Due to exploration being a part of human nature, it’s not a surprise that people would want to explore space. But before the thought of space came into mind, all humans could explore was the world laid out right before them. They began to explore the Earth; its vast lands and oceans. Before the thought of exploring what was out there, beyond our world, the only exploration sites humans had were land. Since the past, humans utilized the seas to travel to and from land. The exploration of land has been thoroughly investigated for many years; the only issue that was left was: “What is left to explore?” Which in turn, led people to explore the ocean. Humans to this day still continue their search for valuable information about the unknown parts of the Earth. It became a problem when space exploration became more of a topic than marine exploration. Exploration not only involves science, it also harbors fundamental values that add to the vast knowledge of human studies. Although the general public might not think that marine biological research does not matter as much as astronomic research, its influence goes beyond knowledge of marine life to gaining new ways of preserving human life. The fact that there are still more and more people delving into space exploration is great; however, future-astronomers and scientists should be more concerned about our own world at the moment.

In the early 1800s, Thomas Jefferson established the United States Coast Survey. Since then, people have been eager to conduct more research about the place that disconnected the lands. People of the United States were consistently willing to donate money or even volunteer to conduct this research. The organization studied several parts of the United States and gathered data about different subjects concerning the ocean, including tides, tidal currents, and seafloor characteristics. Knowing information such as plant and animal life in the ocean, they marine biologists keep track of the health of marine ecosystems. Upon understanding underwater habitats, marine biologists also help disaster relief efforts. There are many ways that they could help, such as: helping other scientists with oil spills or chemical outbreaks and restoring other habitats back to their rightful states. Other ways that marine research can help benefit humans even more is through developing technology that can eliminate waste. If waste eliminating machines can work in the ocean, then they can also be developed in order for them to be used on land.

Wanting to learn more about the oceans changed in the last half of the 20th century. Technology started to advance. The advancement of technology meant that humans are now able to conduct more exploration that consisted beyond the planet. Astronomy intrigued people more compared to the ocean because the Space Race occurred. People piled more money towards space instead of the ocean because everyone wanted to see which astronaut representative of the United States and the Soviet Union would reach space first. In fact, the astronaut that reached space first was from the Soviet Union, who only orbited space in a spacecraft for 108 minutes. This did not accomplish any research nor gain any knowledge from launching someone in space. All the while the Space Race was occurring, oceanic research remained ignored.

More recently, in 2012, the Congress awarded NASA with $18.7 billion to encourage scientific research and discovery. By contrast, NOAA only received $4.5 billion from Congress, which is $14.2 billion less than what they had given NASA. Alongside the downgraded funding from Congress, NOAA was also given $1 billion less than their original requested amount. This event clearly shows that people are more willing to provide money to explore space.

The NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has confirmed that at least 95% of the oceanic realm has never been explored nor even visited by a human. The space program hasn’t experienced any progress in research or knowledge in recent years. The space program needs to create intricate and elaborate spacecrafts in order to conduct research, at a terrific cost. While the ocean is right next to land, people can have research conducted fairly swiftly. Compared to space, humans have known for a fact that the Earth is not endless. At around 500 B.C., Pythagoras, a philosopher and mathematician in Ancient Greece, coined the theory of the Earth being round. This theory proves that it is possible for the Earth to end.  While having these theories about the Earth, they could've went and conducted research themselves because technology such as boats can be provided during that era. Theorists have coined several of their sayings, yet some of them don't prove whatever they say because they don't conduct actual research to support them. The only way for people to completely prove facts is when they've thoroughly investigated a topic or scene that they've made claims about. There are many theories that scientists have made about Earth and space, yet the only claims that they can prove at the moment are ones about Earth. There needs to be a lot of time and effort put into space exploration because people can't just create rockets and blast people into space. It takes a lot of effort into building a spacecraft that can harbour the needed materials into space along with space suits and the astronauts that are going to be conducting research. Although, it's just as hard to build ships and materials in order for people to conduct marine research, compared to astronomical research, it wouldn't take a lot of effort in building a ship.

Having knowledge about one’s own planet is more efficient at the moment compared to learning about the vast majority of the rest of the universe. It’s just as important to have knowledge about the ocean as it is with outer space. The knowledge of marine exploration contributes to human sustainability, and offers equal opportunities that space exploration also provides. Therefore, the world should be able to much needed research to devote themselves to exploring the oceans.

