by Ben Johnson
Hello classmates, welcome to the New Year! As we all know, the beginning of a new year can be a good time to come up with some resolutions and reassess some priorities. I myself have not come up with a list of resolutions, but there are some things that need work for improvement in my life and I think this resolution is one everyone could develop further: communication.
Everyone does it, every day, all day, and it is a constant function in human life. People communicate by verbal, physical, mechanical, and electronic means one way or another. But observation has shown that the average student’s communication skills are very rough in the first few years of college, which is not a good thing if you intend to spend the rest of your life surrounded by beings who communicate every day.
This is not a problem; that is, it would not be difficult to sharpen your skills with some extra help and a goal in mind. Like all resolutions, all it takes is a little effort. Some students dread the idea of speaking in front of a class, and most will avoid any kind of public speaking course. However, if speaking is what you fear, then speaking is what you should tackle. If you can overcome the strongest of your fears (or your weakest point in any social skill) then all of the rest will be like cruising downhill on a bike.
So, communication … we all fear it at some point in time, but the bottom line is you are going to have to do it. Be it now in school, or down the road at some job (which at that point you’ll have more than a grade to worry about if you don‘t do it). So what better time to work on coming up with a clear, full, versatile vocabulary than now when it matters most. One might be surprised on the amount of work that goes into some people developing an extensive vocabulary.
With that said, challenge yourself to a speech class, read a tough book and look up stuff you don’t understand. It will open more than a door for better communication; it will open up your mind to new discoveries in subjects you found tedious. And see if your friends don’t notice a change in your diction afterwards. Peace out –