Interpersonal Communication!

Tomorrow will be the last day of my interpersonal communication class. I can't believe how fast the quarter went! I really enjoyed this class, my favorite part were the activities, the movies, and I definitely get to know my classmates better. :)

I always knew communication was a really important aspect of our lives, but I never realized the amount of things communication involves! It covers the way we send and receive messages, how we develop our roles as speakers and as listeners, how empathetic we are, and many more things.

Something that I really like is how we were always encouraged to do our best at all times, to be friendly, to listen, and respect. In my opinion respect is one of the biggest traits that good communicators have. I know that we'll always remember some of the things that we learned in this class :) It is really amazing how we apply daily everything we learn!! :)

This last week in our Interpersonal Communications class we learned about a really serious topic: Relationship Violence. Sadly, there are hundreds of people that are being victims of this terrible problem. I believe that if there's a history of violence in a relationship, is more likely to continue in the future and may escalate in many different ways. That is why I decided to make this blog post with some warning signs of a violent relationship. If we are able to perceive this signs on time, we will make a huge difference in our lives.

*Your partner belittles, insults, or ignores you.
*Your partner controls pieces of your life.
*Your partner gets jealous without reason.
*Your partner can't handle sexual frustration without anger.
*Your partner is so angry and threatening that you've changed your 
life so as not provoke additional anger.

It is also a good idea to learn how nonviolent relationships differ from a violent relationship. If we do this, we will actually see our own relationship with a different perspective.


 Remember, we are meant to be HAPPY. The other person should help us find our 100% :)

INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS!

In chapter 8 we learned about relationships. Something that was really interesting to me was when we talked about JEALOUSY. I didn't know that there were 3 different components of Jealousy:

Cognitive: That involves suspicious thinking, worrying or imagining different scenarios in which your partner is with another person.
Emotional: Involves the feelings you have when you see your partner, say, laughing or talking intimately with a rival.
Behavioral: Refers to what you actually do in response to the jealous feelings and emotions.

I think that Jealousy is actually a common feeling, but we also need to realize that it's not good for us!! We need to set up limits!

GREETINGS!

It's really amazing how different we are all from each other! :)
Last week in class we learned how  body language and expressions can vary depending where you are from. It was truly interesting to be able to see how different the meanings of some basic gestures were from one place to another!!
I found fascinating the fact that regardless all this communication barriers, we are still able to give our message to the other person most of the times.
Something that I think is a really important thing to know, is how to say HI in a different country... It was really hard for me to get used to say "Hello" without a hug or a kiss on the cheek; because that is something that we always do in Mexico. It is part of our culture. :)

I found this really cool webpage that talks about how people from different countries greet each other.

http://www.brucevanpatter.com/world_greetings.html

I think that if we are aware of  little things like this, we will be able to become better communicators and we will definitely enjoy more our trips to other countries! :D

SHHHHHHHH!

Something that we learned this week that was new to me is the role of SILENCE in communication.

I didn´t know that silence communicates important meanings and serves important functions, or at least I never thought about it.

*Silence helps with communication by:

Giving time to think.

Hurt others. (I know, this one's probably not a possitive helper) 

Lessen anxiety.

Prevent Communication 

Communicate Emotions.

YOU'VE GOT MAIL

On Thursday and Friday we watched this movie called YOU'VE GOT MAIL.
It is about two individuals that write e-mails to each other, without knowing who is on the other side of the computer. They tell each other their worries, some of their everyday problems, and eventually they fall in love.
I think it was a funny movie, and I liked it :) It also made me tought about how there's actually a big amount of people that prefer to have an interaction with the computer than with their real friends and family. I think that technology can be really beneficial, but when it comes to the point that we are spending more time talking to a screen... we are in trouble!

INTERNET SAFETY

Last week some of my classmates and I had the opportunity to present in front of our class a Power point Presentation about "Internet Safety". In the presentation, my team and I talked about the big impact that technology has in our society.

We mentioned the advantages of having access to computers and technology, and we also discussed some dangers & risks that can be found while navigating in the internet.

Personally, I learned a lot. One of the things that I didn't know before this presentation is that we actually have politeness rules online. This group of specific rules is called NETIQUETTE.

I think it is really interesting how technology provides us infinite possibilities with just one click. It connects us with so many different places around the world in just a few seconds!!  That is why we need to be aware of the dangers that are online, and also we need to come to a better understanding that what we post is having a big effect in others too. :)

http://www.islandtrees.org/main/technology/internetsafety.php

Messages can deceive!!

