Communicate Clearly

After reading about how to communicate clearly; I am prompted to recall not only a time that I feel I was successful in my communication, but also a time that I feel I failed in my communication. As someone who finds it difficult to even hit the "publish" button on a blog post, or even "like" on Facebook, it is going to take me some time to think of an example where I was successful in communicating. It is for this reason that I will start off with the latter: a time that I have failed in my communication. 

The Failure

I first noticed early in my Sophomore year at Berea, that I was not approaching any of my professors with questions or concerns about my work. If I ran into a problem in one of my classes, I would usually sit in my room and try to work through it by myself. I knew that this was a problem with some of my friends in our first semester at Berea, but they all seem to have gotten over it by their second semester. I knew that if I did not take care of this problem, it would likely progress and hinder me academically. As it turns out, I am better at telling the future than fixing my communication problem. Shortly after I noticed this problem, my grades started to drop and I found myself in a state of slight disarray. However; I was soon able to change my habits.

From Failure, Comes Success

One of my professors who was concerned about this steep drop in my performance, asked me to set up a meeting with them before the midterm. After discussing this problem with my professor, we were determined to discover the underlying reasons to my lack of communication. About 2 meetings in as many weeks later, my professor and I came to the conclusion that this problem was really just a matter of pride. Will my professors think I am stupid if I ask them for help outside of class? Will they turn me away for asking a question that they had already explained? After further discussion on the topic, my professor assured me that questions were always welcomed and actually well received. With this new knowledge in hand, my grades no longer suffered at the hands of personal pride.