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 Project Abstract:

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My capstone is a mini-exhibit on cesarean sections at the College of Physicians. I focused on the history and growth of the cesarean sections and how it has modified with the changing time periods and health regulations. The mini-exhibit is place on the lower level floor of the museum where the uteruses are. It will have a timeline highlighting the changes of the cesarean sections and how it has progressed to this day. Along with the timeline, there is a sculpted cesarean section uterus. The goal of this project is to develop a deeper understanding on childbirth and its change throughout history, specifically cesarean sections.

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Process Paper:

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My capstone is a mini-exhibit on cesarean sections at the College of Physicians. I focused on the history and growth of the cesarean sections and how it has modified with the changing time periods and health regulations. The mini-exhibit is place on the lower level floor of the museum where the uteruses are. It will have a timeline highlighting the changes of the cesarean sections and how it has progressed to this day. Along with the timeline, there is a sculpted cesarean section uterus.

I chose to do this project because throughout my high school career, I have been interested in pursing nurse-midwifery and expanding my knowledge in women’s health. I also wanted to expand my knowledge of the museum and expand the knowledge of those who visit the museum through my mini-exhibit. This will ensure that I am teaching at least one person a day through the museum.

Because of my four-year relationship with the College of Physicians, I was able to work with them to incorporate more information about the impact of women’s health and the changes it has gone through. Since it was at the museum, I had to make sure that I followed both the museum regulations while incorporating the core values of Science Leadership Academy. The Museum regulations required that I kept my work consistent with the surrounding specimens and that all of my information was verified.

When it came to incorporating Science Leadership Academy’s core values, the inquiry focused around the myths, regulations, and information on cesarean sections. I was able to use the inquiry behind the topic of birth and share it with the museum visitors through the timeline, sculpture, and diagrams. For research, I researched the history of cesarean sections and pulled out key points of the changes that took place as time progressed. I also researched some procedures and tips on how to make the uteruses of a cesarean section birth and a vaginal birth. My project collaborated with my mentors at the College of Physicians and the teachers at Science Leadership Academy. As for presentation, I want to present my capstone to the Science Leadership Academy community and the Museum visitors and community. I hope to invite people who are interested in health on an opening night event at the museum and allow them to tour the museum and be the first to see my mini exhibit. Throughout this process, I have reflected on the classes that I have taken inside and outside of Science Leadership Academy throughout my high school career.

During the first quarter, I collaborated with the Museum and my doula-training groups. Together, we came up with a plan to have a cesarean section theme and have timeline, sculpture, and some museum specimens. I spent the first quarter finding out the limits and regulations that I had. During the second quarter, I focused on my exhibit and creating the sculptures and timeline. During the third quarter, I was faced with some health issues and could not work on my capstone. I think that was a big obstacle that I had to overcome but with time, I overcame it and was able to start working on my capstone. Towards the end of third quarter, everything started coming together and my Museum mentors and I worked together to plan, illustrate, and check over my capstone as the Museum’s very own mini-exhibit.

In the end, my capstone was completed and I am most proud of the turnout of the cesarean section sculpture because it not only teaches people but it incorporates all that I have learned throughout my high school career. From this whole capstone process, I learned that mini-exhibits take a lot of time and work to complete and I learned the change in cesarean sections throughout history. If I could do this capstone all over again, I would allow more time for my sculpture and timeline to come together. I think that Science Leadership Academy is a better place because I am a student that shows that I can pull together all of the programs that I have done and reflect on them through my projects and show other student that they can also reflect on other outside of school programs through their capstone.

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Capstone Presentation: Mini-Exhibit 

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Capstone Timeline 

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The History of the Cesarean Section

1543: Andreas Vesalius created a detailed description of the female reproductive organ presented in De Corporis Humani Fabrica.

1598: Jacques Guillimeau’s book on midwifery introduced the term “section”.

Early 1600s: The Chamberlen Clan in England introduced obstetrical forceps to aid the extraction of the fetus.

1787 – 1876: An estimate states that not a single woman survived a cesarean section in Paris. Surgeons mistakenly believed that the muscles of the uterus would contract and close spontaneously.

Late 1800s: Better access to human cadavers lead to a better understanding and preparation to the surgical processes.

1876: Eduardo Porro, an Italian professor, advocated for hysterectomy (the removal of every part of the uterus) after a cesarean section. This prevented many infections and hemorrhaging.

1882: Max Saumlnger made such a strong case for uterine sutures that surgeons started to change their practice.

1880 – 1925: Obstetricians experimented with transverse incisions in the lower segment of the uterus and this procedure reduced the risk of infection and uterine rupture.

1894: The first cesarean section was successfully performed in the United States.

1928: Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin. Penicillin is an antibiotic that is used to treat many types of infections.

1938: Almost half of the births in the United Sates were taking place in hospitals.

1940: Penicillin was purified as a drug and because readily available and dramatically reduced the death of mothers and their newborns during birth. This also accelerated the trend of medically managed pregnancy and childbirth. The experience of giving birth became less frightening.

Late 1940s – Early 1950s: Hormonal pregnancy tests were taking place to confirm fetal existence. Ultrasounds because highly important when looking at fetal development.

1955: 95% of births were taking place in hospitals.

1970: The cesarean section birth rate was about 5%.

Early 1970s: Heart monitors lead to fetal monitoring which allowed doctors to track the fetal heart rate and indicated any signs of distress.

1980 – 1985: The ability to track the fetal heart rate and indicate any sign of distress caused a huge increase in cesarean sections.

Present: 1 in 7 women experience complications during labor and delivery due to past conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, pelvic abnormalities, hypertension, and infectious diseases. Cesarean sections have become the go-to procedure when these complications take place.

2011: 31.3% of births in the United States were cesarean section births.

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Works Cited:

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Black, Naima. "Maternity Care Coalition: Doula Training 20 Week Classes." MCC Doula

Training. Doulas of North America. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. . Address.

This source is a class that I have been attending since the start of my Senior year. It is a North Philadelphia community based program for maternity and pregnancy aid. I am currently training to be a Certified Doula for mothers-to-be who cannot afford it. I selected this source because it has given me a lot of hands on information on the pros and cons of choosing a certain birth plan. I have also been prepared to talk to mothers-to-be about all of the different birth processes that can take place that are more beneficial to the mother and the baby instead of her original plan. With the information that I have learned from this program, I have seen graphic videos of both a vaginal birth and cesarean section birth and the steps leading up to the births. One limitation of this source is that I have seen the videos of what occurs outside of the body instead of the inside of the baby.

"Cesarean Birth." UVA Health. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia, 2014.

Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

<http://uvahealth.com/services/womens-health/conditions-treatments/14798>.

