Kailey Freeman
The Refraction Reflection
Overall, I was satisfied with my presentation both in front of the class and in front of just Dr. Rutkow. When presenting my elevator pitch in front of Dr. Rutkow, nerves definitely got to me a little bit, which resulted in me talking faster than I had anticipated. Dr. Rutkow pointed this out afterward as well. I did attempt to make a point of slowing down when I presented in front of the class, which I do believe I did. Dr. Rutkow said that my speech was very well organized and then Gabi during class told me that my pitch was very straight to the point. When talking I try to be as organized and straight to the point as possible, so I am glad others picked up on that.
During the class presentation, because I had nothing in my hand, I did struggle to make sure I said everything I wanted to say and silently check mark everything off in my head. Unfortunately, I do have some self-doubt problems that I have slowly been trying to overcome, and while it has definitely improved, I do get paranoid and anxious about messing things up which sometimes causes me to mess up. It is a truly unfortunate conundrum, but I did manage to touch each of my points in class.
One of the biggest things Dr. Rutkow told me was to be more specific both when I was referring to what kind of internships I wanted to do and what communities I was talking about when referring to how my history degree helps when it comes to civic literacy. When presenting in front of the class, I made the appropriate changes. I went more in-depth into the specific kinds of internships I would want to do. I then elaborated on what I meant by "community", explaining that I was referring to my influence on the lives of all those around me, including but not limited to my family, my friends, and my peers. That being said, during the class presentation, I forgot to give more specific examples of the skills I had learned as well as where I had learned them. When speaking with Dr. Rutkow, I had been more specific in that area. For example, I mentioned the research skills I had gained specifically from projects like PRINT.
This assignment was a nice conclusion to the class. It allowed me to analyze and summarize all that I had learned in a way that related to me and what I want to do. It also helped me figure out how to put a summary of my plan into words, even though mine is a relatively loose plan compared to others in the class. This speech gave me a starting point for entering the semi-professional world of history, something that I hope is able to smoothly guide me into transitioning to the professional world.
I gained more confidence in my skills, and I know how I can be of use, especially after diving deeper into various history professions in the class. The elevator pitch is almost like a reflection in and of itself. It’s reflecting on my skills and experiences and especially during my class presentation, I learned how to shape those same skills to fit very different job opportunities. Something that is beneficial as I am still unsure exactly where I want to go after school.
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