The author believes that communication courses, especially those that require mastery of skills and behaviors, should be embedded with a sensitivity to culture and communication apprehension. Her reflections here are designed to support the critical need to develop curriculum options that address students' anxieties and speaking English as a second language. In this article, she states that communication-trained professionals need to exert their expertise to assist college students and to reach out to high school populations to manage apprehension and to improve overall oral communication competence. As their borders become more permeable and fluid with both migration and globalization, the democratization of education means the time is ripe to address the needs of all their learners, not just the privileged few--the white, the wealthy, and the native-born speaker. (Contains 2 tables and 1 figure.)