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Brandon Whiting
English 1010-024
Dr. Paul Anderson
Self-Reflection Essay
December 16, 2015
In My Travels: A Self-Reflection Essay
Re-Entry
I came into this semester extremely rough around the edges. The last real schooling
I received was in 2007, my senior year of high school. Since then, Ive held several
forms of employment, the most pertinent of which was my 4-year contract in the
United States Marine Corps. In the Marines, there is an element of education.
However, it is far removed from the academic environment at Salt Lake Community
College (SLCC). It is much less refined and the focus of which is directed towards the
tactical and functional rather than eloquence and artistry. As such, the way that we
communicate is fundamentally different from the way the civilian populace
communicates. My intent is to touch on those elements that have transformed my
communicative approach as they pertain to my Exploratory Research Project (ERP).
The elements that Ive selected to focus on are: 1.) Progression towards SLCCs
Unified Learning Outcomes, 2.) Process utilized to complete the ERP, and 3.) Main
challenge that I encountered while crafting this work and my solution.
Most Infl uential Learning Objective
As mentioned earlier, there is variance between the communication that I learned
and utilized in the military and the communication that I learned and utilized for the
ERP. As such, the Learning Objective that drew my attention was number 2C,
Understand and use the elements of effective communication in interpersonal,

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small group, and mass settings (SLCC General Education Committee 2). In the
military, communication amongst service men and women is based almost entirely
on rank. Whoever holds the higher rank is correct regardless of their qualifications
to remark on the subject. This leaves little room for debate and what little room
exists, is largely unproductive. Fortunately, this is where the largest deviation from
my previous school of communication begins. The collegiate environment assigns
credibility based on experience in or knowledge of the area and even those with
more experience are generally open to examining competing arguments. As such, it
opens lines of communication that would otherwise be closed. Utilizing the ERP, I
was able to present my findings while bolstering my credibility in the cyber-security
field. The best example of which is as follows:
As an aspiring computer engineer, new developments in online
authentication theory directly affect the design behind hardware and
software necessities in contemporary technology. For example, if the
industry begins to implement an electronic ID card in addition to the
username and password, newly produced computers will need to be
manufactured with card readers to interpret that ID card (Whiting 1).
In this quotation, I was able to provide necessary information to the audience
regarding both my background and my knowledge of the relationship between
hardware, software and authentication theory1.

1 For further information on this relationship, see WikiBooks article titled

Fundamentals of Computer Systems: Hardware and software. In reading this article,
understand that authentication theory would largely be implemented in the
Operating System and Application levels.

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Figure 1 A layer structure showing the relationship between various layers of software and hardware
(WikiBooks Staff 1)

My Exploratory Process
In beginning my Exploratory Research Project, I elected to use the foundation of my
Rhetorical Analysis as a starting point. As this was not a thesis-driven paper, the
process I used would be best described as an iteration per article of 1.) Pre-writing,
2.) Writing, and 3.) Revision. After the initial draft was completed, I revised and
edited the work in its entirety before publishing. This allowed me to treat each
article as a miniature essay. Then using the aforementioned final editing and
revision I modified the paper to maintain flow through proper transitions from one
subject to the next.
Challenge and Response
The main challenge that I encountered in creating my ERP was largely self-induced. I
found myself several times getting caught up in a thesis-driven writing approach. As
this defeats much of the purpose of an exploratory work, it caused several delays as
I had to back-track, delete and search for an entirely different article to analyze that
would bring a unique perspective on the subject of user-machine authentication.
However, by the final two articles, I was able to revise my process of inquiry to
eliminate errors that had been previously made.
In Moving Forward

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As this will be my first semester completed at Salt Lake Community College, I am
fully aware that I have only reached the first of many road-markers that I will
encounter in my future travels. I intend to continue leveraging my reinforced
knowledge of MLA format and of the reflective, rhetorical analysis and exploratory
genres to present subsequent findings and/or arguments to my peers in subjects
relating to Computer Engineering. In doing so, I will bring myself closer to achieving
SLCCs Unified Learning Outcomes, further refine my communication processes and
find solutions to new challenges that I encounter.

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Appendix

Figure 2 Salt Lake Community Colleges Unified Learning Outcomes (SLCC General Education
Committee)

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Works Cited
SLCC General Education Committee. "Salt Lake Community Colleges Unified
Learning Outcomes." 24 April 2014. Salt Lake Community College Homepage.
Electronic Document. 16 December 2015.
<https://www.slcc.edu/assessment/docs/GenEd_Unified_Learning_Outcomes_
Spring2014.pdf>.
Whiting, Brandon. "Form is in the Function | Welcome." 10 December 2015. Form is
in the Function. Electronic Document. 16 December 2015.
<http://formisinthefunction.weebly.com/engl-1010---intro-to-writing>.
WikiBooks Staff. Fundamentals of Computer Systems: Harware and software WikiBooks, open books for and open world. 10 December 2015. Electronic
Document. 16 December 2015.