Sara Frunzi Public Feed

Sara Frunzi Capstone

Posted by Sara Frunzi in CTE Senior Capstone · Kamal/Ugworji · Wed on

ABSTRACT

The goal of my capstone project was to develop a new way for speech therapists and parents to communicate with their nonverbal children. Originally the final product was planned to be an app using eye gaze technology, but due to COVID-19 making some resources inaccessible, the final product being presented is a video explaining how the app, HeyeLight, would have worked, as well as a donation to Easterseals of Southeastern Pennsylvania in the form of an iPad Pro. While the project goal was only accomplished in theory, I was able to accomplish several personal goals for my project, including learning how to design an app using programming languages HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, as well as how to solve a real-world problem using the engineering design process. I started this project in the fall by researching disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, and asking professionals at the Easterseals of Southeast Pennsylvania what problems they deal with on a day-to-day basis. A common problem for young children with cerebral palsy is communication. Speech therapy, including eye gaze sessions, can help with communication, however many eye gaze apps that are currently on the market rely on clipart or keyboards, an understanding that many young, preschool-aged children do not possess. My solution to this problem is HeyeLight, an app that applies user-uploaded photos as the subject of the eye-gaze session, causing a higher level of understanding in the child using it.

Advanced Essay #3: America's Road from Nationalism to Violence

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 3 · Block/Harmon · Y Band on
Summary: My essay is all about the way that nationalism is ingrained into American culture, leading to teens and young adults being pressured to join military. This is a product of government manipulation and societal culture as a whole, ultimately resulting in the loss of lives.
America's Road from Nationalism to Violence

America is known for its displays of patriotism and admiration for the military. It is something that many take pride in, but perhaps shouldn’t without thoroughly looking into its background. The ideas of violence and joining the military are ingrained into American culture through nationalism and government manipulation of the media. Through extreme, modern-day nationalism, fuelled in part by paid patriotism, and corrupt recruitment methods, teens are pressured to join the military and manipulated to dehumanize their actions once they join.

The “Star-Spangled Banner” is a prime example of American nationalism in the media; it is played at nearly all major-league sporting events, most recognizably, football and baseball. The song was played at baseball games before it had actually become the United States’ national anthem, dating back to 1897 and being played at significant holidays and events, such as America’s entrance to World War I. In 1931, the “Star-Spangled Banner” became America’s national anthem, and was played more often throughout the first World War. Eventually, it became a tradition. While a song may seem harmless, it is a representation of America’s undying loyalty to itself while simultaneously encouraging war and violence in front of the millions watching. The song is often played as a tribute to America’s veterans, a display of admiration for the violence people have been forced to commit on behalf of our government. These actions of patriotism can be good in small bursts of pride for a home country, but overall lead to manipulation.

While the anthem has been played at baseball games for may decades, it only started being played at football games recently. However, this was not simply because the NFL felt like it; they are paid by the government to play the song before each game. This is an example of paid patriotism in our country. According to the National Public Radio, “the Pentagon spent $6.8 million to pay for patriotic displays during the games of professional sports teams.” The government needs more people to fight in their battles, so they pay the largest televised sports leagues to act patriotic and support their cause. From the time we are young, kids are encouraged to play and watch sports; this applies especially to boys, who are often expected to like baseball and football. When it is ingrained into our society for children to grow up watching these games, thus watching displays of nationalism, the country is ingraining militarism into these kids as well. America is paying millions of dollars of taxpayer money for nationalism and violence to be intrinsic to their youths’ childhoods and futures.

In addition to the government forcing patriotism on citizens, they specifically manipulate young adults in their recruitment methods. At the “Army Experience Center (AEC)” in Philadelphia, they lure young people in with video games and tell them about all of the positives of being in the military, yet none of the negatives. The purpose of the AEC was to “offer young adults a chance to immerse themselves in the hi-tech world of 21st century war craft while discovering well-paid, military career possibilities through touch screen technology.” This statement is a thinly veiled way of saying that they are recruiting young people to fight wars with technology. They, and other army recruitment centers, desensitize the killing of other beings by making it seem like a video game, especially with the future of fighting wars with drones. A person could be sitting in a room far away, safe and sound and able to go home to their family each night, but they are killing other people. By making war the equivalent of a video game young people are paid to play, the government takes away the meaning and horror in taking of others’ lives in order to compel young people to do so. This is a large scale manipulation of America’s young people by making war and violence common and seem like a game.

