Communication is, in my opinion, is the most important part of a relationship. Other components to a relationship, like trust, will follow if good communication is present. When applying for a job, the requirements almost always list the person applying must have good communication skills. Interpersonal communication goes beyond simply talking to others, one must listen actively and truly understand what the other person may or may not be saying.
"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
-George Bernard Shaw
The quote above illustrates what I learned from the chapter in the book and the class activities. I have been in many situations were I was trying to tell someone something and they did not understand what I was saying but I would just get frustrated with them and act like they were right. The persons I was attempting to communicate with were not paying attention to what I was saying but they thought they understood. Chelsee's class activity illustrated bad communication much like the situations I have been in.
Different types of communication are needed for certain situations. As a peer mentor, I will have situations were I will need to give advice and situations when I will need to use interpersonal communication. I will need to assess which type to use for each situation in order to help the Hixson student. The book gives great scenarios and tips in order to help figure out which type of communication to use. The communication skills I have learned will help me build relationships and will help me effectively communicate with the incoming Hixsons.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Enhancing Cultural Proficiency
I came from a small town where majority of the people had the same religion and ethnicity. Coming to college, I knew there was going to be a lot of diverse people. I was excited to meet people that had different backgrounds. I was accustom to a lot of people different from me in high school because I would go to Omaha, Nebraska almost every other weekend with friends when I was a junior and senior. In high school, I would just ignore the people different from me, I was not ever rude to them I just did not fully understand their lifestyles or beliefs. I was very guilty of lumping everyone that seemed different into the same category. I would treat their beliefs the same as others by pretending they were the same.
I have grown a lot as a person the summer before college and my freshman year of college. I developed an understanding about the importance of understanding people that are not the same as me. I really did not consider that there is no person on earth the same as some other person until reading the chapter in the book. The book also states that a person does not have to completely understand different beliefs, one just has to respect and acknowledge the beliefs of another individual without grouping them with other different groups or ignoring their beliefs.
I am very guilty of believing stereotypes. I know need to work on this but it is something that will take time. After coming to college, I have gotten rid of some of the stereotypes I use to believe but after the in class activity, I recognize that I have stereotypes that I did not consciously know I had before.
I am really excited to hear what is important to the students I will be helping next year, if they want to share. I know what I need to work on to be more understanding of different cultures and beliefs. I like the diversity Iowa State has because if everyone was similar campus would be very boring!
I have grown a lot as a person the summer before college and my freshman year of college. I developed an understanding about the importance of understanding people that are not the same as me. I really did not consider that there is no person on earth the same as some other person until reading the chapter in the book. The book also states that a person does not have to completely understand different beliefs, one just has to respect and acknowledge the beliefs of another individual without grouping them with other different groups or ignoring their beliefs.
I am very guilty of believing stereotypes. I know need to work on this but it is something that will take time. After coming to college, I have gotten rid of some of the stereotypes I use to believe but after the in class activity, I recognize that I have stereotypes that I did not consciously know I had before.
I am really excited to hear what is important to the students I will be helping next year, if they want to share. I know what I need to work on to be more understanding of different cultures and beliefs. I like the diversity Iowa State has because if everyone was similar campus would be very boring!
Monday, February 3, 2014
MBTI Part II
Wow! We were given a lot of information this time around! I was a skeptic the first time I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test because I did not think that my personality could be just simply placed into sections. After getting my results from part 1, I realized that it was definitely true and pretty accurate especially when I added the part 2 information. My letters were ISFP the last time and changed to INFP this time around.
I'm a little surprised by my results because the strongest preference I have is in the moderate category so I am pretty much straight down the middle with all of my preferences. I feel that I fall under the mid-zone because I adjust how I act by how well I known the people I'm around and the situation I am in. INFPs tend to care deeply about people and causes that are close to them. They are tolerant and adapt to things as they happen but they strongly defend what is important to them. They like to work independently and pay attention to things that others around them care about. I feel like these characteristics of INFPs accurately explain my personality.
The different facets in the report are just crazy! I cannot believe by picking out words on a test I can get so much information about my personality back. I had four out of preference facets; gregarious, enthusiastic, practical, and experimental. The only one out of preference facet I'm not too sure about would be enthusiastic because the report states that I like the spotlight but in actuality I rather not be in it.
I really like to keep a lot of information to myself until I get to know people and I tend to keep emotions like anger to myself which leads to me being an introvert and I definitely would fall under the contained facet. I switched to intuition from sensing and I believe it is a better fit because I tend to have imaginative and abstract ways of thinking when working on problems.
