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NAME:
Deb B. Wilson
SCHOOL:
Southwest Junior High School
CLASS:
Oral Communication
SCHOOL PHONE:
479.750.8849
Until the age of 12, I attended the smallest school Arkansas and probably
the smallest in the United States: Snowball. I was the only one in the
first grade; there were 5 of us in grades 1-3 and 32 in grades 1-12. Those
early years convinced me that all students can achieve and have something to
contribute to the class.
One day, my 1st-3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Martin, asked me to work with a
student who was having trouble understanding syllables. The gal
thought "cowboy" had four syllables. The funny part was that the way we
Hillbillies pronounced it, it did: "ca-yuh-bo-wee." I worked with her all
morning but by the time recess was over, she could sing and stomp her foot
to the "Cow-Boy" Song. Mrs. Martin hugged us both and said, "Why Deborah, I
do believe you are a BORN teacher," I stuck my chest out and replied, "Yes,
Ma'am. I am." That, as they say, was that. I believed in Mrs. Martin so
much that I trusted what she saw in me, even though I could not see it in
myself and certainly not in my circumstances. College seemed as far out of
my reach as the moon.
Here I am, three degrees later, wearing a rhinestone pin with
matching earrings every day to honor her memory. Nadine Martin is still who
I want to be when I grow up. In the same way I remember a teacher who
changed my life because she believed in me, I hope you will remember me as
someone who encouraged you to let your little light shine!
"We won't get anywhere if we don't get there together."
Making speeches is to communication what being a podiatrist is to medicine:
just one piece of the larger picture! We'll study interpersonal and small
group communication, conflict management, gender differences in
communication styles and cross-cultural communication. You'll leave Oral
Comm class having gained a better understanding of yourself as a
communicator.
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