If we put things into my personal perspective, I see roles as both a voluntary and involuntary action to adapt your communication skills depending on the audience and context of the situation. A principal theory that this learning goal revolves around is that of the Structuration Theory by sociologist Anthony Giddens, essentially stating that a person’s individual actions and social structures come as a pair and interwindingly always influence each other. We as a human race created these socially constructed ideas and concepts, and therefore only exist when people put them into action. Similarly, we as a society have generated these hundreds of different titles we now call “roles”, and have attached certain responsibilities and expectations to them that are set in stone and known by just about everyone in the world.

Taking the Ranger Studios internship at UW-Parkside in the Fall of 2024 best helped me master the learning goal of roles. During this internship, I took on multiple roles that were expected of me throughout this process, those being the roles of a technical director, camera operator, technician, and coordinator. Certain tasks and responsibilities were associated with each of these roles that I was therefore expected to do, and very specific standards were on the line. I was not used to being the one to lead in this internship, so having to adapt from the role of a student learner to a leadership role that directed the entire livestream was a huge shift that I learned a lot from. Therefore, I had to adapt my knowledge and skills about everything to best suit this position, and performed this role as a leader, guide, strong communicator, and problem-solver to direct the entire recording and its setup and takedown process. Every role a person takes on is still them in every way, it’s just a matter of filtering what you already know to best fit that given situation so that you know what to focus on.

As a result of what I’ve accomplished in terms of this learning goal, I’m confident that I’ve mastered the concept of adapting my knowledge and communication to different contexts in order to most efficiently go about these situations. When looking at professional career work, as an actress, I quite literally perform different roles all the time. It’s essential that I understand this goal inside and out since it is a principal factor regarding my desired career field. Portraying each character as accurately as possible, both through dialogue and physical language, is a top priority I always strive for, and the practice of switching between many roles throughout my college experience has really helped polish this. This learning goal’s relevance for my future is especially important because it will help me continue to communicate effectively in both professional and personal settings, so that I can be as honest and committed to my work as possible. I want to feel as prepared as possible for the days I will need to navigate intricate situations in my future jobs and relationships.