Andrea Martinez Blog Post

I’m in group 2 and in our presentation, we covered the nature of groups. At first glance, I didn’t fully understand the importance of groups in society. The concept of groups is so much deeper than just the people you hang out with. There are all types of groups with different goals and purposes. When I think of the groups around me the main one that comes to mind is my family. I learned that my family is mostly pluralistic; we always focus on communication and try to solve our issues cordially or without escalating into a heavy argument. It was not always this way, my grandparents are an older generation, and they were raised upon the belief that you should sweep any strong emotion under the rug. To this day, there are still issues from the past that have been left unsolved and although some of my family members may not speak about it, you can tell there are some wounds still there. However, as the younger generation in my family, we have done an excellent job of making sure that history doesn’t repeat itself. The next big group in my life would be my social group. Most of my friends I’ve picked up throughout my life and they’re people that I have long-term friendships with. However, I do not keep friends simply because they’ve been with me my whole life. People change, especially when you’re as young as I am and there’s no telling what will happen. I’ve had to stop being friends with people that I just don’t connect with as much anymore, and that’s completely normal. The last main group in my life would be my interest group. These past two years I’ve picked up a completely new hobby that makes me happy. I started taking sewing classes and once a week I meet up with a group of girls who also share my interest. Our instructor is this nice Hispanic lady who pretty much teaches us how to make new things out of fabric. Being in the same room as these girls every week is fun because it feels like we’re all there for the same reason and there’s no judgment. The chapter helped me fully grasp an idea about the foundation of groups and how they impact individuals such as myself. I acknowledge these group dynamics now and I can see the importance of community.  

Next, Group 1 spoke about intercultural communication which is in chapter 3. Something that stuck out to me was when they talked about ethnicity, and they mentioned how many immigrants choose to live near people of their home country or people who speak the same language as them even after learning English. I found myself identifying with this because me and my family immigrated to the U.S. when I was 7. We left Honduras and moved to Miami which is not surprising considering all the other immigrants that also live here. However, that is probably what I love most about Miami. Even after learning English, I don’t see myself moving to a different city because of how much I love the culture here. In Miami, it’s not weird to listen to Spanish music or eat Hispanic foods, if anything it’s almost integrated into the Miami culture. I love it when it is the weekend, and I can hear my neighbors blasting salsa music while hosting a party, it reminds me of Honduras. Another topic Group 1 mentioned while talking about intercultural communication is the age difference between generations. I found that highly interesting because I hadn’t really thought about it being intercultural until now. I do find that talking to the older generations can lead to miscommunication because of how differently they were raised by us. When I was younger, I had a lot of arguments with my dad and most of them stemmed from us not understanding each other’s perspectives. Over time, I focused on researching emotional intelligence, and it was through there that I sparked more compassion towards my dad. I think we both just realized we were tired of arguing all the time and decided it was time to communicate better. I always felt like my dad was too judgmental and it wasn’t until now that I understood it was probably because my dad had a rough childhood and everything he did was judged by my grandfather. Now, my relationship with my dad is way better and I don’t feel like he judges me too harshly. Just like he was able to work on himself, I was too, and now we communicate at a better level.  

Lastly, group 3 did their presentation about leadership and problem-solving. Leadership and problem-solving often go hand in hand. Effective leaders are skilled at addressing challenges and finding solutions. I really liked how for one of the examples used by group 3 they showed a video of ants working together to carry leaves and food back to the colony. In the video, they find a problem: a giant leaf is in the middle of their path, the ants soon panic, but another ant steps up to the leadership role and tells them to go around the leaf. I think it’s good that group 3 reminded us of the significance of leadership because it’s something that animals also use. Bees are also a great example because they’re so well organized and in sync, it’s all because they follow the queen bee. A beehive isn’t successful without a queen, but it’s also important to remember to be a good leader. If the bees don’t like their queen, they kill her. It’s a brutal fact but it’s true. Team members should be encouraged to express their opinions and a good leader will hear them out and provide input. I also found it great how Group 3 spoke about meetings and provided guidelines on things to do before, during, and after a meeting. This teaches us how to make sure our thoughts are well expressed and ensures we get the best out of the meeting.