Reflections So Far

As I wind down another semester in my graduate program in technical communication, I figure now is a good time to stop and reflect on the semester so far.

To be honest, when I first signed up for the program, I did so mostly for practical (i.e., job-related) purposes. I had already gone the English major route in college, and while this provided for a rather broad and well-balanced liberal arts education, it didn't really prepare me for a specific type of "real-world" job.

Thus, when I stumbled across the idea of technical writing as a career path, I signed up for this graduate program thinking that it would teach me how to write and compose technical literature and not much else. However, the program has been much more stimulating and educationally comprehensive than I initially expected, and I am quite thankful for it. After being away from academia for a few years, it's nice to be intellectually challenged again and to learn about new ideas and theories.

One class I'm taking this semester that has been particularly eye-opening has been a course in Communication Theory and Research. I had never really taken a communication class before, but I soon realized that it's a topic that interests me very much. From the initial overview of communication theory, to learning about Postmodernism, Discourse Theory, Hypertext Theory and others, the whole experience has been both edifying and rewarding. I am still digesting a lot of the content I've learned so far, so I'll be posting some more specific thoughts about all this in the coming days. Stay tuned...