as well as making sure I give details about what I am talking about, and giving them in an order that makes sense.
Altirique McElveen
Professor Miller
Journal 1 – Communications
3 Sep 2023
The word communication is a way or multiple ways that you can articulate your words to a person or even an audience. Communicating is a big part of being a human being and living in this society because the way you communicate with somebody can sometimes determine your character or even personality. The barriers to communication are separated all over the place because it takes place everywhere but it has to be articulated differently due to the setting. There’s times people have struggled hearing what I’m saying but it’s only happened in my early years of life. As I was getting older I was able to articulate my words very well and really never had no problem with people not understanding me. One of my biggest flaws was actually understanding others. I always had a hard time trying to understand because I would force myself to communicate with people who had a bigger vocabulary than me. Putting myself in that situation was a positive trap for my mental and also my vocabulary because it would also give me the chance to learn from them. I’ve tried to open a dictionary to pick up words or even watch ted talks from professors to help me communicate clearly in professional environments. To this day I still learn different ways of communication due to news channels and podcasts by some educated individuals.
Daraun White
Intro to CMM – Journal #1
Monday Sep. 4
When you think of the word or idea of communication?
In my opinion, I view the word/idea of communication as a vessel that leads to further action. I define communication as the act of relaying information to another person or living thing. Without the idea of communication, I do not see the world working.
What are the barriers to communication?
There are many barriers to communication – language barriers, understanding barriers, and idea barriers. Of course, language barriers have something to do with not being able to understand the words that are being said because it’s a different language. However, understandment barriers are when you both can receive and relay what the other person is saying but not truly take in what is said. This connects to idea barriers.
When have you struggled to be heard/understood?
Obviously, literally being heard can be said in the sense of a loud game or concert, but looking into this question deeper, I believe that being heard can mean being understood and listened to. For example, in an argument, in person or over text with a person that is not as understanding or open-minded in comparison to yourself. You may be relaying factual information but the other person is not hearing it, like going in one ear and out the other.
What ways have you tried to communicate more clearly?
It is hard to communicate in everyday things – the way I have changed my communication skills is listening more and being more open-minded about people’s words.
Journal 1: When you think of the word or idea of communication, how would you describe it? What are the barriers to communication? When have you struggled to be heard? When have you struggled to understand? What ways have you tried to communicate more clearly-personally, academically, professionally?
When I think of the word communication and how to describe it is very simple in a scene. What it makes me think of is how you can communicate to others around you and how you go about it. Some barriers to communication could be the way you go about communicating such as if you use a platform that a person you’re trying to communicate with does not use. Another barrier with communication could be a language barrier and not knowing how to communicate in their language. When I have struggled to be heard with communication is being in an argument with someone who didn’t keep an open mind about an opinion that was different then theirs because they didn’t want to be wrong, and would not want to have a change in mind. Times when I have struggled to understand communication are when I talk to my family members who live in greece. Even though I am bilingual, they talk a lot faster than I am able to understand and I talk too slowly for them to keep up because they talk it fluently and expect it to come out of my mouth just as fast as they speak. Things I have tried to communicate more clearly in a personal perspective is that opinions can be different and it is ok for others to have different opinions on topics. Academically speaking I have tried to communicate from my perspective of how I can learn and what helps me learn in the best ways possible. Professionally I have tried to communicate with other co workers with other ways a job can be done and an easier take away they can use.
Isabelle Trombley
Professor Miller
CMM 110
9/15/23
Journal #1
Question: When you think of the word or idea of communication, how would you describe it? What are the barriers to communication? When have you struggled to be heard? When have you struggled to understand? What ways have you tried to communicate more clearly—personally, academically, professionally?
