Taylor M. Hall-Masiello

Courses

English 30: Honors Composition
This course was the biggest challenge I had my first semester, but turned out to be the most rewarding. The projects in this course focused around a year that was chosen by each student that was researched and presented in many different ways. Initially I was skeptical about joining an honors course, but I am very glad that I challenged myself as a writer and a student. This class gave me the opportunity to use the skill of writing to produce a movie, a podcast, and a website in addition to the traditional essays. The highlight of the course was our trip to the Newseum, which I have included pictures of. This course required me to push myself to learn new ways of researching and presenting information, and as frustrating as it sometimes got, I am so glad that I was able to learn all of these new skills and use them to create projects that I am truly proud of.

CAS100A: Effective Speech
In this course I learned various methods of speech delivery and also learned about the different types of public speaking. My favorite part about this course was the fact that technology was incorporated into the entire course. We used different means of technology to communicate and record speeches that made the course more convenient and made it easier to assess our own work. The instructor for this course, Professor Magabo, really made public speaking a more approachable topic. Before taking this course I had experience public speaking, but I felt that i never improved on my natural ability. Professor Magabo provided helpful criticisms that enabled me to improve on my speaking without feeling discouraged. The most important thing that I learned from this course was that if you are passionate about your topic, it is easy to deliver any speech.