In class we are learning that when we communicate, we use two major signal systems- verbal & non-verbal. Sometimes, when we send this messages we are not being completely sincere... This is a major problem, because in order to have good communication, we need to say the truth.

Last week we played a game that is called "Two truths and a Lie".  We all came up with two truths about ourselves and one lie, then the class decided by our actions which statement was the lie. . We had a lot of fun!

By doing this activity I realized that sometimes it's not easy to figure out if someone is saying the truth or lying... I think that it is really important for us to understand, that by being part of this society we have to contribute in the best way that we can... And saying the truth is always the best option!!  :D:D

LISTEN!!!!

This week my Interpersonal Communication class was about LISTENING.

We learned the 5 stages of listening, how things like gender or cultural differences can affect the way we listen to others, and we also learned a really important concept: Empathy.

Empathy is when you understand what the person means and the way he/she feels. In order to be an active listener, you need to have empathy. After I read what empathy was, I decided I was going to try to apply it in my life. I know it is not always easy to understand what others are going through, but it is always better if you have someone that listens to you!! :)

When we avoid offensive listening & we listen with empathy, we become good friends and active listeners!!! :D

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY

Last week in class we learned a new concept that really caught my eye. It was Self-fulfilling Prophecy. 
This is basically a prediction that comes true because you act on it as if it were true.
It can apply to many aspects of your life, and it covers many different situations as family relationships, educational settings, bussines, and your own perspective of things.

Yesterday I had a really difficult test on my Biomedical Principles class, and I was truly worried about it.
I didn't know what to do, and finally I applied what I knew about self-fulfilling prophecy. I studied hard, and I convinced myself that I was going to do great on it!!
To my surprise the test wasn't as bad as I thought, and I was pretty confident with what I knew. I did a really good job! :D:D

I think that self-fullfilling prophecy is really useful. It brings confidence, and it helps to change your perspective of things.

http://www.firstcovers.com/userquotes/3826/all+our+dreams+can.html

JOHARI WINDOW!

The Johari Window is a simple and useful tool for illustrating and improving self-awareness, and mutual understanding between individuals within a group. =)

In class we had the opportunity to learn more about Johari Windows, and actually we did our own.
As the picture shows, a Johari Window has 4 parts or sections:
The Open Area, Blind Area, Hidden Area & Unknown Area. 
It was really interesting to learn what each section meant, and actually create my own Johari window was really nice!! I liked it because I learned more about myself & I also learned what my classmates think about me.

I think that by applying the idea of the Johari Window, we can learn more about self-disclosure, and we can learn to give, and accept, constructive feedback. =)!

The Transmission of Culture

This weekend I read an article about a girl from India who moved to the United States when she was 10 years old. She talks about the challenges that she faced, how different America was from her little town in India, and how hard it was for her to keep her family traditions alive when she moved.

As I was reading the article, it came to my mind one of the days in class when we read how culture is transmitted from one generation to another through two different ways:

Enculturation: Which describes the process the little girl lived in her early years because she learned the culture into which she was born. Then, when she moved to America she experienced Acculturation: which is the process by which you learn the rules of a culture different from yours.
The girl, now 26 years old also described how wonderful it is to be able to belong to two different, but beautiful cultures.

=)

CULTURAL SENSITIVITY

Today is Mexico's Independence Day. It is a very special day for me and my family, and to celebrate it we went to eat to a friend's house. We had an amazing day, and the best part was that in his house there were people from different nationalities too! We all had a good time, and they were really respectful to our culture :) We also had the chance to learn more about their traditions, and even tough we are far from Mexico, they made us feel home!!

In class, we learned that cultural sensitivity is an attitude and way of behaving in which you are aware of and acknowledge cultural differences. I think that all of us experienced today cultural sensibility, because we were respectful with each other and we were able to establish good friendships!!

NOISE

This week we learned in class that noise is anything that interferes with you receiving a message.

As I was trying to find different noises in conversations, I realized that noise is really everywhere!!!

My cousin invited me to her house this weekend, we watched movies, and we spent time together.  One of her friends was there too, and she used her phone the whole movie!!.. It was so annoying... she was texting all the time.

I realized that her phone was a really big noise. She didn't let us have a good time!