Future Endeavors

I am going to take a lot of things I learned from that class that will help me in future endeavors! Like I said in my last post, I am learning to become more confident in myself when it comes to public speaking. I learned to not psych myself out right before the speech because that is mainly in our heads. We just need to calm down because public speaking won't kill us! Before I knew I had to take public speaking, I was dreading this class because I had of fear of being in front of others so public speaking wasn't my favorite past time. But I learned is that it won't & can't kill me so it just made me stronger in public speaking & in general!

Concepts

A concept or concepts that I found most helpful to prepare for my speeches was the concept from Chapter 2 & 4. Building my self-confidence was the most important thing when dealing with speeches so that I would feel more comfortable in front of a audience that I did not know. I learned to use my nervousness & to turn that energy into a positive one. By doing this I would appear stronger & more passionate when going up in front of the class. If a speaker feels more confident then the audience tends to be drawn to the speaker to hear what they are all about.

Fave Speech

My fave speech to do was my informative speech because I knew most of my information when presenting. I also felt more comfortable doing this speech as well. The topic of my informative speech was Reality Television & the secrets behind it. It was pretty interesting looking up sources for that speech, and learning about the tricks reality show productions would do to create drama on a episode and what not. It made me more aware that even reality show are not to be trusted because it is not really real. The production just manipulates scenes & how the characters act to create the show.

Self Eval. #3

It was the day of the last & final speech, and I felt as nervous as the first speech. I felt those butterflies in my stomach & I felt as if I wanted to vomit once I woke up due to my nervousness. I did not practice as much as I wanted to for the final speech, so I did not know what to expect when it was my time to speak. I was the sixth speaker & I was glad because I just wanted to get it over with ASAP! While all the speakers before me had finished their speech I was getting more anxious to go up. I was a bit excited to share the information I had & I wanted to persuade my audience that animal testing was wrong & shouldn't be supported. Once I was up I was still nervous, but I wanted my information to come out strong so I hyped myself up to have a good positive energy.

I believe that I did achieve my purpose, which was not to support animal testing. I could tell in people's faces during the speech that they were disgusted by the pictures of the tortured animals, which I knew were strong images because it affected me drastically. Most of the feedback I got were positive. People said my information & visual images were strong, my delivery was passionate, and one person even said that I opened up their eyes to animal testing, which they never realized before. When I read that I felt very proud of myself because not a lot of people know about animal testing & that is why I wanted to speak about it.

In my performance overall, I think that I deserve a B because I did everything that was asked for this speech. I gave out 4 different sources, and I probably mentioned them 6 times throughout the speech. My eye contact had gotten better since my first speech. I give myself a 8 in eye contact because I looked around the room, & not in one spot. I also tried to glance at my notecards, but I did have to read off my notecards because of the many quotes I had used. I just wished I had time to practice more because I did go over the time limit, so I had to cut out a lot of information, which I wanted to share with the class.

What was different from the final speech, and the last speech I had was that I felt more nervous on the final one. The last speech was on a make-up day so I felt more comfortable & confident on that day. I was more nervous for the final speech because I didn't practice, & I knew more people had to be there because it was the final speech. I believe that I did a better job of using sources in my final speech than my last speech. I used more quotes & statistics that were relevant to my topic. I don't think I did anything distracting in the final speech. I knew on the last speech my hair was a problem, so on the final speech I had a clip ready for my hair.

On the final speech, I was pretty surprised that I was as calm as I was standing in front of the class. There was a tremble in my voice, and my throat was dry, but I cared more about the information I wanted to give out to persuade the class. Based on all my three speeches, I would say that the second speech was the best. I think I did better on the second speech because I was more comfortable, calm, & confident since there were only about 5 people there! But I was most proud of my final speech :]

Concepts in Chapter 15 & 16

A concept I found useful in chapter 15 is that we should avoid fallacies in our argument. A fallacy is something that is wrong in our argument. There are four main categories for fallacies which are: faulty assertions, flawed evidence, defective reasoning, erroneous responses. If we have a fallacy in our speech then the audience would not see the speaker as reasonable, and someone we should not trust.

A concept I found interesting in chapter 16 was about the different speeches for special occasions. There are speeches of introduction where the speaker introduces someone very briefly to the audience. Speeches of nomination that shows a persons success if could of had the chance. Award presentations where people recognize others for what they have done. Acceptance speeches, which a person who is given a award,honor, etc. is speaking. After-dinner speeches where the speaker keeps the good feelings up. Tributes and eulogies are another form. Tributes are where we give respect towards an individual for what they have done. A eulogy is given when someone has passed away. The last type of speech for a special occasion is mediated speaking.

