Striving for excellence!

What activities did you participate in?

I watched Kelsey Anderson give her presentation on undergraduate research. I also participated in self disclosing activities. These activities required the individuals to open up and publicly speak on behalf of ourselves. Some of the activities involved role playing and others were simply talking about yourself. My particular assignment was to "speak about myself for 20 seconds." We went all around the class with similar activities.

What you learned from the activities that will help your professional development?

I learned that it is hard to talk about yourself on command. Especially when it's associated with the pain of being forced to talk in front of the class. However, it couldn't be more relevant than this period of my life right now. Between filling out resumes, applications, interviews, starting an internship and applying to real-life jobs, it's just the perfect activity for practice. You must feel comfortable and confident about the characteristics that make you, you! It is what will make you *me stand out and win over the clients, application board, supervisor or future employer.

What you learned about myself this week?

I learned that I was somewhat negative about the idea of having to go up in front of class to follow through with the activity. I feel as if the apprehension hindered my performance and response to the question. I learned how I react under the pressure and that my answer was consequently affected. I remember my answer had about 10 too many "uhm's" as well as laughing to break the tension. Knowing this will help me with awareness to change these fillers for the future.

What you did to "strive for excellence" during that class?

To strive for excellence, I found myself really connecting to what Kelsey Anderson had to say about Undergraduate Research. I have been looking into studying abroad for years, however, always pushed it off because of the financial issue. However, after listening to Kelsey Anderson and her inspiring presentation, I realized what a perfect solution. It just reminds me that there are other options out there. It makes me want to strive to see how I can go about paying for Graduate School using scholarships and potential other means that are out there!

Laughter Therapy

Unfortunately, I was not able to make today's therapeutic program of laughter yoga. However, I made sure that I talked with my fellow classmates to hear what I missed. From what I heard from the class, the 252 laughter yoga session was a similar to my experience with laughter therapy. They said that it was fun, but that it was obvious that the laughter may have been a little forced at times and that they found it hard to truly get into character. Last Spring, in facilitation techniques (RTH470) one of the groups presented on the topic of laughter therapy. I remember enjoying it but thinking that there could be some things that I would do differently. This is only because facilitated laughter can be difficult to achieve the expected results. It can be difficult to predict what your clients will think is funny. In a structured setting- laughter may be hard to come by. Ideally, you want to break down the barriers or the structure to decrease the tension and awkwardness. Effective and appropriate icebreakers, will allow the clients to be open and willing to participate. In choosing tricks and activities I believe it's important to take into account your population and what they might think is funny. In order to reach, them it may take external sources or props to pull them in. I recommend using props such as a mustache, or a piece of costume to make everyone look silly. This helps the clients get into character and feel silly. If you're population is a group of college students, the approach may have to be a little different if you want the same reaction as other populations. However, in the sense that the laughter yoga was to be a typical session for general populations. The session is great to take away as quick tools for building rapport or lifting the spirits for clients. I enjoy laughter therapy and thoroughly believe it has a purpose. It can be very beneficial and used on a multitude of populations. Personally, I feel like I utilize laughter therapy without trying. It is a great way to build and maintain friendships, increase mood and get a workout ! Doesn't get better.

In the words of ee. cummings: the most wasted of all days, is one without laughter! :D