My name is Molly McDonald and I am an undergraduate at Pennsylvania State University expecting to graduate in 2015. I was originally intending to pursue a degree in Asian Studies, but after a year at this university, I discovered my interests may lay elsewhere. It was because of rhetoric that I was able to speak up and voice my discontent with the major I was intending to chase. Often times, I have had trouble vocalizing my dissatisfaction to other people, but I have discovered that through the right approach and by being confident in yourself that I am able to get my thoughts across without seeming naïve or uniformed. Because of that, I am now currently enrolled in the College of Undergraduate Studies and I am excited to learn more about the options that are available to me.
With that being said, I have never taken the importance of language and rhetoric lightly. I have studied abroad in South Korea and I have experienced first hand how debilitating it truly can be to only be able to express yourself through nonverbal communication. Yes, you are still understood, but there seems to still be feelings and expressions not exchanged. By becoming a better speaker and writer, the chances of your feelings not being understood decrease. By becoming a more efficient and confident speaker, your words hold more weight and strength in them. Being able to communicate effectively is, unfortunately, not a strength held by many. I was once terrified of speaking in front of an audience but after learning the tricks of the trade in public speaking, I feel my confidence growing in a more public setting. Understanding that your words have value and merit to them is the first step to being self-assured in your delivery.
Through this e-Portfolio, I hope that my essays will show my skills as an effective communicator and that my opinions are conveyed properly in a formal arena. My blogs will give an insight towards my passions that are less education based and more geared to my interests. My speech will show my new found confidence in speaking my mind. Any suggestions to better my pieces are welcomed! Thank you!
Link to Molly McDonald's e-Portfolio
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Ah, Facebook Fights
As I was doing my daily (read hourly) Facebook peruse, I stumbled across some rather interesting Facebook drama. The best kind. I must say I am rather intrigued by any argument or fight that erupts on Facebook. There is a slim chance of the argument ending amicably and it is posted publicly for all of the internet to see. Often times, the grammar is not correct and spelling is thrown out the door. I've heard of the saying that people talk because they like the sound of their own voice, but in the case of Facebook disagreements I think people just like to type and crave attention. One of my favorite types of status updates are the ones that claim the poster hates all the drama that's going on and that kids need to start acting their age, stop getting involved with issues that don't concern them, and to stop posting things for attention. Wow. Way to not get involved with the drama yourself or start a mini battle on your status.
Even on Twitter people like to rile others up. A few days ago, I saw a retweet by someone who goes to my high school. He was claiming that everyone who follows him should retweet this tweet if you think (insert name here) is the most annoying freshman. Okay. I could not understand why he thought this was necessary to do in such a public domain. Everyone is titled to their opinions, but that does not mean that everyone wants to listen to them or agree. A lot of people ended up tweeting back at him stating that it was an incredibly stupid idea and that if he doesn't like the kid then he should just unfollow him and get on with his life. People feel the need to express everything they are feeling or doing and share it with the rest of the world. We have that ability now. With Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites we are able to tell mass amounts of people up to the minute details about our lives. Most of the time, people don't think twice about the implications that may arise from posting certain quips about their musings of the day.
One kid that I went to high school today decided that it would be a good idea to post that he enjoyed the fact that Pitt was getting so many bomb threats and that it was yet another reason why Pitt sucked (he is a WVU student). Not the classiest status I have come across but believe it or not definitely not one of the worst. I scrolled by it without making a comment because it didn't need one. I knew that most of the people that would see it would understand that it was in poor taste and that the best course of action would be to ignore it and not give the kid any attention. Lo and behold three hours later there were about 50 comments and a Pitt student wrote a status about how heartless people are which in turn received 83 likes and 22 comments.
I read through the comments and it was pitiful. The first few were pretty civilized, talking about how he shouldn't write statuses like that and that many people were frightened. Then it started. The insults started flying. What should have been between the original poster and a few Pitt students turned into a a group of kids ganging up on WVU students in general and making huge judgments about everyone there. Four kids from WVU liked it and then there were about 5 others who were defending Pitt. All they did to discredit the status was by claiming that 'the future doesn't lie with WVU students, unless the future lies with truck drivers'. To make matters worse, students from other schools who claimed to be going to much better universities had terrible grammar and were consistently missing words in their sentences. They weren't making a good argument for themselves let alone their opinions. In the end, it became a match about who could come up with the most hateful and insulting comment coupled by a gross YouTube video. It is safe to say that nobody 'won' that fight.
People have to understand that if you have a problem with someone, it may be better just to talk to them in person rather than getting an entire group of students, who all want the spotlight on them, to weigh in on it. Once it is written on the internet, it's tough to get back. Sure, you can delete it but how do you know how many of your 'friends' or 'followers' have already seen it. The art of having a valid and strong discussion or disagreement is slowly being lost with the accessibility to technology and social sites.
Even on Twitter people like to rile others up. A few days ago, I saw a retweet by someone who goes to my high school. He was claiming that everyone who follows him should retweet this tweet if you think (insert name here) is the most annoying freshman. Okay. I could not understand why he thought this was necessary to do in such a public domain. Everyone is titled to their opinions, but that does not mean that everyone wants to listen to them or agree. A lot of people ended up tweeting back at him stating that it was an incredibly stupid idea and that if he doesn't like the kid then he should just unfollow him and get on with his life. People feel the need to express everything they are feeling or doing and share it with the rest of the world. We have that ability now. With Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites we are able to tell mass amounts of people up to the minute details about our lives. Most of the time, people don't think twice about the implications that may arise from posting certain quips about their musings of the day.
One kid that I went to high school today decided that it would be a good idea to post that he enjoyed the fact that Pitt was getting so many bomb threats and that it was yet another reason why Pitt sucked (he is a WVU student). Not the classiest status I have come across but believe it or not definitely not one of the worst. I scrolled by it without making a comment because it didn't need one. I knew that most of the people that would see it would understand that it was in poor taste and that the best course of action would be to ignore it and not give the kid any attention. Lo and behold three hours later there were about 50 comments and a Pitt student wrote a status about how heartless people are which in turn received 83 likes and 22 comments.
I read through the comments and it was pitiful. The first few were pretty civilized, talking about how he shouldn't write statuses like that and that many people were frightened. Then it started. The insults started flying. What should have been between the original poster and a few Pitt students turned into a a group of kids ganging up on WVU students in general and making huge judgments about everyone there. Four kids from WVU liked it and then there were about 5 others who were defending Pitt. All they did to discredit the status was by claiming that 'the future doesn't lie with WVU students, unless the future lies with truck drivers'. To make matters worse, students from other schools who claimed to be going to much better universities had terrible grammar and were consistently missing words in their sentences. They weren't making a good argument for themselves let alone their opinions. In the end, it became a match about who could come up with the most hateful and insulting comment coupled by a gross YouTube video. It is safe to say that nobody 'won' that fight.
People have to understand that if you have a problem with someone, it may be better just to talk to them in person rather than getting an entire group of students, who all want the spotlight on them, to weigh in on it. Once it is written on the internet, it's tough to get back. Sure, you can delete it but how do you know how many of your 'friends' or 'followers' have already seen it. The art of having a valid and strong discussion or disagreement is slowly being lost with the accessibility to technology and social sites.
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