I like the tips in the report on using the facets to enhance communication, change management, and conflict management. The report is very useful to me because I can use the information to understand my personality and to better myself by working on the tips given to me in the report.
I'm a little surprised by my results because the strongest preference I have is in the moderate category so I am pretty much straight down the middle with all of my preferences. I feel that I fall under the mid-zone because I adjust how I act by how well I known the people I'm around and the situation I am in. INFPs tend to care deeply about people and causes that are close to them. They are tolerant and adapt to things as they happen but they strongly defend what is important to them. They like to work independently and pay attention to things that others around them care about. I feel like these characteristics of INFPs accurately explain my personality.
The different facets in the report are just crazy! I cannot believe by picking out words on a test I can get so much information about my personality back. I had four out of preference facets; gregarious, enthusiastic, practical, and experimental. The only one out of preference facet I'm not too sure about would be enthusiastic because the report states that I like the spotlight but in actuality I rather not be in it.
I really like to keep a lot of information to myself until I get to know people and I tend to keep emotions like anger to myself which leads to me being an introvert and I definitely would fall under the contained facet. I switched to intuition from sensing and I believe it is a better fit because I tend to have imaginative and abstract ways of thinking when working on problems.
I like the tips in the report on using the facets to enhance communication, change management, and conflict management. The report is very useful to me because I can use the information to understand my personality and to better myself by working on the tips given to me in the report.
ISLE & the Learning Community Mid-Year Institute
My weekend was filled with learning about becoming a great leader. The Learning Community Mid-Year Institute and ISLE presented information about leadership that I found to be interesting. Various speakers defined leadership differently, although they were all similar, and gave characteristics of good leaders.
While at the Learning Community Mid-Year Institute, I attended a session on stress and how to relax and the other session I attended was on using social media to connect with the mentees. The stress session identified common characteristics of stress and gave different methods to help relieve the stress. I believe that being able to detect stress in a person would be great information for a peer mentor to have because there are many stresses as an incoming freshman and some people who may need help may not admit it.
The social media session was not as interesting because I knew most of the information already. WISE presented information on how they use Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook to connect with members. I think using social media is a great way to connect with college students because most of use check social media sites a lot more often than our emails.
The opening speaker at ISLE was great! The keynote speaker, Delatorro McNeal, was very entertaining. McNeal explained the importance of peer leaders and mentors and gave inspiring clips from movies during his presentation. The session I attend was not as interesting. The coordinator of the ROTC program gave a presentation of leadership and the characteristics of a leader. The speaker asked a lot of questions and called on people in the small audience. At the end of the presentation, He explained the reason why he choose to present that way. He presented in that manner because people tend to learn the best when they are involved in their learning. I loved the idea but not while I was being called on. I would like to use a type of interactive learning in the future with the mentees.
Overall, I felt both conferences were helpful to me developing my leadership skills. I also enjoyed meeting mentors and leaders from different organizations around campus. A quote to some up what I learned by John Quincy Adams would be "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, and become more, you are a leader."
While at the Learning Community Mid-Year Institute, I attended a session on stress and how to relax and the other session I attended was on using social media to connect with the mentees. The stress session identified common characteristics of stress and gave different methods to help relieve the stress. I believe that being able to detect stress in a person would be great information for a peer mentor to have because there are many stresses as an incoming freshman and some people who may need help may not admit it.
The social media session was not as interesting because I knew most of the information already. WISE presented information on how they use Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook to connect with members. I think using social media is a great way to connect with college students because most of use check social media sites a lot more often than our emails.
The opening speaker at ISLE was great! The keynote speaker, Delatorro McNeal, was very entertaining. McNeal explained the importance of peer leaders and mentors and gave inspiring clips from movies during his presentation. The session I attend was not as interesting. The coordinator of the ROTC program gave a presentation of leadership and the characteristics of a leader. The speaker asked a lot of questions and called on people in the small audience. At the end of the presentation, He explained the reason why he choose to present that way. He presented in that manner because people tend to learn the best when they are involved in their learning. I loved the idea but not while I was being called on. I would like to use a type of interactive learning in the future with the mentees.
Overall, I felt both conferences were helpful to me developing my leadership skills. I also enjoyed meeting mentors and leaders from different organizations around campus. A quote to some up what I learned by John Quincy Adams would be "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, and become more, you are a leader."
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