Works Cited

"What Is Marine Biology?" MarineBio Conservation Society ~ Marine Biology, Ocean Life Conservation, Sea Creatures, Biodiversity, Research… N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. <http://marinebio.org/oceans/marine-biology/>.

Nnamani, Sally. "Government Should Fund NOAA and Marine Research, Not NASA Space Research." Mic. N.p., 2015. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. <https://mic.com/articles/2218/government-should-fund-noaa-and-marine-research-not-nasa-space-research#.TFZofsL81>.

"Issues in Science and Technology." Issues in Science and Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. <http://issues.org/30-4/final-frontier-vs-fruitful-frontier-the-case-for-increasing-ocean-exploration/>.

Ocean Exploration. NASA, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2016. <https://science.nasa.gov/earth-science/oceanography/ocean-exploration>.

I enjoyed the activities that I’ve involved myself in with the You and The World project. It actually changed my outlook on life a little and discovered that even small actions can make big changes. Many individuals have their own story about their success, downfall, etc., and through this project, I progressed in a way that also changed others as well. Even though the You and the World project has ended, I still want to delve into the subject of social anxiety and fear of public speaking.

While researching my topic, I made discoveries that I’ve never knew about. It really helped my knowledge and perspective about people who suffer from social anxiety. I knew some things that pertained about the disorder, but it was basically information that I had because of knowledge I had about myself. What I would’ve tried to do differently was try and learn more information. The information I’ve gathered mostly consisted of factual evidence and scientific reasons as to why people suffer from social anxiety and have fear of public speaking. My goal during the time period of which we were supposed to research was to find an online community in which people actually shared their experiences and had first hand experience. It was already kind of late, but I already found a website that contained posts from people that share their story and get help from others who also suffer from social anxiety after researching.

Conducting original research was pretty difficult, having people reply to your emails and comply to your schedule wasn’t easy at all. I sent out a lot of emails to people that had specialties in dealing with the human mind and those who suffer from social anxiety. None of them replied, so I resorted to interviewing some people that I was recommended. I also tried to go to a mental institution to request for an interview with someone face to face. It didn’t go pretty well, no one was available. Although it was pretty disappointing not being able to get at least one response, I think I did pretty well with working with what I have.

The Agent of Change part of my project was completed with Jhazzelle and TK. I think that I could’ve done a better job with the 3rd part of the project by having presentations. Mental illnesses aren’t taught in health classes in schools, and talking about it to a group of people should help them understand it more. Or even just have knowledge about the topic. I could’ve made a brochure and/or poster and passed it around. Overall, I think that I did a good job with spreading awareness about my topic.

In my first blog, I conduct research online about social anxiety and discussed what I’ve gathered/learned from it. Then, I conducted research on my own concerning people that suffered from social anxiety disorder in my second blog. The society we currently live in is made by and for neurotypicals. Neurotypical means “neurologically typical,” referring to those who do not suffer or have not experienced any mental trauma or disorders. Deciding to make a change in society about social anxiety and/or public speaking has always been a goal for me. Currently, I’m working with Jhazzelle Majarucon and TK Saccoh for our Agent of Change. I’ve decided to form a team with them because I believe that we’ve never worked on anything school related. I want to be able to create a bond between us that not only involves friendship, but also work.

My previous research had gathered much needed information about those who need help and others who have those close to them suffer from social anxiety disorder. I reasoned with my group that we could create a change in the community through the Internet. We used the Internet at our disposal because of the fact that a lot of people use it everyday in a sense where they communicate through social media. Some people may be more comfortable sharing their stories in the Internet anonymously.

Our main goal to end social anxiety is to get people to speak up about their stories and situations. Many people are uncomfortable with sharing their information, but that’s alright. It’s a part of the process, and we understand. Although, even if they did tell us their stories, we wouldn’t just read it and try to deem it as a loss cause. My team and I would actually help them by communicating online because we want people to feel accepted in society. The society we live in isn’t just for neurotypicals, everyone can live in harmony even though they’ve faced problems in their lives.

Figures 1 & 2: Here is the home page of our website. It links to our blog posts and information we’ve gathered about social anxiety.