Persuading Others

A recent discussion in which I tried to persuade someone to accept my point of view was when I tried to tell my friend to go with me to the library because I had to pick up something and I did not want to go alone. She did not want to go with me because it was too far of a walk, so I explained all the times I went with her when I did not feel like walking at all. I told her that I always went with her when she needed something, so I expected the same thing :). So my reasoning should of made her feel bad because she ended up going to the library with me! It just takes a bit of persuasion to convince someone to do something even if they don't want to!

Speech Buddy Videos

In the 15.1 video I learned about how to identify the elements of arguments, which can be helpful towards our speech. There is four basic elements when it comes to this which are: thesis, claim, evidence, & reasoning. The types of appeal the speaker used was to relate the material to the audience, and to link the claim to the evidence.

In the "Schooling: Pro" video I learned about the pros of home schooling. I learned that it can be more flexible, it avoids violence, and that it brings strong relationships, which these types of points would be of interest towards the audience. In the video "Schooling:Con" the speaker is telling us the cons of home schooling. He explains that parents aren't as effective as real teachers, that are home isn't a great environment of learning, and parental involvement. The speaker appeals the audience with his main points by giving us a visualization of his words. Both speakers in the "Schooling" video tried to connect the audience by letting us picture everything now and in the future.

Actuative Speech

For the actuative speech I will be speaking about animal testing and how we should fight it. My main points for this speech is that: testing on animals doesn't work, it is unethical to test on animals (murder), and what people can do to fight it. I plan on trying to persuade my audience towards my point of view by showing them how it is morally wrong. In the beginning of the speech I would want to explain how animals such as dogs, cats, monkeys, rabbits, and etc. are used as test subjects. When testing on animals it can slowly kill them, and they are treated very unfairly and animals cannot fight for themselves & they do not have a say in their life. Then near the end of my speech I want to tell my audience what they can do to not support animal testing by not buying products that use animals as test subjects. I could also tell the audience to join organizations that fight animal testing as well.

Persuasion

We are immersed by persuasion everywhere we go & it is something we really cannot avoid. There are magazines, billboards, television commercials, shopping centers, school, work, people, and basically your whole surrounding is covered with things to persuade you. Persuade you to buy certain products, to make book a spontaneous trip, to work for certain people, to look a certain way, and etc. The media is the one who controls these aspects, and you may not even realize it. To be a critical consumer we need to be aware of what someone, or something is trying to persuade us to do. We just need to think about what we really need, and not what we want.

Concepts in Chapter 14

A concept I found useful or interesting in Chapter 14 is the Monroe's Motivated Sequence, which our class needs to use for our last speech. With this sequence we as the speaker are trying to encourage the audience to focus on outcomes the speaker is talking about with their ideas. There are five steps when it comes to this sequence. The five steps in the Monroe's Motivated Sequence is: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. With the first step, the speaker needs to relate the topic to the audience so that it will grab their attention. Need, which is the second step, the speaker needs to establish the problem/current harm with their topic. The third step, which is satisfaction means to describe the solution to the problem. The second to the last step, visualization is when we need to show the positive outcomes of the solution. Action, which is the last step of this sequence is basically meaning to explain how the audience can be a solution to the problem.

Speech Buddy Videos

Throughout the speech buddy videos I had watched, I learned many various things that I found useful for my speech. I learned about the different strategies for using audience-centered language in our speeches in the chapter 10 videos. There are five different ways when it comes to this strategy which are: refer to current events, using pronouns which would make the audience feel included in the speech, inclusive language that helps visualize ideas, spark imagination, and possible use humor. When using humor in a speech we need to be careful with how we use it. It could interest the audience, or it could confuse them. I also learned about the different tips for effective language for our speech, which can be found on my last blog post.

In the chapter 12 speech buddy videos I found useful the tips about vocal delivery in a speech. There are five areas in vocal delivery which are: volume, pitch, rate, variety, & pronunciation. Physical delivery is another important aspect of our speech. There are five aspects when it comes to physical delivery which are: eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, body movements, and appearance. I also learned the importance of practicing, which is something we should all do to prepare! haha

Concepts in Chapter 10

Concepts I found interesting or useful in Chapter 10 are the guidelines for using language in our speech. We need to use spoken language that speaks to our audience, and not form something written. Choosing meaningful words that will let the audience understand what you are trying to say. If you use words that are out of the ordinary in our daily usage of vocab then people will not find your speech interesting, and we might need to define the word as well. Also being conside, balancing clarity, & amniguity is another thing when it comes to language. We also have to build redundancy when speaking to remind our audience what we are covering & we cannot get too attached to our words. Meaning we might worry too much about using the perfect word in a sentence.