Overall, it can be concluded that the American government is brainwashing its citizens to make a killing factory based on nationalism. There are few policies regarding dangerous weapons, making violence much more prevalent in the United States than other countries. In addition to this fact, there are large companies being paid to act in “admiration” of their country to make their viewers feel patriotic. This leads to pressure to join the military in the name of serving the country they claim to love so much. These acts of patriotism, once combined with unethical military recruitment strategies, leads to teens joining the military without knowing the weight of their actions until it is too late. This manipulation of teens and young adults by the American government shows a clear path from nationalism to violence, resulting in the loss of not only countless lives, but entire childhoods.


Works Cited:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/22150/why-do-we-sing-national-anthem-sporting-events


Belonging in a Lonely Place

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 3 · Block/Harmon · Y Band on
Introduction
​This essay is about the ways that depression can isolate a person. It looks at suicide and people's reasons behind it. The purpose of this essay was to shed light on topics not often talked about, and hopefully to have people think about how their loved ones are feeling next time they see them. I am proud of my ability to be vulnerable and to speak out when needed.

Essay

Depression is an illness that many choose not to recognize and that flies under the radar far too often. It seems to only be noticed when something drastic happens, such as a suicide attempt. People with depression can only truly connect to others that have depression; this is the only way we seem to belong. My claim is supported through articles and Ted Talks that talk about a low sense of belonging in depressed individuals and that reach out to give comfort to these individuals. This topic also brings about the question of what belonging truly is and what it means. To someone with depression, someone who’s lonely and desperate for comfort, belonging means everything.

The night I nearly killed myself wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I went to school and it was terrible, then I came home. When I got home, I did my homework, even though I didn’t see the point; I knew I wouldn’t be there the next day. I forced a dinner down my throat, struggling through each bite. I took a shower so that I’d be somewhat clean when they found me. I went to my room, coming out only to use the bathroom, and at one point to steal my grandmother’s sleeping pills.

Everyone went to bed early that night, and I said goodnight and I love you to them all. It didn’t seem out of the ordinary for them. Waiting until I was sure my family was asleep, I went online. My main social media back then was Pinterest; I had friends from all over the world. We had a group chat and we were all depressed. I told them how I was feeling.

People with depression have a hard time connecting with others; this is because depression makes a person feel alone. According to a study by the University of Michigan, “A psychological sense of belonging is a greater predictor of major depression than other factors commonly associated with depression… the disease isn't always easily detected by friends or family members because those who suffer from depression often try to hide it.” This shows that it is hard for people with depression to really connect, even with friends and family. When someone has depression, they are both desperate for a sense of love and belonging and conflicted because they feel that they’re not good enough for those around them. It seems that the only people who want them around are the ones who are similarly suicidal, depressed people; they need you as much as you need them.

Typing, typing, typing. “I don’t want to be alive.”

Ping. “Me neither.”

Ping. “It’s hard to keep going, hard to see the point.”

Ping. “You can always talk to me.”

These are the people I know, the people who know me. I share my all with them; every second of every day, they know about everything. They know about the bullying and the eating disorder and the cutting and the burning, and anything else that was done to tear me down, by others or by myself. These people lifted me up. I lifted them up, too, but not for long.

Typing, typing, typing. “I want to kill myself.”

Ping. “Me too but it’ll be okay.”

Ping. “Me too but don’t.”

Ping. “Me too but if you don’t I won’t.”

These people know how I feel. They feel the same way. These people were my friends, trying to give me a will to live when I couldn’t do that for myself. We all want to take away the others’ pain. Maybe we do, but we all have the same pain, so nothing really changes.

I needed a break from them; I couldn’t disappoint them too much too quickly. And if I said anything about my plan without having already swallowed the pills, they’d talk me down. I couldn’t let that happen. I counted the elliptical blue pills. Even years later I remember that there were fifty-three melatonin pills in the bottle that night. I wondered if it was enough.

I’ll never know the answer to that question, I think. The morning after, no one could tell that anything was really different at all. It’s because I didn’t share with them because I knew they wouldn’t understand.

In a TedTalk by Mark Henick, Why We Choose Suicide, he talks about his experience with this, saying, “In fact, I was so normal, most people never would have guessed… And I know that some of you know that feeling too.” This quote reflects how people don’t really see or notice when a person is suicidal. They pass someone off as quiet, or they don’t think of it because the person doesn’t ‘seem suicidal’. Mr. Henick also makes a connection to anyone listening; he knows that this is something that people face every day silently and wants to make sure that they know that they’re not alone. He knows that talks about depression are often controlled by those who haven’t experienced it, which makes it hard for those who have to come out and talk about it. It’s difficult for us to feel like we belong, even in a conversation about us.

