Reflections on Speaking

Despite being a generally quiet person,  I've never really felt that intimidated by public speaking.  I credit this to my background as a Girl Scout, which had me pushing cookies on complete strangers from a very young age.  This initial introduction to public speaking grew to sharing projects in front of my troop, asking for donations before our local congregation, and ultimately spread into my school life as well.

Besides one oral report and a few powerpoint presentations, I never really had to engage in any practice public speaking as part of my high school curriculum.  In my senior year, however, I suddenly found myself engaging in extracurriculars like Envirothon and Mock Trial that had me presenting a hypothetical park plan to actual local government officials and reciting a closing argument to an actual judge.  I thoroughly enjoyed these pursuits, and my even dare to say I felt comfortable speaking in front of others.

But in all of these past experiences, I had one crucial safety net: I had a script.  

When I know exactly what to say and when and how to say it, I usually do fine. The prospect of 'speaking extemporaneously' is terrifying to me.  So, when it came time to compose my civic artifact speech, I scripted the whole thing, promised myself I would memorize it completely, promptly ran out of time to do so, and subsequently panicked and brought the entire script to the front of the room with me.

You all saw my speech, and everyone who peer-reviewed me commented on my lack of eye-contact, as I (wary of skipping a single word) continuously glanced back at my paper to make sure I was hitting every syllable as I had planned.  Suffice it to say that it was not my shining moment.

But, it was educational.  I've realized that I won't always be able to recite my words, and I need to trust myself to find the right words in the moment. In the future, I will probably use notecards in order to allow myself to do this.

Wanderlust Abounds

"Not all those who wander are lost..."

                                          -J.R.R. Tolkien

So as it turns out, I won't be writing about mealtime in America or religion in France.  After further thought and extensive weighing of pros and cons, I've decided to write about the rise of "wanderlust" in United States' young adult culture.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thesis:  In the last 20 years, the rise of individuality and social media have lead young Americans to question the conditions of the "American Dream", leading to a sharp increase in the cultural epidemic that can only be described as "wanderlust".

The Path:

First, I'll describe how, in the past, the domestic American Dream was to settle down at a young age with a stable job, a nice suburban home, and maybe a dog.

Now, many 20-somethings are rejecting this idea, turning down monetary wealth to become "nomadic"- often times taking up small jobs and volunteering to cover their modest travelling costs.  Often, they are recent college graduates who opt to spend a year cleaning toilets in Thailand instead of starting a career.

Following the explanation of the shift, I'll pose this question: How did wanderlust take over the collective frame of mind of America's youth?

...And explore these factors:  

The emergence of social media has allowed Americans to experience other cultures through vivid images, and has made it 'cool' to be a worldly person.  It has also lead to a heavy emphasis being placed on individuality and uniqueness.  Instead of seeking normalcy, recent college graduates are seeking 'authenticity' in the form of new and exciting places.  

And finally, the millions of inspiring quotes layered over fanciful photographs on Pinterest and Tumblr instill in us the importance of "finding oneself" and "doing what you love".  In the past, there was a stronger emphasis on the collective: working an honest job for the good of your family/community was more important than finding your true self.  The more idealistic ideas that have surfaced recently stress the growth of the individual, making pursuits like extended travel and nomadic lifestyles much more desirable.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sources:
I don't have specific links to share, but I plan on using statistics showing the increase of young adults travelling after college, the increase in travel websites, etc. to illustrate the shift.

A Tale of Two Paradigms: France and Food

As a French major, I love France (duh), but on a larger scale part of the reason I'm a language major is because I love studying the evolution of culture in different societies.  As such, I'm fairly excited about this paradigm project.

Paradigm Shift #1: Religion in France
The first paradigm I'd like to discuss is the shift in French society from having a vast majority of its citizens identify as Catholic, to the majority identify as atheists in just the past century.  This idea was actually brought up by a classmate in one of my other classes.  I had studied the Catholic heritage of France, and knew that the French government was extremely secular, but until said classmate mentioned it, I had never made the connection.

I think this secular shift is vastly interesting, and while I don't know much about its cause, I'm intent on studying the connection between the governmental policies of secularism and the societal perception of religion.  In the United States, we practice separation of church and state, but it is still understood that our leaders (at least at the highest levels) are Christians guided by Christian principles.  We still identify mainly as a Christian society, where the French government has made a much stronger effort to cleanse itself of that label.

Another possible factor may be the demographic breakdown of France.  Because of its generally relaxed immigration policies and close proximity to Africa (namely Morocco), France has garnered much higher percentages of Muslim, Jewish, and other non-Christian religious citizens than what we experience here in the United States.  This has a profound effect on French culture, and leads to diversifying and questioning of previously non-contended  beliefs.

Paradigm Shift #2: Mealtime in America
Growing up, I almost always ate dinner at the table with my parents.  However, I realize this was not the case for many kids in my age group.  My second paradigm of interest is the shift from what we consider the "classic" setting for meals- the dining room table, to eating on the go or in front of the TV.  I love the culture and social aspect associated with food- the idea of "breaking bread" with someone, sharing a meal that everyone contributed to.  In the past, I think Americans appreciated food as more than just a combination of protein, fat, carbs, etc.  Somewhere in the increasing busyness of the American household, we lost some of the social benefits of sharing a meal, and I think families have suffered as a result.  I'm very interested in exploring the origins and ramifications of this paradigm shift, or possibly another paradigm shift dealing with the culture of food.