We constantly define ourselves by our words and our actions, especially those actions that are unintentional. As such, we have a responsibility to develop a level of communication that is consistent and conveys a true snapshot of our character. People often forgive, but they do not forget. Our words and our actions become engraved in the minds of others, and oftentimes we are unable to erase an erroneous perception that others may have of us because we may not have taken the time to weigh the long-term effect of an ill-chosen word or action. For example, students in this course arrived on the first day of class to find an empty classroom. We waited for 30 minutes. When it became clear that the professor was not going to show up, we decided to leave. Apparently the professor assigned to teach the class did not know he was supposed to teach the course. In my opinion, the breakdown in communication was completely unacceptable. It was also unacceptable to assign a substitute instructor at the last minute and expect that instructor to teach the course without the proper materials and preparation-time, Mostly, I was irritated because I felt shortchanged. I pay a considerable sum of money for the privilege of attending college. I feel that the least the professor could have done was leave a note on the door, or have someone leave a note on the door, notifying students that the class was cancelled. I find it ironic that this sort of thing could occur in a Communication course. My perception is that he simply did not care, or that maybe he had better things to do. If he does not care about my education, it makes me wonder if the University cares about my education. I also wonder if this scenario will repeat itself, and what steps the Office of Continuing Education has taken, if any, to ensure that it will not happen again.
The most frequent, and the most important, type of communication is listening.
