The End

Well this is the end for me, the end of the road, the end of this class. Yes I may be rejoicing a little bit, secretly inside, but I am thankful. I am very thankful and glad that I took this class. I figured that all the reading we were going to have to do would be about unimportant information that I would never use again, like in some other classes. But I must say that I was quite wrong and quite suprised! I mean true it had stuff that I already new about, but it took a different look at it and way more in depth. It basically made me say, "Ohhhh I get it!" and "Oh wow, yeah that's true!" All in all, it was a good experience. I just hope that I can remember everything that I learned and actually apply it to everyday life!

Poor communication

A recent article I read, was about the effects the hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, and on the schooling of young children. The article stated that only 45% of the 2,396 fifth grade students, who enrolled in Texas schools after the hurricanes, passed the math portion of the recent Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. Officials think there could be three possible causes to the low scores: such as the New Orleans poor schools, the suddenly tramatic event of being taken from their home, and the possibility that some kids were put in the wrong grades. WOW!!! My first thought was, "How on earth do you put a kid in the wrong grade? How?" But then I thought...hmm poor communication, along with a very chaotic situation.

Communicating with all

I recently saw a story on CNN, where a family in Massuchusett found a bear family in their front yard tree. The animal control people came and shot the mother with a tranquilizer gun, in order to get her down. They did not harm her, and released her and her cubs back into the wild. But this got me thinking, wouldn't it be great if we could communicate with not only everyone, but every animal too? Think of all the problems we could eliminate. Most animals attacks are out of fear, not viscous hunting excursions. But God made it this way for a reason, reasons we cannot ourselves answer.

How to detect a liar!

How can you detect a liar? There has to be some que in their communication process that gives it away. Some are easy to detect. They fumble on their words, they can't keep their story straight, or they can't look you in the eye. But is it possible to get so comfortable lying, that it just becomes second nature to you? If that is possible, what form of communication would give them away? It really makes you wonder sometimes. We wouldn't have this problem if we lived in a perfect world. A perfect world where communication was not so complicated, or we all actually understood every aspect of the process while doing it! Ha....isn't that a nice thought!

Groups

I believe that groups are very important to participate in. whether one is in their youth or older, a group is very important to meet the needs of ones social aspect in life. In a group, there is usually meaning behind the uniting of the members. This meaning or purpose may be to finish a project or to hold a religious service. Either way, it gives each member a feeling of having a purpose because they are a part of something that accomplishes a certain task. That feeling of being needed, of worth, is essential in every person’s life.

Connection Autonomy

Our society today values the idea of Autonomy, which is defined in the test as the aspiration to connect with others but still maintain some freedom/control over ones own life. In order for a healthy relationship to occur, each partner has to have a well balanced connection – Autonomy. But far too many times people cross the lines at both ends. There could be the ones who desire so greatly to connect with another person that their need for control is diminished greatly. They tend to depend a lot on their partner, thus leaving them very vulnerable and victimized to being pushed around or hurt badly. Then there are those whose desire to connect with others is there, but it is overpowered by the need for control. These people tend to dominate the relationship, thus putting them at higher risk to be the one to push around or hurt the other partner. These people tend not to have deep meaningful relationships because they do no let anybody in.

Breaking up and making up

I believe that many couples make the process of breaking up and making up over and over again, because of underlining reasons. It could very well be that they are still in love or have feelings for each other, but I do not believe that that is the case all the time. Once possible reason could be that the couple started a very deep and meaningful commitment when they were very young. By doing this before the personalities and emotions are mature enough, problems of complication arise when the breaking up process begins. They become very attached and comfortable in this situation. If they were to break up and possible get hurt by another or was too afraid to try a new relationship they would go back to the old relationship that they knew. Another reason could be the rushing through the steps of a relationship, which may cause for an unstable relationship. The break up could lead to questions of “What ifs” or “What could have been”. Then wanting to know for sure, they would attempt the relationship again.

Stages of Relationships

In chapter 14 of the Communication text book, it talks about Knapp’s stages of coming together. Which include initiating, experimenting, intensifying, integrating, and bonding. In my opinion, far too many people skip the middle stages. In order to create a successful and meaningful relationship, on e must go through all the steps. But some may hear or read about the deep meaningful commitment in relationships and how patient and wonderful it is, and they then decide they want that for themselves. The only problem is that they don’t want to take the time to establish a relationship and follow the steps. Instead they want to jump from step one to step four or maybe even five. This creates many emotional problems for the relationship, because neither one is really deeply committed to the other. They are committed to the idea of that kind of relationship. The stages of creating a relationship should not be forced and should just flow naturally, in order to be successful and true.

MySpace and Blogging

A recent article I read in Newsweek, about MySpace and blogging, was indeed quite interesting. The cops relayed how they have been able to solve more crimes and catch more criminals because of MySpace. MySpace is a place where people are able to connect with their friends on the internet. It is quite addicting with all the things you can do on there. You can add graphics, different back rounds, and music to your page, and even put slide shows on there. By reading this article, I basically came aware of the dangers of MySpace. Something you really don’t realize when starting this up is that anybody can browse through your profile and you won’t even know it. That is pretty much what those criminals failed to take in account before they were arrested. They all just placed the evidence right on their pages, not thinking any authority would get their hands on it. I have to say that this makes me more aware now of what I place on my comments towards my friends, or even my personal information!

