Introduction:

My name is Katherine Elizabeth, I am a Kinesiology major here at Longwood University, I also have 2 minors in Psychology and Coaching. My plans after Longwood include obtaining my degree/certification for Physical Therapy Assistant eventually leading to my Doctorate in Physical Therapy. I plan on concentrating on Sports Medicine in the Physical Therapy profession. I have been playing numerous sports since I was a little girl and plan on coaching my own children one day. Unfortunately, I have had my fair share of experience in physical therapy from injuries during my high school career, however; fortunately, it led me to what I want to do with my life. This summer I am looking forward to spending my time as an intern at Progressive Therapy in Central Virginia as it will provide me with more valuable information I can keep and use throughout my career. Being someone that is known for their positive attitude, communication, welcoming personality, ablility to be trusted by others and the multitude of other skills I have obtained from this class I believe I would be an important asset to any school or business.

At the beginning of this semester, on the class syllabus, the course outcomes and skills that we would learn we laid out for us. Some of the Communication skills we learned throughout this class included speaking effectively, listening attentively, expressing ideas and feelings, and facilitating group discussions with peers and the professor. Research and planning skills involved in this class were creating ideas, identifying problems, gathering information, and setting goals. The Human relations skills that we learned consisted of developing rapport, listening and perceiving feelings/situations in others, sharing credit, and providing support for others. Organization, leadership and management skills picked up from this class include initiating new ideas, handling details, coordinating tasks, and decision making with others. As far as Work skills that we learned in this class; implementing decisions, cooperating, being punctual, attending to details, setting and meeting deadlines, organizing, and making decisions were all very important. The Learning Outcomes for this class included: Engage in the process of citizen leadership by investigating multiple perspectives on important public issues, Understand the nature of public discourse/debate as determined by purpose, audience, and context, Choose appropriate formats in writing for a variety of purposes,  Analyze the effectiveness of their own texts and processes for specific rhetorical situations, Understand how the knowledge, skills, and values learned in general education are interwoven and interrelated, and how they can contribute to the process of citizen leadership. All of the above listed skills are essential for someone to be a productive, positive member of the working community. At the time many assignments can feel pointless and just like they are in the way but looking back these assignments have given me so many important skills. Practicing and putting these skills into place has helped me prepare for the workforce in ways I couldn’t have previously imagined.

Conclusion:

          I have created this ePortfolio as a resource for access to the major assignments completed in my 400 level English- Advanced Writing Seminar taken at Longwood University. Through these assignments we learned communication, research and planning, human relations, work, organization, management and leadership skills. The details of these skills and the classes learning outcomes are detailed on the Home page. All of the previously listed skills are very important for professional development throughout academics and the work force. Taking this class a long with other senior level coarses designed for professional development and network building are very important for those wishing to be prepared to enter the work force in their career of choice when they graduate. the multitude of skills i learned throughout this semester long class will stick with me for the rest of my academic and professional career.