Intro Post

Hi my name is Loana and I am a second year student at the U of A. This is my first blog post ever so I congratulate you if you on your patients, as I'm still learning how to properly blog! In my first year of University I studied general Arts and joined the Collective body for Arts Students (CBAS) as their Events MAL. Currently, I am studying Family Ecology and now the VP Finance for the Human Ecology Students Association (HESA). I decided to switch into Human Ecology after talking to a friend who had convinced me that it was the perfect fit for me. I sat in a few classes and fell in love with the department. I am minoring in child and youth studies, as I love spending time with children. As a student family ecologist, as well as having a Filipino upbringing, I have a strong value for family and culture. There is nothing like the endless love and support that families bring to one another! If I don't end up working with children, working with diverse families in general will be a dream come true! I have not yet officially decided on what I want to do after my undergraduate degree, but I figure I have a bit of time to figure that part out!

A "wacky"family photo taken the day after my 18th birthday (and that's not even half of us!).
(Taken from my own personal album August 26, 2010)

Being in CBAS and HESA has taught me that when working with people, you must be clear and attentive. I attend many meetings and talk to diverse groups of students and faculty members, so communication plays a very important role in what I do in everyday life. Taking into account communication noise, I have realized that when playing the telephone game, there will always be that one monkey who changes up the message - whether it's on purpose or not. Having clear communication from start to finish, can help avoid future problems. Along side of this, not only do you need to be able to present and idea or concept, but you need to be a good listener. Communication receiving is just as important as communication giving. I expect that in my future, I will need to enhance my skills in both giving and receiving information. For example, listening to a client will be just as important as giving the client clear and accurate advice. 

So far, communication has allowed me to meet new people in my program and classes, including within my ALES 204 class. Before having a twitter account, I only knew one friend in my entire program, Susan Nielsen. Now that I have a twitter account, I am able to identify more people that I know. Communication through social media can bring diverse groups of people to one place, sharing common interests. I have found that social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter can be an easy way to group people together in a more accessible, quick and efficient way. We can use it to link people from all over to plan Saturday parties or even advertise for more formal events. For a professional, the idea of being able to communicate across the city, country or even world for a meeting will be highly efficient. Communication tools, such as Skype, allows us to see and hear someone who is abroad. I suspect that in the future, technology will continue to expand at such a rapid rate that by the time I am a professional, I will be using unheard of communication tools that simplify methods of communication. Thus, keeping up with the advancements of society is very important for today and the future.

Since communication is such an unavoidable key concept in everyday life, I feel that where ever my future takes me, communication will always play an important role. No matter the environment you are in and whether you are working with clients, students or co-workers communication is required and will continue to be.