Lindsey Puetz

My name is Lindsey Puetz, and I am a Communication & Media Studies student with a concentration in Communication at St. Norbert College. This portfolio encompasses the work I have done in the Communication & Media Studies Field during my undergraduate career.

Being a Communication and Media Studies student has taught me so much. During my time at St Norbert College, I studied a wide range of topics:  Interpersonal Communication, Mass Media, Communication Inquiry, Crisis Communication, Intimate Relationships & Media, Conflict Communication, Business & Professional Speaking, Health Communication, Public Speaking, and Media Psychology. I have learned how to communicate effectively and what ineffective communication can look like. I’ve learned about the role media plays in our psychology and in our intimate relationships. Not only have I studied these topics, but I have also learned to analyze and create messages about them across various media platforms. I have created dissemination projects in the form of infographics, public speaking, websites, formal essays, campaigns, and presentations. To analyze these messages and create my dissemination projects, I engaged with social scientific research, both qualitative and quantitative studies, within the field of Communication. From learning how individuals handle conflict to analyzing the media’s influential role in our lives, this discipline has reshaped my understanding of human interaction. 

Within the Communication and Media Studies major at St Norbert College, my concentration is on communication. Personally, my learning has instilled in me a great love for interpersonal communication and understanding how all people communicate differently. Professionally, my learning in communication courses has impacted the jobs I have had and the career I intend to pursue. Outside of the classroom, my job as a registered behavior technician (RBT) has helped me learn a lot about the different ways individuals communicate. As an RBT, I provide applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to improve their communication, social, and daily living skills. Working with a population of children whose main mode of communication is not always verbal has taught me to look for meaning in other forms of communication. I’ve learned that all forms of behavior can be communication, and this job has truly deepened my passion for the field of interpersonal communication. It has fostered a deeper interest in communication theory’s application to improving the communication needs of others. In choosing a topic for my senior capstone project, the theory of communication accommodation stood out to me. As the theory tells us, we are constantly accommodating our communication depending on whom we are communicating with. Working with children with ASD, I realized I am always accommodating my communication in interactions with them, in order to benefit our relationship. Grounded in Communication Accommodation Theory, my senior capstone project was training presentations for parents and teachers of children with ASD to support effective accommodation of verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors.

Helping others learn to effectively communicate is a passion of mine that stems from my experience in the field of ABA and from my background as a student of the Communication discipline. Upon graduating from St. Norbert College, I intend to pursue a master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis. After completing my master’s, I hope to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), creating and implementing behavior improvement plans for individuals with autism and developmental disabilities. As a BCBA, the behavior improvement plans that I will create can help autistic individuals improve their communication skills. This is an extremely rewarding career for me, because as a communication major, I believe all people should have the ability to communicate effectively and autonomously. The work that I will do as a BCBA will allow me to ensure that the individuals I work with have this ability. The skills that I have learned in my time as a student of communication have greatly prepared me for this role. I have learned a great deal about verbal and nonverbal communication, interpersonal skill development, and functional communication.