I came across this source during a Google search. I am able to use this source for when I am drawing my diagram of both fetuses in the womb that are taken out vaginally and through cesarean section. I select this source for the diagram and the sketch of my sculpture for the cesarean section birth because of the incorporation of the womb, the positioning of the baby, and the doctor’s involvement in this process. I found this sources useful because I was able to use this to lay down a foundation of my sculpture of the cesarean section birth. One limitation of this source is that it does not label any of the body parts in the womb which makes it harder to research and incorporate into the sculpture and drawing due to the color of the womb.

"Children's Hospital of Wisconsin." Anatomy: Fetus in Utero. Children's Hospital of

Wisconsin, 2013. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

<http://www.chw.org/display/PPF/DocID/22440/router.asp>.

I choose to use this source because of the diagram, definition, and discreet colors that were portrayed in this source. I was able to base a large part of my sketch of my sculpture of a vaginal birth uterus. I selected this source because of its colors, organization, and the information that was offer. This source has the fetus in the womb and showed that parts the fetus passes to enter the birth canal and work its way out of the mother’s body. I was also able to base my whole vaginal birth idea around this one diagram while still having the flexibility of being able to add more to the womb and emphasize each of the body parts through the different colors. One limitation to this source is that it is very general and shows a very basic diagram. I would have liked to see more detail and description with the birth process and birth canal.

Epstein, Randi Hutter. Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to

the Sperm Bank. New York: W.W. Norton, 2010. Print.

This source is a book that was lended to me from the Program Director at the Mütter Museum. I was able to read different sections of the book that focused around the history of cesarean sections. I was able to read about the cesarean section birth through out history and all of the myths that surrounded the topic. I selected this source because I will be incorporating a timeline on the history of cesarean sections into the mini exhibit. This will show the history of cesarean sections throughout the world all in one place. This will be very helpful because there are a lot of mixed ideas of this topic. One very big limitation that I have seen from this source is that there aren’t a lot of specific dates for the important events that have happened in the past.

"How to Make Cernit Sculpt Doll." How to Make Cernit Sculpt

Doll：サーニット粘土でOOAK Baby - YouTube. Youtube, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

<https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/jwjCF2h95Lk?autohide=1&theme=lig

ht&hd=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&wmode=transpa

rent&autoplay=1>.

This was a video that I stumbled upon while research a “Do-It-Yourself” sculpting guide to newborn babies. This is a very helpful source because it is tutorial on how to make a hollow newborn head that has a detailed process on how to mold the clay and shape it in a way that looks like a newborn. I selected this source because it has helped me see that I will have to work a lot on the face of the baby and depict the important facial expressions of both a vaginal birth newborn and cesarean section newborn. One limitation to this source is that I think that I will not have the materials to make the same molds and movements that the person in the video did.

Interview with Peter Morgan, The Clay Studio, Philadelphia, PA. 29 Jan. 2014.

Peter Morgan is my instructor at the Clay Studio. I was able to bring in my sketches for the wombs and the fetuses. I started working on the bottom of the wombs and I was able to talk to him about sculpting the fetuses and still keeping them hollow so they have enough time to dry and not blow up in the kiln. This also leads to the problem of a collapsed baby if the clay at the top becomes too heavy. He suggested that I not only make sketches but use some clay to sculpt a smaller sculpture to figure out all of the kinks that happen. This will allow me to use the smaller figures as a back up and first draft instead of going into the sculpting process worrying what the problems might be. He was a helpful source of information because of his experience with clay. One limitation of this source is because he is not always around the Clay Studio.

Kennedy, Pam. "SCULPTING BABIES - Hand." Pinterest. N.p., Feb. 2013. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. <http://www.pinterest.com/pin/210543351302028941/>.

While searching for tutorials on sculpting a newborn baby’s body parts, I found this pictured tutorial of how to sculpt a baby’s hand. This is very helpful because I now know where to start and I can start comple all of the tutorial pictures and bring them into practice and see what I need to sculpt. While finding this picture tutorial on the hand, I also found another tutorial on how to sculpt a baby’s foot and thi will incorporate nicely into my baby because both critical parts of the body are from the same creator. One limitation from this source is that the creator does not show me how to sculpt the rest of the body which could call for some mistakes when trying to connect the baby’s body together.

Kochenour, Niel K. "Physiology of Normal Labor and Delivery: Part I and II." Human

Reproduction, Lectures:. U of U College of Medicine, 1997. Web. 29 Jan. 2014.

<http://library.med.utah.edu/kw/human_reprod/lectures/physiology_labor/>.

This source shows the steps and process of a cesarean section birth which is extremely helpful because this will allow me to understand all of the terms when it comes to talking about and presenting my research and information on my historical timeline on  cesarean section. This source also provides a very helpful diagram that shows the importance of why doctors have to make a lower incision and shows the impact of a  cesarean section on the fetus. It also talks about where and how the baby is taken out. One limitation to this source is that there aren’t any historical resources or research that comes from or with this source.

Long, Tony. "Jan. 14, 1794: First Successful Cesarean in U.S." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital,

14 Jan. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2014.

<http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/01/0114caesarean-first-us/>.

This source provides information about a mother that has the first cesarean section in the United States of America. It takes the readers through the process and mindset of the mother, the father, and the doctors involved. I can use this source to help me see the differences from the past cesarean sections compared to what is done today. This source can also point out some differences of the steps through the differences in the time periods. I selected this source because I thought that it would be important to focus on what has happen in the United States regarding cesarean sections. One limitation to this source is that there aren't any other resources offered to readers regarding the dates and events of cesarean section births.

Weiss, Robin E. "Cesarean Section Photos: Step-by-Step." About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth. About.com, 2014. Web. 29 Jan. 2014. <http://pregnancy.about.com/od/cesareansection/ss/cesarean_10.htm>.

This source allowed me to explore the steps of performing a cesarean section birth through descriptions and very gore-y pictures. This allowed me to factor in the incision length and see the where and how each person in the room (whether the nurse, doctor, family member, etc.) would affect the mother and the baby. I liked this source because I was able to see the steps and that gave me a foundation on the research I will be reading. One limitation to this source is that there aren't any other resources offered to readers that regarded the dates and events of cesarean section births.

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Ingredients:

1/2 of a pound of dried rice vermicelli

16 large shrimp

2 cup of Chinese bbq pork (Char Siu)

1 cup of chicken breast.

2 large eggs

1 large yellow onion

6 cloves garlic

1 1/2 handful of bean sprouts

1 stalk green onions

3 tbsp of mild yellow curry powder

1 slice of fresh ginger

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp garlic chili sauce or grounded red chili peppers

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp granulated white sugar

salt

Directions:

Vegetables:

Finely chop the green onions into long pieces.

Thinly slice the ginger.

Thinly slice the yellow onion.

Mince garlic.

