When we initially met with our contact, Sabine, at Our House, she advised us to be as creative as we wanted to in addressing the shelter renovations. That being said, we were all extremely grateful for the flexibility, but we were also faced with a challenge because the project could go in all kinds of directions. As a Political Science major, I am not as well-versed in rhetoric as many of my peers, so addressing the rhetorical situation while simultaneously utilizing design technology, seemed like a pretty scary concept. That being said, I opted to address the building codes and emergency regulations that Our House would need to consider when they renovate this year. I researched fire and construction codes and compiled the most important ones for Our House to consider into an interoffice memo. My speech presentation was then based off of the guidelines of the memo, as well as public health considerations such as disease eradication.

Although I was extremely nervous to give the speech, I have gotten to know the mission of Our House over the past couple of weeks through discussions with Sabine as well as their partnership with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (where I work), so I knew that a relaxed, friendly speech would get farther than a stiff, memorized presentation. The days prior to my speech, I rehearsed off of an outline and with my presentation slides, but I never wrote a draft of my speech, which worked to my benefit, as I had to really know my topic, rather than just read off of my slides. However, I think that the greatest strength of my presentation was that it was a part of a single presentation with my group. In utilizing that format, we were each able to address issues that we were passionate about or interested in. I felt that each group member was well-prepared and professional. After giving our presentation together, I was able to better understand the entirety of our service learning project, and going forward, we will collaborate even more with one another to create a cohesive packet of deliverables.