Observations - Admission/Application Essay Example

Observations This paper will discuss about two interpersonal relationships which one observed in the campus canteen. The first situation (A) observed is between a girl and her boyfriend who seem to be having a sweet moment together. The second situation (B) observed is between two classmates, a girl and a boy, who were discussing about the examination which they just took. In the situation A, one observes an aspect of proxemics which is the use of personal territory. It was observed that the couple had an intimate space between them, that is, they are seated beside each other, approximately a foot between them.

They were seated so closely together and were whispering sweet nothings to each other. The boy was looking so intently at his girlfriend and the girl seems to enjoy the attention given to her. The kinesic behaviors that they exhibited include one of touching, kissing and hugging. The girl would often smile after the boy would lavish her with comments expressing how beautiful she was. Although, there were verbal exchanges of communication with each other, it was often accompanied by gestures such as holding hands or touching the girl’s hair or face.

The girl would sometimes lean on the shoulder of the boy and the boy would complement this by leaning on the head of the girl. There were times when the girl would twinkle her eyes as if flirting with the boy. The school canteen did not have much impact on the way the couple was communicating because they seem to be oblivious to the crowd in the canteen. It was as if they were the only people in the canteen; thus, they were freely expressing their love for each other through their gestures and facial expressions.

There was what one may call a “public display of affection” towards each other. In the situation B, in terms of personal territory, the girl and the boy were seated across each other with a three feet square table between them. They were discussing about the Algebra examination which they just took. They were both disappointed with how they answered the test. The boy said that the test was so hard and the girl answered by just nodding her head. She was not even looking at the boy because she was busy texting on her mobile phone.

The boy was hitting his fist on the table. The girl told the boy not to think about it anymore but while she was saying that her head was bent because she was reading a text from her mobile phone. There was not much display of emotion on the part of the girl. She does not seem to care about the reaction of the boy about the test. The boy asked her if she thinks she will pass the examination, the girl looked up at the boy and simply shook her head. Situations A & B were almost like opposites.

In situation A, one observes that both the boy and girl were so attentive to each other; however, in situation B, the boy and the girl were together but were not effectively communicating with each other. There was very little eye contact in situation B. Both situations showed the use of kinesic behavior as shown by their use of bodily movements. In the aspect of personal territory, situations A & B differed because in situation A, the boy and the girl had intimate space between them while the boy and girl in situation B had a personal space between them.

Between the two situations, A demonstrated a successful interpersonal communication. Situation B could have demonstrated a better interpersonal communication if the girl was more attentive to the boy. Instead of texting or using her mobile phone while talking with the boy, she could have maintained eye contact with him to show that she was interested in what he was saying. From the observations made, one realized that one uses kinesic and proxemic behaviors in communicating with other people.

In one’s own communication experiences, eye contact and gestures are used sometimes to emphasize one’s point. Facial expressions are also used to call one’s attention. A negative point which one practices is texting while talking with somebody. One hopes to minimize or completely eliminate this to be able to communicate more effectively.