Poultry/Seafood:

Peel and devein the shrimp.

Add salt to shrimp.

Then set aside.

Slice the chicken into small pieces.

Add salt to chicken.

Then set aside.

Lightly beat the eggs.

Then set aside.

Slice the Chinese BBQ pork (Char Siu) into very thin strips.

Put the Chinese BBQ pork (Char Siu) in a bowl.  

Then set aside.

Noodle Prepping:

Boil water.

In a larger bowl, add boiling water to the noodles until they are fully submersed. It should take about ten minutes for them to soften.

Then drain and set aside. 

Sauce:

In a small bowl, mix together the curry powder and sesame oil until it turns into a paste.

Then add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili paste, and sugar to the paste.

Then set aside. 

Wok-ing It:

Heat up the wok on high until it is hot.

Add the oil and coat the whole surface of the wok.

Add the shrimp to the heated wok and cook until it is pink on both sides. Don’t over cook it.

Add the chicken to the heated wok until cooked. Don’t over cook it.

Remove the shrimp and chicken or push the shrimp and chicken to one side of the wok.

Add the eggs and a pinch of salt to the bottom of the wok.

After the eggs are cooked, break them up into pieces with the spatula.

Push the eggs aside with the shrimp.

Add the ginger and the onions to the wok.

Add the garlic and the sauce to the wok. 

Mix everything together until everything is heated.

Add the Chinese BBD pork and the noodles.

Stir the ingredients until everything is cooked together. 

Add the bean sprouts and green onions.

Give it a few stirs and enjoy!

--- Last minute things:

Add salt if needed.

Analysis:

Processed:

1/2 of a pound of dried rice vermicelli

3 tbsp of mild yellow curry powder

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp garlic chili sauce or grounded red chili peppers

1 tsp granulated white sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp vegetable oil

salt

Whole Food:

16 large shrimp

2 cup of Chinese bbq pork (Char Siu)

1 cup of chicken breast.

1 large yellow onion

2 large eggs

6 cloves garlic

1 1/2 handful of bean sprouts

1 stalk green onions

1 slice of fresh ginger

I think that most of the ingredients came from Taiwan, Japan, Korea, the United States of America, and Hong Kong. The dried rice vermicelli traveled the farthest distance coming from Korea. The whole foods, sauces, spices are from the United States of America. All of the vegetables and meat were commercially grown.

Some social ramifications are focused around what we have learned about purchasing food items from certain Asian countries. My family member and I don’t buy anything that is a product of China or Hong Kong because their regulations are horrible and they are always having recalled items that are shipped to the United States of America but the recalled items are not announced. The recalled items are usually recalled on the Chinese broad casting channels but a lot of people in the United States of America don’t speak Cantonese or Mandarin.

My family is extremely lucky to have such a huge garden back yard in such a busy city. We grow pears, blue berries, raspberries, strawberries, chili peppers that range on every level of spicy, green onions, string beans, a wide variety Asian herbs, tomatoes, and bitter melon. When comparing the green onions from my garden to something that is commercially grown, we grow everything organically, with out any added chemicals. A commercially grown green onion is treated with a variety of herbicides and pesticides along with added nitrogen levels to the soil.

As for chili peppers, my families just grows them in direct sunlight and water them in the early morning and at night. When looking at the commercially grown chili pepper, chili peppers are grown in argo-ecosystems. To keep away cutworms, aphids, white flies, flower thrips, mites, and pepper weevils, the plants are spray with a chemical pesticide when the flowers start to bloom.

Overall, the meal costs about $15 and the companies and farmers profited from the food purchases. 

This unit has opened my eyes to both the smaller scale and bigger scale of our food system. When looking at the small scale of our food system, I have learned what to keep away from in a supermarket and how to navigate the supermarket. I have also learned to eat healthier and to look at the ingredients going into my food instead of just the name brand labels. Before this project, I would go out and buy the generic brand name items.  I am now I am more cautious and open to new things. I also avoid eating out and try to help my family eat healthier. I am

On a larger scale, I have learned that this country is so far into debt, not only the government but also the farmers, which makes it a to harder for a change in the right direction. When we watch parts of Food Inc, I saw that all of the larger brand names were taking advantage of consumers and farmers because of their financial situations. I also saw the unnecessary cruelty that the animals were put through. I think that the animals should be treated right and provided with a healthy and better life compared to what they are provided now. I have also learned that eating healthier is not always the easiest lifestyle for a typical family due to the expense they would they would have to pay and go to for healthier and organic whole foods.

This mainly showed the government response to the the oil spill and how they will supposedly “fix the situation.” There response includes lots of money being poured in from the federal government to the state and local governments. It also included some investigations into the causes of the disaster and the repercussions of the disaster. It also included details of the rescue of the workers on the oil rig by the US Coast Guard in which 126 people were saved.

This source was useful because it described responses by the government during and after the disaster. It also describes what each agency or a branch from a certain agency had did specifically to contain the spill and help the people who lived in the gulf area.

The information fits the research because it describes different responses by different section s of the federal government during and after the oil spill. 

This source shows BP’s response to the oil spill after they capped the well. They say they’re committed to helping the communities hurt by the oil spill and will give $4 billion to the next ten years. They also have a couple billion dollars set aside for claims by people who have damaged property, harsh living conditions, etc. They’re also doing research into the environmental impact and have done an internal investigation in which they’ve added 26 preventative measures to make sure a disaster like this doesn't happen again.

This source was useful because it depicts what the company is doing to try to fix the situation and make sure it won’t happen again. It’s also good to see what BP is doing to try to restructure their image as a company since they’re responsible for one of the worst disasters in history.

The information fits the research since it describes what the company is doing in response to the disaster.

Analysis:

Time and time again, there are new analyzations, theories, or thoughts that come from the writings of the poet, William Shakespeare. The play Hamlet is no different from all of his other writings of soliloquies, speeches, and ideas. And what makes this play shine out is that the ideas of having multiple meanings to the passages from this one play. A remarkable example of this can be seen in Hamlet’s speech, a soliloquy of Hamlet facing the idea of death or keeping the life of dishonesty that he currently had. In the speech, he talks to himself and compares the value of life and the value of an endless sleep. This part of the play shows another side of Hamlet that Shakespeare is slowly starting to reveal as the play winds down and prepares for the drama of the royal family of Denmark.

            “To die, to sleep;” (Line 63, Act 3, Scene 1) Here, Hamlet is debating life and death. He doesn’t know what to believe due to the fact that the people around him assume that he is crazy and are willing to reiterate to the King and Queen of Denmark every action and conversation Hamlet will have whether it is to directly them or whether it is not. He it would be like he is sleeping off his problems, worries, and ideas.  This one line builds the structure for what Hamlet is trying to portray. He shows that there is much more to death then meets thee eye. In line 64, act 3, scene1, Hamlet says: “To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;” going more in-depth with the thought of sleeping forever. He wants to highly consider it but then there is a draw back. Readers can see that Hamlet is highly considering the idea of death and peacefulness over his life. While Hamlet is debating on committing suicide or not, he soon realizes that there is a price for dying. The term: “there’s a rub” means that there is a price of death and that is that no one knows what comes after death.