Typing, typing, typing. “I’m going to kill myself. I have a bottle of pills and I’m going to die.”

Ping. “Don’t, we love you.” A lie.

Ping. “Sara you’ll regret it.” I can’t regret if I’m not around.

Ping. “Sara your family will be wrecked.” As if they even care.

I took one pill. I took another. I stopped. I didn’t write my notes; I needed to. Writing each one I cry harder and harder, and I’m getting scared.

Typing, typing, typing. “I’m scared. I have to do this but I’m scared.”

Ping. “It’s okay to be scared.”

Ping. “You don’t have to do this.”

I just wanted it all to go away. I knew that they cared about me but I couldn’t stand it.

Ping. “Don’t do it Sara. That’s an incredibly painful way to die. You won’t sleep you’ll be in pain for hours and when your family finds you it won’t be clean, it’ll be messy and devastating. Devastating. The note won’t be enough. They will cry walking by your room for months and funerals cost thousands of dollars they don’t have. Put down the bottle and go to bed, Sara.”

That message kept me alive long enough to go to sleep without taking any more pills. The girl who sent it, her name was Lilli, and she lived in California. She lived halfway across the world, yet she was able to save my life. She was part of a network that I related to and that kept me alive through the darkest parts of my life. They understood how I was feeling and offered comfort, solutions that they had put to the test. They were the only ones I could connect to, and that chat was the only place that I felt the warm sensation of belonging.

Belonging does not mean being in the same room as someone and physically being there with them; it is being able to open up and feel listened to without judgment. Though I never saw these people face to face, they saved my life and I felt belonging in their company like none other. This is what it is like to be suicidal sometimes, to only be able to feel connected with someone who you can’t see face to face and can’t hug when they’re hurting. Belonging means sharing something, even something secret.

Advanced Essay 1: It's Not One and Done

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 3 · Block/Harmon · Y Band on

Introduction:
 This essay is about my experience with bullying, mental disorders, and healing. When reading this essay, I hope that people realize that healing isn't always about being happy or perfect, but about being better. I am proud of my ability to be so vulnerable and to still write well. Hopefully I can continue to do this throughout the year and my life.

It Isn't One and Done

“Watch the fat girl run!”

   The words would sting almost as much as the rocks they threw. Growing up, I was bullied badly. One of the worst things that the kids in my school would do was to steal my things; they would take my notebooks and writing utensils, and I would have to chase them for it. Sometimes they’d even throw things away if didn’t catch them. All the while, students that I wasn’t chasing were throwing rocks at me-- as if I wasn’t already slow enough.

To this day, I wonder why they wanted to hurt me so and why it takes so long to heal from their injuries. Each day when I would walk to the yellow school bus for the ride home, I heard a chorus of “Miss Piggy” being yelled at me, all at once in varying voices out the bus windows. The 45-minute ride home was torture full of inappropriate jokes, name-calling, and hair-pulling. I can remember multiple occasions on which I was slapped across the face while people recorded it. I was here for their entertainment and ridicule, and to provide homework answers, nothing more.

    The teachers did nothing. Though I repeatedly told my homeroom teachers and saw the principal about these matters, it didn’t seem to matter to them. I was still going to Mass, my grades were good, and my parents were still paying the outrageous tuition. What was there for them to care about?

    Enduring all of these things had large consequences on my life, and it's taken a long time to get even remotely better. By the time I was in seventh grade, every meal I ate would come back up. I was like clockwork, shoving my index and middle fingers down my throat less than half an hour after each meal. Tears streamed down my patchy face as I gagged, staring into the toilet just waiting for for the food and my perception of self-acceptance to come up. All that came was stomach acid and disappointment. My knee-high socks covered the marks that the tile floor left on my knees, and no one thought anything was wrong because I’m not skinny.

Over the years, I have learned to hate myself for not being skinny or fit enough, for being too nerdy, and for every other negative thing my peers had told me. It reflected in every aspect of my life and is shown in my esophageal tears and scarred thighs. When I was thirteen, I almost killed myself.

It is only now in my life that I am learning that it doesn’t matter how others see me. To this day, I struggle and still deny that I’m not okay but I’ve come to a point where my friends build me up rather than tear me down. While I deny that things are wrong, some people know without me having to say a word. Because of this, I am now in therapy, though I had to be dragged there.

