iExamen 2

Catherine McCormack

EN 101.16

iExamen 2

October 23, 2013

The Challenge of Communicating

            I thought that this iExamen would be a lot easier and much more simple of a task than it actually was.  I would not say I am a mean person; I am usually up beat and friendly but am very sarcastic, especially with my close friends.  I never consider the way I talk with others or my use of sarcasm to be mean, just a characteristic that I have and that everyone around me uses as well.  This iExamen helped me further understand the way in which I communicate with others and how I often times can be quick to respond, sometimes even without thinking.

            Waking up Monday morning, I found myself very tired from the weekend of traveling back to school from being home.  Normally, I am very quiet and sometimes have an attitude towards those who I talk to first thing in the morning for I am not much of a morning person.  During this iExamen, I thought about how I was acting and what I was going to say more so than I normally do and was more upbeat and talkative in the morning towards my roommates.  Walking to class, I found myself being friendlier to people that I passed by, saying hi and even stopping to talk and ask others how their break was.  I am a very talkative person, but I think that because of this iExamen, I was friendlier and more upbeat, especially in the morning, because I was focused on communicating in a kind and honest way.

            I think that where I saw the biggest change in my communication was when I was talking to my mom.  Often times when my mom calls me, I get annoyed and give her a lot of attitude when I feel like she is asking me a million questions at once.  During this iExamen, I found myself pausing and thinking about what I was going to say and how I was going to respond to my mom before I let myself snap at her.  I noticed that if I take a deep breath and let her finish talking before I respond, it allows me to respond in a much more calm and kind way.  I found myself being able to talk to her in a more positive way and have a conversation that I was more willing to be involved in when I took the time to let her speak and not cut her off because I was getting annoyed.   This conversation made me realize that I often times find myself cutting people off or snap at them when they say something that I do not agree with at first.  This iExamen helped me realize that I often times do not think before saying something, and although I may not intend for it to be, it can come across and mean and unfriendly.    

            By the end of the day of this iExamen, I found myself really thinking through what I was saying to people and really stopping to think before I spoke to others.  I think that this activity helped me gain a much better idea of self-awareness of the way I speak towards others and how often times, even though I do not think I am being mean, my sarcasm can come off as rude or unfriendly. I think that I really need to start thinking more before I respond quickly to something, especially if it is something that I disagree with or think poorly about.   I did not really think that putting such an emphasize on saying only kind, useful and true things would really change the way in which I thought about what I was going to say and how I was going to go about communicating with others, but they really changed the way I observed how I communicated and how I should go about communicating with others in the future.