1. Description

As a foreign student on the course of MSc at UWE, my first group members project was a presentation about the topic "Evaluating the global context". So, that was the first time of mine to work in a international team and everything went well. In the same time, it was my first challenge as an international student to deal effectively with academic environment. Our team was required to serve the purpose of both the organization and the whole landscape. During such process, we were consisted with people who had a diverse cultural background and academic expertise. At the beginning, the discomforting novelty of the academic challenges and the cultural paradigm created initial barriers for me, and therefore the anxiety of presenting a comprehensive paper evolved. Moreover, having to face the prospect of working in collaboration with the team in the new educational program and environment made me face a different challenge. Although the challenges were difficult to tackle, we managed to convince ourselves that the best we could do was to use our combined resources and diversity in thought to showcase a unified presentation. During the whole process of our work, we extensively researched, held dialogues and went over the product until each of the members contributed and made a positive impact on the project. As I witnessed the different cultural variations in communication, and understanding of teaching styles, I learnt to be more receptive and flexible which are desirable qualities in a study abroad program. It was a well-coordinated effort that led to a successful presentation in which we demonstrated our understanding of global context and we turned ourselves into a team in which all members held mutual understanding and respect for one another.

2. Feelings

Being an I-thirt in the school of UWE has made me to have sentiments that were both filled with excitement and caution as the date of my first group presentation at UWE approached. I never experienced the time of talk in the fronts of the class and therefore I had no idea what to expect from the beginning and I felt lacking skill and confidence. To address that imposing a speaker in front of my mates in a strange academic environment involved a process of high level risking that was by the limitation of my communication abilities. Nevertheless, even though I had my initial concerns, I did not decide to stop and give my full power and support to the team.

It seemed very interesting and to some degree nervous going to work with people from completely different place. As an introvert, I would choose individual work rather than group assignments, which are plagued with feelings of the difficulty of starting conversations or being bold enough to state my opinion. Acclimatizing to the new atmosphere only added on to the feelings of being lost,

and I was trying to understand what I was expected to do and the adjusting within the group dynamics.

Although I desired those opportunities to be more outgoing as compared to my peers who were already doing so, I also looked forward to learning and growing through this new situation. I realized the necessity of getting rid of my comfort zone and approaching new challenges, even though the outcome could be dissatisfying. Since deep down I had my doubts, I still knew that I had to give my best to make more of this experience and improve my presentation and speaking abilities.

3. Evaluation

I was eagerly anticipating the presentation in a group, but then the task of introducing the topic very quickly I felt a burst of nervousness. Handling this role made me feel significantly more intense emotions about it, since I had little understanding of the techniques of public speaking even a year and a half ago. However, my fears become less text at the same time, I realized it was a great chance to self-develop and explore new perspectives.

I truly had to dig very deep to find the motivation to start this presentation but it really paid off in the next few steps. I could already feel my my nervousness taking over when I stood up to make a speech, resulting in the noticeable trembling in my voice. But as the pace and rhythm caught my nerve, I finally felt myself becoming the focus of everyone in class. It was a strenuous process, but at the end of the day, I learned from it and continued to reach the main goals in my speech.

I continually watched my team members take turns seamlessly dwelling on various topics, delivered in such a way that the divergent views were able to coexists in harmony. However, my first impression of myself was as one of team members and not as a part of the whole so I realized that teamwork was very important in order to achieve our cooperate goal. Each of us brought a different skill set as well as diverse view point to the project. Ultimately, it brought out the synergy of a collective might.

Having gone through this, I learned that I had conquered the fear of the open performance, and the ability to act as an individual within the team. I can confess that there were hardships attached but along the course, the enriched confidence and resilience always transcended the discomfort. The

appraisal served as another reason to not fear sticking to my feet and taking new chances as hard as they could be as means of self-improvement.

4. Analysis

Reviewing my work on the group presentation, I observed several issues of major sense and learned a lot from the process. First of all, the activity represented a real reflection on the team's ability to be effective as well as collaborative. In spite of the fact that I had some reservations and was not very good at speaking at the start, the messaging of the entire team was organically integrated and in line as a result of open communication and mutual support. Every member's individual factors alongside his inputs made out the victory of the project as the team mix was a great sign of taking advantage of diversity within a team.

Moreover, the experience shaped and grew those core - human - skills that significantly helped me to communicate, adapt and stay resilient. Getting out of my comfort zone and in fact participating with certain task in this presentation helped me develop my confidence in me to express what I have as a professional. I also had to face the public speaking challenges and the team and group working tasks which had positive influence and I gained valuable skills to successfully compete in my future academic and organizational life.

Moreover, the event gave me the chance to learn about myself. Through this knowledge, I gained awareness of my strengths and opportunities for improvement. Going through the first months I had my eyes on doubting and communication skills, but when I became persistent in my studies, I succeeded to fight these weaknesses and I became an essential member of the group. I arrived at this conclusion that became the driving force behind my journey of personal growth in which I am looking forward to constantly discovering additional opportunities for self-improvement.

5. Conclusion

In the last part, the group presentation which was part of the MSt program at UWE was a valuable learning chance that enabled me to graft and fine tune a bunch of academic and social skills. The beginning of the journey was full of the familiar fear and negative thoughts, and that didn't lasted long since at the end of the experience I felt stronger and much more resilient. The shared project exploration demonstrated that to speed up work and achieve mutual goals, the best strategy is by

using teamwork and communication. In addition to this, I have overcome public speaking as a fear and learned to work within a diverse team of students which I believe are most helpful ever for my future academic and professional life.

The event made me realize how having the mindset of shifting out of my comfort zone is the key to take challenges as opportunities of progress a higher level. In addition to being supportive, it also gladly offered me with the thorough understanding of my strong points as well as potential areas to improve; I got the opportunity to continue gaining such knowledge each day that I leave college by searching for more development and room for self-improvements. Therefore, from now on, I will focus on the continuing self-improvement and at the same time on the career advancement based on my previous lessons learned and experiences. Actually, the preparation of this group project served not only academic purpose but also had personal meaning for me and left the ground work for my further development and accomplishment.

6. Action Plan

I have described an action plan that I will use to improve on weak points that were highlighted by the group presentation and increase my strengths in academics as well as enhancing my interpersonal skill. Primarily, the development of my interpersonal abilities shall be the core focus through the regular exercise and involvement in academic/non-academic endeavors. This encompasses committing to look beyond my comfort zone by actively seeking every occasion for public speaking, whether opening a presentation, running a workshop, or attending a seminar. This, in turn, will make me ready to confidentially and fluently speak my mind.

I am aware of the weight attached to the healing power of a diversified team that is welcoming of everyone. With this aim, I will participate in different community activities and leaderboards, and I will also interact with people from different backgrounds, both within and outside the college. Through branching out and gaining other perspectives, together with various approaches that I will adopt, I hope to become more adaptable and gain the intercultural competence which are necessary nowadays, being the skills for dealing with the contemporary connectedness.

The pursuit of self-reflection and continuous learning must necessarily occupy a prominent place on the road to both of these aspects of personal development. What needs to be explored, here, is what kind of experiences I have had, how did I identify the weak points, and what resources and supports should be given for me to address them correctly. Both self-study, mentorship, and

professional development programming speak to me about that I'm willing to invest heavily in my growth and explands my skillset.

Alongside that, I realize that setting the goals and milestones to assess my progress and keep me on toes is a key component of the process. SMART goals will enable me to stay in line with my long-term intentions and therefore to avoid such an abstract phenomenon as abstract progress.