When I think of communication, I think of two or more people talking to each other and expressing their thoughts and feelings about something. To me, communication is about sharing and expressing that which is important to you. There are many possible barriers to communication, whether mental or physical. Language can be a huge barrier for communication. As a personal example, I was originally meant to study abroad in France this semester, but the language barrier was much too difficult for me – someone who doesn’t speak French. It made it difficult for me to communicate effectively with those around me, which can be very isolating. Another barrier to communication is simply a lack of understanding. If one person doesn’t understand what you are trying to communicate, this can be a large barrier. I struggle with communication quite a bit, as someone who is socially anxious and finds it difficult to speak up. My largest struggle with communication is simply being able to express myself in a way that others can understand, at least in a personal setting. Academic communication or professional communication can be difficult for me as well, and I sometimes struggle to communicate when and how I need help in these situations. Recently, however, I have been making an effort to communicate more effectively with not only those close to me but also those in an academic setting by trying to express my thoughts more clearly.
19 thoughts on “JOURNAL # 1”
The word communication can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, I play lacrosse and I need to have the ability to communicate on the field at all times, the most important time is when I am on defense and need to communicate slides and who I am covering and all of that. If it were not for communicating while playing I would simply not be as good of a well-rounded player as I am today. As for some challenges when communicating, I work landscape and there are a lot of people who I work with who speak Portuguese and because of that, I have to find different ways to communicate. That could be through actions instead of something as simple as typing it in and translating it and vice-versa. Over time we began to understand each other better by learning each other’s languages so at first I struggled to understand however after time I learned to overcome. Academically communicating can also be huge because if you are assigned group projects then you need to be able to communicate who is doing what and if there is no communication you can easily get a bad grade on that assignment.
Sawyer Ohman
CMM110-A
9/2/23
Journal Entry #1
Communication
Communicating is a universal function, every human being, every animal, even plants communicate with each other. Communication takes many different forms, it can be both verbal and physical. We communicate verbally by sounds, singing, talking, yelling, are all examples of verbal communication. Physical communication is an action which we do to convey a message or information. Hand gestures, dancing, kissing a loved one are ways of conveying feelings and thoughts.
We are limited in our methods of communication verbally more than physically. It has taken the human species generations to perfect the English language and most Americans can only speak one language. It can be very difficult for people of different origins to communicate with one another. In some countries speaking in a different dialect may even confuse someone speaking the same language.
I personally have struggled with this issue first hand, I work at a retail store where I am from. We sell boating supplies and fishing equipment. People from foreign countries might come into the store not knowing how to speak english. Many of my coworkers would turn away and leave the customers to shop for themselves. Since I have taken Spanish in my past I have a basic understanding of the language and oftentimes that allows me to assist the customers in finding what they are looking for.
At home however, I sometimes find myself arguing with my parents more often than not with my mother. It generally stems from a miscommunication but oftentimes we are able to talk through the problem. Hearing each other’s thoughts and feelings and taking them into account.
Here is the link to my Journal #1 on my eportfolio site.
Colette Murphy
Professor Miller
CMM 110
9/1/2023
Journal #1
To me, communication can take many forms, something that many don’t seem to pick up on since they aren’t neurodivergent like myself. I feel that there are many barriers to communication for me, I’m always thinking about if the other person is judging me as I speak so I cram up, almost as if my vision is blurred but it’s my mind. I’m constantly struggling to absorb social cues and trying to match the other person’s speaking pattern. For others and me, barriers surrounding communication can stem from several different gestors. I’d say that lack of eye contact could be a communication error, or something as broad as thinking in a different way based on how someone was raised. I felt like most of my life I’ve struggled to be heard because of communication errors and having an abnormal thinking pattern compared to neurotypical peoples. Many don’t understand how I think or my thought process, and I’ve been told that face to face by many adults and kids my own age throughout my life. I think it makes me different and that’s a beautiful thing, but many are stuck in their heads and prefer to see the world from one angle; hence why we all tend to communicate differently. I try to make eye contact as best I can when communicating one on one, but often I get so focused on making the actual eye contact that I forget to hear what the person is saying. I’ve also been told I’m good at finding common ground with people since I have multiple interests and music is one of them. Academically, however, I’ve always found myself at a loss for communication. There are certain subjects that I’ll never be able to absorb and keep in my mind, like math where no matter how many times something is explained to me, even in my own learning style, I’ll always need it to be repeated.
