It is a challenge when we first meet unfamiliar people. I am currently majoring in Communications and I am studying the many elements that play a factor in the foundation of a new relationship. Interpersonal communication is the process in which we communicate with one another. We must understand the person’s situation, communicate in the appropriate manner, and influence them to listen to what is being said. In this class, we have all come together to meet for the first time. We each are writing our own stories. As we flip the pages in our book, we cross paths as OCC students meeting in a cyber world, who are focused on growing intellectually and discovering similarities and differences as we learn from each other.
One of the primary reasons we connect with one another on a deeper level is because we open ourselves up and share things that we have in common. This semester, my English class was instructed to complete a written assignment called, “Class mini-profiles.” For this assignment, we had to write about ourselves and answer some questions allowing our classmates to get to know us on a personal level. As college students, we appeared to have some things in common. Many college students work either full-time or part-time while attending classes. Kylie James is one of my classmates who works while she is in school. Kylie stated, “I currently work two jobs, one is at a local deli and the other is Pier One Imports.” Stephanie Sky is another student in this class who tells us, “I’m a double major while working full-time.” Stephanie tells the class, “In addition to attending college, I will continue my part-time job at Carvel Ice-cream and Bakery.” Unfortunately, due to the way the economy is, many students must be responsible to work while they are in school. My class not only shares similarities with employment while attending college, but they also share similar feelings in their interest of future careers. The medical field is a popular program of study among my classmates. I contemplated why this may be, and I came to the inference that it is because there will always be jobs available. Many students in my class have plans of pursuing a degree in the medical field. We are all determined to achieve our goals; however, everyone loves a furry and loving animal to be by their side. Especially the most common animals, dogs and cats, that many of my classmates have as pets. “I love animals! I have two dogs. Koda is a Samoyed sled dog. My other dog Lexi is a tiny Havanese,” said Stephanie Sky. Another example of this love for animals is my classmate, Kylie James who says, “I live at home with my mom and my nine pets.” Nine pets! I know! So many pets! Kylie really loves her pets and can never seem to have too many. Daniel Smith also has pets and he tells us, “We have two dogs. They are both female, one’s name is KC, and the other is Milah.” The popular animal that many of my classmates had for a pet was a dog. As you can see, many of my classmates have a furry family member that they cherish in their lives.
We are all created differently, and, therefore we will disagree because naturally as humans we think we are right and the other person is not. Thankfully, everyone in this class is respectful of one another’s opinions and I feel that this says a lot about the students in my class. However, there are differences among us and this made it interesting to read about my classmates and how they are unique. There is a wide range in age of the students in this class. 18 years of age being the youngest student, and 53 years old is the oldest student. All of us are meeting under different circumstances and at different times in our lives, which I find to be comforting. About half the students in this class are older and have decided to return to enhance their education. Having students who have life experience is helpful for those who have just graduated from high school and are in college for the first time. It is also helpful to those returning to school because it allows the students to look back and learn from their mistakes to appreciate how important it is to have an education. Going through college is not a race; it is a journey that some take longer to reach than others. Some of us express ourselves more than others by writing more in the discussion forum. The males in this class tend not to write as much as the females do, which shows that women do like to express themselves verbally more than men do. Ironically, there are more females in this class than males. Tattoos are a very popular trend that is becoming more common and accepting in our society today. For instance, mostly females in this class all received tattoos as soon as they turned 18. Tattoos also have personal meaning behind them. Alanna has a tattoo on her arm that says, “Blood is thicker than water 1/2/09.” On 1/2/09 Alanna experienced a bad incident and this tattoo resembles how much her family means to her. Stephanie Sky has one tattoo on her left wrist that says, “Love yourself.” This tattoo is meaningful to Stephanie because she struggled with self-esteem and confidence issues in high school. Holly Wright has one tattoo on the side of her hand depicting a semicolon, which represents suicide awareness. This tattoo means a lot to Holly because she had a cousin who passed away from committing suicide. Listening or observing how other people think, feel, or act, gives us the opportunity to imagine living in someone else’s shoes.
When we listen to other individuals express how they personally feel, we learn to analyze different opinions other than our own and appreciate their unique attributes instead of judging that person. We are each blessed with special gifts before we are even born and we are given special minds that we can either use to understand others, or become resentful of people who are different from us. Selfishness, you can either let it consume you or observe the world and become humble. As a child, it is only natural to be selfish. You depend on people to feed you, bathe you, clothe you, and shelter you. Now that we are all adults in this class, we can read about how other people view the world and not become selfish, which at times, leads to ignorance. Jealousy is dangerous because it can cloud our vision of the gifts that we have. Everyone in this class has a gift to share with the rest of us. Daniel Smith has a gift to showcase to the rest of us. Daniel Smith is a talented, experienced lacrosse player. Daniel says, “I was very excited to play on the team at OCC this year, as we took back the Championship! I have previously won a High School Championship during my Junior year, so now I have two under my belt.” Daniel Smith has a wonderful talent that he has shared with us. If anyone in our class attends an OCC lacrosse game, we will know someone on the team! Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, including those who are uneducated and ignorant. I feel that everyone in my class is very open-minded and they are educated, intelligent students who I can learn from. If people started listening to each other, the “enemy” would become clearer to understand or at least more of us would agree to disagree. This is not the case in my class. I have a great group of people who do listen to my opinions and are very kind to one another. As a class, I feel even when we don’t see eye to eye, we do merely agree to disagree.
Uncertainty doesn’t mean someone is misguided, it just means that we each have our own path and our own way of fulfilling success. Same here. Everyone in my class is experiencing a journey from their own eyes. Similarities and differences are along the way that each one of us must face and learn to critically analyze in a cooperate manner throughout our lives. We are all pieces to a greater puzzle that will be very hard to solve, like the puzzles your grandma used to put together. “Now that I know what was made of me, what now shall I make of myself,” stated one of my professors from last semester. I encourage everyone to open their eyes to see we are all individually unique and that we can learn from others instead of immediately judging people who are different from us. Every student in this class is working towards their own goals, we are all yearning to become educated, improved individuals. As we flip our final page, we all should be inspired by our journey and want to publish our story.
SIMPLELANE.LIFE 