Pay It Forward

After watching Pay It Forward, it was easy to parallel elements from the movie to communication in general. Similarities between the cycle of paying it forward and communication can be easily discussed through all of the definitions of communication. For the purpose of this paper, I will link one of the oldest definitions of communication and paying to forward, to show the parallelism. The ancient definition of communication defines communication as: the act of mutual giving and receiving. This act of mutual giving and receiving is very apparent in the story told in the movie.

In order to communicate it is necessary for both people to, be willing to receive information and furthermore then be willing and able to give information, which is what was necessary for the project Trevor created in the movie. The process is not as quite as simplistic as it may seem. There's a lot that goes into giving a gift, along with communicating. Before doing either the person who is giving the gift or giving the message must first take a number of things into consideration. First, what will you give that person? You must take into consideration their personality, their taste, what types of gifts they like, and if they even like to receive gifts. You must also consider these things before communicating, the message must be altered to suit the personality and tastes of that person, and finally you must consider if they like communicating about whatever topic you are communicating about. After you decide that the person is willing to receive your gift or the topic you are trying to communicate you must then decide how that person likes their gifts packaged. There are a number of ways to give a message when communicating or to give an act...

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... if they're bad- to change and they kinda give up and when they do, everybody loses."

As a society we must be willing to be different and change things that we see as bad. I have no idea on what the effects of my small act was on the incoming freshman girl, but the feeling it gave me was completely worth it. Similar to communicating each of us must be willing to both give and receive messages and learn how to give and receive them in effective manners that suits each situation and person. Like in the movie where the littlest act of kindness makes a difference in people's lives, even the littlest acts of consideration during the communication process make a huge difference in the conversation. Most important through my Pay It Forward, I developed a possible friendship with the girl in which I helped, as we exchanged phone numbers before parting that day.