Wednesday, September 25, 2013

iExamen 1


Walk Slower
To be honest, this is probably one of the first times I had ever really sat down and thought about my communication tendencies with others.  So this was a nice experience for me.  When I am not in my room or in class my day is usually a collection of passing hellos.  I am always on the move going somewhere to do something and so stopping for a face-to-face conversation is not always an option.  I am very time oriented and walk fast when I feel I may be late somewhere which takes away from my ability to communicate with others.  My body language is normal and my clothes are nothing to talk about.  I do not believe in dressing nice to class and do not make statements with any designer clothes.
            Communication involving technology is virtually not existent.  I have a Facebook that I do not check or update and do not have any other social networks.  I always have my phone on me but I do not call many people and only text when I have to.  I have realized a funny passing question between me and other guys.  A lot of times when I pass a guy I am friends with they will ask, “Hey man, what’s up?” and I will respond with the exact same phrase.  Surprisingly, neither of us will answer the question nor do either of us have any intention of answering. 
            So, I spent my one-hour of no technology between 3:15 and 4:15 on Tuesday September 24, 2013.  My every first feeling was a sort of numbness and confusion.  I could not check my phone for sports news.  Plus, I couldn’t watch TV so my free time had to be spent in a different way.  In order to accomplish such a goal I had to leave my room.  I decided to take a walk around campus with a book in hand.  I immediately noticed a want to stop and talk with friends.  I decided to actually answer the consistent question, “Hey, what’s up man?”  I also took a closer look at my surroundings.  Every tree, every shade, I was more aware of it all.  The most fun was people watching in the quad.  Grabbing some shade and just watching the world.  The biggest problem was that since I did not have my phone I had no idea what time it was so my hour lasted longer than it was suppose to. 
            When I returned to “civilization”, I jumped back on my couch, turned on the TV, and got updated with all that happened in the sports world.  Though my take towards face-to-face communication definitely changed.  I actually intend on leaving earlier to class or practice so I have the ability to stop and talk with friends.  On this small campus, the opportunity comes up often.  I did not change drastically but this little experiment had an impact for only participating in it for an hour.

iExamen 1

Adam Safi
Professor Ellis
English
09/26/13
iExamen 1: Discernment on Human Interaction
This past Sunday I chose to observe the way that I communicated with others around me. I observe the way I communicate with others on a daily basis, but this Sunday I discerned my observations in an attempt to find something the Jesuits would call magis or “the more”. When I read the instructions for the iexamen I realized the assignment was very similar to an assignment I was given in my high school, so felt confident in my ability to reflect in an attempt to further understand myself.
At noon I awoke and got dressed in sweats. I realized that due to the fact it was Sunday I really did not care how I looked. However, on my way to breakfast I ran into some of my friends who had just gotten out of mass. I observed that the way people dress conveys a level of seriousness-business men wear suits and high school kids wear tee shirts- I felt underdressed to say the least.
When I arrived at Iggy’s I had a conversation over text message with my girlfriend that read “Hey,” “What’s up,” “Not much,” “How bout u”... I realized that I love the girl with all my heart, but I did even begin to express how I felt. It made me wonder why I had said so little; I contemplated all of my breakfast. Eventually, I realized that I love the girl, life is short and I should tell her more how I felt about her. 
At 1pm I decided it was time to turn off the phone, and spend an hour without technology. I decided to go for a walk in the woods and surround myself with nature. In the woods I really did not communicate with anyone except for the occasional good afternoon to one of the few people I passed. I thought about how many different ideas and feeling that I have in any given day, and how few of them I share with others. I concluded that my character lacked depth and by attempting to have less superficial conversations I could add some depth. The hour wasn’t that tough; I do not consider myself one of those people who are always plugged in.

