TRIDENT UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL
NAME
BUS303 Business Communication
MODULE 4: Integration and Reflection
Assignment: Self Reflective Course Essay
INSTRUCTOR:

This Business Communication course has helped me overcome my fear of entering the real world and preparing for my military retirement. Being in the service for all of these years will place a small amount of fear regarding entering the civilian workforce because of the leadership style you are taught in the military. However, with the tools I have gained from this class; I feel that my transition from military life to the civilian sector will be easier than I thought.
We as military personnel have learned how to wear a uniform properly and how to greet personnel with respect but we have not been taught how to properly prepare for retirement. When asked to write a resume in this course, I felt this assignment would be a challenge because the first thing I thought about was “the future”. Asking myself what exactly does my own future have in store for me and how do I prepare. Immediately, I took this assignment serious; gathering my thoughts to put into my resume because what if there was no tomorrow for me in the U.S. Navy; what if I had to get out today “what would I do”. I really enjoyed this assignment along with the cover letter because it challenged me to “think, what if” and “how do I prepare”, so this really hit home for me.
“The Tips for Writing Resumes” was a great source to refer to for this assignment. Various tips were presented with great detail. The instructor’s comments were helpful when moving on to each assignment because it demonstrated the student was on the right path.
The Information Interview was out of my comfort zone in a sense; even though I talk to many people every day up close and personal. For me to have to interview someone else this way was easy in a sense because it relates to what I’m accustomed to doing being a Navy Recruiter. I had to find an interest in the Retail Management Business and the information that was being told to me. Overall, it all came down to being a leader and knowing the business inside and out and selling it; just like what being a recruiter “Sales”.
This course also made me revisit on how to write a formal e-mail. I have significantly developed my ability to write a formal e-mail and to communicate professionally through e-mail communication. I definitely achieved the goals of this course.
I experienced a whole new level of teamwork in this course; meaning it was very helpful reading the feedback from the Threaded Discussions because most people are workforce personnel that have had many of the same experiences in life; that was a plus knowing I’m not the only person juggling work, school, and family life.
One of the biggest improvements which I noticed during this course was when I had to create a Power Point. Like I mentioned in the Threaded Discussion, I’ve always had to present one but not be the creator of one that often. So putting together the Power Point was amazing in itself; because as you move up in rank in the military there are some things that you just don’t do that much of and that would be create a Power Point you have someone else do it. This was a wakeup call, it definitely humbled me because who did I turn to first when I saw this assignment; my Sailors and I told them, guess what Senior Chief has to do. So it was a funny thing to them, but to hear them say, “If you need help, we’re here” was great. At that point, I knew this was one assignment I was going to complete by myself because being a team is what we have instilled into them but for me, being the “leader”, is what I do. So this was the most challenging of all the assignments and a very good benefit to my future.
I can’t say enough about the credible resources that each Module had. By taking this course, I learned that examples are only helpful if they prove the point I try to argue. Meaning, everything that I needed to complete each Module was there; so there was no need to say “I couldn’t do something” or “I don’t get it”.
Overall, this was a great course and it really hit home being that I may be retiring in the next 4-5 years and I need to really prepare now; to set my resume up. Meaning, if I need to run out and take an extra class because that will boost my resume; then I will do so if that’s what it takes for me to be competitive in today’s job market in the future.