September Blog Post

  Warren and Fassett state, “Identity and perception are important to communication primarily because they formed through the communication a person has experienced… However, that person’s communication (i.e., what she or he says, does, and enacts) will also be influenced by her or his identity and perception.” (Warren and Fassett, 2015). Identity and perception are social constructs that are formed through communication. All those concepts are interdependent on each other and influence each other. 

  Part of my own identity is being a mom and a student. Being those two things shapes my identity at school, the way I interact with the school, the school events I attend, how I interact with other students and professors, and the way that I perceive school in my mind. I have the perception and identity of being a mom, which shapes my experience as a student. Being a mother also changes the way I communicate with others in a school environment. Almost everyone that I interact with at school is not parents, so the reality I live in and the lens I use to view things that I learn differs from theirs. This is because they live in a different reality than me. They usually don’t approach things while thinking of someone else first, because they don’t have to. For example, when they are in a class and are thinking of examples to answer a professor’s question, they will probably think of something that relates to their own self and the things they do day to day. As a student mother, I think of examples that exist in my world as a mom and those almost always give answers that center around my daughter. This is different from the identity of the traditional student, and it changes how I learn entirely. This is a change in identity and perception that shapes my communication. 

  This is important because non-traditional students live in a different academic experience than a traditional student. They have different struggles and different realities that aren’t always represented in a classroom because they aren’t the majority. Their identity and perceptions aren’t the first consideration when a university is forming classes, events, and other gatherings. This can be isolating to a non-traditional student and changes their experience as a student in a university. 

Bibliography

Warren, J. T., & Fassett, D. L. (2015). Communication (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.