When I think of communication, I think of conversation or verbal communication. I would say communication is the way that we convey our thoughts, feelings, and ideas to others. The biggest barrier to communication I would say is language. Thankful, with modern technology, communication can be made easier by using translators (although they are not 100% accurate. I have always been a quiet person and sometimes struggle with communicating my thoughts. Often my mother has a hard time understanding me and I don’t know if it’s her or how I’m communicating to her. I sometimes struggle to understand instructions and I like to ask for clarity, most of the time it’s not necessarily that the other person isn’t communicating effectively, but just how I process what they are saying. I try to iterate my feelings more clearly and concisely for my friends and family so they can better understand what I am going through and what help I want or need from them. My first year of college helped me communicate professionally. Not only did I learn how to send more professional emails, but I’ve always learned how to communicate professionally from many calls for making appointments, managing my medications, and what’s expected of me in those situations; to speak clearly and politely.
Tony D’Arcangelo
How I would describe the word or idea of communication is the way that people share their ideas and express who they are and what they wish to put into the world through the use of verbal or nonverbal. The barriers to communication are, when people don’t respond or listen to the message that is being put forward. The other being a lack of cell or internet service. There were more barriers in communication before the culmination of modern technology like computers and cell phones. Some of the barriers before technology was mainstream was geographical location, or if the letter got lost in the mail. I’ve really only struggled to be heard when I was younger, when most of my ideas were dismissed as a “kids thing” but, as I grew up my ideas and my contribution to family discussion was more valued. I’ve tried to communicate more effectively by being as articulate as possible. In academics I learned to self-advocate, and I made sure I wasn’t sounding unprofessional by having my mom proofread my emails to some of my professors. Even in my college recruitment process I had coaches comment on how most kids my age can’t engage in a professional business style conversation.
Ryan Kelly
Prof. Jessie Miller
Communications 110
4 September 2023
Journal #1
When I think of the idea of communication, I would describe it as a way to express information to others clearly. If people could not communicate with each other, then they wouldn’t be able to share their ideas and opinions with others. I think the biggest barrier to communication is language. I grew up in a household of Portuguese immigrants and I would say that the biggest issue I had was not being able to understand what my great grandparents and grandparents were saying to me and it always had to be translated. I felt that those personal conversations having to be relayed to a different language sort of weakens the connection you are having with the person you are trying to talk to; because some phrases and words don’t translate exactly the same from one language to another. Slowly, I began to understand many of the common greetings and sayings in Portuguese, however I still struggle very much to hold a fluent conversation with my grandparents. I have definitely struggled to be heard in the past as I used to be very shy and did not talk much to anyone, but my best friends and family. However, when I went to high school the teachers made us learn accountable talk and have in-depth discussions with the whole class. My first job was an exhibit interpreter at an aquarium, meaning my job was to stand at the different exhibits and talk to guests about the animals and answer any questions they may have. This was another struggle I had to overcome because I have a very hard time memorizing information and for each exhibit. I was a little discouraged at first, however I stayed determined and memorized all the information. Going to highschool and getting a job where public speaking is the main aspect has definitely allowed me to communicate more clearly and effectively with people.
When I hear the word communication I immediately think about human-to-human communication, especially on sports fields. Communication is extremely important in sports because everyone needs to be on the same page with what is happening whether it is player to player, coach to coach, or player to coach. I would describe communication as a necessity in everyday life because you are constantly communicating throughout your day no matter how average or boring your day is. When it comes to barriers in communication there can be a lot of them. An obvious one is the fact that there can be language barriers anywhere you go in the world so you would have to find other ways to communicate. There is one point in my life that I recall struggling to be heard and that was when I was a freshman in high school. I felt like anything I said was falling on deaf ears and that no one cared about what I was saying. There have been a few times where I have struggled to understand and that is when me and my family go on vacation out of the country and have to try to communicate with some of the locals. To have more clear communication with people around me I have tried to become more open minded. By being more open minded I now communicate with people that I did not like communicating with before.