Hypocrisy

I believe that hypocrisy could go right along with dishonesty! Let’s look at an example, say that someone gave a speech about speeding, saying that it was unlawful, that “you should have left earlier if you were in such a hurry.” But then the speaker was pulled over for speeding. Well wouldn’t one jump to assumption that since the person that gave a speech about how wrong speeding was, that either he/she changed his/her mind or was just plain lying. Why should anyone believe that speaker? They shouldn’t, because he/she was being a hypocrite. With this person praising following the law with his/her words and denying it with his/her actions, would make a younger vulnerable mind think that it would be ok to handle a situation this way. Now tell me, should we live in a world like this? No, that’s why we all should try and prevent hypocrisy in ourselves to make this a more honest world!

Small Talk

I always thought that small talk was extremely unimportant and impersonal. Although it may be impersonal, it is far from unimportant. By reading chapter 13 in the Communication text book, I found that small talk is essential. The text book states that small talk is the beginning step for most relationships. It allows people to get to know eachother, without feeling threatened or uneasy. Eventhough the information exchanged in small talk is not personal, it gives a chance for people to see if their interaction with the other person is positive. After all, we all have opinions on the weather, news, etc. If our opinions match, we may be intrigued to know a bit more about this other person. If small talk flows smoothely, we may feel the need to take the conversation to the next level.

Social Exchange Theory

The Social Exchange Theory holds much truth. It states that "people consciously and deliberately weigh the costs and rewards associated with a relationship or interaction." Think about it, when you walk up to a person and have a conversation with ease, you probably subconciously weighed the costs and rewards. The rewards probably outwieghed the costs by so much thatt you didn't even have to really think about it. Now think about a time when you were nervous to approach a person, for example an attractive person of the opposite sex. You probably hesitated a bit and had to think about the good and bad possibilites. If the negative possibilites weren't that bad you probably went for it, or if they were, you probably held back and decided not to approach that person.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

I believe that the Uncertainty Reduction Theory is quite true. It states that "when we meet others to whom we are attracted, our need to know them tends to make us draw inferences from observable physical data." Whenever we meet somebody, we instantly place them into categories, without really knowing it. As humans, we all have the need to know what every person is like, so we make snap judgements. This way we can easily tell ourselves if we would like to spend time with that person or not. This isn't exactly an accurate way to perceive someone, because you can't always tell what is on the indside from the outside.

Online Research Exploration

This activity really opened my eyes to the variety of information I have access to online. I was unaware of the Nebraska Access website, but am I really glad that I know about it now for it will make my research on topics go a lot smoother. If you haven't tried this website for research yet, I would strongly recommend it. It is free and easy to use!

Self-Inventory Worksheet

Places traveled: About once or twice a year, my family and I travel to San Diego.
Things valued: I value my religion, my morals, my family, my friends, and my life.
Dream Jobs: A Pastry Chef or a designer.
Important Issues: Underage drinking, drinking and driving, abortion, and supporting the troops
Sports: I like to play Golf and Basketball, but enjoy watching all sports.
Jobs: I've worked at two fastfood places and currently work for kmart and my fathers construction company.
Volunteer: I've helped out with habitat for humanity and have done odd jobs with my youth group.
Classes: I've always enjoyed math classes, chemistry, and a few english courses.
Magazines, Newspapers, and Books: I like any sort of girly fashion magazine, I read the Kearney Hub and occasionally the Omaha World Herald, and I read the Bible.

Conflict

Conflict is a part of life, without it life would be boring and we would never learn a lesson. Conflicting situations tend to show our true character; we avoid it, showing we are cowardly or we resolve it, showing we are brave or honorable. Dealing with conflicts makes us grow as people, like the saying goes, “That which does not kill you, makes you stronger.” Something we have to come to terms with, as a society, is that we are human, humans are not perfect, and therefore there will always be conflict in this world.

Relationships

Relationships are a necessity for out personal growth as a human being. Through communication with others, I believe that we are able to figure out who we really are. The way that people respond to us, gives us feed back on our actions that maybe we weren’t aware of. Also vice versa, we are able to realize what things we like or dislike about people by the way we respond to their actions. Relationships also, teach us lessons and nurture to our needs; Such as giving love and being loved. Without relationships, people tend to feel unwanted or unloved, resulting in depression. Therefore, relationships are a necessity to help our personal growth our emotional needs and nurture to.

Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication is essential for daily life. Without the ability to communicate with each other, I believe we would go insane. Communication, however, is not just hat of speech, but writing and body language. With many different ways to communicate, and for the fact that we usually just think about communication being speech, we especially have to be careful about what message we are portraying. Since we all know that when we sent the wrong message, it’s impossible to retract our message and really hard to reconvey the right one! To sum up, interpersonal communication is essential for life, but more complicated than it seems.

Interpersonal Trust

I believe that trust is extremely important for any relationship. Without trust you are not able to have an open and healthy relationship. Trust, to me, is a feeling of security with another person. That security presents the fact that I can confide in that person and know that he/she would not tell a soul. I also know that I would be able to count on that person to be there for me when I needed them. Lastly, I would have the assurance that I would be loved for who I am and not criticized for who I’m not. In conclusion, I believe that you are not able to have a successful relationship without trust.

Honesty

We all have rules we live by in life. They are what we call morals. One of my morals in life just so happens to be honesty. To me honesty isn't just in the words you speak, but in the actions you make. Stealing, for example, would be a dishonest action. Another,very common, dishonest action would be pretending to be someone you are not. Not being yourself or a little white lie, are things humans don't consider as sins. In God's eyes, I believe that no matter how big or small, dishonesty is just that.

Linking Websites

http://badrian.pitas.com
http://www.cccneb.edu
http://prod.campuscruiser.com/PageServlet?pg=home_welcome&cp=136
http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_seiler_commumakin_6
http://www.nlc.state.ne.us/nebraskaccess/
http://news.google.com/
http://www.google.com
http://www.google.com/unclesam