Speech Cards #2

Front 1

his will make it easier for those individuals to cope with their symptoms and learn to vent their feelings with their new friend. They can exercise trust and their social skills in the event that they go back out into the world to try and meet others to interact with.

Back 1

Shannon Brueckner, Northgate Support Counselor, works with people and their emotions. I decided to ask her about people she helps that are isolated. “I work with a lot of people who are isolated, that’s why I said I feel that isolation carries a negative connotation since those that I work with usually have depression...

Front 2

...And the way they work with it? I think if that’s your primary issue, then deciding if you want to change is the first step. Determining if your isolation is a problem or not, and how much you want or are willing to change. Initiating social contact with other people,trying to get more involved in community, social, and group activities...

Back 2

..Doing things so that you’re leaving that space you’re being sucked into. Or if you’re trying to avoid something, doing whatever you can in order to confront that thing you are avoiding.”

Front 3

When people feel rejected or excluded they tend to become more aggressive, more self-defeating or self-destructive, less cooperative and helpful, and less prone simply to do the hard work of thinking clearly.” Those who are lonely can feel that they’ve been regarded with a blind eye, so in their defense they will act the same rather than reach out for a solution.

Back 3

Through the act of therapy the isolated individual can have an opportunity to establish a bond and form a trust with another person, which in itself is already helping that individual live a life in a less isolated manner.

Front 4

Despite all the social biases against being alone and those who have introverted personalities, spending time alone can be very enjoyable and helpful. There are cognitive benefits to being alone, such as an increase in creativity and concentration.

Back 4

Interestingly enough, many would argue that being alone would increase risk of becoming depressed, but some studies have actually suggested that “taking alone time can result in lower rates of adolescent depression”

Front 5

In today’s society, social isolation is perceived to be on the rise; much of it related to the increased usage of the internet, resulting in less face-to-face interaction (Dixon). In the research field there are many ways that isolation can be approached.

Back 5

Be it by observing the responses from volunteers or recording chemical changes in mice’s brains, isolation and science have a relationship growing with understanding.

Front 6

Now, the project part of this work was learning a short and complicated piece of music Sonatina Clementi No.3, by Muzio Clementi. This was my effort towards helping my friend with his social isolation, by providing him some company and sharing with him the world he has created for himself.

Back 6

I’ve also always wanted to learn how to play piano but never got around to taking any lessons when I was younger. Since I have no experience with playing with piano at any level, I was definitely throwing myself out there to the will of the music. I would say that I was over ambitious on my choice of music, but that would still be an understatement.

Front 7

The piece was short, around 7 minutes long, but it is very dense with the musical elements and complexities that have kept it as a timeless piece. When I say musical elements, I am referring to melody, harmony,rhythm, tone, form, tempo and dynamics.

Back 7

With about 3 to 4 months of practice, I was able to perform around…. one minute of it at a decent level of musicianship. I don’t think I failed my goal, because I learned a lot from that one minute.

Front 8

I gained an understanding why my friend fell in love with this form of music, you have to treat it delicately and take your time with it. You invest a lot of time into making the music really sing, and there's a huge difference between making sounds from notes and making those notes sing the way there were meant to.

Back 8

And all those hours I invested in practicing, were also an investment in the effort to help my friend.

Front 9

To tie this experience in with academics, there is a lot of mental preparation when you are committing yourself to this project. And I call it a project because it really is a giant work in progress even though the music sheet is already written out.

Back 9

There is a lot of visual learning as well as hands on. I’ve always been in music since the 5th grade, I was told that it filled that academic gap that is usually there without this elective. Through my musicianship, I do believe that I am a better student because of it and in many ways music has helped me form a lot of bonds with many people.