            With that, Hamlet goes into the proposal of death and what the repayment of taking his life really means in the thought of line 65-66: “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,” As Hamlet says this,  he is slowly changing his mind from considering death to slowly moving back to the perks of living. He previously stated that he wanted to sleep but now states that he does not know what dreams will or will not come true in his never-ending sleep. He doesn’t even know if there is life after death on this earth. A modern day translation of this could be: “If I do die, what will happen to me? Where will I go after death and how will I go on with...anything? That is the only perk to living because I know there will be a tomorrow and I am living for today.”

            And with that, we see the more rational side of Hamlet come back to say: “Must give us pause: there's the respect…that makes calamity of so long life; For who would bear the whips and scorns of time… The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, The pangs of despised love, the law's delay, The insolence of office and the spurns

That patient merit of the unworthy takes,” (67-73) In regard to these lines, the mindset of Hamlet changes again because of his approach to appreciating life. When looking at all that he has been through, we can see that Hamlet has seen it all: his father’s ghost returning to seek revenge, a crooked king, deceitful friends, and the loss of his love’s heart and honesty.

            As Hamlet goes on to the amount of deceitfulness and negativity coming from his surroundings, he drifts back into a suicidal state of mind and see that maybe: “When he himself might his quietus make…With a bare bodkin? …Who would fardels bear,” (74-75) and that maybe a dagger would do more good than the amount of harm that has already taken place in his life. Now Hamlet is stuck between a rock and a hard place, “To grunt and sweat under a weary life,” (76). Going on, Hamlet sees that death leads to peacefulness “but that the dread of something after death… The undiscover'd country from whose bourn…No traveller returns, puzzles the will…And makes us rather bear those ills we have…Than fly to others that we know not of?” (77-83)

            In the most cautious and unstable state of mind, Hamlet shows that there are three sides to him, one that is afraid of death, one that will avenge his father’s wrongful death, and one that is willing to die for everything to end on his part. With that, readers can see that with the progression of the play there will always be at least one side of these three traits in him.

·       What surprised you most about this information?

Out of our whole project, what surprised me the most was how much of an impact the wars had on the different countries that were feuding. During WWI and WWII we saw the population increase for the United States and decrease for the other countries. Also, when the government put in their acts and laws to remove illegal immigrants, the population stayed very high. To me, I thought that there were two possible things that did and did not happen: The government did not take all of the illegal immigrants out so it did not have a big affect on our population or our country does not have as much illegal immigrants as we think. From the start of the 1940's to 2000, we see the immigrant population increase because the call for workers rose dramatically.

·        What seemed quite obvious about explaining this data set?

During the times there were wars that the U.S was apart of, we see that there is an increase due to the need of workers. We also see that in 1871-1921, there is an unsteady change in the immigration population. This is because there are a lot of push and pull factors in different parts of the world such as protests wars, jobs, and economic or crop growth/value.

·       Looking at the overall trend and incorporating what you know about the US presently, predict and defend the immigration trend for the next two decades.

In the next two decades, the immigration population will continue to grow in a steady rate from where is it right now due to the need for cheap labor, workers with out rights, and educational factors. Also, the United States offers a lot of things for their citizens and tries to protect them.

·       Describe how you made a decision on how to visually represent the information.

I anted to present my project in a presentation format because I knew that my group and I eventually had to present it. I chose to place the information in a list form and explain each push and pull factor as the presentation went it. In the beginning of our presentation, there is a push and pull factor chart that our presentation is based on. In all, I think that my group showed our information cleanly and I feel that we can explain everything clearly.

·       What parts of group work were challenging?

The part of the group work that was most challenging was adding the final touches to our project. For example, as in pictures, citations, and all of the other touched that comes with finalizing our project. Another thing that was challenging was getting all of the work together and typing it up.

·       What would you do differently if you had this project to do over?

I would change up the format and add more pictures to the presentation. Also, I would want to add more presentation. Overall, this was a fun project.

           Throughout the year, with both Copper Stream and Mr. Block, I have created many things that I thought I wasn’t capable of. When I look at both the History Class and English class, I can say that the things we did in here reminded me of kindergarten because the projects showed who we were and what level of creativity we are at. It also showed that we had no limits when it came to writing and Mr. Block just sat back helped us along the way. This whole year he guided through our projects but Mr. Block used a new sense of guiding….he never really told us the answer that we were so used to getting. I think that led me to all of my ideas because there was never really a limit. But I wasn’t always like that, I was always shy with my work, I think its really when I finished my descriptive piece, I saw that Mr. Block’s way of teaching. I was always scared to talk to him because he would change up my ideas but now I see that he has helped me finalize everything and anything from my papers to my podcasts to my ideas. Also, Copper Stream did a lot of collaboration work inside and outside of school so we were never cooped up into a room. We had freedom and learning mixed in together. There are three main things that I have learned about how I can tell my story, the different perspectives that are out there, and how the world isn’t always fair. All of these general understandings helped me become a better writer and helped me have a whole new point of view on how the world will see my work in the future.

With in the first week of school, we had to write our descriptive piece. We had no limit to what we could write about. The next day after writing our pieces, we gathered up into a circle and shared our story. That was when I realized that everyone has a story, it is who we are and the way we chose to tell it is always different. But in the end, it always defines us as people. I saw a whole new point of view on my class and the different individuals learning a long side me. The first project we did was the descriptive essay and we had many mini lessons leading up to the final piece. In this piece we had to write descriptively, using our senses and we had to make sure that the reader not only read our piece but also felt it. When it came time to writing, I felt that "all moments in life are important, but not all are special" (Revised Descriptive Essay Post). I felt as if I could describe at least one thing from each of the years that I was living, in detail but I didn’t know what to focus it on so I chose to write about my camera because it caught all of the emotions, actions, and moments from my past years. After that project, the language unit came next and I felt that I had a strong connection to this unit because my family speaks multiple languages and I act as if a translator. Until I wrote everything down, I didn’t realize how much I could help my family and what I am capable. Language has changed my life so much. When we were asked to talk about what language meant to us, I said: "I think that the language and the way you use it depends on how you grew up and self choices. Your speech is a part of your identity and your identity is what people will know once you have the power to speak. That's how I see it" (Worksheet Scene: Your Language Identity).

