My encounter with Denis Hopovac was a unique one. Denis is a Bosnian man, who is in his early 30s. I have been observing him for some weeks during our weekly workshops, and this week I intended to introduce myself and know more about his experiences as a Bosnian man in the United States. During my observations, I saw that Denis has a friendly personality; however, he is a closed box when it comes to sharing things that he has gone through. So, I thought that I can get along with him if I can find some common values to talk about and share my experiences to comfort him for opening up. Furthermore, from his gentle way of explaining things, optimistic look for the future, and polite behaviors during the time I have observed him, I deduced that …show more content…
Reflect on this interaction: did it go as you planned? Hoped? What was easier than you thought it would be? Harder? What did you learn? What would you do differently next time? Etc.
My talk with Denis Hopovac was meaningful, because we established a connection between us. As I hoped, the talk was full of surprises since it was a mixture of good memories, observations of the local Bosnian community, and a lot of laughs. As well, it had everything that makes two people friends during a short period of time. Before we started the talk, I was afraid that the talk could turn out to be a failure. By that, I mean the dull talk that happens when two people just don’t share anything personal. However, Denis’ personality and my efforts to find common values made this conversation successful.
When the talk ended, I was relieved that I accomplished my goal of making a person open up. One thing I realized was that I do a better job when I take my time and let the talk flow on its own speed rather than asking previously planned, and directive questions that may sometimes break the continuity of the talk. This is a bit hard for me to do, since I am an introvert; but I know that I have to become an extrovert when it is necessary. With that said, I have to plan my talks regardless, because I tend to get very nervous when I do not know how to resume the conversation. Anyways, I now have an idea about how to strategically place planned questions into the flowing conversation. This is the biggest yield of this