For my speech, I made sure that I was very prepared in what I wanted to say.  I made sure that I had a lot of facts and answered all of the questions to the best of my abilities.  I have had trouble talking in front of people for pretty much my whole life.  Though I am getting better at it, I still talk really fast. I could tell during my speech that my voice was kind of shaky.  I knew that I talk rather fast also, but I did not realize how fast until I saw my speech video.  I thought that I explained how I wanted to have the documentary structured but it may have caused my speech to sound like just a lot of facts about service dogs.  I feel like the more outgoing and comfortable around other people I get, the easier it will be for me to talk better and slower.  I am glad that even though I had a note card, I did not read directly from it and lose eye contact with my audience.  I usually just have it with me in case I lose my train of thought and do not just stand up there with nothing to say.  I also saw that when I try to remember what I want to say, I look up at the ceiling.  I try not to stand still too much, but I realize that I was too nervous to move from where I was standing.

One group that I am a part of on campus is a sorority.  Many people know the stereotypes.  We bought our friends, we party a lot, we are a bunch a bimbos who do not care about schoolwork.  To tell you the truth, a few years ago I would have agreed with these stereotypes.  After I chose to go to a school out of state, knowing absolutely no one, I decided to try to rush because it would be a quick way to meet new people.  I never knew just how much I would love being a part of Greek life.  The main question my friends from home asked me was “Do you party a lot?”  Even though I do go out to social functions, I do not get wasted, as many people would believe.  My sorority has a high standard of keeping our sisters a good reputation.  Another question I got was, “Don’t you feel like you just bought friends?”  I would definitely say no.  Our sorority has taught us an important life lesson by this, we do not have to like everyone in our sisterhood, but we will respect them.  The payment dues are to help keep up the house for us to live in, like rent for an apartment, and also help with our philanthropy, an organization that we help raise money for.  My sorority helps those with Arthritis.  The last question I got was, “Well does it affect your grades?”  Actually, yes, but in a good way.  Our sorority mandates that we study a certain amount every week, and keep a certain GPA throughout the semester.  In fact, those in Greek life have higher GPA’s than those who are not.  We spend most of our time either doing schoolwork, charity work, or fundraising for philanthropy.  Our two biggest fundraisers coming up are Greek Sing and Dance Blue.  The main reason people think so lowly of Greek life is because of media like movies.  However, people should actually learn about it before they assume what is on TV is a true interpretation.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html

I decided to choose a TED Talk by Ken Robinson titled “How Schools Kill Creativity” because I also think that schools create creativity and individuality.  When Robinson first came on screen, his posture seemed a little awkward, but his British accent made it easy to overlook.  I liked that he started how not only with a situation for the viewers to imagine, but he also made it funny.  Whenever I have to do a speech, I feel more at ease when I make something funny in the speech.   He also used a lot of stories that were relatable and easy to understand what he is trying to have the stories say.  His tone came off as informative with some sarcasm and humor.  He did not use visuals physically, like pictures, but he told stories with enough detail that the viewer could mentally visualize what he was saying.  He also used a lot of quotes.  Though sometimes his stories seem to go off topic, they actually bring up interesting points.  He talked about things that schools did to children that took away their creativity.  Schools punish those who make mistakes, so we have become afraid to fail.  Those who “fail” the education system by not getting a degree are considered to have failed at life.  Instead, those people are just learning in the wrong environment.  A girl who was always in trouble for not paying attention or sitting still in class was thought to have a learning disability; today we would say she has ADHD.  However, when someone suggested taking her to dance school, she thrived.  This video successfully shows how our current education system is ruining future generations in more ways than one.

Detroit vs. Everybody- My first memory about Detroit was when I watched 8 Mile, a movie about Eminem’s struggle in Detroit.  I automatically correlated that story to everyone in Detroit and though it was a bad place that one should not want to go to.  I then remember going to visit my mom in Detroit who was at a site for work.  We were driving on a street close to 8 mile at night when a cop pulled us over to give a warning.  He told us that we should never stop for a red light around these parts at night for our safety, slow down to make sure no one’s coming, but never stop.  That made me never want to go to Detroit again.  I like that the author tells us why he is interested in learning more and experiencing Detroit, it tells us why we should also be interested.  I wish the author would go into detail on what caused Detroit’s downfall, I know it is mostly because of General Motors shutting down, but he should at least mention it for those who do not know.  I am really surprised that the city would leave the overturned cars and subways lying in the street instead of trying to clean it up.  It really helped me visualize how bad the streets really were with the pictures.  It is also pretty scary that people are used to the sounds of explosions.  I know they might be used to gunshots, but what exactly is exploding?  I remember reading an article for WRD 110 where the author mentioned the Heidelberg Project, but I never got to actually see what it looked like.  I appreciate that even though many people in their situations would feel lost, that people can still come together and make something good out of the bad.  It is also cool that rappers like Kendrick and Eminem will never forget where they came from and come to Detroit to help the people be able to relax and forget for at least a moment about the troubles of the outside world.  I am surprised that there are not a lot of people who would take advantage of the public park, I feel it would not only help the kids stay of the streets by playing in the park, but also help families relax and have fun.  I love how the author ends the article by making the statement that not only will he come back, but he will help, giving the reader the idea that maybe he or she should help too.

In Wesley Morris’ “My Bodies of the Year”, he indicated that the biggest stories in the media during 2013 was about people’s bodies.  I liked how he started off the article by making it personal to the author, giving him some credibility and why he is writing the article in the first place.  Usually these stories are finding out whose body looks so amazing, that it is almost unrealistic.  However, I believe Morris was showing how the media is starting to change that view.  Some of the examples, like Matthew McConaughey and 12 Years a Slave, show that the media and its audiences are supporting the more realistic bodies.  Even for Pain and Gain, he said that the director chose Mark and the Rock because of their ridiculous size to make fun of it.  I think that 10 years ago, the motto for famous people was “the skinnier, the better”.  I remember that many people then were struggling with eating disorders because models and actors would only be chosen if they were skinny.  Today, I believe that they are choosing people with more realistic body types.  Some modeling agencies will not choose anyone below a certain BMI, body mass index.  I enjoyed the interview with Katy Perry when she said that because she sees herself as a role model, she does not parade around naked.  You do not need to be naked to be sexy.   This also reminds me of my favorite actress, Jennifer Lawrence, because she refuses to starve herself to be skinny because she does not want her younger fans to think that they need to skip meals in order to look like their role model.  Even though our society is starting to mature and move ahead in the idea that people should look real instead of photo shopped, I wish society could also bring back the ideas that people do not need to be naked to look sexy, instead be classy and sexy.  The one person that comes to mind as a classy, sexy lady is Audrey Hepburn.  We need more Hepburn role models in a Hilton world.