Alux Toledo - Reflection on Presentation (Part 2)

Addictiveness to Happiness all summer round (By Alux Toledo)

The other day, my fellow colleagues and I once again presented our slides pertaining to an assignment in class. The topics this time weren’t about chapters in a book but rather things in everyday life such as careers, education, and even mental health. I once again thought that these presentations were going to be boring, tedious, and overall mentally exhausting. While I do think that that isn’t the complete case, the fact was that there were some moments when I caught myself spacing out, not paying much attention, or just having my brain shut off. However the presentations were still interesting with engaging ideas and methods in their own regard, while still being relevant towards the presented subject in question. Please let me share my thoughts once again starting with…

Group 1: Economy and Potential Careers

This was the group that I was a part of, the topic we decided to choose was Economy and Potential careers and I didn’t think we did too shabby. Considering the fact that most of us, at this point in our lives, are looking for a future career, at a time when it’s hard to pursue the career you want, I’d like to say that the information we provided was relevant and spiked up some revelations in a few listeners as we were presenting. An absolutely beautiful idea that some of our group members had was to include interviews from people knowledgeable about the impact that the economy has had on people on the hunt for jobs. If this isn’t an important thing to know for a person trying to build a resume, then I don’t know what is important for them to know.

Honestly, Alyssa Gonzalez’s interview slide was probably the most interesting to me and my favorite slide in the presentation. The answers we get from this interview tells us just how difficult it can be to successfully job hunt after graduating from college. Additionally, it also says that the economy’s constant changing can also make it that much harder when going for a potential career. Overall, very good stuff to keep in mind when looking for a job. Always having this in the back of a mind is sure to assist many people in their long term futures. As for my part, I explained what the government does to support the economy via spending, taxes, interest rates, and a federal response act known as ARP (American Rescue Plan). I opted to keep this simple since it’s things people already mostly know about, and explained how those things keep the country going.

Group 2: Families and Education

Group two decided to focus on family and education. Already a wholesome subject to touch upon (and school). I thought their presentation was relevant to the topic at hand and informed the listeners well about the difficulty for kids to get their required education simply because they don’t have all that they need. I liked how they decided to talk about harder topics such as lack of parental support, and financial strains since these are serious issues that several kids and families go through all over the world. Additionally, they told their listeners about programs run by Miami Dade which are actively making progress, and change. However, it is important to remember that such programs can’t do everything and that more people have to do more work to bring about a larger and more lasting change (at least that’s what I thought when seeing this presentation).

My favorite slide was probably the one titled “Policy Suggestions for Local, State, and National Leaders”. My reason being that it showcases multiple different types of aid that people are able to receive so they can send their children, or a person of any age, to get the education they require and desire (excuse the totally accidental rhyme). I don’t hear too many people mention stuff like what’s shown in this presentation which leads me to believe that a lot of people don’t know what to do when it comes to affording proper education. So I’m thinking that if more communities were to learn about this, then surely people would have a better chance to get the education they want right?

Group 3: Mental Health and Social life

Finally we have group three who tackled the topic of Mental health and Social Life. Already this one was the presentation that interested me the most because of the topic feeling the most relatable to me. The presentation reminded me of the importance of mental health in someone’s life and the variety of impacts that society can have on it. They touch upon things such as depression, loneliness, and anxiety, feelings that I’m sure many people have felt in their lives. They also dive into how social life plays a part in mental health, explaining that a big difference can be made when people are supported by their family or loved ones. Of course the opposite is also true, feeling and being alone can really hurt a person's mental health.

One slide said what I thought to be a very interesting thing. “We’ll tell a random person on a bus or train our whole life story, but won’t say a word to the people sitting next to us in class”. The reason I find it so interesting is because I’ve had life experiences that make me believe this to be true. At times we just keep our struggles with ourselves. We refuse to let others who actually know us know what’s going on, and the reason tends to vary. It’ll be because we don’t want to look weak, because we think we don’t need anyone, or because we don’t think anyone will understand. And that feeling hurts, it hurts you a lot. It’s funny really, how we opt to turn to random people, whether online, in person, or a therapist, for help. Even funnier, just how many people in the world go through this. How is it that such a thing became normal I wonder.