 When I got back to my room I discussed my assignment with my friends and they told me they have experienced a similar lack of depth to their conversations. We thought that technology might be the blame, and then human laziness was it. We discussed the topic from the time I got back from my walk at 2:30 till 5:00, it an in depth conversation we had all been subconsciously desired. After our conversation, I got a slice of pizza and did some work till bed.

iExamen 1

John Jacob
EN 101.17
iExamen 1
09/26/2013
Be who you are
            As I woke up today (09/25/2013), I was feeling rushed and groggy. I went through my regular morning routine, and the first person I saw was my roommate Stephen, and the first thing I did was say “Hi Stephen,” but I was still bumming around in my boxers just got out o a cold shower. Again, I was rushing and it was just a pass by “Hi” didn’t really ask him how he slept or how he was like I usually do.
            I finally I got dressed in business casual attire and started strutting my way towards CCSJ. It’s funny to me because whenever I dress formally, I feel professional. I walk with good posture and when I see people I know I will give them a nod, or a “good morning,” something formal. Also, I walk like I have somewhere to be. I had one hand in my pocket, and one swinging, while walking at fast pace. I have always thought that doing that meant something deeper, like I am conserved and calm, but I am confident and busy at the same time. As I walk through the doors of CCSJ I was turning on my professional behavior. I introduced myself to the desk assistant, took my seat and waited to be transported to the hospital. I sat in the chair with my right over left leg, hands wrapped around the kneecap hoping to show that I mean business.
            I like to consider myself a chivalrous gentleman. I have learned to hold doors for the ladies, and always let them go before me. Having a girlfriend, whenever we are on the sidewalk, or cross walk, I am always curbside. I noticed that numerously. One thing that I don’t like about it is when people don’t notice, or say thank you. As much as it has bothered me, I have learned to continue to be chivalrous anyways.
            There were two times I experimented with something today. The first experiment was to see how many people I could communicate with without looking at my phone, and the second was to listen to music and still try to give a hello. The first experiment made me smile a lot. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I have been told that I am like the “mayor” around here and that there are always 15 people around me and people saying hi. During the first walk I got so many hellos, communication with eye contact and smiles. That was wonderful. I noticed that I awkwardly lift up my hand real fast at times and bring it back down even faster, or I will point to the person and say “what’s up bud,” or “hey big guy, how are you?” However, I usually address the person by their name because I am working on trying to remember my peers names more. The second experiment was boring. People saw me with my earphones in, and just looked away. It was different because I had to say hello and smile at them, but it was also funny because I always had to guess the right volume to say it.
            I chose the one-hour without technology from 3:15 to 4:15. I was much more efficient with getting homework done. It was incredible. I was flying through my readings, and only focusing on one thing at a time. I washed the dishes, and even cleaned my room a little bit. I also got to teach myself a new song on the guitar. Then, I got out of my room and immediately pulled my phone out. Doing this reminded me of the time I decided to drive back home from a friend’s house alone, at night, without music. I was in complete solitude, and peace. I was alone with my thoughts, and it was great because I actually had time to evaluate my life and find out if I am doing what I really want to do. I think it’s important to have alone time, because it’s the quickest way to relaxation and peace.
            My favorite part of the day is sometimes the last part of my day. Being with my roommates is anything but boring. Not only do I get to be myself, but I also know that they will still love me. Today, I began to wonder how they are friends with me. I mess with them so much, and I just become the silliest person around them. We start shouting and just become a very obnoxious group. It’s always a struggle getting our homework done, because we love hanging out and telling each other stories. I have begun to realize that I learn something new about them everyday, and it makes our friendships stronger. Carl, my direct roommate, and I started talking and we realized how similar we both are. We both realized that we go to class at the same time, and somehow always dress very similar. I have come to realize that these guys are some of my closest friends and I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in the future.
            I really enjoyed doing this iExamen. It was eye opening and made me think about what I really look forward to in my day-to-day life. There are some personal things that I notice, and am not comfortable sharing, but I am working on it. For now I am just taking everything as it comes, just as it did today, and enjoying every minute of it. The one thing that I was told today that I will never forget was to stay wonderful, and never change who you are. 

            

iExamen 1


Patrick Kelly
iExamen 1

                                    