Raising awareness and helping educate those who don’t know much about social anxiety disorder is a part of our Agent of Change as well. Not only do we want people to contribute by telling us about their stories, but we also want them to participate in the #ToungeTwisterTask. This challenge is created for those who want to raise awareness in social anxiety, which affects 1 in 8 people. By participating, people can make a change, using the hashtag and posting it on their social media networks. The idea is that people who suffer from these conditions avoid social and public situations. Their lives are compared to a tongue twister, confusing and hard to get out of the way. Participants in the challenge can post a short video of themselves reciting tongue twisters, and/or they can donate to the cause by the Andrew Kukes Foundation for Social Anxiety.

Figures 3 & 4: This is the part of our website that includes the pages where you could share your own story of social anxiety. Or, to raise awareness for social anxiety by reciting a tongue twister.

So far, we've gathered several people (teachers, students, family members, etc.) to do the #TongueTwisterTask, and video taped them. We compiled them in a folder.

Click here to view my sources.

In my previous blog post, it introduces both social anxiety and public speaking, differentiating them from one another. It also elaborates on how many people are affected by social anxiety disorder in the world. Conducting more research provided me with more information that renewed my own knowledge about how social anxiety can be difficult to understand. So far, I’ve interviewed at least two people who have suffered from these conditions and are receiving physical therapy.

It took me a while to actually find people that were willing to get interviewed by me. I’ve sent out emails to people that were dedicated in helping people who suffer from social anxiety and other types of mental disorder that relates to it. No one had responded back, and I thought that I was just left to my last resort: sending out a survey. Sending out a survey to those who don’t suffer from these mental disorders wouldn’t mean anything, so I just can’t send a survey to a whole group of people and sort out those who do have them. Therefore, I just stuck to conducting interviews with those who are comfortable with having them. A friend (TK Saccoh) and I went to Philadelphia Mental Health Center to interview a professional. There was no one available at the time, so we were denied an interview.

Figures 1 & 2: These are emails I’ve sent out to psychologists and therapists, requesting for an interview.

Conducting interviews with actual people that have stories about their experiences made me realize that social anxiety starts at an early age. The people who I interviewed are around my age range, which is about 14-16. I chose to interview those people because I could relate to them more, and so could younger audiences. I’ve decided to not reveal their names and/or other personal information because of the fact that they did share some very personal and compelling stories with me.

Figures 3, 4, & 5: Conversation through email with a person suffering from social anxiety disorder.

I came to a conclusion that people, anyone, of all ages can suffer from similar things in a different way. Social anxiety just doesn’t “start at an early age.” It’s not like it’s something that just manifests itself inside someone. It’s a mental disorder than someone either has or doesn’t.

This information can help me in my Agent of Change by making me realize that I can’t just work with people who are suffering from social anxiety. It comes from a perspective, there’s also those who are relatives of those who suffer, and they are affected by social anxiety as well. They’re not directly affected (and unless they are), they’re just affected by the actions that their relative takes. They not only want their family members to get better, but to also receive the proper treatment. Sometimes there are therapists that don’t take in consideration the feelings of their patients. Therefore, the condition of the patient can decline from their previous state. Since, if they can’t talk to a professional or anything about their feelings or experiences, it’ll just stay bottled up.

Click here to view my sources.

The “You and The World” project consists of strategies that will teach students and/or other participants the values of issues that affects the world as a whole. The goals of the student(s) are to generate solutions to those problems. Each person might have a different view of the chosen situation, but the student will focus on their perspective and argue with further information they have gathered.

My topic consists of people and their fear of public speaking. (Closely related topics such as social anxiety are also largely included.) This topic enthralls me because of my own fear of it. My public speaking skills improved over the years, but anxiety still sets in whenever there is a huge crowd in front of me. Interacting might not be a problem when it comes to talking one on one with someone else, but it becomes one when talking to large group. Knowing about social anxieties is essential to further interact and deal with the problems that are a part behavioural structures. Social interaction is a key step to learning about the psychologic reasons as to why people are “afraid” of large crowds.

