Introduction

Organic chemistry, biology, Introduction to Nutrition, statistics, more nutrition and science classes-throw a pinch of human development or psychology in there and you have all the courses most helpful to a Nutrition major, right?  I would have thought so before this semester.  However, that was before I discovered a class that turned out to be potentially more helpful to me as a nutrition major than any of the courses listed above:  LA101H.  I am still a little surprised myself, seeing as this course falls under English or Communication.  In reflection, though, I cannot deny that LA101H has challenged me in numerous ways.  This class taught me more about myself and provided me with tools highly conducive to my own field of study.  Through learning how to write and speak more effectively, I have developed a way to promote my passion of nutrition.

One of the first topics we discussed in LA101H involved rhetoric.  I had never truly understood this concept before.  Now, I can see rhetoric all around me.  I understand that rhetoric is present in any situation that involves argument or deliberate communication.  Rhetorical situations are on display virtually everywhere.  As students, communication comprises a huge part of our daily lives.  We see fliers and brochures, advertisements and invitations, posters and news articles promoting a multitude of events, opinions, and opportunities for involvement.  We communicate with professors, peers, family, friends at other schools, officials, and potential employers.  All of this communication stems from a response.  My idea of rhetoric after this class can be defined as the response to the situations, experiences, and issues around us.

LA101H further showed me how communication and rhetoric are intertwined.  Rhetoric is essentially communication.  I learned through this class that communication takes two different forms:  writing and speaking.  The effectiveness of each of these forms involves both similar and unique characteristics.  Both effective writing and speaking involve distinct attentiveness to one's audience.  It is essential that one knows his or her audience, not simply by demographics, but specifically about the level of understanding and familiarity with the audience has with a particular subject.  Effective speaking goes one step further through incorporating adaptation to audience.  Through analyzing each other as well as other speakers, we learned that adaptation is quite an effective tool for success of communicating an idea or belief.  I personally learned that the receptiveness of an audience can be extremely encouraging during a speech.  I also believe these ideas regarding audience will play a role in my career as a Dietician.  Paying attention to my clients, knowing their familiarity and understanding of nutrition concepts, and adjusting how I present my own knowledge to them will effectively help me to make a true difference in their health and their lives.

I had much more experience writing than speaking when I enrolled in this course.  I was pretty confident in my ability to write effectively, but I also learned how to do this even better.  For example, I learned to recognize my own pleasures and pains with writing.  I learned that writing can be a way to show off my personality a little, especially through blogging.  I learned how to write more concisely and where and when to use which of the three appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos in my writing depending on the type of response I desired to achieve based on purpose.  I believe this course definitely helped me to become a more effective writer, but more significantly it influenced my abilities as a speaker.

I was dreadfully nervous for my first speech, even though it was on a nutrition-related topic.  This speech was quite a valuable learning experience;  I actually enjoyed it, too!  I learned about the extemporaneous style of speaking, more specifically that memorizing my words was NOT the answer to improving.  As I watched and learned from my classmates, too, I was able to see this style in action.  I realized how powerful this tool could be in persuading an audience.  It could allow the passion and ambition in relation to teaching others about an issue or cause to truly flow through the speaker.  It wasn't until my second speech that I realized the full potential of effective communication.  I gave this speech on vitamin supplements and the feedback I received from my classmates was inspiring.  I had actually persuaded many of them of the dangers of these supplements; I had made a difference through effective speaking!

LA101H is truly a unique class that inspired me to challenge myself, and taught me how to enhance my writing, develop my speaking, and ultimately realize the incredible power of effective communication.