Reflection Essay

Throughout this class I was never one of the social people, I didn’t raise my hand or answer any questions really. That’s just how I have always been, I always feel like what I have to say is wrong so I would just never answer and just listen instead. When you said we would be doing a group project that meant that I would have to be working with people that I didn’t know. Its not that I am against group projects I think they can be fun if they are over something the whole group likes. Before we were put into groups we had an essay that we wrote over a UK club/activity. I wrote my paper over the club volleyball team, mostly because sports are important to me and I miss being involved with an activity.

            When we were placed into groups I didn’t know anyone, but I am a social person in general so I didn’t have a hard time talking to my group members and trying to figure out what we were going to be talking about. We decided to go with Haggin hall and I was completely fine with that because I thought that it could be funny and be something everyone would like. Honestly the group member who thought of this was the one who really did the project in a sense because haggin is an all boy dorm which made it hard for any of us girls to go in there because you need to be checked in and you can have so many guests and such. Anyways, I didn’t completely like how our video went because we weren’t really involved, I have a very busy schedule and I knew that it would be hard for me to do things, but I said anything I could help with I would on my own time. I was in charge of getting a recording of my grandfather who went to Kentucky back in the 60’s and I worked really hard on getting that because I had to drive back home since over the phone didn’t sound well. I took the time and gas money to drive 3 hours and then the recording was not even used. That did upset me, and I would’ve added it if I could, but I am so horrible with technology let alone editing videos.

            As a whole, my project went well, I don’t think that people worked as hard as we could’ve, but I take blame for not making more of an effort. 

Documentary Review

Royce White: Has super bad anxiety and has trouble on a daily basis, this documentary showed that he was really trying to change and work hard to be able to become a great basketball player and be able to control his attacks.

            Throughout the documentary they use silence and sounds very well, the more serious moments it become silent or it is his voice, nothing else. The camera is also there; you know that something is on him at all times, especially towards the end when they follow him trying to capture the moment. The thing that I hated was that it was a cliffhanger because all you see is him walking onto the plane and that’s it. I just got attached and wanted to know how things worked out for him, or if he even made it onto the plane.

The Archive: At first I was surprised by how he was just sitting in the chair talking about how something old is worth so much. I really felt attached to this documentary because I felt so bad that he has worked so hard for nothing.

            The things that were different is that it was basically just showing how many albums he had and how much music was there. The lighting was kind of a different green/yellow color that made it look older. I really liked that because the albums are old and so I thought that the color of the screen was cool because it made a statement. 

The Korean Children: I honestly couldn’t even try to pay attention because I couldn’t understand anything and then they had the narrator start talking which made it more helpful then just reading the subtitles.     

            I thought it was cool seeing what they are teaching these children and how at such a young age they were learning how to correctly use a computer. I liked how close the camera got to their faces and how it just was the real thing. They didn’t add anything to the documentary. 

Club Volleyball

Some information on the Club Volleyball team is that you must be an enrolled student-athlete at the University of Kentucky. Each of their teams have up to 15 people depending on how many positions and lineups that they have for the team. There are two teams, and both teams go to every tournament. There are tryouts for this sport, held in the fall and sometimes, depending on who all returns from the fall semester that they may have tryouts again in the spring. They have at least four tournaments per semester, some of which are as far as Clemson University or as close as Indiana University or Ohio State University. All tournaments are held on the weekends, but usually don’t take up the entire weekend.

I started playing a sport, actually sports, when I was four years old. It is just something that I grew up with. I feel like every child is just tossed into a sport or multiple sports until they find out which one they like the most or which sport they are the best at playing. The reason why I start off my paper explaining my thought on childhood sports is because its something that really interests me, seeing how I started playing tennis and never stopped, its been 13 years now. It really makes me interested in seeing how long other people have been playing a sport or if people have ever played one before. Coming to college I decided against trying out for the team because of the lack of time I would have to dedicate to the team, I came to an out of state college because I wanted the “college experience.” After telling my family my decision they kept saying why don’t you at least do the club team because it’s not as serious as the varsity team, but still is a good way to continue your tennis career. I really did think about it, but for me I wanted to focus mainly on my classes along with my sorority that I joined.

    Since women’s tennis is in the fall, I decided to go with the other sport that I played, volleyball. I have a friend who is actually on the club volleyball team here at UK. She absolutely loves it and tells me nothing but good things and it made me want to go to a practice and see what exactly its like when they are at practice. I got the chance to see how intense the program is, so I can get a feeling for what the differences are between the different levels of competitiveness. I think that physical activity is something that is really important and I am not one to talk about being an active person these days in college, but when I was home, I was always doing some type of activity. I look at these club teams as a fun way to get to know more people and make friends, while getting exercise and being apart of a team. I personally would rather be on a team with other people and be doing physical activity that I actually like, compared to going to the Johnson Center and working out.

