I agree with this post completely. First day of class is not as exciting as it used to be; no one tries to meet new people or talk to the person next to them. As difficult as it is maintain a social life as CPE, I feel like there are many opportunities to meet new people with similar interests, such as in school clubs or sporting events. I think effort is simply needed to meet new people.
Speaking up in class is entirely a different issue, I believe the main reason for no one wanting to speak up is because they are intimidated by public speaking. I know its a small class of 30 people, but I would nevertheless consider speaking up in class as public speaking.One way to fix this issue would be to make public speaking class part of our curriculum. Not only will this help in the short term, but it will be very useful on the job.
Well, its either my reason above, or no one knows the answer to the professors question.