While growing up my parents would use words that weren’t real but I would say those words like they were real. "I’ve grown into those words thinking they were real and usable but they weren’t. They were only to the “fresh off the boat” people because that’s the slang they spoke" (Q2 Family Dictionary). In the end, "I struggled with my reflection because I had so much to say but there are so few words to describe it with. This is a feeling hat I can never describe. That's how amazing it is. I've learned that what I do is not necessarily a common thing and that putting it on paper makes me feel proud and happy of what I can do. Writing this autobiography was a blast" (Language Autobiography Reflection Sheet).

Language isn’t the only thing I learned in this class, I’ve learned that I can speak my mind in this class and discuss my ideas with others. Throughout the whole year, I had problems with sticking to one main idea. I would get a bazillion ideas and become sad when I couldn’t use them. During the Art in the Open unit, my group and I concluded that "We had so many ideas but we couldn’t portray it out correctly so we just had to drop them. It came to a point where the deadline was coming up and we had nothing" (Art in the Open Reflection). But when I finally got my ideas together, I had a work of art! An example of this is the podcast about my father’s journey and the boundaries he had to over come while making his way to America. "I tried my hardest trying to pull listeners into my dad's journey and life. I made sure he described everything" (Podcast Reflection Sheet).

During the whole year, my personal ideas have allowed me to impersonate, create, and be the person I probably would never be. We started off the year with the Spirituality Role Play unit. In this unit, we were given a role to research, answer questions too, and impersonate as we sat in a circle. I was given the role Karen Armstrong. It was the first time I got to act like some one I wasn’t. I always thought that role plays needed scripts, a stage, and actors…like Broadway but we didn’t. All we needed was our research and a big circle. For our next role play, I chose the role of King Louis the sixteenth. In this role, I had to act like a spoiled king. I often said during the role play: “All men are born equal to their estate. Nothing more, and a lot less. That's how it was when I was King and everything was fine. Also, if a man needs to be killed, then so be it…what does it have to do with me? I am living. I do not need to worry about any of the peasants. They barely do enough as it is” or I would be carefree and say: “I am royalty so don't worry…you can worship me as you please. People called me the wishy washy king because I satisfied neither the royalists nor the reformers.”

But my personal ideas didn’t stop there, the class and Mr. Block soon explored the Keystone Pipeline and how it affected everyone. We had to look in the point of view from a tiny fish to the big CEO man overseeing the blueprints. I chose to do three monologues…one was a girl that was saying good bye to her tree, the other person was an actor that was protesting a long the White House, and the last one was a conflicted worker building the pipeline in Canada. For this project, I had to keep an open mind to all of the point of views, Personally, I hated the idea of the pipeline so I wanted to focus on that but there are so many different point of views on hate like sadness, confliction, confusion, or anger. All of those things could apply. My first monologue had a girl named Janie talking to her tree, Bruce. Bruce was a tree that she grew up with and now that her family has chosen to move away from the pipeline, it meant Janie had to move away from Bruce. Janie starts to tell Bruce his expected future: "Everything will be gone but we’ll soon be gone before it" and "I tried to argue back saying we’re leaving you, our view of everything, and our memories" (Janie, Monologue #4). The next monologue was based off of the protesting in front of the White House about the Keystone Pipeline. I involved an actor into this scene because I wanted to shed a light that regular working class people aren’t the only ones with a say in what goes on. Many celebrities protest and stand up for their rights. Daryl Hannah, an actor, did that and that is why I placed her as a main character in my monologue. “With that one cry for change, the U.S Park Police zip-tied a nylon cuff restraint onto my writs and threw me into the back of the car and I was brought to the slammer“ (Daryl Hannah, Monologue #1). As I said above, I can be someone that I am in when I write. When writing “The Missing Chapter 26” to the book, Things Fall Apart, it was no different. I could say things like: “I am a man, a man of my tribe and family. But the man inside of me is now gone.”

                   Throughout most of the year, we had the honor to work with Kate McGrath. She helped us create a play with her creative ideas and different techniques of writing. At first, I didn’t know what I was going to write about…what struck out to me…I didn’t want to write about family problems, or friendship and their dramas...I just wanted to write something that no one would know about so I explored the websites that Mr. Block gave to us and crossed a video…”Heaven’s Border”. This video struck me at the heart because my family came from a different country with nothing, legally and it was already hard enough for them. I wanted to show people what others will do to pursue their dreams and I wanted people to try to understand the hardships people go through for freedom. In my play, I had three main characters, strangers that would come together to make a make-shift family. Together, they flee North Korea by entering China, Laos, Thailand, and then they must finally seek asylum in South Korea. The journey is not easy because of the abusive smugglers and heartless border officials. At the end of the journey, only two of the main characters make it out of the three that started the journey. During the whole play, I was the minds of all of the characters from the cruel smugglers to seven year old girl trying to change her life. I was everyone and anyone in my play. I would either say: “Nuna, nuna, wake up! We’re all going to die!” (Dong Dong) to a receptionist in North Korea: “Thank you. Respect the general! Long Live the Sun of the 21st CENTURY! - Kim Jong Il. FIGHTING FIGHTING!” One of the reasons I was so interested in the play is because I got to create everything and bring in all of the work and my creativity together. I worked day and night on the play, finding info and watching more videos…and when I finally understood how the officials could treat the defectors so badly, I wrote the last part of the play. I had the main character who was caught, shot, and beaten say: “There are guards watching me until I can walk again and when I can walk, I will have to wear this weird monitor thing around my leg so they can find me. I have to keep it hidden too. But when I am done this torture, I will get out and find you guys. My mom has money for an airplane ticket so I don’t have to revisit any of those places” (Ji Yong, Breaking Borders).

“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”

What does this proverb mean?

The hunter is the man. The lions are the animals that will never have their story told. The hunter will always be seen as the good guy because he is the winner. Only the stories of winners are told.

List an example to which you think this proverb applies too:

            I think this proverb applies to the story of Christopher Columbus. Although he helped discover America, there were already people on the land, the Native Americans. And Christopher Columbus went into America and slaughter, hurt, and raped the natives. 

“Love is like the rain. It comes out in a drizzle sometimes. Then it starts pouring and if you're not careful it will drown you.”

-       Edwidge Danticat, Breath, Eyes, Memory

This quote is beautiful. It speaks of how a mere crush can go spiraling out of control and then the crush turns into LOVE. I think that Danticat was trying to show people how love is and how love can change a person in so many ways, in the most different ways. She compares love to rain because rain is unpredictable. Rain can be very bipolar. A little bit of rain can leave you asking for more, like love. A lot can make you run around like a lunatic…like love. She says when dealing with love you have to be carefree.

(On this day, Mr. Block through an egg onto the floor and told us to write about the egg in the point of view through the chicken, floor, egg, chick, farmer, etc.)