Flickr

The discussion on Flickr about sexist language is pretty interesting, and it is something I hadn't really thought about. I never thought that someone can be offended by calling a woman a girl, or calling a man a boy. I just think that those words are the first thought that comes to mind when seeing a gender. I guess it just really matters on who labeled the image and what not and if they mean anything by it. The person may not mean anything by it and someone can overreact over a word. But if someone labeled a woman or anyone else as a derogatory term then thats when someone has crossed the line. Also people labeling people as something racial. I believe that is just as wrong because labeling someone by their appearance or what they are is just stupid.

Self Evaluation: Informative Speech

It was the day of the speech, and I did not feel as anxious as the first speech. The jitters did not hit me until I was in the building, and then I started thinking about how horrible I did on the first speech. That moment made me want to focus, and redeem myself from the last speech, which helped me a lot. I had more of a confidence on this speech than the first speech. I was more calm and relaxed, and determined to not make awkward pauses and to speak without stuttering. I definitely did want to slur my words and have those uncomfortable "ums" & "uhs." I signed myself up to be second to present, and during the first presentation I was panicking a bit in my mind. I was thinking about all the things that might go wrong, but then I realized I was just psyching myself out again so I had to cool down and take my nervousness into positive energy.

The first speech was done, and I was up. All these thoughts were running through my head, but I had to make it stop. Being up there I felt more comfortable. Maybe it was because I had a powerpoint, which made me believe people would have their eyes on that rather than myself. While speaking I realized that I did not feel that tremble in my voice that I had last time and I was not fidgeting, or using vocal fillers. I did not think I did anything really distracting because I had a strong posture unlike last time. I just wished the content in my presentation was better. I don't think I stated enough citations for my sub points, which would of probably made things clearer. I spoke about four sources, but I did not mention them until my last main point. So for my goal I plan to organize my content better, and have strong information to make a strong presentation. As for my delivery, I know for a fact that I depended too much on my notecards. So for my next speech I want to use less of my notecards and rely on what I know rather than what is written in front of me because I do not think it makes a strong presentation when reading something off the whole time. Because I relied on my notecards my eye contact wasn't at its best so I would rate myself at a seven. Also, I know I spoke over the time limit, which is another thing I would need to work on for the next speech.

Overall I believe I did a better job in this speech then the last speech. I achieved the purpose of my speech by telling the audience how reality television has grown over the years, and the secrets behind production. I believe my audience understood the purpose, but I wished that I would of had more examples, facts, & statistics because it would of been more effective and convincing. From a scale of A-F, the grade I think I deserve for this speech is a B-. I gave myself that grade because I know I had improved from the last speech. I did not hesitate throughout my speech, and I was more professional as well. Although my speech had passed the time limit by a minute, I think the content, and delivery of my speech made up for it.

Concepts in Chapter 11

A concept I found interesting or useful in Chapter 11 is learning about the use of presentation media. We use presentation media to draw attention to our topic, get a emotional reaction from the audience, clarify key points, have the correct facts & figures, & help the audience understand the main points in the presentation. I also found useful the different types of presentation media & the advantages & limitations of it. You need to choose the most effective one for your speech that will help get the correct idea for your speech. The different types are the overhead transparency, flip chart and poster, white board/ chalkboard, document camera, video, handout, model, audio media, digital slide, & real-time web access. Each one of those can be used it is just the matter of which is the best one for your presentation that matters the most.

haightetak

Concepts in Chapter 9 & 13

A concept in Chapter 9 that I found interesting or useful was that in the Introduction we need to consider the time we have for the attention getter. Some people might go over board with the attention getter or some may even last a few seconds; we just need to quickly grab the audience's attention effectively. With the attention getter it should be creative, we need to consider the purpose of the speech and use strategic ways in setting a approach in the introduction.

A Chapter 13 concept that I found interesting or useful was the different organizational patterns for informative speeches. Patterns for the informative speech are: chronological, spatial, topical, narrative, and cause-and-effect. We need to choose one of the patterns that work well with our topic and also sets the purpose.

