Goal 3
Introduction
The third goal of the Honors Program is to demonstrate excellence in verbal and written communication, which is vital to effectively express our ideas and thoughts about diverse study fields that we may encounter throughout our lives in our personal and professional aspects. Also, the constant practice and development of the communication skills that I have acquired through my assignments in the Honors Program have helped me become more eloquent and aware of the importance of keeping up with improving proper communication skills.
Outcome 1: Present ideas logically and effectively- verbally
I have accomplished this outcome through two assignments: My presentation on Leaders in film in the HON 250H- Foundations of Leadership course and my presentation on being a teacher for a ½ day in the 264H- Thinking Outside the Box course; to begin with, in my first assignment, we needed to select a movie, watch it, and identify the leaders and their different types and approaches to leadership, so I chose the movie Sing, where I could recognize the main character as the leader and the rest of the cast as the followers. After analyzing the scenes and the main character decisions, I could identify the right and wrong actions based on the lessons about good leadership that I had during classes. So, I collected all the information related to it and created a PowerPoint presentation to efficiently deliver what I had found to my classmates by providing a summary of the movie, the characters, and how their actions fitted the lessons and types of leadership.
For the second assignment, we all needed to choose a topic we were familiar with and become teachers for a half day for our classmates. I have decided that I would teach a basic level lesson of Quechua chanka since it’s a rare Peruvian native language/dialect that is part of my upbringing, so I was excited to share it with others in an entertaining, but informative way. After deciding what topics I would add to my PowerPoint slides, I put the information in an organized and fluid way. Then, when I needed to teach them, I did my best to be the most understandable, encouraging, and clear possible, so they could be provided with the best learning experience by correcting their pronunciation, letting them know that it is okay if we make mistakes because that is how you learn anything, etc. During my presentation, I felt very comfortable talking in public and interacting with my classmates about the correct pronunciation of letters and words.
Overall, both presentations provided me with invaluable public speaking experience to effectively deliver the information that I wanted to share, and how to feel comfortable during verbal communication.
Outcome 2: Present ideas logically and effectively- written
I accomplished this second outcome through the essay assigned in the HON 351H- Integrity and the Examined Life course. We needed to write about how Aristotle’s formulation of ideas about happiness and ethics in Nicomachean Ethics serves to explain the behavior and the concept of happiness of at least one character per movie that we watched during classes, which were Happy-Go-Lucky and Vagabond.
Throughout my essay, I compared and expressed the differences between Aristotle’s concept of ethics and the motivations of the actions of both main characters: Poppy and Mona, respectively. The several guidelines that Aristotle provides in his book helped me not only to analyze and reflect on the movie characters’ actions, but also mine, and what I consider the motivations of my actions.
Writing this essay helped to effectively structure, arrange, and deliver my thoughts about this topic. Also, to express properly the different points I wanted to share, I carefully choose the correct wording and punctuation.
Conclusion
Demonstrating excellence in verbal and written communication is crucial for anyone who wants to develop proper skills that allow them to deliver a message in a familiar field of study and any other topics so I can communicate efficiently with others.