            Today I had a test at 6:30 pm so most of my day was pretty much wrapped around that. At first I thought it would be a bad idea to pick the day I had a test because I would just be studying the entire time but the truth is it made my interactions with people different then what they would normally be.
            Today I woke up at 7 am in the morning to begin studying for my Taxation of Business Entities test, which as I said before was at 6:30 pm, and in order to study for my test without falling asleep I had “coffee”, a good amount of “coffee” (something to keep in mind to make sense of my interactions later on). I was completely zoned into everything I was doing today, I felt like I was doing everything at 100% efficiency. For instance even when I brushed my teeth I can honestly say no one has ever brushed their teeth as well as me this morning. As my morning went on and I was studying, I could hear my roommates in the living room watching T.V. and laughing so I decided to take a break. They were watching “Joe Dirt” so I sat down and watched it with them. When we are all watching T.V. together there isn’t much talking going on because everyone is very zoned in, the only sounds that are being made by us is laughter due to “Joe Dirt’ being a hilarious movie. Due to having “coffee” I was even more so zoned into the movie and what felt like 5 minutes actually turned into the whole movie. Luckily when the movie ended one of the kids in my house reminded me that I had to go study and told me not get zoned into another movie.
I want back to my room and started studying again. I didn’t really have many interactions with people face to face for a while because I was locked away in my room studying but I was doing a lot of texting mainly because I was just trying to procrastinate. Again I got zoned in but this time it was to my phone. I noticed that I try to make a lot of little jokes when I’m texting and if the person whom I was texting didn’t know my personality then that person would probably think I was a huge weirdo. Also I played a good amount of candy crush, which is an awesome game on my phone, trying to avoid any studying that I should have done (I won’t say what level I’m on in candy crush because I don’t want to brag but I’m on level 199). Eventually though I told myself enough was enough and I got back to studying. I studied for a while and then 6:00 pm came around so I got in my car and drove to campus to take my test. It’s funny how you can be studying something for hours and then when you walk away from it for ten minutes you feel like you forgot everything you just studied. But when I got my test and started looking at the questions it all came back to me. The test was actually pretty easy and when I talked to my classmates after the test, they all felt the same way. I drove two kids who were in my class to their place in homeland after the test. They actually use to both live on my floor sophomore year so it was cool to talk to them because I felt like I haven’t in a while.
When I got back home it was about 9:00 pm and I put my laptop, phone and all over electronics away for one hour. I even made my roommates keep the T.V. off for the hour. The six of us sat around our living and talked mainly about sports, basically how the Giants are awful and the Jets are better. It was actually kind of nice because usually when we are all in the living the T.V. is on and there isn’t much conversation.
            To be perfectly honest my assumption going into this iExamen was that it was going to be stupid and a waste of time but I actually enjoyed it. It was pretty cool to step back and almost view myself as I went through a normal day, kind of like I was watching myself in the third person. I realized that just because you are living in the same house as five other guys doesn’t mean your actually living with them. There is more to it then just all being under the same roof; it’s about spending time together, having conversations and enjoying each other’s presence. But for right now its time for me to go to bed because it has been a long day and I have been up for way to long.


iExamen 1


Jeneh Perry
September 25, 2013
iExamen
iExamen 1

I chose to pick a weekday for my iExamen, so Monday I woke up at 7 to go to morning workout. Walking from Newman to the locker room next to Boulder is exactly a 10-minute walk. There was no one else up walking, so I texted the entire way there. I tweeted “good morning” to all of my followers on twitter and told 5 people good morning in texts. Workouts were long. I am not a morning person and hate talking to people early in the morning. During workouts I did not say much and my body language was not inviting at all. About half way through I started to laugh and talk to my teammates. We listen to music while we lift and I danced and sung along to most of the songs.
I like to talk to people in person not via electronics. All day I talked to people on campus as I passed them walking to class and even met up with some of them for lunch and dinner. However, some of these same people I do not talk to in texts. The conversations I started earlier that morning I never continued. I take forever to reply. The shortest reply time was an hour and 48 minutes. I, also, never got on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook other then times where I was extremely bored, and I never posted anything. I just looked at what other people put on them.
My phone is not that important to me to have on me at all times. I think one reason for that is because the type of phone I have makes texting and social networks hard to use so I just rather not bother using them. I talked on the phone twice. Once was to talk to my mom and check in with school and basketball, and the other was to call one of my friends to see where she was so we could meet to go eat. When I had to get away from technology for an hour it was not that hard. The only irritating thing was that I felt like I was unreachable and I would be able to find out if something happened and I needed to be informed. Other then that, I thought it was easy, and after the hour was over I still did not use my phone much. 