            Extra! Extra! Extra! CHICKEN KILLER ON THE LOOSE!

            Tuesday, September 13^th, 2011, 8:34 A.M. The police were called to the scene. I was a chicken doing my daily clucking activities: laying eggs, pecking at things, and bawking around the open fields. As you can see, I run a tight schedule.

            On my daily patrol around SLA, I headed to Mr. Block’s room. He is a peck-cular man. Often likes to do things in a different way and he has a group of students that do the same peck-cular things as he does. When I to his room, there was an amassing crowd around a splattered like goo. As I approached the crowd, I SAW IT. It was an egg I had laid only days ago, it was my BABY! MY BABY, never to have a life on the farm or on a plate. Why? Why cruel world?! This man, the murderer…and his students, the accessories to the crime. I ran as fast as I could to the officer, Officer Byrd. Oh how I loved her name… it’s a very common name in our community…Byrd, Peckerson, Clerk, you know.

            Everyone questions the killer but I didn’t do that. I did what every chicken from the Egglands Best Farms would have done; I asked the shoe the floor, and the table. They all told me and confirmed to me that it was the evil English and World History Teacher, Mr. Block!

(After that we talked about ways to write better)

            3 Parts to help us write better:

·      Hold in different types of writing.

·      Don’t just keep ideas in your mind, write it out!

·      Point of views can be very biased, history is often written by the winners.

This is my shading piece for this quarter. My materials for this piece was a dulled pencil, dampened cloth, my fingers, a ruler, and a sheet of paper. When I work with shading, I am reminded that it is very important to get the lighting correctly. I begin the piece by having a dim shade, a back drop, in each square. I know a piece is done when I can step back and see where the light is coming from. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of relief because I always want to give it my all.

When people see my work, I'd like them to know where the light is coming from and the type of work it is. When I work with my fingers, I am reminded that the strokes of my fingers have a big impact of where everything is going. The most difficult part of the whole drawing was getting the right about of darkness for each shade. Also the squares I had were very small and that made it hard to even out. The easiest part was making the mess because I could erase anything I didn't want.

When I work with both charcoal and pencil, I am reminded that I can both shade and color in. I begin a piece by making a back drop and drawing my head, neck, and shoulders. I know a piece is done when I can step back and see where the light is coming from, the shading, and how the final product works. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of relief. When people see my work, I'd like them to know that it is a self portrait. 

The hardest parts were to color over the thick areas of the charcoal because it would either scratch off or fade in with each other. The easiest parts were drawing in pencil and shading with charcoal.

La blog de yo...

Respond in English:

Describe the Q3BM: what was the assignment?  What did your group decide to do and why? 

• We had to pick a part that we learned from this section, watch a few videos and use them as examples. Then we had to apply what we knew to our favorite places with our table. My group decided that we would all do different things and then combine them all at the end of the project.

What did you learn from doing this project?  

• I learned how to give people directions and to apply that all onto a website.

How do you feel about your final product?

• I feel good. My group did all of their parts for the work and that made the whole project come together. There are a lot of parts with pictures. 

If you could do your project all over again, what would you do differently/the same? 

• I would make sure that we add more pictures and know how to work the google sites better.

• What was the assignment?  
  For the quarter 2 part of this year, we were learning how to talk about our daily routine. At the end of the quarter, we were assigned this project. We had to make a video and describe our day.
• What did you enjoy about this project?  
  I got to get together with my family and act out my day.

-Reflection: 

• What did you learn about yourself after mapping out your daily routine?  
  I wake up very early. My daily routine just repeats itself and changes on the weekend. It was fun writing it out.
  
  
• What skills did you acquire related to the Spanish language?
  I learned the different parts of my house. I also learned how to use the verb form of the words/vocabulary.
  
  
• How did you use each of the 5 core values in completing this project?
  Inquiry: We talked and asked about how we spend our days.
  Research: I searched up the vocabulary words and learned them in order to do this project.
  Collaboration: We did a lot of peer and teacher edits.
  Presentation: We are doing indiviual presentations.
  Reflection: I am currently doing my reflection.
  
  
• If you could do this over for the purpose of improving your final product, how would you change it or what would you add to it?
  I would like to add music and more pasos.

This is where my imagination went wild. I was confused at first when we were first assigned this project because I didn’t want to spend too much time on one project because I was still working on other things. So I googled: “famous paintings.” And Better Days by Judi Lynn showed up. My first reaction to this picture was BLACK AND WHITE. I went to my art teacher, Ms. Hull, but she just left so I found the Emma, a student teacher in our class, and she said that it was best if I had two versions so I went home with two sheets of paper and drew two mirrored versions. This was going to be a day and night version of the painting. And then I was starting my first charcoal and painting project.

My favorite material to use was the charcoal because I learned new techniques and my aunt gave me her old charcoal kit. It was a bonding moment for us. She gave me a few pointers on her they worked. My favorite tool was the charcoal eraser she gave me because it could give me the different shades I wanted. I liked the charcoal side the best and I think it turned out very well. When I say that, I mean that I am 98% sure that it’s “hanging up on my wall” worthy. The other two percent is adding the final final touches. And yes, I meant to use TWO “finals” because I didn't know I was done until my painting dried and the colors faded. I wanted my drawing/painting to mirror each other and that was really frustrating to draw because I would end up drawing the picture instead of its opposite side.

If I could do it differently, I wouldn't use so much paint because that really curled my paper and made it really wavy. I also would keep in mind that when painting, there are different steps to do so. You need your bottom layer and then your middle layer and then add your final touches! Then I finished!

Happy Face/ Happy Hamburger:

Elephant/ 3D Elephant:

Book Shelf/ "I finally have pets!":

Elephant and Dog/ Color Blast Dog and Elephant:

For this picture, I love it because it has my both of my favorite animals in the picture and I was looking at my 3D elephants while looking at this picture and thought..."what if I could make my own 3D picture or something close. So I picked a very neon pink and blue and started randomly coloring it in. Then, I figured that it needed another color in order for me to feel like it is done. So I added a neon green and well-lah! I finished it!

When I work with charcoal, I am reminded that art can be seen in different views. I begin a piece by making a shading for the whole sheet of paper. I know a piece is done when I can step back and look at my art and feel proud of it. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of happiness because I want to go home and show my parents so they can be proud of me. When people see my work, I'd like them to have to take a second look and say I did a great job.

            Wondering what you’re looking at? Well, this is a still art of a mug that was from my school’s “Starry Night” Prom. When drawing still art you need only three things: charcoal, paper, and a BIG eraser. I started off with a mid tone, which is the back shading of my drawing. Then I started off with the outline of the cup and then realized that there was a lighting coming in from the back window so I added the reflection. Lastly, I added the details of the cup and erased anywhere I saw the light coming in.

