Critical Reflection

Before the start of this module, my goal was to be a better speaker who would be able to communicate well with my peers and superiors. I was known to be an introvert among my friends, and I tend to keep everything to myself. I would be seen communicating to only friends I am close with. However, I knew this module requires me to communicate with my fellow peers and supervisors. Every single week I had to communicate with different people in my class and I had to share with them the given task. I was glad it helped me to overcome my fear of interacting with people I am not close with.

Although I may seem comfortable talking to my classmates, I do get nervous when I had to step out to do a presentation in front of the class. Since my polytechnic days, I had the fear of presentation even till today I am still working on it. I spent a lot of time practicing my pitch for my oral presentation. Just a day before the presentation, I had to rehearse for hours to ensure that I would not embarrass myself in front of my classmates. I figured that I have a habit of wanting things to be perfect, even though I know it is impossible. I was afraid and overly concerned about how others would think of me. At the end of the day, I think slowing down during the presentation really helps me to calm my nerves and allows me to deliver the message to the audience. Thankfully, I have encouraging classmates that push me along the way.

In this research project, I had to work closely with two of my classmates and prior to this I did not really communicate and get to know them. All of us came together with different backgrounds and had different ideas before we start the project. Eventually, we narrowed down to one topic and decided to work on it. Along the way, we faced some issues, and the report consumed a lot of our time as we had to conduct research on a product that is currently undergoing an experiment. I was glad that we managed to push through and able to present the idea to the entire class. During this research project process, I learnt to be patient with my groupmates because everyone has a different pace and commitment. I tend to work on a given task as soon as the class ends and tends to expect my peers to do the same in return. In the long run, when we go out to the working world this is extremely important because we cannot expect everyone to be working at your pace. 

In conclusion, I feel effective communication is important because it helps to foster a good relationship between people around you. I would like to thank my professor and my classmates for their constant support throughout the 14 weeks in SIT.