Components

Elements that go into an Introduction is the attention getter, indication of the purpose and thesis, establish credibility, and the previews of the main points. With the attention getter, its purpose is the grab the audiences attention so they become interested in what we are talking about. People will actually remember an interesting introduction more than the actually body of the speech. By indicating the purpose, thesis, and the preview of the main points, it will give the audience an idea of what you are going to be talking about and what they should look out for. Also by establishing credibility in the beginning of the speech the audience will trust the speaker with their knowledge.

Elements that go into a Conclusion is a review of the main points, reinforce the purpose, and provide closure at the end of the speech. We need to briefly review the main points that were spoken in the body of the speech because it is a way to transition from the body to the conclusion. By doing that it will also let the audience remember what you have talked about. With reinforcing the purpose of your speech it will leave a memorable message in which it tell the audience why your information was important. And after your introduction, the body of your speech, and the conclusion, you need to provide closure in which you leave off a good impression.

I will definitely take in all the ideas and actually use it for my introduction and conclusion of my informative speech so that it will be effective towards my audience.

Speech Buddies Videos

After reviewing the Interactive Videos, there were numerous things that I learned and can use to be helpful in my speech. I learned to have a good introduction because I have to grab the audience’s attention and it goes a long way. I also need to establish the purpose and thesis and preview the main points that would be covered in the speech. It’s important to have a strong attention getter and I can do this by using humor or surprising facts! I also learned to have a solid conclusion so I can reinforce my audience the key ideas. While watching Evan’s speech he spoke clearly and strong. Janine is an excellent example of how a speech should be presented because of the confidence she had and knew her information very well. Katherine’s speech was good too, but she looked to her cards too much.

Concepts in Chapter 7 & 8

A concept I found useful or interesting in the chapters was that the main points should be balanced throughout the speech. When organizing the body of our speech, the main points should be balanced, relevant, and clear. The main points do not have to be exactly equal, but proportionate to each other so that one point does not have more information than the other. I think that is a very useful thing to know because most people tend to give out more information on one point, then barely give any information on other points. I also learned that labeling our introduction, conclusions, and transitions can be very useful when formatting our complete-sentence outline. Organizing your speech can make or break your presentation because organizing your speech can help provide a clear message towards the audience.

Facts & Statistics

Most of the time facts & statistics work great in a speech so that the presentation seems credible, but there are times when we can or cannot use it. I find that it is more effective to use facts & statistics when we are discussing our main points especially. By giving the right information the audience will get a greater impact of the purpose of the speech. But the information that you may give out in the audience has to be a reliable and relatable to the topic and thesis. The facts & statistics you gather up has to strongly support the main point so that its not just some random fact you may throw in into the presentation.

Speech Buddy Videos: Chap. 7-8

What I learned in the chapter seven videos is that narratives, definitions, examples, testimonials, facts, and statistics can help make a speech become believeable towards the audience. With those types of information the audience can get a better feel of what the purpose is in our speech and also that they could trust us during the entire presentation. I also learned that using the media as a source isn't always reliable. It's because media credibility is a longer process to develop so the information might not always be on point. So when we do use media sources we have to check if it is a reliable source and if it is even related to the topic and audience.

In the chapter eight videos I learned about the different patterns of organization for the main points of a speech. I never really realized there were many different patterns of organization to use for in a speech until I saw this video. It is very important to choose the right pattern that works for the speech because the way the speech is organized is how it will be presented. In the second video of chapter eight I learned about the 6 different transitions that can be used to move to each point. There are various ways to transition that I never thought of before, so I will probably bring that into consideration on my next speech.

Self-Evaluation!

It was the day of the speech, and the first thought that popped up in my head when waking up was, "Oh No!" The day of the speech finally came and it felt like it came to soon. Once I got my number, I waited anxiously to be on the spot. Number by number passed, and I was hoping a fire alarm would go off! It was finally my turn and I felt fine, but when I stood up in front of everyone it finally hit me that I had to actually do the speech. I could tell right away that I looked very nervous during my delivery of the speech. I could hear the trembling in my voice, and I just forgot everything that I had to look at my notecards after every line that was spoken, and I did not know when to bring in my artifact.