The goal is self-acceptance. I hear this often; people tell you to love yourself but I truly don’t. I am trying but I don’t know how to put that into motion, to make myself truly feel this way. How can you love someone that you hate?

Healing means getting better, little by little. For me, it can even be eating three meals a day, something many wouldn’t assume I struggle with. I have to try to be me, without caring what others think, to keep myself physically and mentally healthy. These are things that I struggle with on a daily basis, but I’ve learned to push through.

Honestly, I don't know if, how, or when I'll get better. I just sort of hope that I do. I have to believe that at one point in my life, things will be okay, even though they're terrifying right now. My day goes by, packed full of activities and things to keep my mind from getting ahead of itself, and I try to eat enough to keep myself healthy. To get better, I really must take it one step at a time, and maybe it'll be okay. For now, I'll have to put up with myself and be okay with not being okay.

Pain in Masculinity

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 2 · Pahomov · E Band on

“You should be ashamed of yourself!” This statement is something that many children, especially boys, grow up hearing. As children, humans are taught that there is a specific way that they are supposed to act, and if they cannot act that way then they deserve to feel shame. Men specifically are expected to fit the mold of being strong and loving sports-- of being a “ladies’ man” and not showing emotion. They are supposed to be proud of being this way, even if it’s common and anticipated. If, and when, they don’t fit this description of being “manly”, it is possible for them to lash out. Pride, and thus shame, encouraged by our society drives men to hurt themselves and others over the idea of being a “real man”.

The book Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, peers into the young minds of boys and shows that even at early adolescent ages masculine pride influences how children treat each other. In the novel, there is a group of boys stuck on a deserted island with no adults. At first, many of them get along, but there is consistently a single outcast- Piggy. Piggy’s character is defined by the fact that he is a weakling in both survival and social situations. He is fat and has been coddled his entire life. Even from the group’s first encounter on the island, they are rude to him, leave him out, and tease him, saying, “‘You’re talking too much,’ said Jack Merridew.” (21). This first interaction sets up the standard for the treatment of Piggy throughout the book. He is known as ‘Piggy’ for the rest of the book, which shows that though he is a major character, first and foremost he is feeble and fat. The other boys don’t see anything in him, beyond that, because he does not fit the mold of what a man is ‘supposed’ to be. Because Piggy is less than what they aspire to be, the other boys disregard his intelligence and anything else about him that might be good. They strip Piggy of his pride, and thus he occasionally lashes out to make them listen to him. It is only in these times that they give him even an ounce of respect. At various points throughout the book, Piggy grabs the conch shell, which is part of a rule that the boys set; anyone holding the conch gets to talk without interruptions. When Piggy does this, it forces the boys to listen to him, and seems to be the only way that they will hear him out. However, most of the time they talk over him anyway, and as the book goes on and the boys plunge further into insanity, their adherence to the conch rule diminishes, leaving Piggy once again left out, and eventually, dead.

As demonstrated by the boys’ treatment of Piggy, the world sees weakness as something to be ashamed of. In professions where pride and strength is valued over anything else, the stakes of being overpowered are raised. This is applicable in the case of the military, specifically male rape in the military. According to an article written by Carol O’Brien, Jessica Keith, and Lisa Shoemaker on the American Psychological Association’s website, “approximately 50% of survivors of military sexual assault are men, virtually all of the literature focuses on the assault of female service members”. This gives insight to the fact that not only are men expected to be strong, but women to be weak. Therefore when a man is overpowered, even by their superiors, they do not seek help because they want to preserve their pride, to hide from their shame. This is a double standard that makes help almost inaccessible to men. When men are told day-in and day-out that they must be durable and forceful, they learn to hide any times when they weren’t perfect, impairing their ability to get help. This relates to the novel when Ralph and Jack are fighting over who will be the most dominant in the group instead of working together; neither wants to be seen as weak or frail. This need to be strong and in power eventually is a factor that drives them insane.

