iExamen 1

    I do not typically focus on how I communicate since It has become a custom for me. I have almost accustomed so much it is difficult to pick up. Therefore, this activity was enlightening and entertaining for me to say the least. There are various ways in which we as humans communicate with each other, and as society develops, new forms of communication will generate. Personally, the most common forms of communication I utilize are technological or physical communication that refers to my body language and facial expression. For verbal communication, how I started conversations/responded or ways in which I formed my sentences were what I concentrated on.

    I realized I am in constant use of code-switching as a form of verbal communication. However, when compared to when I am in school it not as obvious.  I noticed when talking to others outside of my family, there is a distinction between my delivery with my parents vs with my sisters. This correlated to my physical communication as well, this weekend my parents are preparing to travel to Liberia for the rest of the year so knowing I will not be able to see them for a while made me sad. Therefore, I expressed myself through physical touch, more than usual. I tried to get a lot of hugs in and spent more time with them. I speak more formally with my parents than I do with my sisters. I recognized though, I sill tell them most of my concerns. It made me appreciate them more for listening and guiding me. Another form of communication I came to acknowledge was my use of facial expressions when on the phone with a sibling, I observed how to react to the different stories she told me, and it was surprising. It made me understand most of the time you cannot control your facial expressions and sometimes the times the recipient is watching for those expressions to continue the conversation.

    Next for technological communication, it was something I use 90% of my day. I found that when completing essays, class discussion posts, quizzes, emails that were due I was formal, I said things that fit the expectations of the professor rather than completely saying what I desire. However, I do not view that necessarily as a bad thing because it allows you to develop the code-switching through technology. I have been away from social media for a while now however It would be more formal and freeing to how you communicate. Through messages with my friends, I speak how I want with slang or not without double-checking spelling and other issues that if in an educational setting I would have to. I was not surprised because how you communicate comes naturally when you are comfortable.

    For the one hour (a little longer) of the day I went out for dinner, this made it easier to complete this task. We preferred to eat outside and therefore I was able to appreciate the beauty of nature and the sunset and the relationships I have. The main thing that I found myself doing was reaching for my phone has a form of habit (sadly) then realizing I cannot be on it. It made me pay more attention to what others were saying, how they conducted themselves or communicated with me as well. However, with masks on it does put one block with communicating through facial expressions so I found myself using body language to enhance my communication.

    After going back to technology, the main thing, I found was that technology is not the best way of communication, though we can communicate easier it is not always valid. For example, through the message, we utilize “emojis” to express ourselves of words that are more expressive like “lol” but most of the time we are not reflecting that emotion. I found myself doing that a lot and thought It was very interesting. I also noticed how there are various forms of technology everywhere around me. In my house, everyone has a phone, a tv, and other technological devices so of course we are addicted to them. That, in turn, made me want to use any chance I have to step away from technology no matter how hard it is.