Throughout my video, and even before that I didn't feel confident or comfortable at all. I can honestly say that I did not prepare enough for this speech, and I would definitely spend more time practicing. I felt that I had all the right information, like the citations during my speech, which was mentioned four times, but my delivery was pretty disappointing towards myself once it was over. I didn't feel as if I achieved the purpose of my speech the way I wanted it to. I knew I could of done better because most of the time I do. So for my next speech my goal is to practice, practice, practice! I would want to practice my delivery and make sure that my content is well organized and beneficial.

In the video I did notice I was distracting people with my hair! It was also distracting for myself during the speech because I couldn't see well. I did not realize my hair would become an issue during my presentation so before the next speech I will definitely get a haircut or use a pin to hold it in place. It was very difficult to give eye contact because of my hair problem! I had to keep looking towards my left because I could not see on my right side. I also kept looking at my notecards most of the time, so for eye contact I would probably give myself a five at the most. So eye contact is another goal that I would want to work on for the next speech.

On a scale from A to F, i would give myself a B-. I gave myself this grade because I had all the right content in my speech, but it was just the delivery that I had to work on. I should of practiced more on saying the speech out loud and understanding it so that I wouldn't depend on my notecards. Also eye contact is another factor in why I gave myself that grade. So overall the first speech didn't go so well for my personally. I felt like that speech was like one of my speeches in my Sophomore year in high school that didn't do so good because of confidence. So I definitely want to redeem myself on the next speech, and make it feel like my last speech in high school which was my Senior Exit Project where I was confident in myself.

Concepts in Chapter 5

Concepts I found useful in chapter five is basically all the concepts dealing with analyzing the audience. That there needs to be a connection with the audience and the speaker to gain trust in what the speaker is revealing. Also that we need to have some kind of interesting stuff in our topic for the audience to even pay attention to the speech. Grabbing the audiences attention is hard, but with the right techniques it can work out for the better. Observing the audiences behavior is key. Even if it is silent in a room, it could mean they are dazing off in space or counting all the dots in the ceiling instead of listening. It may even give you more confidence if they are paying attention to you because it is as if they respect you in a way.

haightetak<3

Audience Analysis/Adaptation

Hellloooo!

Audience analysis is important in the speech development process because it helps us anticipate what might actually happen on speech day. By using audience analysis we can think of maybe back up plans and different strategies/techniques when speaking. Thinking of certain messages that interest the audience can play a big part also when doing a presentation. We would probably feel more confident because we would know what to expect. I will probably use those types of strategies in developing my speech. I would think of questions the audience might ask me and answer the questions during my presentation. I would basically just try to picture myself on-stage, and as a part of the audience watching myself analyzing what I could do to send out my message.

haightetak <3

Speech Buddy Videos: Chap. 5

In the "Drinking" video I think the speaker, Matthew Naso did well to grab the attention of the audience in the beginning. He also did a good job of collecting research statistics of car accidents and such which are related to drinking by driving under the influence. I also liked how he thought of questions we might be thinking in our heads during his presentation. Matthew gave clears points, and various sources that can persuade an audience. & in the "Light pollution" video I think the speaker, Courtney Stillman gave off a good positive vibe towards the audience.

In both the videos I learned many things that could help me with the speech. I learned that gathering many statistics can be very persuasive because it is a way to prove what you want people to do. Having more information also shows how dedicated you are to your topic. I think that we should come up with questions the audience might think of during your own presentation also because it shows how important the audience needs to understand the message. Also giving off a positive energy is good to because it would grab the crowds attention while speaking. I also learned from both videos that eye contact is very important & that we need to pace ourselves while speaking. If we run through our words then the audience wouldn't understand the concept, or not even pay attention.

haightetak<3

Concepts of Chap. 6

The concepts in Chapter 6 that I found useful is of course researching the topic in which we will speak about to others. Gathering information just doesn't mean googling the topic or going to yahoo answers. We should look into books because they are a more reliable than probably any other source. Also articles in newspapers, journals, and such can be just as useful along with various ones. Even going to a organization can help bring out information that you cannot find anywhere else. With all these different sources it may give you a new outlook onto your speech. It can give you more key points, and give you a strong structured outline. Whenever I gather enough information for a speech I feel more confident on my topic which will probably make me have a better performance in the presentation. So you guys should all do the same and do some hardcore research ahha! :)

haightetak <3

Speech Buddy Videos: Chap. 6

Hellllooo!

