Integrative Seminar Reflection Paper

Devin Brown
SBU 465-45
Professor Dr. Paul Mahady

The liberal arts courses are those which expose students to many fields, not just those
specific to their majors. These courses empower and prepare the student to think critically,
analyze issues, develop a sense of social responsibility, and acquire a broader knowledge of the
world in which they live. These courses include electives which the student is able to select
courses which they feel intrigue them or they feel that the course could help them in the future
with their career. During my journey with the liberal arts core, I had classes which ranged from
language and culture to marketing and business software. While I did enjoy the basic classes of
the liberal arts core; I most enjoyed the electives which I felt like I could truly benefit from in my
future endeavors. The courses that I feel have been most influential to my development are
Leadership in Healthcare Settings, Business Communication, and Contemporary Issues in
Healthcare.
The first of the classes that I feel truly provided me with useful and necessary
information towards my future in business is Leadership in Healthcare Setting. This class helped
me to understand what it meant to become a good leader. It also helped me understand where I
stood and what I needed to do to get where I wanted to be as a leader. During the class I took
many evaluations and assessments of myself to help me better understand what kind of a leader I
am and what I needed to learn to be the leader I want to be. I discovered that I am eager and
willing to help others and to teach them the processes necessary to do the job as best we can. I
also learned that I am lacking in knowledge about technical aspects of healthcare, and I need to
work to improve on that. This class also helped me to set goals for myself and allowed me to
value all of the components of a business from the production associates to the management
leaders. This class helped to show how each component is necessary and what it takes for a
leader to help these components work together to ensure the business runs smoothly.
The next course that I feel had a significant impact on my development is business
communication. This class showed me how different cultures handle business and that it is
important to understand these factors when doing business internationally and even sometimes
inside our own country. I t was interesting to see how different cultures such diverse standards
have compared to those in the United States. If I was to try to do business with another culture
without knowing their standards, I could easily offend them and diminish the possibility of a
potential business opportunity. I have learned that it is extremely necessary to research a culture
in depth before trying to do business with them. It is so important to establish a good first
impression in order to solidify a prosperous relationship in the future. This class has inspired me
to look into how many cultures do business and their standards of living which will definitely
help me in my career in the future.
 The final class that has really influenced me during my scholarly development is
Contemporary Issues in Healthcare. This class addresses the different issues that you may
encounter and what issues we may be able to work on for the future. The issues which are
addressed range from workforce shortages to health cost issues. This class has brought me more
awareness of these issues in healthcare and how they may impact our future. The issues are not
to be taken lightly because they are related to our health and that means our health as a nation.
The worker shortage is very real and will take many ideas and brainstorming to figure out an
appropriate course of action to handle it. I also have learned how to go about making the
necessary changes in my workplace to integrate better processes and improve how the business
functions as a whole. In my current line of work, I already had some of the knowledge associated
with this course, but it truly has helped to develop that knowledge even further and empowered
me to implement those practices in my job regularly.
The liberal arts course can often be seen as monotonous and unnecessary work. I feel that
many of the required courses helped me to discover much about myself and helped me to
become a better person and a better leader. These are the courses outside of the major line of
education that truly helped me to gain a thorough understanding of other cultures and who I am
as a leader and who I can become. These courses helped me to develop a better outline of who I
wanted to become as well as how to get there. I know that in my future I can use the knowledge
that I gained within this curriculum to help project myself, my respective business, and those
who are involved achieve success. The liberal arts curriculum directly influences us and ensures
we have the tools necessary to succeed in life and our career. I know that I will be successful in
the future because of what I have gained from these courses.