Another moment of prime masculinity in Lord of the Flies is when the boys are finally rescued. Jack and his choir boys have been overcome with bloodthirst and were hunting for Ralph, setting the entire forest on fire to smoke him out. From afar, a navy vessel saw the smoke and flames, and came to see what the commotion was about. In this, the navy men discovered the group of boys that have been trying for months to be rescued. Upon the realization that they would be saved from this island, the boys began to cry. Beholding this the narrator describes, “The officer, surrounded by these noises, was moved and a little embarrassed. He turned away to give them time to pull themselves together” (202). Even in this time of reflection on the horrors endured on the island, the boys are meant to be composed. As is in the book, societies around the world say that men are “supposed to” not show emotion, because they are seen as the most stable. Lea Winerman, in an article for the APA, says, “Many boys, he [Ronald F. Levant] says, learn from their parents and from other children that they are not supposed to express vulnerability or caring.” Not only does this hurt the men themselves, possibly causing depression or other mental health issues, but can cause men to hurt others due to built-up emotion that they were shamed about upon expression. Men are human beings, but are expected to act without fundamental emotion.

In societies across the world, men are conditioned to be closed off to even their friends and family, and to feel ashamed of their emotions. They are taught vigorously to be proud of themselves from birth and to not speak about any type of defeat or vulnerability. This makes it hard for them to accept help, because the price of said help is self-shame, being patronized, and being disrespected. When they don’t receive this aid, they are forced to stifle their emotions. Men lash out against those around them to cope with the bottled-up emotions that have been brewing, possibly, for years. We, as humans, condition our men to be self-stable, but don’t expect the same of our women. It is evident through looking at most societies, humanity as a whole, and Lord of the Flies that pride and shame are two sides of the same coin that we thoughtlessly flip to decide our values and actions.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Penguin, 2006.

O'Brien, Carol, et al. “Don't Tell: Military Culture and Male Rape.” Bay Pines Veterans Healthcare Affairs, 2015. Found on the American Psychological Association website Here: http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/ser-ser0000049.pdf

Nelson, Tammy. “How to Be a Man of Integrity in a Time of Toxic Masculinity.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Nov. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-be-a-man-of-integrity-in-a-time-of-toxic-masculinity_us_5a0caef9e4b006a16baf1ee7.

Winerman, Lea. “Helping Men to Help Themselves.” Monitor on Psychology, American Psychological Association, June 2005, www.apa.org/monitor/jun05/helping.aspx.

Midnight Sprees

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 2 · Pahomov · E Band on

“Midnight Sprees”


How do I feel today? (sarcastically) I wonder. I feel (gasp) the way I do every time I’m in this room with you. You ask me this question every week, Lydia, and I answer in the same way. I’m fine. I sit in this bland office with cushy chairs, and I’m always fine. I don’t want to be here. I never want to. I want to leave this place and never look back. I don’t need help, and I certainly don’t need your talk therapy. But y’know, my parents just can’t accept that, so here I am. My parents can’t handle the idea that their precious little girl can deal with bullies.


(Pause)


They sent me here because they care? Really? They didn’t care, or notice, when I came home with bruises and a tear-stained face. My mother just kept playing solitaire, and my dad just kept working. He doesn’t even really need to work that much, we’re kinda well-off, but he never seems to spend time outside the office. Also, they didn’t care at all when you brought them in here for a therapy session. I mean, really, they pretty much told you that it’s your job to fix me, not theirs. (sarcastically) Oooh, therapy. They just want me out of their way. Speaking of, there was also that time when they didn’t care about... (trails off)


(Pause)


It’s nothing. I’m serious, really. Nothing. (pause) No, I’m fine. (tugs on sleeves) Fine… You really are that desperate to know? I almost killed myself. There I said it. Proud of me now, Lydia? Have I lived up to your standards?


(Pause)


You didn’t need to know. What had happened was… I got fed up. It was another day, with the same bullies and the same insults… (voice gets a little lower) “slut, whore, fatass”. The same voices in the back of my head nagging at me all day. Too many bodies on my mind. So… that night I decided I didn’t want to go through with it anymore. I cut myself, instead of others. But then I got scared. There was so much blood, and I wasn’t used to it coming from my own body. My victims never fought back. I called Andrea, and she rushed over to help me. She doesn’t know about my late-night habits. You don’t even know about them. We managed to stop the bleeding with a t-shirt, and to clean up my room. My parents never go in there anyways, so it doesn’t really matter, but just in case. I drank a lot of water and juice, and ate some food. Andrea told me that I have to tell you, but I didn’t really mean for you to find out…


(Pause)


Why? Well because of the feelings and the thoughts coursing through me, why else? I’ve killed people, and it lurks in the back of my mind- who am I going to kill next? I just can’t decide sometimes and it eats me alive. Y’know that feeling when you’re underwater in a pool and you can hear everything but it’s muffled? That’s what it feels like. Until I feel someone’s blood in between my fingers, until I hear their screams, muffled by whatever I stuck in them to shut them up. Nothing is ever still. It feels like everything is always vibrating; me, my school, my life, my heart, my head. Everything. My heart beats faster than ever lately. I always feel like people are out to get me, and even in a room full of friends I feel so lonely. All I think about is my next murder.


