Gcom 123: Group Presentation In The Classroom

Last spring I was enrolled in GCOM 123: Group Presentations. About two weeks into the class, I was assigned my group, which I would work with for the entire semester. For our first presentation, I met my group members at Carrier Library in a study room. My group consisted of five people who for the purpose of this assignment I will call Joe, Sally, Amy, Danielle and myself. During our meeting there was a major lack of motivation and it was startlingly clear nothing was being accomplished. The meeting was awkward because none of us knew each other beyond the classroom setting. I came to this meeting expecting to begin brainstorming and considering presentation topics right away in order to get a head start on the presentation. Unfortunately

Before coming to JMU I had never experienced a situation like this. I did not enter college emotionally equipped to address someone like Amy in an appropriate way. Joining a sorority has made me a better person and has taught me lessons that I could not have learned anywhere else. During my freshman year, I was especially proud to show off my letters and let the world know about the great organization I had just become apart of. Unbeknownst to myself, I had already accepted that Amy was going to be cooperative and appreciative of my actions because that is what I would consider to be normal and that was my expectation for her. On this day it was evident that my own feelings and sense of pride played part in my reaction but the source of my anger was due to the concrete expectations I formulated in my head that were violated. Judee Burgoon and colleagues “prefer to reserve the term expectancy for what is predicted to occur rather than what is desired.” (Griffin, Ledbetter and Sparks 86) When she made the snarky comment, I was caught off guard and let everything I felt in that moment get the best of me. I can now admit that my reaction was completely and entirely emotional. What triggered my response and angered me most was that Amy was intentionally attempting to discredit my intelligence because of my affiliation with my sorority. I still believe this to be true but I now consider