Reflection of presentation 2

   For the second set of presentations, we explored some really beautiful and fascinating topics. Group 1 presented on the topic of “What Happiness Does For Society”, group 2 presented on the topic of “Paying it Forward”, and group 3 presented on the topic of “Self Care & Eating Well: Heart, Mind Body”. Each topic was as interesting as the other and these presentations really allowed us to see each other's personal ethics and opinions about certain issues.

The first group to present this time was group 3, giving an in depth look into personal self care and what that consists of. What was different about this set of presentations was the fact that each group was tasked with creating a brochure for their topic. Group 3 created a beautiful pastel colored aesthetically pleasing brochure that explained all the different sectors of self care which included: Mental Self Care, Social Self Care, Emotional Self Care, Physical Self Care, and finally Good Eating. They included a sentence on the top of the brochure that stated “Engaging in a self-care routine has been clinically proven to assist in reducing or eliminating anxiety and depression, reducing stress, improving concentration, minimizing frustration and anger, increasing happiness, improving energy, and so much more.”. I thought that was fascinating, how self care serves a preventive measure for things like eliminating stress and anxiety. They included a list of activities to do that could serve as forms of self care, such as eating nutritious foods, exercising regularly, going on walks, etc. The first slide speaks about mental self care and it uses concepts from chapter 1: communication perspectives. Rashell and Nicole did a wonderful set of slides on why social self care is important. They included it “staves off feelings of loneliness, sharpens memory and cognitive skills, increases sense of happiness and well being, may even help to live longer, and improves life satisfaction”. These were all essential facts that I was very interested in learning about through their explanation. To end their slide they include a beautiful quote that said “your relations should uplift and fulfill you, not deflate and drain you”. I couldn’t agree more. They gave examples of social self care activities on the next slide, some of which included: going on dates with your significant other, volunteering in your community, and my personal favorite, speaking to your mom on the phone. They included a slide of social media and how that impacts your self care, both on a positive and negative note. This was particularly interesting because when speaking on the topic of social media most tend to immediately assume the worst. They spoke about how social media helps the sharing of information and content, reduces the feelings of loneliness and helps people stay connected from long distances. On the other hand, they also spoke about cyberbullying. Cyber bullying looks like “sending mean messages through fake accounts, posting embarrassing photos or videos of someone, and sending hurtful messages.” This is a very important to touch base on when speaking of the impact of social media on our mental health. They tied it in with a slide about self perception and the ideas about what kind of people we are. The really neat thing about these presentations is it gave every group the opportunity to have to reach out and interview professionals that would give their presentation some insight. Rashell & Nicole’s interview was conducted on Lisbeth Alvarez, a board certified behavior analyst. The next set of slides was conducted by Justin Melendez on emotional self care. There was a lot of information on the slides, it made it a little hard to focus on the main points but the information was still great! Melany’s slides were beautiful and the graphics were breathtaking! She covered physical self care. Amanda also did a similar portion, where she covered healthy eating. Her presentation was great, she also even included a valid deal at target for fresh organic produce.

Group two presentation is on paying it forward, which gave us a nice table of contents before we started their presentation. What I didn’t see was their brochure at their beginning of the presentation, like group three. They talked about why people pay it forward and how it can change the way people feel or act. They shared a nice video about why kindness matters and the butterfly effect it could have on someone’s day and even the environment around you. They proceeded to speak about how charities impact the world and communities by improving the quality of life for others, building strong communities, and drives economic growth. Next they spoke about how charities impact you as a person, by improving your mental health and creating social connections, along with boosting your positive emotions and values, which when you think about how you feel after volunteering it makes absolute sense. They played this really neat video which highlighted what ways one can get involved in their local community, which is an essential part of being citizens somewhere and having a fair say in what happens. Not only will getting involved in your community benefit your emotions in the short term but also will benefit you in the long run. The presentation then shifted from American charities to a more global outlook. This highlighted the different focus and approaches American charities have compared to other charities based in other parts of the world. American charities tend to prioritize issues such as poverty, education, healthcare and disaster relief. The following slides further explained the key differences, and following that was the local charities slides which showcased a few local organizations that dedicate their time to providing aid to Miami. The list consisted of the Miami Foundation, the Miami Dade College Foundation. Then they showcased a list of bigger more national charities such as feeding America and the United Way. I was very pleased to see that Feeding America was listed. I volunteered with them when I first came into MDC. A very interesting part of this presentation was the history of charities which dated it all the way back to 2500 BCE! They explained what makes an act charitable and why charity is important. They gave an overall great presentation and I was very pleased to have the opportunity to learn about charities in such a detailed way.

Now for the final group, Group one, had the topic of “What happiness does for society”. Now before I start with group one, I'd like to highlight that I absolutely admire them for always having a run through the morning of their presentation. This instills a certain sense of confidence that makes their presentations always extremely captivating. Their presentation starts with a beautiful brochure detailing what happiness does for society, the group members, and why we should value happiness in society. They presented a brochure that perfectly outlined their presentation, mastering the main purpose for the brochure. Alexander started us off with an AMAZING prevention on what impact income has on happiness in society. They highlight crucial points on how low income can cause stressor like food insecurity, housing, health and so much more. They highlighted how low income communities tend to have limited resources, poor housing, and inadequate school systems. The thing they highlighted that was the most powerful to me is “ low income people must worry about things that others might never even have to think twice about”. They give the history of the Great Depression and how it impacted not only the economic state of the country but also the mental state. Amarah spoke about if money can bring happiness and how things like health care, healthier foods, better environment, transportation, and also better education is attached to happiness. She included a list of assistance provided for low income families on a national level like SNAP, ACA, Medicare, and LIHEAP and on a world level organizations such as Oxfam International and World Relief. Annabella spoke about the history of life expectancy and the unhealthy conditions that were limiting the expectancy to 35 years old in the 1800s. Their presentations perfectly covered the importance of social support and having a support system in place. 

Overall I really enjoyed these presentations and having the opportunity to learn so much about certain important topics through my classmates' own words and explanations.