Guest Lecturing

Hey Bloggie!

Now that I’ve told you about my job interviews, here’s how my guest lecturing experience went. A couple friends and I were asked to share our Capstone experiences with the current students. I was of course hesitant because it meant talking to a group of people. But the professors assured me the experience would be great for the students. So I put on my big girl pants and said yes. My friends and I decided to create very concise slides. We even had a pre-presentation meeting to discuss the flow of our presentation. It felt like doing a class project without the stress of grades (I don’t miss them). Luckily, we all did different projects while in school so there was no repetition involved.

I had the presentation on the day of my in-person interview so I still had on my complete suit. I’m pretty sure they were wondering if a presentation was that serious. Maybe they weren’t, but I would have if I were them. Anyways, I think it went really well. Instead of the 15 minutes we planned, we lasted the entire hour! I thought it would be uncomfortable speaking to them, but it wasn’t at all. It all just seemed to flow and it didn’t feel at all like a room full of strangers. It was more interactive than we thought it would have been. Points for engagement! This time around, more than half the class was doing my kind of project and it felt good (to me at least) to be able to share my experiences! 

I think I would have loved such an experience while still in the program but unfortunately, there weren’t any students before us. This has been my first sort of teaching experience and I didn’t have a problem with it. Of course that doesn’t mean I can completely cope with teaching but it’s a start. The professors were so sweet and thanked us after class. When I came in to work the next day, I found this awesome note on my desk.

"We want to thank you for taking the time to prepare and speak to our "Capstone Experience" class last night. Your willingness to make time to share information about your capstone project to assist our current students is very much appreciated. It was obvious that this second class of MPH students will benefit from the information you shared."

It definitely made my day! I have a great fear of public speaking and usually shy away from opportunities like these. But how else will the fear be overcome and I move forward? If you get a chance to speak to students or at some other function, I say take it. It definitely helps you grow. Plus, you could add it to your resume. You never know how much difference that one line makes to your job application.

In honour of this month of love, I’ll be posting romantic and romantic-ish songs for the rest of the month. To start off, here’s “Obimo” (my heart). I love this song and the video is great. I love that there’s an actual wedding with an extremely happy couple dancing their hearts out, I love that the brothers are obviously having fun, the mamas grooving and D'Banj back on the harmonica!! See for yourself…

Yes I’m pretending I haven’t been gone for a while... Shhh

Adios,
Tonia