One year is a considerable long period of time to learn, experience and reflect myself. I have been frequently reflecting myself ever since the moment I left school. I frequently asked myself whether I would still have enough confidence to continue after one year. Accomplishing assignments and projects require helps and guidance from classmates to some extent and I have yet to establish good rapport with the rest of the class. Unlike the rest of the class who have known each other for quite some time, communicating with my classmate is a critical upfront task for me.
After assessing myself and reflecting my actions, I considered myself as a very good listener who try to understand other people situations and empathize with people. Last three weeks ago, very old and close friend of mine is hospitalized with multiple bone fractures by workplace accident. He was recently promoted and passed chief officer exam for ship and he is also getting married this year. After the accident, he was in despair and all of his bright future was nowhere to be seen.
I visited him every day for the past three weeks in hospital as his family member are unable to come to Singapore. Every time I met him, I assess his emotional state and I try to communicate accordingly. I gave attention and monitored verbal and nonverbal responses as I talk to my friend. Sometimes words of encouragement can only heal superficially in desperate situations. When chances are given, I let my friend realize his potentials and solutions by himself and at the same time, I respect his personal space and decisions.
The ability to understand other people is just half-way to establish successful communication. Sometimes we may miss verbal and nonverbal clues which may result in misunderstandings so it is also crucial to understand yourself and express yourself while communicating. I am very poor in expressing myself verbally and nonverbally. I restrained myself because I do not want to bother other people or sometimes I do not want to hurt their feelings. Usually this lead to breakdown in communication, leaving with bad impressions and suspicions for other people. The other challenges I have is language barrier. I cautiously choose words before I speak so that I do not convey wrong messages but this usually intermit my communication.
The very first step in conquering problems is to realize and understand problems. I do not have enough confidence with my writings especially with my blog post. I like the topic knowing self in COM150. So I am going to revisit the topic with my classmates and I am also looking forward to share and enjoy great experience in the classroom.
