Alejandro Rodriguez Presentation #2 Refelction

 

    Presentation #2 Reflection      

 

For our second presentation our topic was a little more serious than the first one. Mental health has been growing more and more in the last few years from an issue that was taboo to now being encouraged to talk about. It is a topic very important to me, so I wanted too really do it justice and focus on teaching any information to my fellow classmates. It was not just to my classmates but the whole school since we had to present again at the symposium. That definitely added some extra pressure to the presentation.

Group 1

Before the symposium we had to present to our class. I thought that went very well. Being the last group to present we had to relay new information that wasn’t repeated while also making sure it was important enough to be included. We changed our topic feeling that it was too similar to another group and that gave us even less time to prepare. Everyone in the group presented their part very well. A part that I really enjoyed was talking about the stigma that came with mental health. That was one of the reasons we changed our topic. It was a part of mental health that no one was talking about and deserved to be mentioned. Not too long-ago mental health was seen as a minor problem or if someone said they had it they would be labeled as crazy or weak. Mentioning how can we overcome that and encourage people to help each other out was an important aspect of our project. Reminders that we have to take care of ourselves before we can take care of others and ways that we can do that by eliminating anything that can give us stress and anxiety.

Group 2

Group 2 focused on mental health treatment. Specifically ways to deal with anxiety. Therapy is the first suggestion that people think when treating mental health and sometimes it can be scary going to see a therapist. They did a great job of explaining how therapy can really help you. They also mentioned some disadvantages of treatment for anxiety. Taking addictive pills can be very harmful and must be managed carefully. Learning about how to find the right type of anxiety pills and research if it can be harmful was very useful. Another way group 2 mentioned was staying connected with your friends. How having the right people around you can help you overcome any problem.

Group 3

Group 3 talked about disabilities and computer use. The advantages and disadvantages of virtual learning can have a major impact on a student’s mental health. While it can be easier for student’s schedule it can also disconnect you from your classmates and teachers. Students may also not be able to go to class due to some technical issues out of their control. Especially students with disabilities that have learn best when they are face to face. Group 3 provided some great suggestions for students to take advantage of online learning. The closed captions options on google I found to be very useful.

Group 4

Group 4 topic was coping with anxiety and caring for mental health. Different effects like anxiety and stress. How to identify potential symptoms and getting treatment for them not just for yourself but for others around you. School causing more damage for mental health. I’m very familiar with this myself. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed from school and just need to take a break. I loved that they brought awareness to this topic and ways that we can overcome it. Really bringing to light different effects caused by mental health along with what to do and what not to do when dealing with a mental illness.

Rehearsal

When we finally finished our individual presentations, we only had 1 day of rehearsal before the symposium due to some delays. All our PowerPoints were combined into one massive PowerPoint. For the most part the rehearsal went well. The other groups presented their parts and had perfect chemistry with each other. My group was the only one that had some trouble. We were missing a few people, so we weren’t sure what to do for their parts and we didn’t communicate with each other how to do it. We all realized that we needed to improve so each of us practiced until we got it the timing and chemistry right. That was for me the toughest part of it all. Everyone would make sure to have their information ready but only having one minute to present for each person was difficult since we had to make sure that all the other groups had time for their presentations along with any questions afterwards from the audience. I wanted to include some extra information that I wasn’t able to include in the original PowerPoint. I was able to make sure it wouldn’t impact the timing and I was ready for the symposium.

Day of the Symposium

The day of the symposium I couldn’t really get any sleep. I was nervous about presenting. I know everyone prepared is ready to give it their best, but you always think what can wrong or what happens if I mess up. Anyway I put those thoughts out of my mind and just focused on doing great. Right when we started presenting my nerves went away and I was ready for my part. When I finally finished, I let out a sigh of relief. It seemed to go by in a flash. I was still a little worried that we wouldn’t finish on time, but we actually had some time to spare and enjoyed a presentation of our own from two other students.

Conclusion

This was my second time presenting at the symposium but the first time I did it with a group. It was exciting and nerve wracking. However it was fun being able to present at the symposium again and this time with the whole class. It feels like the semester is flying by.