Tyler Richards
Journal #1
Communications 110
Communication and the ability to communicate is the skill to talk to and interreact with other individuals in any given situation. The idea of communication is that it is a pillar of a functioning society, and it determines how social and interactive a society is. There are multiple barriers to communication, whether it is a language barrier, and understanding and meaning of context or words, or even the physical ability to speak to one another and communicate. I find it most difficulty to unstained and comprehend others in communication when it understands of context and the meaning of different words, especially since the English language is the most complicated on the planet. I have struggled to be heard within my family and it has been hard to feel heard when I have problems or issues. I try to communicate more precise and clearer when I am speaking to people of importance or acquaintances because it shows a level of respect and understanding to everyone else. It is important to communicate within our team and as teammates because we all need to be on the same page, communication is a pillar of our team, and it determines whether we win games or not.
When thinking of the word communication I try to define it broadly, as communicating is something that every organism can do, each in a unique way. The best definition that I could come up with is that communication is any intentional interaction between two or more things which can receive or observe the said interaction. As stated earlier this is a broad definition and has many key words that can be interpreted in many ways. To help distinguish my thought process, I feel the word “interaction” must be clarified in the context of communication. What I mean by interaction is any sort of physical movement, spoken or written words that are used to relay information. Examples of interaction are broad as well and can range from a bird calling out to warn of danger or a person casually emailing a friend. With communication being so common among life and the world around us it is important to recognize when two parties do not have the ability to communicate. These barriers can be massive and impossible to overcome differences such as the parties are not of the same species, or small and niche barriers such as regional differences in a common language. Some examples of barriers I can draw from my own life range from not being able to figure out why my dog is barking to not being able to effectively communicate with an employer due to my rank within the workplace.
When thinking about the word communication, I think about having a conversation with someone. Whether it be personal or professional, it is the idea of talking to someone and listening to them. Communication is the ability to have a conversation and continue a conversation with someone. The barriers to communication happen when the person who you are communicating with doesn’t hear what you have to say, and doesn’t listen to the points you are making. There have been many times in my own life where I have been struggled to be heard, and the conversation isn’t going anywhere to benefit anyone. Sometimes I have had a hard time understanding, but I really try to make sure that I am listening and understanding what the person is telling me, and understand how to make them feel like I am hearing them. Ways that I have tried to communicate more clearly, is just being able to understand the person and understand what they are saying to me and how I can help them feel like they are being heard. Communicating is hard but showing genuine interest and understanding to what someone is saying to me is the best way to make sure that they know that I care about what they are saying, and how to do better moving forward.
When I think of the idea of communications the first thing that comes to mind are all the basic forms in which people have communicated through the years. For example, there was once a time where people would literally have to be face to face in person to talk and communicate with each other. Not too long after, people figured out that they could write a message in the form of a letter and have that message transported directly to the recipient’s front door after just 3 to 5 business days. Next came the invention of the telephone which would eventually turn to the cell phone. This would allow people to communicate while being in two separate places. Nowadays there are an infinite amount of ways to communicate, such as TV, social media, text, video conference, and the list goes on and on.
Times when I have struggled to be heard are usually the same times that I’m the youngest person in the room. On my father’s side of my family, I’m the youngest cousin at all the holiday gatherings and vacations. So when my family is talking about serious things, it’s hard for me to offer my ideas because I’m always going to be the “baby” in their eyes and they think I’m too young to understand. Now that I’m a little bit older, they’re starting to listen to me and hear me out more often. I catch myself doing the same thing to my younger cousins on my mom’s side of the family. So I think it’s important to always listen to people’s perspectives regardless of age, class, status, or anything like that.