As I have mentioned before, my topic will consist of people being afraid of public speaking. But the fear can manifest itself into an uncontrollable chronic sense of worry or tension, which is anxiety. They are merely on the same boat, but barely. Recent studies have highlighted the role of right-sided temporal and prefrontal lobes activation during anxiety. When fear is activated in the brain, the signal travels to the amygdala. The amygdala processes a chemical called glutamate out into two regions of the brain. One of the signals is sent deep into the base of the brain into an area that humans physically have little to no control over. The second signal is sent to the hypothalamus and triggers the autonomic nervous system, which results to the body having movement without the recognition of the person. From this analysis, people now have the ability doubt that everyone experiences fear differently because of how the brain processes it.

We, as humans, have (mostly) similar brain functions. That is why TMVision interviewed, researched and surveyed over 3,000 U.S. inhabitants. The #1 ranked fear out of those 3,000 participants is (none other than) “speaking before a group.” Compared to that, the fear of death is ranked #6. This survey shows that there is more pressing matters on their mind rather than death, which is public speaking. A scenario might be, someone might fuss over their presentation for school/work they have to do for next week. Yet, they might not be thinking about death quite yet until something grave happens. To put in simpler words, people may actively fear public speaking more than they fear death, but their fear of public speaking is actually not stronger than their fear of death. This speaks out about what our society has to offer about what we’re afraid of collectively as the human race.

Figure 1: This shows the result of TMVision’s result of 3,000 U.S. inhabitants that participated in the survey that asked what they were afraid of most, on the top of their heads. Public speaking is ranked #1.

Anxiety attacks might be hard to relate to because individuals experience them in different ways. Suffering from any mental illness is not similar at all to a physical one. You can treat a physical injury with prescription drugs and medicine. When it comes to mental illnesses, the symptoms of having it is real. The only problem is, they reside within you and your mind. Many people do not understand the meaning of this, mostly because they haven’t been in the same or mostly similar situation as someone else. It’s quite hard to make them understand or feel empathy because they have not felt the same way.

Studies show that there is a clear distinction between fear and anxiety. Not only it is a matter of linguistics, another reason is the way our minds are different. Some are afraid of something. While others might have anxiety about something. Two different scenarios have to unfold if someone experiences fear or anxiety. Fear is driven by a physical object, such as a tarantula ready to pounce on you from your bedroom window. Anxiety derives from possibilities in your mind and it reverberates into your body through feelings of sickness (ie. nausea, dizziness).

“Curing" the whole world of social anxiety will surely be ineffective. This sounds a little pessimistic, I know. But every individual experiences and goes through so much that it’s not fair to compare them to someone else’s story. Different approaches should be taken when dealing with such a catastrophic amount of people. There are about 7 billion people inhabiting the world today. Slow steps are required, one at a time. Anyone and everyone can suffer from fearing speaking out to large groups. Even people that you know, work with, attend school with, etc. The Social Anxiety Association (SAA) is a “nonprofit organization that promotes understanding and treatment of social anxiety disorder.” This organization helps and treats those who suffer from social anxiety and those who fear public speaking. 7% of the population today suffer from some type of social anxiety disorder. 7% of 7 billion accumulates to 490,000,000 people. Every single number equals to a single person. Each person needs help with their anxieties. There are 490,000,000 different reasons as to why we need to help them.

Figure 2: “Social Anxiety is the third largest mental health care problem in the world today. Alcoholism is first, depression is second, and social anxiety is third. Social anxiety causes chronic anxiety and fear over social situations.” -- The Social Anxiety Association

Social problems prevent people from achieving the life they ultimately want. Being put in a situation in which a person has fears of speaking in a group is the fact that it affects their social life as well. A similar scenario is: wanting to hang out with your friends/coworkers/classmates with the fear of losing them all. But the thing is, you have that aching feeling that they’re all going to leave you if you slip up once, twice, or numerous times. This feeling can be overcome with going to a therapy session with a structured therapist. Having friends and family on one’s side when overcoming their current situation is much needed. Those who suffer from social anxiety need to have those closest to them helping them in every step of the way. That is one of the many active ways that you could help anyone you know that suffers from social anxiety.

Currently, I wonder if people suffering from social phobia as I do get their motivation. Also, I ask if people understand what it means to have phobias of socializing, yet they turn it down and see it as a petty fear. I want to continue further in my research of finding out who deals with their fears and anxieties. My main goal after conducting research, experiments, and movements through this project is to help those who solely suffer from these awful mental disorders.