            My inspiration was to have it look like my aunt’s still art drawing of clay pots she keeps in the basement. I always told my self I would become a good enough artist to draw things like that and here that day is. My teacher Ms. Hull showed us a video about a guy drawing a bowl and then told us to pick something and draw it out.

            My favorite tool to use was the eraser even though it would smudge some times when too much of the charcoal got onto the eraser. But when I was using the eraser, you could automatically see the change in dimension when you erase and shade a lighter shade to make the picture look more real.

            The best thing I did was showing the thickness of the mug in my drawing. The thing I would like to fix is my mid tone because it’s a little off and one side is darker than the other side.

            In all, I think that I did a pretty good job in the two and a half classes I spent on this project. I love getting down and dirty when I am drawing everything or anything.

            What you're looking at is something I've been waiting to do here at SLA. Making a mess, being covered in pastel, and just plain ‘old messing everything and anything up. Figure drawing isn’t easy. You have to get the right proportions and stop and step back to look at your work. It gets tedious but the out come of your drawing is worth it. I got into this assignment with out even being in Ms. Hull’s Advanced Art class. As a freshman, I would walk by and just stare at all of the upper classmen draw and think: “Wow, I’m going to sign up for this class one day!” And now, finally, I got to draw this and well, my process wasn’t as easy as I thought. I feel as if I did well because I like what I drew and so does the model. My favorite things about this work is that I had this mental mind set from Ms. Hull, my art teacher, gave us from day one: “Make a MESS. I want you to mess up and treat your artwork like it’s not precious. Don’t be afraid to mess up and rip your pages!” With that, I blocked every one out and got down and dirty in the pastel. Little did I know pastel is really hard to get out?

            My favorite tool to use is my hand because pastel is messy and can add a lot to your drawing if you know how to use it. SMUDGE EVERYTHING TOGETHER! And I just like getting dirty with my projects in art. That is always the best part of this assignment! Wondering my favorite materials? My favorite material to use was this teal color pastel in the mesh of pastel container.

            I bet you’re still wondering what I meant when I said that I thought my piece came out pretty nice and the model liked it. Well, I meant that if I liked it and the model that was staring at me draw it likes it then that’s all that matters. Oh, and I hope Ms. Hull and Emma like it too. I spent like three classes on my drawing so I am very proud of it. Everything from the texture, the light, and everything in between. For the texture, I shaded and made deep lines. For light, I focused her light and thought that it was coming from behind her. For color, I used a variety of colors and pastel pieces.

            Now in every reflection or after you hand in, there is always that feeling you get when you’re like: “UGH, I could have done that differently!” and man did I have those feelings! The first one was with my model’s hand. It’s all misshapen and not clear. Also, I would change the proportions of how I drew my model. When I work with pastel, I am reminded that it looks best when smudged.

             For my process, I started off with a six foot long brown paper and then I picked a lot of colors like blue, green, yellow, and tan to outline and draw out things at different times. I started off with a lot of blobs. Every time I went over my lines of my model, I would use a different color and go over it. I stared off with the head, then moved onto the shoulders, and then took a step back and drew her arms. I got stuck when I was drawing her hands but I didn’t want to spend too much time on that so I moved on to the waist and her slanted legs. I chose to leave out the models arms and just work with the details on her body.

Copper Stream

October 15, 2011

Revised Essay:

I got my first camera when I was seven years old on a cold wintery day. I was at my grandma’s house when my mom and dad called me to the sofa and they handed me a plastic box. At first, I thought it was a Hello Kitty key chain, but when I turned it over, it was a camera! It wasn’t a camera that came in a fancy glossy box like my cameras come in now but it was a simple five mega pixel, battery operated, silver plastic camera from Kohl’s. I roughly cut it out of the plastic case, so I wouldn’t get cut by the thick plastic and pulled it out in slow motion. There it was, with this quarter pound camera, I could hold all of my memories here. I could pause time for half of a millisecond on a 2-inch screen and keep that forever.

All of my cousins ran up to see my camera and the first thing that they said was: “Why does it look and feel like a toy? Are you sure it’s real?” I didn’t care what they said but it was the best thing my mom ever got me because it started my love for photographing my family and my life. And with one press of the hand and a faint capture sound from the camera, my first picture instantly appeared on the two-inch screen. My first picture…an outlandish view of my monkey toes. With that camera, it started my collection of my wide array of cameras such as my silver Canon 8 mega pixel, then to my Canon 10.1 mega pixel, and now I currently use my asphalt black Canon Power Shot SD780 IS, 12.1 mega pixel camera.

All it takes is one little camera to start my hobby in taking pictures. I take pictures of everything and anyone I know. All I want is to remember everything I do in my life. This once in a life time moments that you can’t always remember on the top of your head. Yep, those are the moments. Like the time I jumped off of a forty-foot tree-pole or that other time where I stuck my hand inside of sixty year olds’ leg and then picked it up. It was supper heavy. Wait…don’t believe me? Well, sadly you can’t take a picture while your examining a body, now can you but that moment is forever engraved in my head. Simple days like those are the days I want to remember. I constantly take pictures and every so often people get annoyed but I think of it as a: “Hey, I’m helping you with your memories too.” People don’t understand how powerful pictures can be.

Except my family, they cherish every moment together and we never let go of any “Kodak moment” opportunity. Well, figuratively because we use Canon brand cameras. In every part of my family’s houses, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, there are framed and polished pictures on the wall, four by six pictures hanging off of the mirrors, taped on or stuck in a little corner, and frames scattered through out the house, on the mantles, tables, and some times even the floor. My mom always says: “Say gnaw day gal gaching gal sung seen” and roughly translating from Cantonese that would mean “Wash the pictures of your family only”, and translating from roughly to clean would be: “Print out pictures of only our family.” But I always sneak a few of my friends without her knowing it.

Weeks later, to my utter surprise, while cleaning out my hamster’s cage, my dad, in the blink of an eye, appeared at the back yard door and he told me: “TURN OFF THE WATER and come to the basement.” Being myself, I stubbornly asked what was wrong with cleaning my hamster’s odor-filled cage – which I hadn’t cleaned for two weeks, with a childish smirk. After that one question, he gave me the death stare and blatantly across his face read: anger, frustration, and impatience. This was the second time in fourteen years – This was the second time in my life of fourteen years.

The first time was a complete blur because I was six years old and wailing at the top of my lungs. I think I yelled at my mom and dad about how I was smarter than them and how I could do anything and everything I wanted because of my intelligence. My stubborn, spoiled intelligence. My dad did not stand for that so he picked me up and threw me out of the door – not literally, more so placed. Standing barefoot, on the “beat up” welcoming mat we had out side of the door, my three-year-old sister opened the door for me and she: “Say sorry to mommy and daddy. So they are not mad.”

