Hello!
My name is Rubi. A fun fact about me is that I have a pet chicken named Cleopatra, but I call her Cleo. I’m a first-year graduate student in the Health and Strategic Communication program. My academic focus is on improving patient-provider communication in healthcare settings. Through my studies in persuasion, health campaigns, communication theories, intercultural, and group communication, I have developed skills in formative research, message framing, and adapting communication strategies for diverse cultural and group settings.
What attracted me to this course was Dr. LaBelle. She mentioned during our class that she would be participating in this course, and it sounded interesting. This opportunity will allow me to apply the skills I’ve gained in a real-world setting and challenge me by using them in other contexts besides health. I’m excited to explore which concepts I apply the most to reach my goal of a deeper understanding of those concepts. I also hope to gain a deeper understanding of the complexities that groups from a different culture face and be able to identify similarities to other conflicts I know of. Some anticipated challenges is terminology. Since I am a health communication major, I know I’ll have to quickly learn terminology and concepts that everyone might already know.

Pet chicken