3 years ago, I attended a seminar/camp that touches something close to my heart. Prior to that event, I was feeling very excited and was looking very forward to making lots of friends over there. However, on the first day, I found out that most of them have already known each other before hand and thus, were already in “cliques”. I tried to make friends with them but due to my nature (I am very shy around strangers!) and my inability to effectively communicate with them, I felt alienated throughout the whole event though the knowledge gained from the seminar was invaluable.
Furthermore, coming from a Chinese- speaking family, I was inadequately exposed to English and have always admired my friends who are able to present their ideas to many people and speak very well on the spot. I feel jittery standing in front of so many people and my presentation will always be punctuated with lots of redundant pauses and ermm. Don’t they feel nervous standing in front of so many people with so many pairs of eyes staring back at them? How could they be able to articulate clearly and organise their ideas so well if given a topic on the spot?
Hence, I was determined to take a module that can improve my communication skills during my Uni years as I can see the importance of effective communication skills especially when we step into the working life. The ability to “sell” ourselves to the interviewers in order to get the job and once we get the job, we will still need to communicate effectively with our colleagues of different cultural backgrounds and presenting ideas to them. Moreover, effective communication is not only much needed at work, it is also equally important at home or between friends as I believe to be able to communicate effectively is a life long skill that each of us should practice.
It’s time for me to step out of my comfort zone and I know I still have a long way to go, but I really hope after this 13 weeks, I will be able master this skill. Let’s do this together! J
