Ariel Sprague, Neumann Chapter Member, Class of 2027

I practiced active listening  with my personal friend who was stressed after her long work day. Honestly, it was way harder than I thought it would be.

Usually when someone’s complaining, my brain immediately goes into fix-it mode. I want to jump in with advice or say, "Oh yeah, I get it, last week I had to deal with..." But this time I literally had to force myself to just not say anything and just listen. Every time I wanted to interrupt, I just nodded instead. It felt kind of weird at first, but then I got used to it.

Focusing on listening intentionally, completely changed everything in the best way. Usually my friend and I talk pretty fast, but because I was letting my friend vent, the conversation slowed down and she was able to just empty her thoughts to me. 

At the end, my friend said, "Thanks for letting me vent, I feel so much better." She definitely felt supported by me and I didn’t even need to say anything to make the situation better other than just listen. It made me realize how much we usually just talk over each other without even noticing.