From these videos I've learned that for managing a research process it is important to gather information beforehand that might be useful. Good sources to look up research is the internet, interviews, organizations, and etc. In doing that we can get a better understanding of research & with enough research we take in we can also boost up our confidence in preparing for our speech. It can make our outlines strong and have more support for what we are trying to speak about. We can also gain more ideas, and topics to speak about during the speech. 

haightetak <3

Research Interviews

I never really had that much experience with conducting a real research interview. Probably the only thing that is similar to that aspect is asking a few people some questions for a research paper. With that I would ask questions in a casual manner and I would make sure to have paper and a pen/pencil on hand to take down notes. If you don't have anything to take notes on it would be pretty hard to remember later on so.. remember it or maybe bring a recorder ha. Also taking note of their facial expressions and body movements are a plus so that you can emphasize on what they are saying/expressing in a paper.

haightetak <3

Concepts

There were many concepts in Chapter 2 & 4 that I did find very useful, which I talked about in my last two recent blogs. I found that building my self-confidence is key in becoming a great speaker. By building courage I can get rid of that speech anxiety and turn it into positive energy towards my speech. Also defining what is my purpose and topic of my speech is significant. If I feel confident in my topic I would definitely feel strong enough to speak to a crowd because I want people to know the knowledge I know. Hopefully my nerves will not get the best of me during the presentation.

haightetak <3

Speech Buddy Videos

  In the Speech Buddy Videos I did learn something from each video that will become very useful. In the material of video 2.1, it taught me that I need to take myself to a quiet environment in where I can concentrate & focus on my speech. Another important guideline I learned from that video is that I could take my feelings of "butterflies" in my stomach & turn that into doses of energy towards my presentation.

In video 2.2 of Loren's speech, I learned that if I present myself in a confident way then people will focus on that rather then finding what I am doing wrong. If I start to feel anxiety I should calmly breathe and walk throughout the front of the room in a steady pace. I would want people to understand the message I am trying to send them rather than worrying on how I am feeling or appearing in front of a room. 

In the last video, "Intro: Jessica" I learned that I would need a strong introduction and conclusion that grabs my audiences attention in what I am trying to tell them. By watching Jessica's presentation I also learned that hand gestures can be a good thing in relieving nerves, but it can also be a distraction to people in a audience. So overall these videos were a great source in giving what-to-do tips, and also what-not-to-do tips.  I will take in consideration both tips towards my preparation in making my speech and the day of the presentation. 

haightetak <3

Apprehension

Just thinking of myself speaking in public makes me very apprehensive. The first thought that comes to mind is if I can pull it off. Like I said in my first post I feel as if people are judging me and finding the flaws that I might have because I don't feel I am confident in my own skin. In my last year of high school, there is a huge senior project that each student must do to graduate. At the end of the senior project there is a important presentation that has to be done in front of a panel. It is a nearly ten minute presentation where we demonstrate something new that we have learned, and talk about a paper that is connected with that. What I demonstrated was Krav Maga, which is a form of self-defense, and for my 7-10 page paper I talked about the issue of self-defense for women. This presentation was a huge hurdle, but I actually went through it smoothly. I realized that I just psyched myself out before the presentation, which got me nervous.

In Chapter 2: Building Your Confidence, it brings up the sources of speech anxiety. That section of the chapter talks about the uncertainty of the role as a speaker which I thought was very significant in order to become a confident public speaker. Hopefully I can take a key note from that and to not think in a negative aspect. In Chapter 4: Developing Your Purpose and Topic it discusses the general purpose of our speech which will help set a goal for ourselves for a speech. By setting a goal for myself, I can figure out why I am speaking about a certain topic without hesitation. 

haightetak <3

Intro

Hello classmates & Professor Perez,

I am Haightetak! :)

I'm a Freshman here at SJSU, and I am living on-campus. Originally, I am from South San Francisco which isn't very far. It's my first time living away from home, and I do love the freedom. It is a different experience, but I know for a fact it will help me grow.  I came to SJSU because I wanted to study Occupational Therapy, and hopefully become a Occupational Therapist in the near future. Public Speaking isn't something I look forward to, but I know it is something I would have to face day by day. It is one of my biggest fears because I feel as if people are judging me with every second I am standing in front of them. Being a self-conscious person, speaking in front of others is something I would definitely pass. I have taken a Public Speaking class in middle school twice, but I didn't think it helped me as I thought it would. Throughout high school there were many Oral Presentations that had to be done, and most of the time I did well with topics I was passionate about. But I want to be able to not be afraid to speak my mind on any topic thrown at me, and to basically not care what others think. Hopefully by taking this class I can conquer those fears.

haightetak <3