Wesley Chandler
Intro to Comm
Prof. Miller
There’s been many points in my life where I’ve felt lonely, not listened to, or even alone, but if there was an exact moment in my life when not heard, was the time period when my parents were splitting apart from each other. In 2020 my parents were going through a really rough patch in their relationship that didn’t just affect them, it affected the whole family. At first I thought they’d get over it like they always do, their Bonnie and Clyde, almost inseparable from each other is what I had always thought, but at a certain point you realize not everything you believe as a kid is true. Over time the arguing got worse, and so did I. Watching my parents crumble apart thinking to myself, “Is there anything I can do to help? I have to try,” is what I’d always tell myself as a kid. So my seventeen year old mind thought it was a good idea to tell them how I was feeling. “Guys I know you guys are going through a lot but this is really starting to affect me too”. That has to work right? I was obviously incorrect, because seconds after that I got the speech you hear on TV. “Wes were going through things right now you’re not gonna understand right now, maybe you will sooner than later or maybe when you’re much older”. Come to find out they were right, did they help my situation and did they get better, some more than others. Though overtime I learned to adapt and grow on my own and I believe that has helped me mature faster and help me become who I truly am today.
When I think of the word communication, I think of attempting to convey your wants and desires to other people. To most people, it comes easily. To me, however, it is a challenge. Not only do I have a lisp which can sometimes lead to confusion in what I’m saying but on top of that I have some sort of mental disability. I was diagnosed with PDDNOS at a young age but I feel that is inaccurate so I saved up to get a rediagnosis this October for closure purposes. Regardless whatever I have often leads to me misinterpreting what other people are communicating to me as well as communicating to others in ways that are not normal or easily understood. This often leads to me feeling as though I am not heard and often times feeling like I’m stupid for not understanding what are seen as basic social cues. It hurts, truly. That’s part of why I am taking this class. While yes, it is required for my degree I hope it will allow me to somewhat make up for my shortcomings. I’ve been striving towards self-improvement in the past two years, albeit in my own way. For communication, I’ve been trying to be completely transparent when talking to people. Like, brutally honest to a degree that isn’t normal. But this beats beating around the bush and not being understood. I’d rather people understand more than they should than to not understand at all.
When I think of communication, I think of several different things, but the most prominent one, and something that they all have in common is relationships. Communication is when individuals or parties exchange some sort of message or information. During (and typically also outside of) the communication, there is a relationship between those who are communicating. In personal relationships, professional relationships, or even news and advertising, there is a give and take of information that connects those in the exchange. Sometimes there are barriers to communication, such as language barriers, cultural differences, or even just differences in the ways people interact and understand the world.
I often struggle with being heard in spoken communication, either because of nervousness leading me to not put words together the way I wanted to, or to speak with a quiet voice. Not only that, but I also struggle with speaking out. There are also times when I don’t understand what others are trying to tell me, either due to lack of context or because I thought they had meant/intended something else. In order to communicate more clearly, I have worked on asking more detailed questions, and follow up questions if I didn’t get the answers I was looking for, as well as making sure I give details about what I am talking about, and giving them in an order that makes sense.
Altirique McElveen
Professor Miller
Journal 1 – Communications
3 Sep 2023
The word communication is a way or multiple ways that you can articulate your words to a person or even an audience. Communicating is a big part of being a human being and living in this society because the way you communicate with somebody can sometimes determine your character or even personality. The barriers to communication are separated all over the place because it takes place everywhere but it has to be articulated differently due to the setting. There’s times people have struggled hearing what I’m saying but it’s only happened in my early years of life. As I was getting older I was able to articulate my words very well and really never had no problem with people not understanding me. One of my biggest flaws was actually understanding others. I always had a hard time trying to understand because I would force myself to communicate with people who had a bigger vocabulary than me. Putting myself in that situation was a positive trap for my mental and also my vocabulary because it would also give me the chance to learn from them. I’ve tried to open a dictionary to pick up words or even watch ted talks from professors to help me communicate clearly in professional environments. To this day I still learn different ways of communication due to news channels and podcasts by some educated individuals.