            There are many things that go into a team, some of which are; people, coaches, practices, time, and effort. The club volleyball team practices every Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30-10 at night on north campus at the Alumni Gym. They also have tournaments on the weekends, traveling to different states and different colleges. It’s a good way to meet people from all over and make new friends traveling to tournaments. The team will stay at a hotel and all room together, which is such a good way to bond and really get to know each other. This is something I really miss because it brings back memories of my high school experiences. My junior year, we went to state finals in Columbus, Ohio and stayed at the hotel right by The Easton Mall and it was one of the best times ever. We just goofed around, hung out together, shopped, ate, and got ready to go play the next day.

      

      After being at a practice I noticed that all of the players got along so well, Occasionally, there are problems when it comes to sports teams because someone is always better then you, or you feel like no one is as good as you. Watching the team practice and seeing how well they interacted with each other made me think differently about how a team really can work. I know because of how many teams that I have been on in my life that it isn’t always that way. Many times people have conflicts because they always want to be better than the other person, when really, if you worked together to be better as a whole, then the team would do better. As the cliché goes, there is no “I” in team. 

            Doing this analysis really made me think about club teams in a very positive way. It makes me think that maybe next year I will change my mind and decide to continue my tennis career. These girls really showed me that being a part of a team is always a great feeling. It’s something that I really do miss about high school and pretty much my entire life actually, thinking about a time that I wasn’t playing a sport or on a team is really hard to do. There is a quote that I found after really thinking more about starting up playing tennis again. “Somewhere behind the athlete you've become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back... play for her (Mia Hamm).” This really described how I felt after talking to the volleyball girls, I really got the feeling that they are doing this because they have always loved the sport and it made me realize that I need to do what I have always been good at, play tennis.

Peer Review

Peer reviewing is something that’s important because it gets your audience involved in your work. The goal of that I think is to get a feeling for if what you have written down is interesting and gets them wanting to know more. I do think peer review can be helpful if you have enough time for each person to actually go over it and think about it. I want feedback saying that they think my points are well written and would like to hear more about them. I think that one on one is better then a big group because you have someone completely focusing on your paper and not just wanting to get done so we can get through everyone’s. Although the downside is that they may think your paper is interesting, but other may not and with a group of five that give your more feedback that could be helpful in the end. I would like as long as we need to finish both of our papers, so the whole class or until we finish. I think I would be more comfortable picking groups because with random people I probably wouldn’t be as open and honest. 

Scene Dipiction

It took me a long time to think of a group on campus that I wanted to observe because I felt like I was already in all of the groups that I wanted to be in and couldn’t think of something else. However, I have played tennis all of my life along with some volleyball. Sports were always something that I was good at, but decided to not try out for the team here at UK. This is how I thought of observing the volleyball club team, I thought it would be a good idea because one of my friends I on the team and she loves it and I figured it would give me a good idea of how the club teams work.

            I plan on being able to take pictures of where they practice and to get an interview with the coach this next week. They practice Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I will be attending one of those meetings. 

Speech Critic

Honestly I am surprised that I wasn’t shaking. Giving speeches is something that I hate doing because I get really nervous in front of people and freeze; just completely forget everything I was supposed to say. I am not a shy person, but standing by myself in front of people is one of my biggest fears.

The things that I noticed that caught my eye were how much I move, like rock back and forth. I also tend to move my hands a lot and not have control over that. When I was giving my speech I didn’t think that I was doing it at all, but after watching it, it really annoyed me. I also wasn’t comfortable when I was up there, I didn’t really think about what I was wearing to class that day, but standing up there I kind of looked like a bum, which made me self-conscious too. Other then that, just practicing more would help and make me more confident in front of everyone.

Things that I did well on were probably my pictures; I think they really captured who I am and where I want to go in life. I really do things for others that something I love doing and my pictures showed all of my friends and family, how important they are to me. I also did well on eye contact, I didn’t look at the board too often and I didn’t read off of my notecards, I may not know exactly what I want to say but I didn’t read straight from anything, which I thought was a good thing. 

Speech Outline

What is my ethos?

o   My ethos are the things that are going to make my speech relatable, like how we are all growing up and have been through some of the same things. Deciding what’s next on our agenda in life.

How do I develop my credibility?

o   I will develop throughout my speech the things that can relate to the audience, such as; family and friends, along with our goals in life.

What are my weak points?

o    I am not a good public speaker is something that I really hate, but I am trying to get over that fear, slowly but surely. My weaknesses would have to be how much I practice for my speech. I tend to think that winging it is sometimes okay.

o   I can overcome this by practicing more before I give a speech

What is my pathos?

o   My three stories are the things that will show the audience my vulnerability

What emotional responses are appropriate given my speech content?

o   Career leads me to think of pharmacy

o   Family to me being close to my mother and acting “mom-like”

o   Entertainment- my friends

What is my logical structure?

Introduction: Hook-

Thesis – how can bossiness, being motherly, and leadership all play into my life?

Body Paragraphs:

Career: pharmacy

Family: only child

Entertainment: being motherly

Repetition:

How I like to be in charge of situations and how I like to do things for others

Conclusion:

Summarize the three body paragraphs

Restate thesis

Ending line