Blog 5: Amen.

     When I began this journey, I had a very definite idea of what I would see. I thought I would see middle-aged, homeless people living in absolute poverty. In reality, I saw people of all ages, from very young to elderly. I saw people who were living in absolute poverty eating right next to people who just didn't have enough at the end of the month. I expected to see people full of hope and in transition, but in reality, I saw mostly people who had lost hope. I saw mostly people who had lived their entire lives in poverty. I saw more than I ever thought I would. In fact, I saw more diversity than I knew could exist in a soup kitchen.
     In my experience at Cafe on the Vine, I saw many different themes from class. I saw how language differs across different groups of people, and how this can effect communication between and within groups. Not only was this verbal language, but also body language. Though body language, I was able to see emotions. I could see then how emotions got in the way or contributed to conversations. This is a part of internal noise. I could tell that some words spoken triggered certain emotions, and in turn caused different levels of self-monitoring and disclosure. Sometimes, this meant people would get defensive and not listen properly. Others would listen more closely based upon what they were being told. These people seemed to be terrified of stereotypes, and would change their behaviors and means of communication to avoid making or following them. This is also effected by perception, meaning how they were raised impacted the way they viewed themselves and others. This leads to self-fulfilling prophecy and reflected appraisal. All of these factors greatly contributed to the way in which these people communicated with others, as well as how I communicated with them.
     In my future, I believe I will be much more aware of the diversity that exists in people and be much more conscious about how I communicate with people who have different experiences than me. I learned to take into consideration what people are going through and have gone through in their lives so far, and be aware of the barriers that causes in communication. I have also learned how language and body language are different based upon a persons experiences, and how being aware of that can help prevent misunderstandings. Finally, I learned that we let our emotions and fears get in the way of communication. Avoiding stereotypes falls under this category. I learned that by controlling our emotions we can shape how we communicate with others, and by understanding other people's emotions we can learn how to interpret the message they are trying to send us, and avoid bad communication. These facts will definitely help me in my future career as a social worker. I will take from this a new ability to communicate and understand others from different backgrounds, and this will allow me to understand and work with more diverse clients. I will carry this new ability with me in my future career, as well as in my current and future interpersonal relationships.

Mikka Rose
11/21/12