Mark O’Brien

Professor Berkos

May 4, 2021

Reflection paper

Growing up for me, school was not always the easiest. Not because I did not

care, but because I had dyslexia. When I was a sophomore in high school, I found out

that I might be able to use my skills on the football field to get into a very good school. I

started getting recruited from schools all over the area. I received a call from coach Ed

Argast and coach Joe Fine asking if I would come up for a tour to see the campus. My

father and I drove up the night before and stayed at the Biltmore Hotel located in

downtown Providence. That next morning, we took the 15 car minute ride to Bryant

University. I first went to the academic side of campus, I was stunned by everything that

they told me about the different programs available. After, we got a tour of all the

football facilities, they were top notch in the entire northeast. I was speechless because

I knew this was the spot for me. Football got me to the school I wanted to attend, but I

would have to rely on much more to successfully obtain a bachelor’s degree.

When I arrived at Bryant University in August of 2017, I had no idea what I

wanted to study. I was business undecided for my first 3 semesters at Bryant, but then

came the time where I had to declare a major to stay at Bryant University. I was

perplexed on what route I wanted to take my life in. Aside from picking Bryant

University, this was the biggest decision I had to make. Whenever I faced a problem or

experienced a challenge while in Rhode Island, I would go to the same group of people,

my teammates, but more specifically the Bryant offensive line. I asked them what they
think I should do. They responded by asking exactly every single person in this situation

“well, what do you like”, this was the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear. I

responded by saying, “you people know me better than anyone else in the world, what

qualities do you think I possess?”. Immediately they started saying how I am very

outgoing, personal, and genuine. After talking to them, they put me in touch with an

older offensive linemen who graduated 2 years before I got there. He was a salesman

at TEKsystems who went through a similar process as me. He told me about the

communication major and how learning the theories of communication helps him

everyday communicate properly with clients. After I got off the phone with him, I went

straight to my academic advisor and told her I want to be a communication major with a

sales minor.

Since becoming a communication major I have been allowed to take some very

interesting classes. One of these classes was gender communication, which completely

changed the things I have thought I knew on the subject. Being one of the three boys

and not having a sister I was blind to a lot of what was happening. I always knew there

was an issue, I just didn't know the extent of the issue. The reason I took this class was

because I saw first the inequality women experience for the first time. Last March, I

went to Cancun, Mexico with 20 of my closest friends. The second day we were there,

we were all laid out on the beach enjoying the beautiful Mexican sun. One of my best

friends in the world, Katie Cronin, said she needed to go grab something from the room.

We all looked at her and said, “ok, we will stay out and hold your chair”. She then came

up to me in private and said, Mark I know you're enjoying the sun right now but can you

please walk me to my room?” I responded by saying, “Of course I will”. This happens all
the time at night time, but it was 11:00 am so I was confused. While we were walking

she proceeded to tell me about how creepy and scary the hotel could be for women. As

I was walking with her I started to realize all of the things she was saying. I came back

the following semester to take gender communication to learn more about the unfair

treatment of women. I especially felt bad because I have a mother and never knew all of

the things that happen to women. As someone who has always been an ally for women,

I never knew the true effects of our society until I took this class.

Being a communication major also let me explore my interests because of how

board of a study it is. I got to take two different film classes while attending a business

school. One class was the study and history of film, the other was basic studio

production. The film study class allowed me to watch classics from all different kinds of

genres. Some of these movies consisted of, Do the Right Thing, Ladybird, 13th, and

many more great films. My favorite part of this class was learning the long history of

film. I have always been fascinated with history and I really enjoyed for example the

start of Hollywood and the classic Americana I would always read about. Basic film

studio gave me the opportunity to live a dream I have always had, to be in front of the

camera. Throughout the semester, we had numerous different projects but I had two

clear favorites, the interview and the newsroom. The interview was a great time

because we were bringing our own guests on our show and could ask them any

question we wanted. Like I said earlier I love history, I also love current events and

politics. This project gave me the unique opportunity to interview someone and ask

them the hard hitting questions. I personally have thought that independent journalists

have one of the most difficult and revered jobs in America. America was brought up with
the power of journalism and the importance of reporting on facts. In 2021, our news

networks have become too politicized that numerous people no longer reflect and report

the facts. This can affect a journalist from doing their job correctly. Whenever I see a

journalist go independent and use social media, blogs, and the internet I am

automatically into their work. I will always read it whether it is conservative or liberial.

The second project was a total blast to work on. This second project was to find three

local news stories and do a ten minute news show on it. This was especially enjoyable

for me because of how much news I watch, it was nice to be on the other side of it all.

The newsroom segment had much more going on then the news anchor. There was a

floor manager and three cameras being operated by students. There was also the

control room with ten students at all different positions working together on camera

switches, sounds, and news prompter. There was verbal and nonverbal communication

going on to keep the show moving along.

Throughout the past four years, I have had so many ups and so money downs,

and that is what makes this journey so incredible. I have been blessed to be able to take

some of the best and hardest classes in the northeast and all the while competing at the

division one level and playing football. But none of this means anything without the

friends I have met. Once I met my group of friends, I always thought that we would

always be a few hundred yards away from each other, a quick walk down the street. But

as graduation becomes a reality, I start to realize that life will continue and we all must

move on to the next chapter in our lives. I am very excited to graduate but I feel so sad

that I wont wake up every morning and see my friends from Bryant. I do know if we do

not see each other for one week or three years it will be the same, like nothing had
changed and we will pick up right where we left off. That is the most beautiful thing

about Bryant University for me, the relationships will truly last forever.

After graduation I am leaving New England and moving to New York City. This

has always been a dream of mine to work in New York City because both my brothers

and my dad moved there at one point in their lives and worked towards starting their

own lives, I look forward to doing the same thing. I am working for a company called

Varonis in midtown, about 2 blocks from the Empire State Building. Varonis is a cyber

security company that develops and operates different solutions to keep companies

data safe from hackers. In 2021, data is another kind of capital for companies that they

must protect at all costs. I will be working as a territory development representative and

I'll be on the phone with companies and organizations to get them to work with Varonis.

Without my communication degree I do not think I would have gotten this job. Sales

Interviews are much different than most other industry interviews. The interviewer and

the candidate needs to connect on a personal level because sales is all about

relationship building, maintaining, and growing. When somebody buys a product from a

salesperson they are not just buying the product, they are investing in the salesperson.

There needs to be a certain degree of trust for the transaction to go through. Some

people have a negative connotation of salespeople and assume they are always trying

to scam, cheat, or steal their way to make money. However, in sales interviews you

need to show that you are not that kind of person. I achieved this by applying my

communication techniques, concepts, and theories.

I look forward to using the skills, concepts, theories learned in this class to help

boost my career and communicate with my coworkers. We read in our book that people
that know how to communicate will be financially more stable than others.

Understanding what communication is will help me with asking questions about different

assignments for me. Also, how to properly tell someone that I think a different solution

to a problem would be better. This class has also shown me that disagreements and

debate are healthy and good communicators understand this. At times in class it would

get political, but it was always respectful disagreements and it always expanded our

minds to be open to new ideas. This is the number one thing I will take away from the

senior seminar of communication theory.