Always dreading the day I have to step back into that class. By that class, I mean Speech and Debate of course. The unknowing motion to argue or what side you have to support always leaves me unprepared and anxious. I have never been able to shake off the fear of having to stand in front of a crowd and give a speech. Even more so now because I am surely not one to think on the spot or bullshit my way through an assignment or speech. Especially this past Tuesday when I was given the motion of, “This house believes that women Feminist should actively encourage men to become Feminist.” All I could think about is, “How the hell do I argue against this?” since Anderson put me on opening opposition and I choose to be Leader of Opposition for some
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My train of thought shot down into a downward spiral to somehow see how I could possibly find points to oppose this. I continued speculating the motion and it was no use, I thought, “In what way is having power-driven, obnoxious men’s understanding and supporting women’s rights in any form an awful belief for them.” At the end of 15 minutes, I managed to come up with one point to argue against the motion. Although it was not one of my brightest ideas, it was something on the page and to debate about. I talked for a whopping one minute and 40 seconds out of a possible 5 minutes. I went back to my seat red faced in all and thought how much I crashed and burned. Although I did terrible on that debate, there is something I can learn and keep practicing from the class. The class challenges yourself to see different point of views and how having to argue what you might not agree with is mind opening. Having a broad perspective is beneficial and vital to everything we experience. A broad perspective creates a way to be empathetic to a diverse society, deciphering between what something truly is and allows you to become involved and be a contributor in a …show more content…
For example in David Wallace 's piece of “This is Water,” he focuses and exposes people’s “default setting.” More specifically, that people always result to what is easy and go to way of thinking. Relying heavily on our default setting will close our mind to the options available. Having this closed mentality goes against what Scott Russell Sanders is encouraging in A Conservationist Manifesto. Sanders believes that if we let ourselves become involved in our community then we will live more fulfilling lives. This belief can be connected to college. Since I am shy and commuting to the University of La Verne, it was difficult for me to connect with the people who were staying in a dorm room or new people in general. For awhile, I was fine with skyping with long distance friends, even though I saw them socializing with new people. But finally I decided to challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone and keeping an open mind to the possibilities. That piece of advice from Sanders did pay off. I started connecting with people I did not expect to befriend and in the end, connected with the community around me. By not opening up our minds, we fail to allow ourselves to see other views and ways to connect with people. Keeping to yourself will not lead to contributing back to a greater society.
My train of thought shot down into a downward spiral to somehow see how I could possibly find points to oppose this. I continued speculating the motion and it was no use, I thought, “In what way is having power-driven, obnoxious men’s understanding and supporting women’s rights in any form an awful belief for them.” At the end of 15 minutes, I managed to come up with one point to argue against the motion. Although it was not one of my brightest ideas, it was something on the page and to debate about. I talked for a whopping one minute and 40 seconds out of a possible 5 minutes. I went back to my seat red faced in all and thought how much I crashed and burned. Although I did terrible on that debate, there is something I can learn and keep practicing from the class. The class challenges yourself to see different point of views and how having to argue what you might not agree with is mind opening. Having a broad perspective is beneficial and vital to everything we experience. A broad perspective creates a way to be empathetic to a diverse society, deciphering between what something truly is and allows you to become involved and be a contributor in a …show more content…
For example in David Wallace 's piece of “This is Water,” he focuses and exposes people’s “default setting.” More specifically, that people always result to what is easy and go to way of thinking. Relying heavily on our default setting will close our mind to the options available. Having this closed mentality goes against what Scott Russell Sanders is encouraging in A Conservationist Manifesto. Sanders believes that if we let ourselves become involved in our community then we will live more fulfilling lives. This belief can be connected to college. Since I am shy and commuting to the University of La Verne, it was difficult for me to connect with the people who were staying in a dorm room or new people in general. For awhile, I was fine with skyping with long distance friends, even though I saw them socializing with new people. But finally I decided to challenge myself by stepping out of my comfort zone and keeping an open mind to the possibilities. That piece of advice from Sanders did pay off. I started connecting with people I did not expect to befriend and in the end, connected with the community around me. By not opening up our minds, we fail to allow ourselves to see other views and ways to connect with people. Keeping to yourself will not lead to contributing back to a greater society.