I wasn’t going to go against that look again, so I shut off the water, leaving the cage out side and Alfred in his ball. Usually, when I go down the stairs I listen to my feet pit-pat but this time there was another sound. What was it? The dryer? No, it sounded watery and leaking. The washing machine? No, that sound isn’t the same. The water sounded free, flowing wherever it wanted too. I turned the corner and my feet got wet instantly, my mom was standing there confused and angry. We quickly evacuated all of our things out of that small room and I helped clean up the mess after putting away Alfred in his coconut-scented cage. After moving all of the beach toys to the other room, I found a pitch-black bag with the gray “EXPRESS” logo on it. In that bag, contained two of my mom’s twenty by thirty wedding pictures, framed up and now water damaged. I got this cold feeling in my cheeks like all of the blood just left my face and ran some where else. Just like the water running out of the photo frames, just like the preserved memories running out and only leaving behind wavy sheets of memories. Crease and wave, crease and wave, crease and waves EVERYWHERE.

I was the saddest of all that my parents’ twenty by thirty wedding pictures were water damaged. My parents didn’t seem as sad as I. How could they not be as devastated as I was? Their wedding pictures were ruined. That special day led to my sister and I and where we were today. So many stories were past around each other about that picture and all it took was water to cringe up the paper. I wasn’t going to stand for this so I promised my self that my first paycheck would go to their pictures. And lo and behold, I got my first paycheck!

There were so many things to do, to buy, and to have! I cashed in my paycheck with my parents at TD Bank. In my mind, there were so many things I could do with fifteen crisp, clean twenty-dollar bills. I could spend it all on clothes; spend it on a long wanted bag, or just save it. I could use all of this money on myself. But I was reminded of the ruined wedding pictures when I went to put all of the clothes into the dryer, one night. I knew what I was going to get. It was a long lost goal, promised years before. And what perfect timing, my parent’s anniversary was coming up. Dinner and two perfect frames for the big one-six anniversary.

Secretly with just one hundred and forty-six dollars in my hands, I walked in to the picture-framing store on 21st and Chestnut. In and out of the store with a nice deal was what I was aiming for. While walking in the store, I realized that this store was really hot and the pictures in this store all had a different story of his family in it, whether it was written onto the frame or the picture itself. I found the owner of the store in the back just finishing up matting a picture of the sunset to the engraved golden frame. The owner was a big man with a graying mustache and goatee. I introduced myself and with an unsure voice, told him I didn’t know what I wanted yet, so Mr. Allan escorted me to the front of the store and pulled out at least forty hundred different frames, twenty hundred different types of matte paper, and a list of sizes. It was like a never ending maze of frames and then he finally asked me after seeing that little frustrated crease appear between my eye brows:

“What’s the occasion for the two pictures?” – He asked like he already knew the answer.

“My parent’s sixteenth anniversary gift.” – I smugly said with a smile.

With that answer, he automatically knew what was needed. After a lot of questioning between the canvas print and the framed matte print, I don’t know if he wanted me out of the store or just gave me a discount for knowing me for such a long time, but we concluded the price of one hundred and forty dollars. So, two pictures: framed, enlarged, and matted all by Friday. I chose Friday because Friday was their anniversary day, sixteen years together. Mr. Allan handed me the yellow receipt copy and everything was done. With a wave, good-bye and a polite “Thank you, see you Friday!” I spent the half of my paycheck on restoring my parents adored wedding memories. I was going to give them back their special day with these pictures!

On every vacation, heaps of pictures are taken and hordes of pictures are printed out. Who wouldn’t want an eight-gigabyte memory card filled with pictures? Nonetheless every year, once a year, my family goes on one big trip together to Virginia Beach for a couple days which means one big family on one glorious beach. And every year that we arrive home my mom chooses pictures to print out but there is this one picture that will always hang on my wall. It’s a unique picture in a unique pearl color fish scale imitation frame. She told me, "Although this picture is dull and has almost a color-less gray horizon, my family and I are livening our surrounding up with our bright and vibrant personalities, shirts, and shorts."

Taking pictures on vacation hold the experience you had and holds it until the end of time. It’s all the matter of memory versus experience. The photographers in my family all know that. We seize the moment to keep hold of the past on every vacation. Pictures are something that will help us remember what we did down the road of life.

Day-by-day, I take pictures of anything from over sized pigeons and people walking their hairless cats to my friends and family. I never let go of any moment. Pictures are what trigger the past and shoot the memory back into the present. They trigger the repressed memory in the back of our mind. Everything memorable moment should be kept, big or small. Even in every moment you’re with me, pictures will be taken. That’s how it is; I stop the present to look back at the past in the future. Taking pictures gives us another way with which to share our lives and our loves with the rest of the world. I will ceaselessly take pictures, holding every memory in a book, and looking back to see what a picture tells me. I will show the world my life.

Eight years of taking pictures on my own, learning it all, day-by-day and still learning. With the average photographer, getting the perfect light and knowing which background gets the best of each shot. If you hand me a camera, I can get a perfect shot in a heartbeat. Pictures can give anyone so much power. The power to hold your past in a convenient four by six or an enlarged sixteen by twenty, your most prized memories, no matter how small the memory they hold. Pictures are taken everywhere, at home, on vacations, and…well, everywhere. All moments in life are important, but not all are special.

• muro - wall
• publicó - published / posted
  buscar - search
  me gusta - like
  comentar - comment
  inicio - settings
• comentó - commented
  etc.

Meanwhile, many people are seeing the dramatic shortage of exports and imports of Japan. This is because of the power outages, radiation levels in certain areas, drowning, and damage of property all caused by the quake and tsunami resulting in a trade discrepancy in April, May, and months to come. The March 11^th quake and tsunami devastated the economic activity in the world’s third-largest economy. This caused Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, Nissan Motor, and Sony to have a factory shut down. Many farmers, businesses, and factories had to pack up and leave their job because of the damage done to Japan’s Nation.

  In my next blog, I will bring my focus on the food in Japan and what farmers are saying about their crops and what they had to do. I'll even include a story each from a grocery consumer and a farmer.

• MADE IN JAPAN.

• http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/japan/index.html
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12709598 
  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/japan-earthquake-tsunami-2011_n_834499.html#s252343
  

The first picture is my old Key Note Slide converted into a PDF.

The second picture is my new slide. 

     While seeing everyone's presentation, I realized that I could have made my slide a lot better. And so I thought of many ideas in my head. Here are my ideas:

     I changed my formatting for my pictures because Ms. Hull and the website said that people see from left to right first. So I made it easier by putting it the pictures on the left. Eye catching pictures!

     I also changed my wording and wasn't afraid to make my words huge and change the coloring.

     This is what I changed on my slide! I hope you like it!