Initial Reflective Essay When I first thought about what I wanted to do with my life after college, the first thing I thought of was helping people. The next step in deciding what I wanted to do with my life was to consider how I could achieve that goal. I started thinking and thinking about how much I love taking care of my body. Health care and personal hygiene have always been an important factor in my life. So I decided to major in health sciences. With this major, I will be able to continue my education so that I can be healthy and eventually learn how to help others. I decided that being a health care physician or nutritionist was something that really interested me. This is where communication studies came in. I thought that if I majored in communication studies, I could improve my oral and written communication to better help me in my future. of nutrition.Studying communication was a good choice for me because, although there is always room for improvement, I can still gain more knowledge and information to better improve my speaking skills. My personality will really fit into the communications department. I have been told how fun the communications department can be and how outgoing people are within the department. At first I really liked it because I am very sociable myself and I like talking to people. I feel like I may be able to convey concise messages to people, clearly and effectively. Communication is defined in the book as “a systematic process in which individuals interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meaning.” (Wood, p.9). The definition can be broken down into four distinct parts and they are: process, systematics, symbols and meaning. Process means that communication is continuous and always moving. Systematic focuses on how communication involves a group of interdependent parties that influence each other. Symbols are described as abstract, arbitrary, and ambiguous representations of other things. The bottom line about symbols is that they include not only all language, but also an important aspect of communication that is nonverbal. The fourth and final objective is meaning and is considered the heart of communication. The good thing about meaning is that we create it.