All Good Things Must Come To An End

Sleep seems to be slipping out of everyone’s grasp as we make our way to the end of the semester. I thought my 5 hours of sleep was bad, but obviously 3 hours is painful. If anything, we’re learning that in the real world sleep takes the back seat, as assignments and jobs must be completed regardless.

What I learned this week/Already knew?

I too understand the meaning of stage fright and the steps required to overcome it, but personally no longer experience this stress in my life. I have come to enjoy the opportunity of speaking publicly, knowing it is a great personal teaching tool. Having been a missionary in Arizona, dedicating 2 years on overcoming my fears and learning to engage in conversation with complete strangers, I feel a great sense of confidence and excitement when speaking publicly.

I know it was difficult for many of my fellow students to get up and speak impromptu this morning, but from my experience this is when the most growth takes place. Though you might be terrified and feel completely unprepared it forces your mind to move into hyper drive and think critically in order to provide results. My advice is that no one is perfect when speaking publicly and certainly everyone experiences some form of fear whether great or small, so don’t beat yourself up if you feel you performed unsatisfactorily today.

What I still wonder about?

I’m a pretty straight forward individual with few questions, so I often do not find myself wondering, but this week I can honestly say that I wonder if I will find the time I need to prepare an A grade report. It is a real challenge completing each assignment in every class let alone to do so at an A grade level, but this is the goal and my hope is to achieve it.

How I participated this week?

JP, I hope you feel that your contribution during today’s group assignment was more than just adding your 2 cents? I found this assignment to be a great opportunity to share idea’s and experiences of the past so as to help one another be more professional speakers. Some of the key idea’s I feel are vital to being professional are:

· Eliminating umm’s, ahh’s, and other repetitive words
· Not folding your arms or placing hands in pockets
· Speaking clearly and audibly so that the audience can hear and understand
· Dressing appropriately for the circumstances
· Making good eye contact

The list could of course go on, but these are key elements that I feel will greatly improve any presentation.

Conclusion

You said it perfectly JP, “Only a couple more exams and a few more assignments and we will be finished our first semester. YAY.” I know we all feel this way and will appreciate the Christmas break.

With this being our last blog entry for the course I wish to express my appreciation to each member of the class, who have provided an atmosphere of learning and growth. The unique experiences shared, such as, Ry-guy jumping over the desk and JP flipping over the table, leaving an unhappy laptop would not have been possible were it not for our unique qualities. One day we will look back upon our experience here at OC thinking, where did the time go, so it is my hope that each of us will cherish these memories and not take lightly this opportunity. Good luck on all your future endeavor’s.

Stevo