Our World in Words

AMDG

Jonathan Lau

January 12, 2015

Dear Mr./Ms. ____________________ :

“In the confusion we stay with each other, happy to be together, speaking without uttering a single word.“   - Walt Whitman

During the time spent in Mr. Brown’s room, I met many people and learned many things. From quotes to motivate one to wake up in the morning or a quote to brighten up your day, the environment was friendly and so many ideas were shared in its walls.  I noticed that the classroom was divided into two groups: those who love to speak and those who do not.  Speaking is much different depending on the situation, but the premise is mainly the same.  Whether it is presenting in front of a group of people, talking to a stranger, conversing with friends, singing or teaching lessons, people naturally hate to speak (or at least sing and be judged by others).

Mr. Brown, as a Filipino born man with a natural voice, over the past couple of months has led us towards new frontiers everyday.  Each lesson can be incorporated into our lives in order for success in the next stage of life.  It is not only Mr. Brown who provides the many lessons.  The students also contribute to the class in various ways.

Whether it is students aiding the learning environment by providing quotes and videos to discussing philosophy, we all like to contribute to the teaching process without teaching ourselves.  It all refers back to speaking.  Writing on blog posts or holding a conversation with a friend in the same class does not trigger the nervousness that one may feel when teaching in front of an audience.

I learned about various American literature while at the same time opened up a lot more from the teaching projects and discussion activities.  The many months were occupied with fun activities such as short skits that made some sense.  Over time, I found I was talking a lot more than I had before.  Although Model United Nations and Marx lessons have aided me towards speaking more, I found myself speaking everyday in Mr. Brown’s classroom whether it was a radical remark for the sake of comedy or a witty remark to spark conversation.  

I realized something pretty simple and that was that people don't necessarily hate to talk but hate to speak to do things that cause others to judge us especially when judged by a flaw.  This lesson seems obvious, but it is something I want to elaborate upon.  People nowadays fear communication and exploring the pathways in front of them.  We wish to escape from speaking opportunities by waiting for volunteers to step up for singing in front of the class.  The solution for many is to avoid speaking by letting those who like to speak go forward.  This creates a large problem especially for a generation where students are all getting this mentality.

I think that we should face these flaws and understand them because life isn't going to let your flaws pass without rubbing salt into those wounds.  Everyone fears showing weakness towards other people such as singing talent.  We must learn to appreciate every word and listen to one another to become better and more adapted to situations.  Thanks for listening to me ramble on about public speaking (although I am a quiet student myself and can only express myself through text).

From, Jonathan Lau

Activity: Find a person you haven't spoken to in a long time or a complete stranger and talk to him/her.  You may speak about any topic but you cannot use any form of email, text, or phone call.  This discussion must happen face to face.