Daraun White
Intro to CMM – Journal #1
Monday Sep. 4
When you think of the word or idea of communication?
In my opinion, I view the word/idea of communication as a vessel that leads to further action. I define communication as the act of relaying information to another person or living thing. Without the idea of communication, I do not see the world working.
What are the barriers to communication?
There are many barriers to communication – language barriers, understanding barriers, and idea barriers. Of course, language barriers have something to do with not being able to understand the words that are being said because it’s a different language. However, understandment barriers are when you both can receive and relay what the other person is saying but not truly take in what is said. This connects to idea barriers.
When have you struggled to be heard/understood?
Obviously, literally being heard can be said in the sense of a loud game or concert, but looking into this question deeper, I believe that being heard can mean being understood and listened to. For example, in an argument, in person or over text with a person that is not as understanding or open-minded in comparison to yourself. You may be relaying factual information but the other person is not hearing it, like going in one ear and out the other.
What ways have you tried to communicate more clearly?
It is hard to communicate in everyday things – the way I have changed my communication skills is listening more and being more open-minded about people’s words.
Journal 1: When you think of the word or idea of communication, how would you describe it? What are the barriers to communication? When have you struggled to be heard? When have you struggled to understand? What ways have you tried to communicate more clearly-personally, academically, professionally?
When I think of the word communication and how to describe it is very simple in a scene. What it makes me think of is how you can communicate to others around you and how you go about it. Some barriers to communication could be the way you go about communicating such as if you use a platform that a person you’re trying to communicate with does not use. Another barrier with communication could be a language barrier and not knowing how to communicate in their language. When I have struggled to be heard with communication is being in an argument with someone who didn’t keep an open mind about an opinion that was different then theirs because they didn’t want to be wrong, and would not want to have a change in mind. Times when I have struggled to understand communication are when I talk to my family members who live in greece. Even though I am bilingual, they talk a lot faster than I am able to understand and I talk too slowly for them to keep up because they talk it fluently and expect it to come out of my mouth just as fast as they speak. Things I have tried to communicate more clearly in a personal perspective is that opinions can be different and it is ok for others to have different opinions on topics. Academically speaking I have tried to communicate from my perspective of how I can learn and what helps me learn in the best ways possible. Professionally I have tried to communicate with other co workers with other ways a job can be done and an easier take away they can use.
Isabelle Trombley
Professor Miller
CMM 110
9/15/23
Journal #1
Question: When you think of the word or idea of communication, how would you describe it? What are the barriers to communication? When have you struggled to be heard? When have you struggled to understand? What ways have you tried to communicate more clearly—personally, academically, professionally?
When I think of communication, I think of two or more people talking to each other and expressing their thoughts and feelings about something. To me, communication is about sharing and expressing that which is important to you. There are many possible barriers to communication, whether mental or physical. Language can be a huge barrier for communication. As a personal example, I was originally meant to study abroad in France this semester, but the language barrier was much too difficult for me – someone who doesn’t speak French. It made it difficult for me to communicate effectively with those around me, which can be very isolating. Another barrier to communication is simply a lack of understanding. If one person doesn’t understand what you are trying to communicate, this can be a large barrier. I struggle with communication quite a bit, as someone who is socially anxious and finds it difficult to speak up. My largest struggle with communication is simply being able to express myself in a way that others can understand, at least in a personal setting. Academic communication or professional communication can be difficult for me as well, and I sometimes struggle to communicate when and how I need help in these situations. Recently, however, I have been making an effort to communicate more effectively with not only those close to me but also those in an academic setting by trying to express my thoughts more clearly.