In performing our final presentation, I think I need to work on my presentation skills a little. I fumbled words and some of my talking points. It was not because I did not know my material. Spending the last 3 weeks refining our proposal is proof of that. For some reason I was anxious to present to a faux committee. It could be my inherent human nature to fear this situation, but also could be my lack of experience in speaking opportunities. I never liked public speaking from a young age, it is not my favorite thing to do. Obviously I imagine many people share this view because it puts individuals in a vulnerable position. Furthermore, I compared myself to members of my group, which I feel all of them did a solid job of presenting. I should probably put myself in the position to have more speaking experiences, to better my skills for the workplace when I am going to be presenting things that have a serious impact. The project is clearly supposed to be taken seriously, but the actual implementation of these programs is not exactly bound to happen. Though I did speak with a professor of mine recently who is in a group of professors that are figuring out ways to incorporate international students into the LCB better. This was quite encouraging and I have sent him our final proposal. A bit nerve racking because it may actually be considered for students here in the LCB. So who knows what will come of this.

dB