A bit of myself

Hello, and welcome to my blog! My name is Judith Molla. I am from Valencia,SPAIN. I was born on May 16th 1989 in a town called Ontinyent in the south-east of Spain. I will be graduating in 2012 from the University of Alcala de Henares, Madrid, as an English major. Fortunately, I had the opportunity in my second year to study as an exchange student at Rider University, and so far it has been one of the best experiences of my life.

My three biggest passions are music, traveling and teaching. Music holds a special place in my heart, as I have grown older I have recognized my biggest passion in singing. When I was 8 years old I started to take guitar lessons and started writing my first songs. I have also auditioned for some musicals and I have worked in two different bands. However, I always considered this to be a hobby and that’s why I decided study English. This major not only gave me the opportunity to travel and communicate with other people but also the opportunity to become a bilingual teacher- that is what I would like to do the most. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to work in summer camps and primary schools as a recreational activities coordinator I enjoy teaching and helping young people develop learning skills that’s why I am working now at the tutoring center of Rider Univeristy as Spanish tutor. Moreover,my passion for traveling is also really strong, during my life I have been lucky enough to travel and meet people from all corners of the world. I love being able to toss myself into cultures that are a little different than my own, and traveling has let me see how much the world truly has to offer.

I don’t know yet to what kind of career I would like to obtain, but I would absolutely like to work in something related to child education. I believe teaching them to understand and to accept others in society is an important and valuable lesson to be learned.

Identity Management

Mr.Paush

Mr. Paush is a good example of how to handle yourself when you have a problem. His positive attitude and optimism is reflected throughout his lecture. Everybody reacts in a different way when they are faced with a problem. Some of us are really pessimistic when dealing with our problems, even if they are insignificant. And others, such as Mr. Paush, show a positive attitude through out their lives. Mr.Paush’s personality was not affected by his terminal disease. Even when Mr. Paush was about to die he still lived his life to the fullest.

According to the implicit theory Mr. Paush was supposed to demonstrate signs of an “unhappy” and “weak” person, who no longer wants to live. However, he shows the opposite, a “healthy and “optimistic” attitude towards life. Something we wouldn’t expect of someone who is practically dead. We expect him to be sad and weak, based on how we have seen other people in the same situation. Mr. Paush ‘s facework shows us an amazing positive energy that transmits to all his audience.

I really enjoyed watching this video. This Lecture affected me and reminded me of my own experience as a child. I could see myself in Mr. Paush’s shoes and I admired him so much. His lecture tells us that we don’t have to lose hope even in the worst situations. With a positive attitude we can deal with our problems. Even though Mr.Paush finally died he was happy and he enjoyed his life until the very end; something most of us are not capable of doing.

Communication Breakdown

Judith Molla

I am an international student from Spain and every single day I have to face with an interpersonal situation that cause me a breakdown in communication. I came to USA without knowing the language. The first thing I thought when I came here was that I had to learn English if I wanted to be successful in this country. I am here since last semestre and I am still having problems in communication. I think that the language barrier is one of the most relevant factors that cause the breakdown in communication.

For example, four month ago I was talking with co-worker who invited me to a “White party” and I got so mad at him because I thought that it was a party just only for white people. I remember I was so upset and I didn’t even wanna know anything from him. He was surprised for my reaction. One day after I found out that he just invited me to a party where you have to dress with white clothes. I remember I was so embarrassed that I didn’t wanna go to work. If you translate in spanish the words “white party” they mean “party for white people”. Here, there is a clear example of language barrier. The misunderstanding of a word, phrase or situation can bring you to a embarrassing situation.

Every day when I wake up I have to face with this language barrier. I have so many problems to understand the professors and class-mates. They talk fast and I sometimes I can’t follow the class. Sometimes I become frustrated and I just wanna run away and go back to my country. This create a lot of noise in my communication with the others. Foreign students have a lot of psychological noise and distractions. For example, sometimes I have problems to understand the professor and I don’t even have time to write down what he just said. This makes me think a lot and sometimes I am so worried that I just can’t stop to think about it.

I think that one of the solutions to solve the language barrier is to be patient when you are learning a language. Both, the sender and the receiver have to make an effort and help each other. The sender has to speak clearly and slow and the receiver has to pay attention as much as he can. Moreover the environment where the conversation is taken is really important. Somewhere quiet would be perfect to have a clear and understandable conversation.