Communication
I have been studying different communities and have written papers and given speeches on them. Throughout this process I have learned to communicate more affectively in both a smaller setting such as speaking man to man and in a larger setting such as in front of a classroom. If interested, the papers are below.
Exploring Culture essay
For this essay I studied the culture of Disabled Veterans. I started off not knowing much, and having only the very flawed perceptions of their culture I had adopted from the media and from past life experiences. I had gone from believing that this culture was an extremely flawed, calloused, and dangerous culture to knowing the true facts about it – that they are a very damaged culture, but they need our help just as much as we needed theirs. Throughout the semester this essay has evolved from just a nugget of an idea into a canvas of incandescence that is a wonderful place for others to learn about the culture and is proof that my views have changed drastically. In order for this essay to evolve I have done copious amounts of research for this project including reading a self help book for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the hopes that I will learn what it is like to walk a mile in their shoes. While it is impossible to know exactly what they go through without actually being a part of the culture I now have a better understanding of what it is they go through and what the healing process may include. Along with reading the book I read several articles on the culture and did an interview. While I learned a lot from the articles, I learned far more from the interview than I thought I would. The interview is really where the “AHA” moment was for me. The interview is where I learned about what the culture really goes through, the interview is where stereotypes were broken, and the interview is the main reason why the essay is such a great place to learn about the culture. All in all, the interview is really what evolved the essay.
ian_hall_rough_draft | |
File Size: | 112 kb |
File Type: | ian hall rough draft |
Portraying culture speech
Although I don’t find it difficult to stand up in front of a class and give a speech and I don’t typically have anxiety about it, I found this speech particularly hard to give for a myriad of reasons. First and foremost, I found this speech extremely difficult to give because of what happened to Dillon. I found it wildly inappropriate to give a speech on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after what happened. I tried to think of every possible way to get out of doing the speech. I thought about throwing the entire operation out the window and researching a different culture but the plain and simple fact was I didn’t have enough time to do the research or write the papers. I thought about just refusing to give the speech but if I didn’t give the speech I would automatically fail the course. Once I had this epiphany I immediately considered dropping the class, but much to my dismay, I discovered that by dropping the course I would no longer have the necessary amount of credit hours to be a full time student, therefore I would lose all my funding. Once I had come to terms with that fact I went right back to considering just failing the course. But then, for some reason, I felt led to give the speech. I felt as though it is a subject that everyone should be enlightened to. Not just that, I realized that everyone in the class had now been affected by it, and that I may just be able to provide them with a better understanding of what happened. I then started to wonder if God may be using this as an opportunity to expose the problems of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that God may be using me as a tool for that purpose. Once this thought popped into my head I decided to go through with the speech. Like I said before, I usually don’t find it difficult to stand up in front of a class and give a speech, nor do I have anxiety about doing it. But this speech was a particularly difficult one to deliver. For a few days before the speech I was filled with anxiety. I was very worried I was going to do a horrible job on the speech and fail the course and I had trouble falling asleep the night before. When it came time for me to deliver the speech I had gained enough courage to stand up in front of the class, but that’s about all the courage I had. I’m not sure how apparent it was that I was shaking in my boots or that I was getting choked up at times, but I know it was a miracle I got through it. There were some parts of the speech I know God had to have been guiding my words because I was just too scared and too sad to remember everything. But as soon as the speech was over, it was as if a waterfall of relief and clarity came crashing down on my shoulders. I could think again, I could rest again, and I could smile knowing I did the best that I could do.
speech_outline_cis_110.doc | |
File Size: | 50 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Final Essay
This portfolio shows my aptitude as both a student and a communicator in that I have learned how to create an easy to use/fun portfolio for potential employers. Making this portfolio is not the only thing that has helped me grow as a communicator, I have also learned a lot from exploring other cultures and things I’ve taken away from other cultural examples. Learning about other cultures has helped me throw away old stereotypes and has gotten me to really learn about other cultures before I jump to conclusions and start making assumptions. Instead of just believing whatever I hear on the news or what random people tell me, I have decided to test all things and hold fast to that which is true. I’m not just going to believe whatever the media says without researching it, because it turns out the media is a bit more biased than I had previously thought it to be, and they can sometimes just ramble on about crap because they don’t really have any great stories that day. So before believing anything I hear, I read articles on the subject and ask people that are a part of the culture about it. More often than not, what you hear and what you see is not actually what you get. I’ve also learned that it’s not just the news you have to watch out for. I learned that just because you read it doesn’t mean it is true. Just because it’s in a book or in an article, doesn’t mean you can trust everything it says. That’s why when you are looking for different books and articles, you have to make sure you are looking for the most scholarly and up to date books and articles available, because anyone can make an article or write a book, and as time goes by, more information is discovered that may trump what was previously known. And once you have found a good source, it is still not a bad idea to search for other credible sources to make sure that all the facts line up. I’ve also learned a lot about other cultures through cultural examples. Learning about other cultures has helped me to see just how vastly different other cultures can be from how the media portrays them. Not necessarily that the media portrays them as bad, but that the media simply portrays them incorrectly. I have taken away so much more from this course than I thought I would – things that will stick with me for years to come and will help me in both school and my future career. It has helped me in more ways than I could possibly hope for. Thanks to this class I am not anywhere near as naïve as I used to be, I am no longer anywhere near as terrified as speaking a I once was, and I am able to use rhetoric to reach a larger crowd more affectively than I ever could have dreamed of before.
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