A not so short story :-)
The beginning
Hmmm ... There’s no clear moment when I first appreciated communication, though it may have begun with my love for listening to stories and discussing about UFOs in high school. A memorable realization came years later when a former university classmate pointed out how much I enjoyed sharing opinions and discussing during my time as a student.
A vestige from the past
Today, I found a trace of 'communication' from 2000: three and a half pages describing my first time leaving the country to start a PhD in Ireland (Note: the journey began with a coach from Cluj to Budapest for the flight). Reading it brought both tears and laughter. Here's a snippet:
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Afara e frig și ne bucurăm că ne-am îmbrăcat gros. Ne-am așezat în față [în autocar] și ne simțim privilegiați. E bine. Pornim și, numai acum, realizăm că atunci când autocarul merge, parcă am fi doar noi și șoseaua. Pasagerii din spate nu apar decât la opriri, ca și cum cineva i-ar teleporta la fiecare oprire. |
New perspectives from sharing drawings
When I showed my drawings and/or paintings to others or gifted them, I occasionally received genuinely surprising feedback. This experience taught me how insightful it can be to learn about others' perspectives—something I now express as:
Seeing the world through others' eyes
Defining terms
Since 2022, I began to communicate more and engage in long and deep conversations with others, and realized that effective dialogue requires 'calibrating'—like setting up a printer—with the other person. This involves defining terms to ensure we're on the same page.
Thus, I began exploring the concept of communication after a 'stranger' at a nearby table in a restaurant overheard me enthusiastically discussing my research paper, 'A comparison of ...', with a group of friends. He asked whether I could help him with ... communication. I viewed it as a challenge and eagerly immersed myself in studying the concept.
In 2022, I also sought to explore concepts such as creativity, teamwork, research, and perspective.
In the first semester of 2023-2024, for the optional course 'Adaptive Web Design,' I set a personal objective: to define the concept of design. This investigation was conducted in collaboration with a colleague and the students. In the second semester, we explored the meaning of art with a different group of students.