With the conclusion of this BA 352 course, I gave myself a total of 38 out of 50 points. Professionalism for this course was difficult for me to adhere to because of my prior commitment to being a student-athlete. Having to wake up at 5:30 am for 6 am weights, go to class, show up to practice, then meet with my team at night made it difficult for me to stay on task and complete the points for professionalism. I did try to do it to the best of my ability and I justified my self-grade in punctuality, participation, respect for others, preparation, initiative and motivation accordingly.

For punctuality, I gave myself a 9. Though I did get to class right on time, it was difficult to be early because I would have to go straight to class from morning weights. I did show up to every single class and every group meeting, but I had to take a point off for punctuality because I did show up a minute late a couple times. For each of my appointments, with Career Services and the writing tutor, I showed up five minutes early. Being early to appointments is essential for jobs because showing up early not only demonstrates that you care, but it also demonstrates that you are ready, prepared, and motivated to take on any task that a boss or client throws at you. Without having a prior commitment to athletics, I would have been much earlier to the class times instead of pushing the time limit.

My participation in the classroom was very mediocre and I did not participate in class discussions. Because of this, I had to give myself a 5 which stated that I did participate, but not consistently. When there were classroom activities, I did add as much value as I could. For example, with the design thinking exercise where we had to create a backpack, I was fully engaged. I put as much effort as I could to thinking creatively, which is something I knew I needed to exercise more. My value for this was not just added based on how much I contributed, but from how much I grasped from it. This was also the same in all the other class exercises we had. By fully engaging myself in each activity, I was able to learn how to apply myself in various areas. This shows me adding value to the classroom because by contributing to the best of my ability, I was able to help others become more absorbed in the activities as well. Without being involved in these activities, the progress of learning between my peers, group members, and me wouldn’t have been as great. I do wish that I participated more in an entire classroom discussion by asking questions because there were many times that I wish things would have been clarified. There is no way for me to justify this and I know that something of this behavior would not be acceptable in the working world. Jobs are required to have full participation from employees to improve the business. By being more involved in classroom discussions, I could have gained more insight on the project proposal for it to be more successful.

My respect for others was high at the beginning of the term, but faded dramatically towards the end. Therefore, I had to give myself an 8. Treating others with respect was always one of my biggest morals growing up. This translated easily into the course and I proved it by always being attentive when there were guest speakers or when my peers were talking. It was easy for me to respect others even when I didn’t get the most positive feedback. For example, when I went into my writing tutor appointment for my memo, the tutor tore a part my entire memo because it was completely off base with what the assignment was about. I was very frustrated with myself for this, but didn’t show it. Instead I listened to her to see how I can improve my assignment most effectively to see how I can gain the most out of it. I also gave my teammates meaningful feedback in many different areas. One of this would be during our meetings. When I didn’t necessarily agree with something, I made sure I spoke up about it. This was one of the most challenging areas for me because I’m used to just nodding my head and staying quiet. I did improve in this area towards the end so I scored myself accordingly. Although I did improve on this towards the end, I also lost focus on the tasks at hand. In one of my evaluations, one of my team members mentioned that I could’ve challenged the process more by being more focused and productive at the end. This was difficult for me to do because our season just started and our practice schedule became rigorous. Attending meetings after a long session made it difficult for me to contribute efficiently. I know that when I do get employed, it wouldn’t be occurring during season and I would be able to stay focused throughout the tasks.

Prior to coming to class and meetings, I was fully prepared. With this, I gave myself a 10. I made sure to read the suggested articles to see how I could facilitate the group meetings. I submitted my assignments and brought all the important supplies needed for class and for meetings that I can use to further enhance my learning. I always wrote things down and knew that everything I would need was posted on Ron’s website. Because my group was fully prepared for every class, holding others accountable wasn’t difficult to do. Preparation is vital to succeed in the working world. Without preparing, one wouldn’t be able to start tasks off proficiently and could be very detrimental to the business.

Because being a student-athlete is so time consuming, it was difficult for me to take initiative of using every single opportunity provided to me. Therefore, I gave myself a 7. There wasn’t really a time where I could come in to talk to Career Services because of my practice times, but I did make sure to ask my peers what they learned from their additional research. Although I did not do outside research provided by the program, I did do research about our project by interviewing numerous people. The willingness to take a risk was there when it came to research, but it was more difficult for me to follow up on when it came to proposing new ideas within my group. It did improve at the end, though.

I think that the points I proposed are justifiable. Even with my busy schedule and prior requirements, I tried the best I could to work around it. Without having these prior requirements, I think I could have achieved a much higher score in professionalism.