Posts

Katherine Mata Blog #2

Elections Matter Project reflection Politics has always been a subject that interests me because I enjoy understanding how government decisions, laws, and public policies shape our society. As someone interested in political science and pursuing a future in law, I find it important to stay informed about the issues affecting our communities and country. The Elections Matter project allowed me to explore four major political topics: the electorate and election process, education policies, immigration policies, and the economy. Each group approached its topic differently, giving us the opportunity to understand how these issues influence our communities, state, and country. Group #1, The Electorate and Election process The first group presented the electorate and election process. I found this topic important because elections are one of the primary ways citizens participate in a democratic system. I learned more about voter participation, political representation, and how individual vot...
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Eduardo Mendez Post 2 11/6/2026

Elections Matter Group Presentation Reflection After seeing the four group presentations about Elections Matter, I realized how much politics affects things we deal with every day. Before this project, whenever I thought about politics, I mostly thought about presidential elections, political parties, and all the arguments people have online. But after learning about the different topics, I started noticing how many things are connected to the government. Each group covered something different, but they all showed how elections can affect our communities and our future. Group 1 The Electorate and the Election Process Group 1 talked about the election process and why voting is important. I found this topic interesting because a lot of people our age are just becoming eligible to vote, and not everyone understands how the process works. They explained things like voter registration, how elections are organized, and the importance of knowing who you’re voting for. Something I found im...
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Anjali Gonzalez- Post 2

 Overall, I enjoyed our Elections Matter presentaions. I think this was a good way for us to learn about different issues that affect our country and allowed us to understand the importance of elections. Each group focused on a different topic, which allowed us to learn about several issues without having to research every single one ourselves. I also liked how these presentations were a little different from our previous ones because some groups presented through Zoom while others presented in person. It was interesting to see how the different environments affected the presentations. Overall, everyone did a great job on their presentation and explaining each topic.

Group 1 was in charge of discussing the economy and how it connects to elections. I think this was a really important topic because the economy is something that has been strongly affected espacially with our elections. As college students, we are starting to become more independent and have to think about things like...
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Public Speaking Blog (reflection)

When I first started this class, I thought I would dread it. Public speaking is something I’ve never been comfortable with. I’ve always struggled with speaking in front of a large crowd, specifically when people’s gazes fall on me. Getting all that attention makes me feel unexplainably anxious, and it causes me to lose my train of thought. Stage fright is a major problem for me because I tend to become extremely nervous before and during a presentation. Even if I know the material well, the second I stand in front of a crowd, my anxiety makes it difficult to remember. Because of this, watching three different groups, including my own,  present Chapters 1 through 17 gave me the opportunity to learn not only from the class, but also from my peers and their different approaches to public speaking.  Group 1 presented the chapters about the basics of public speaking, building confidence, listening, developing a purpose and topic, and adapting to an audience. One of the biggest thin...
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Anjali Gonzalez- Post 1

Overall, I really enjoyed learning about the chapters through the format of doing the group presentations. I think it was a good way for us to go through all of the information in each chapter without having to spend so much class or personal time going over each one individually. Every group was able to focus on their assigned chapters and explain the main ideas to the class, so we were still getting all the important information while still saving time. I also liked being able to see the different ways each group presented because everyone had their own style and came up with their certain examples for the topics.  Group 1 was in charge of Chapters 1 through 4, which covered topics like speech anxiety and how to develop an idea. Since they were the first group to present, I could definitely tell that there were some nerves, which is completely understandable. Even with that, I thought they knew their topics really well and did a good job explaining the information. One part of th...
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Eduardo Mendez - POST 1

Eduardo Mendez - Post 1 The group presentations helped me understand that public speaking involves much more than standing in front of a class and talking. Each group covered a different part of the course, connecting the process of preparing, organizing, and delivering a speech. While listening to my classmates, I became more aware of the choices speakers make. Their organization, eye contact, explanations, and slides affected how easily I followed the information. This experience allowed me to view the course from two positions: as an audience member evaluating other speakers and as a member of Group 3 responsible for teaching part of the material. Group 1 covered Chapters 1 through 4, which introduced public speaking, speech anxiety, effective listening, and selecting a purpose and topic. This material created a foundation for the other presentations because it explained that speakers should always consider their audience. I found the section about anxiety useful because nervousness...
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Melissa Gonzalez- Post 1

Watching the first two presentations in class gave me a better understanding of public speaking, but it also showed me how much the delivery of a presentation can affect the audience. Both groups presented useful information from the textbook, but they had different strengths and weaknesses. The first presentation covered Chapters 1 through 4, including the fundamentals of public speaking, speech anxiety, listening, and developing a purpose for speech. The second presentation covered Chapters 5 through 8, which focused more on understanding the audience, researching a topic, using supporting materials, and organizing a speech. Even though both presentations taught important information, I found the second one easier to follow. Presentation 1 introduced many basic ideas that we will probably continue using throughout the course. One topic that stood out to me was speech anxiety because nervousness is something almost everyone experiences when speaking in front of a group. The presentati...
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