Katarína Dedíková

The last block was a great experience for me. Meeting new people from different cultures and getting insights to what others can consider as polite encouraged me to be more considering to others.

I especially enjoyed activities that I haven't done before in soft skills.

For instance, empathy training showed me what can I ask when somebody needs a friend (asking if it made them feel sad, frustrated, or something). Or couching turned out actually really helpful. Maybe it did not helped me with my roommate, but it helped me to get to emotions that I had locked up about another close friend.

On the other hand, I agree that we sit a lot, and doing some activities where we stand or move a bit would be great :D

Shiri Markin

Regarding Roger Farson's concept of Active Listening, he mentioned that, "When people are listened to sensitively, they tend to listen to themselves with more care and make clear exactly what they are feeling and thinking... Listening reduces the threat of having one's ideas criticized."

In my view, we've created a group that perfectly embodies this idea. I've noticed that I can express myself more effectively in an environment where people don't judge or rush me to speak quickly.

In an exercise where we had to stand in the room and position ourselves on a spectrum representing how good listeners we think we are, I stood in the middle. I believe that I can be a very good listener at times, but I also acknowledge that there are times when I can be judgmental or impatient. The atmosphere we've fostered in our group is the best example of Roger's concept. In just two sessions, I've become a better listener, largely because I felt that people were genuinely listening to me without being judgmental. This had an immediate impact on me.

During a specific exercise involving three people - one listener, one talker, and one observer - I noticed that I struggled to ask insightful questions that delved beyond the surface. I often found myself trying to collect all the information about the speaker's story. One of the key takeaways from this exercise was the feedback from the observer. She mentioned that there were times in the conversation when I could have probed deeper into the speaker's feelings or motivations, especially when they seemed very passionate about the topic.

Additionally, in line with Roger's advice, he recommended trying to be tolerant and understanding of actions that differ from our own beliefs on how one should act. He encouraged us to free ourselves from the need to influence or direct others onto our own paths. I find this concept very meaningful, and I believe that one of the main reasons I often feel unheard is when I speak to people who don't practice active listening and instead try to push their own ideas or perspectives onto me.

I also find very interesting the coaching example, which I try to use on myself since - to understand better the person who with me even if we are in a conflict.

Celina Martinez

After the last class, I feel like I am much more aware of how people comunicate and with which people it is easy for me to communicate and with which it is more of a challenge. This highly depends on how close I already am with this person and in what kind of relation we are, but it also depends on how seen/heard I feel of this person or how interested I am in this individual. I also catch myself, trying to listen more actively to the people around me, but I feel it is much harder to apply active listening in real life, than inside the artificial environment of the course, without feeling too intrusive or pushy towards the other person. So it is challenging to find a balance between casual/fun conversation and active listening, because in my experience, when you listen actively to a person, most of the times it develops into a more serious conversation.

Nevertheless I also feel like the people around me respond positively when I try to actively take more time to listen to them. On the other hand, because I feel like I am more aware now, sometimes I feel more frustrated when I realize that people don't listen and I am yet not always at the point of communicating how I feel or what I would wish for in these kind of situations.

Hannah Noelle Reese

My reaction to our first block of classes for this course would be best described as intrigued. I decided to take this course because I needed the credits at my home university, and I did not put a lot of thought into what it might be like. My expectation is that it would be similar to communications courses I had taken at my home university in the United States. Though the learning methods in this course are much different than those of courses at my home university, I find I like the structure of this course much better. I really have enjoyed the small group discussions and one-on-one interactions that we have had. Personally, I believe that this “hands on approach" is more beneficial for me, and that I retain more information when I am enacting what we are learning rather than just taking notes on a lecture.

               My other expectation is that the class would be about learning to communicate better with other people. This course has exceeded my expectations in this area. Often in other communications courses that I have taken, there has been more emphasis on just being able to stand in front of a group and talk or present information. This course I find much more interesting because it explains what methods I can use in order to have a better conversation with someone else. I really enjoy the way that this course uses Carl Rogers' theories to break down the different parts of communication like congruence, empathy and acceptance. This makes it easier to learn for me because it makes communication feel like more of a science than just something you have to be talented at to be successful.

Dana Takenova

When I saw this course in the course catalogue I hesitated a few days before registration because I knew that communication is not my strong side. Before the first meeting I was a little bit nervous but mostly exited to start this new class. I didn't have any expectations or fears, I'm really glad that finally decided to enroll. I like the lecturer's methods of teaching. Also, the classmates are cool, thank you all for participating and creating this little safe space. It's interesting to hear your points of views, I like the discussions we have after every activity.

After the first block I want to read something from Carl Rogers myself in order to gain more knowledge and theory about human communication. I liked all of the practice exercises that we had and look forward to the next lesson. Thank you for this great course!

Gema Vidagany Viel

At first I didn't know what to expect from this course. However, once I entered the first class I noticed something. This wasn't going to be a course like the rest. A thing that impacted me instantly after starting is that we were all sitting in a circle, like equals. That kind of created a safer space, where, at first, I felt a bit out of place, like everything was a bit strange. But, little by little, that strangeness disappeared and I felt a bit more at ease, like I was really involved in the class.

I feel like this is a course where every thought counts, every idea could be valid and where everyone has come to learn a bit more about themselves. Because at the end of the day, this course will only teach us want we want it to teach us. If we thought that we were already the best listeners and speakers that we could be we wouldn't be taking this course. However, our desire to keep learning about things that we really do use in our daily lives makes this learning experience possible.

Overall, I think that this block was a really good introduction into what we are yet to experience during the next weeks. More than anything, I hope to learn and practice as much as this last week. I have still a long way to go to perfect my person centered communications, and I would love for the next blocks to be as engaging as this last one so that I can keep improving this life skills.