iExamen 1

Choose Your Words Wisely
I have known for a long time that I liked butter, however I had never written a song about that love until this morning. While eating breakfast up in the reading room I filled my waffle with butter and explained to my friend how much I loved butter. He politely nodded and agreed "yeah, it's good", but for some reason I would not drop the subject. I proceeded to have a dialogue with my butter, make whooshing sound effects, and make up my own little ballad for butter. 
I do this a lot. Well, not the singing about butter thing, but I refuse to be silent when eating or standing around or at most any moment of my life. I get antsy a lot and instead of just fidgeting a lot of times I start to "word vomit". Sometimes it is amusing (i.e. butter breakfast) but other times it can be quite embarrassing. Sometimes I start to say things I do not mean or I make really lame jokes and instead of a nice calm silence that my words ruined, the moment gets awkward.
Another thing I do a lot is bail out on words and thoughts. For example, while talking to my roommate today I started to just make noises in the middle of a word and I just did not finish my thought. She laughed at me, but this is also something I seem to do often. Sometimes it is because I really my idea is stupid or just altogether unnecessary, sometimes it is because my thoughts run faster than my mouth, and other times it is out of pure laziness. I try to only do these things though when I am with people I am comfortable with.
When I have to speak in front of a class, or to a teacher, or to a new person I think about my words very carefully. I try to plan out my exact words and even the conversation in my head. I do not want to embarrass myself in front of strangers, potential new friends, or my teachers. I'm also this way on social media; when I tweet or post a picture or anything I make sure it is exactly how I want it. I want to make sure people who see what I post will understand, and hopefully like it (in all senses of the word). When it comes to my reputation with people who do not know me as well as my good friends I am very careful with words, in order to not taint their thoughts of me. While this is probably good, it could also be bad. I could be hiding my most authentic self from others by filtering my self. It is a double edged sword.
Going without technology for a bit really pleased me. I like being disconnected and unplugged from the world, but I feel as though I do not get the opportunity much because I feel like I should be connected. It was nice to take a break, to not have my mind buzzing with what is going on. I also got my work done a lot faster. It was good to get rid of the distractions.
I have learned from this exercise the different ways I communicate with people and the ways I function in conversation. The ways I communicate very much correspond with my personality: uncensored with friends and reserved with others. I do not think that my methods of communication are bad, but it would not hurt to tweak them to make my thoughts come across more effectively as to not sell myself short.

IExamen 1


Victor Ruiz Diaz
Dr. Ellis
EN 101.16
26 September 2013
IExamen 1

                I decided to do my iExamen on Sunday September 22nd because I thought that a Sunday would be much easier to concentrate on the tasks mentioned on the iExamen rather than doing it during a weekday where there is so much going on between classes that I would be harder to focus on small details of your day. Unfortunately Sunday started really bad because there was a fire alarm woke us at five in the morning, my eyes were half close until I stepped out of the apartment to hear the loudest noise in my life. When we came back I could not fall asleep again because I was awake for too long. So after a half hour rolling over and over I decided to turn on my laptop to see if any of my Facebook contacts were available to chat. Luckily for me there is a two hours difference between the United States and Paraguay; so I chatted with my sister for couple of hours.

                Finally one of my roommates stepped out of his room because he wanted to watch some TV before searching for a place to eat breakfast.  We have a few conversations about sports, and about the movie we end up watching. I tried to notice my roommate’s facial features as he was talking to me, until a certain point where he asked me why I was looking at him in a strange way. Then I just decided to talk to him while I face to the TV screen. Later that day when I went to Boulder to get something to eat I noticed how other people move their hand very often while they are speaking to each other. I decided to leave my phone before so I was the only one in my table that was not looking down every few second to check any alerts from social networks. After washing my cloths I went back to my cell phone to see anything happened while I was gone. Not much, only a few missed phone calls from my mom.

                Then I decided to check if anybody was available to chat with me for a little while. I found a friend from my high school; and without noticing I ended up chatting with three or four other people throughout the rest of the afternoon. It is hard to admit that I communicate better by texting with other people; I noticed that while I shut down my cellphone I did not have many chances to start a conversation with anyone. I am not very talkative without the help of a smartphone. This IExamen made me wonder and realize how only a few years ago people use to have long and interesting conversations during lunch, walking down the street, in the living room, anywhere and that now with all the different kinds of smartphones and the advances of technology we barely talk to one another using our mouth. Instead of exercising our tongue, we exercise ours thumbs.