Rhode Island Medical Legal Partnership Project

Our group project … where to begin. I am in the group covering the Rhode Island Medical Legal Partnership, and meeting with Mr. Geoff Schoos was very interesting. However, before our meeting, I had mixed feelings on how this was going to work out in the end. So many questions were running through my heads, but I needed to focus in and learn as much as I could from Mr. Schoos while we had him in our presence. Before going into the breakout room with Mr. Schoos, we delegated each member of our group a certain question to ask about the project. After looking over the question sheet, we realized that we did not want to make Mr. Schoos repeat himself by asking questions that may cover multiple topics. On the fly, we fixed this issue and were ready for what he had to share with us.

It seemed that as soon as I sat down the meeting was over, it went by so quickly and so much information was presented during those 30 minutes. My overall impression of the meeting was positive, however, some gaps still need to be filled in. Before going into a project, I need to know everything possible in order to cover all aspects of the issue at hand. It seemed to me that Mr. Schoos might have thought that our group already had some sort of prior knowledge about the project beforehand. Once we asked the first question he began to elaborate and venture off into other side, more complicated topics. Following Mr. Schoos was difficult at times, and as a group we need a strong foundation in order to successfully create something of value for our client.

Personally, I am a visual learner. In order for me to understand Mr. Schoos’s business and what his overall goals are I need to see them written down. When Professor O’Connell wrote on the board the difference between his audience and clients, it helped me greatly in understanding what Mr. Schoos was talking about when we asked him who is audience actually was. Prior to our meeting I imagined this presentation being presented to his customers not his clients. It may seem like a very minor detail, but in the end it has an enormous significance.

It was great to hear that Mr. Schoos was opened to different forms over visual communication, rather than just using PowerPoint. We seem to have a couple people in our group that is comfortable using different tools to present the information. He seemed excited about the idea and encouraged us to push forward with that. Another part of the meeting that I found interesting was the fact that he does not have a logo for his company. He left that as a task for us to accomplish as well. He seemed to have a very opened mind about this project, even though it was covering a very serious topic for his company. I think that this opportunity is great for all of us, and working for someone like Mr. Schoos makes this experience easy and that much more enjoyable. 

5 Photos

Starting this assignment was a bit intimidating at first. Taking five photos of the environment, I never thought of myself as a photographer at any point in my life. I began snapping random pictures of the everyday things that surrounded me. After scrolling through the snapshots I realized that these images has no relevance to the overall topic I was trying to accomplish. Nevertheless, just like in the Mind Map assignment, it all came to me at once…

Baseball Only:

I took this picture when I was walking down the street from my house. At the baseball field in the center of Bristol was a fallen sign with the words “Baseball Only”. With the small gridline fencing in the background, the distinct lines of the sign stand out. The color also plays a large role in this picture. The faded colors of the fall grass and the weathered pavement are looked past with the bold solid green sign.

Beach Front House:

While taking advantage of living in downtown Bristol, I was on a run along the beach when I ran past this modern looking beach front house. Unlike other houses in the area, the lines of this house stood out to me the most because of it’s simplicity and symmetry. When looking at this picture, my eyes follow the steps leading up from the beach then move upward from the long window at the bottom to the sharp tip of the roof. Something that I didn’t notice when I took the picture was the back part of the house, which shows symmetry as well as depth.

Dumpster:

While at the gas station, I was looking around while pumping gas. Lurking around the corner was a vibrant yellow dumpster. I can only imagine what everyone was thinking when they saw me taking a picture of this. It caught my eye first off because of its placement. It was hidden behind a dark blue dumpster, also because the color yellow on a dumpster was something I have never seen. The texture was interesting as well. The rust where the dump truck picks it up gave the picture a rugged and rough feeling.

Stella Artois:

When I was out to dinner this weekend, I was sitting back in my chair and the glass sitting in front of my caught my eye. The elegant shape of the glass outlines a dull golden looking liquid, which is also accented by the golden rim on the top of the glass. However, the stylish look of the glass is overshadowed by the bright red colored logo “Stella Artois”.

Sunset:

While I was out to dinner this weekend with my family, I was enough the last few days of great weather before the chilling fall temperatures came upon us. The sun was setting and I couldn’t help myself from taking this picture. The colors in the sky were amazing. Focusing on the brightest portion of the sky, my eyes ran across the skyline and into the vast bay water, which was drenched in the beautiful pink and orange reflection from the sky.

My favorite part of this assignment was the fact that throughout one day I was able to take a snapshot of the things that I had done; a way to document my day. Starting with my walk past the baseball field, to running along the beach. Then filling up my car with gas to get to dinner with my family.

Mind Map

First Draft:

Final Draft:

 

 

Mind map, something I have never heard of before. Tackling this assignment was different from anything I have ever done here at Roger Williams. Expressing my thoughts on an issue, letting those thoughts flow freely onto the page without judgment. I began thinking about what everyday issues I struggle with, whether I can control it or not. After a couple minutes of drawing blanks, I realized that I had a quiz due online in a different class that I had to finish before I went to baseball practice. Then it hit me, time management. Trying to juggle all of the choices and commitments I have everyday. How do I stay on top of everything? That’s when the thoughts started to flow as I scratched my ideas onto paper. To be honest, I thought that my first draft of my mind map was completely wrong. I reminded myself that it had to judgment free, something that might only make sense to myself. Starting with the obvious time consuming things I do everyday: school, studying, baseball, I hit another roadblock when I did not know where to go from there. I stepped back and took time to think about why time management is such a big problem for me. I began to break down all of the sub topics I had under the overall theme. I recognized three major themes of my sub topics. I have a commitment to school and studying for my classes. I have made the choice to play baseball and take time for my hobbies, and friends and family are a part of life. This is when I hit fifth gear, the connections started to come together in my head.   The choices are the things in life that bring me happiness. Even though friends and family do as well, my choices always allow me to leave everything else that is going on behind while I indulge myself in baseball or my hobbies. The commitments I have are a positive influence on my life. Going to school and studying will allow me to graduate and ultimately help me become employed. This leads back to my overall happiness that I gain in the choices I make. Looking back on my mind map I realized that even though I may see baseball and studying as two very different things, they are connected in some way, as is everything I wrote down. By letting my thoughts flow freely into this unique assignment, it was a great way for me to understand what I spend my time doing and how many activities take up time during everyday. Going forward, I now have a visual of everything that I need to focus on. The reason time management has been such an issue for me is because everyday I just go through the motions, without realizing all of the things that I do. Now I have a map in my mind, over viewing everything. Hopefully, I can now be more organized and successful in managing my time. 

 

Test Blog

My name is Brendan Telfer. I’m currently in my junior year,majoring in marketing and minoring in global communication. I’m also a pitcher on the RWU baseball team.