(Pause)


Yeah, I guess… I do see it as a problem… I almost killed myself, for god's sakes! Maybe I do need help… (speaking pace quickens) What if I’m beyond help or beyond care? What if I’m too broken? (pause) I’m too broken. It’s pointless. But… What if it isn’t? I don’t know, I don’t know. I don’t know what to feel or think; I just can’t be this way anymore! I’ve killed three people this month. They didn’t make the news- doesn’t look like a serial killer. The first was an old man-- I poisoned him, it looked like suicide. I helped that old man by putting him out of his misery. The next was a woman, younger. I made it look like a domestic violence case, reported it to the police and everything. The man is in jail, but he sexually assaulted her anyway, so he deserved it. Just last week I killed a woman, an abusive mother. Her daughter is too young to understand, anyway. She’ll learn when she’s older. So really, I’m not doing anything bad.


(Pause)


What, no! I’m not going to some asylum. Oh hell no. You’re not going to lock me up in some psych center! I don’t need that. You’re wrong, I’m fine! Or maybe I’m not, but that’s not the point. I don’t need to go to a crisis center… They hurt people there, and I don’t need to be any more hurt than I already am! I don’t need to be sedated or any of that shit! I’m fine.


(Pause)


The police? No, no! Fine, I’ll- I’ll go to your dumb psych center. Just don’t lock me away forever...


You Don't have to be "Crazy" to Have a Mental Disorder

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 2 · Pahomov · E Band on

"I don't **** with you!"

The man next to me's music is blaring from his headphones, making it impossible for me to not hear it, no matter how much I try to block out the profanities and beat. It's as if his widely-spread legs impeding my personal space weren't enough to make me uncomfortable. My body feels too big to fit in this space, and I can’t help think what others think about this. In my mind, I know that no one on this train cares what I look like or act like, as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with them, but I can’t help the nagging in my mind that tells me everything I do is wrong: anxiety.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

The woman in front of me impatiently taps her foot, sighing at her phone. Her purse sits on the seat next to her, making her personal bubble almost inaccessible. She has no relation to me and I shouldn’t be concerned with her at all, but the tapping of her foot might as well be her banging on my head the way that it affects me. The beat isn’t steady and sometimes pauses abruptly. In my head, it should be steady, in counts of four. That’s the OCD in me talking.

When I was younger, I would walk to the bus stop, sometimes nearly missing the bus, because I needed to count my steps. A normal sidewalk block would account for two steps, but some of the bigger ones took four steps. It was always an even number. I’ve always had an obsession with even numbers, but everyone thought it was no big deal. Everything I did had to be an even number; my steps, my breaths, even the amount of time my food was in the microwave had to be even or else I’d be uncomfortable. As I got older, uncomfortable wasn’t the right word for it. The word became anxious, and this nervousness manifested in other ways as well, in a fear of germs as one example. Finally, I decided this was something that I needed to share with my therapist. My mother was convinced I was fine, but my panic attacks suggested otherwise. After a session explaining myself, I remember my therapist’s words: “This sounds like a serious case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.” My heart seemed to skip a beat for a moment, I was finally being heard out.

"I know the train can go faster than this," a little girl in a blue jumper scoffs as the L loudly turns a corner, screeching unbearably for a moment.

Her voice, along with others’ protruding conversations infect my mind on this overly crowded train. Everyone is living their lives, and I feel like I can’t. I still have a few stops to go, and my heart rate is climbing. I think about things I’ve learned to deal with these feelings, when my body and mind feel out of control. I reign myself in, doing breathing exercises and examining the details in my the train ride to ground myself. It barely works in this moment, as I feel claustrophobic. I try to fill my mind with the breathing repetitions of ‘in for 4, hold for 7, out for 8’, as I’ve been advised before, but it feels ineffective.

Scwsh.

A book's page turns loudly, and I want to scream. Every noise around me consumes my thoughts, filling my head until it feels as if it's about to explode. I then realize I'm breathing too shallow and shakily, my face is going numb. There are too many people around me, I need to get out.

"Doors are opening."

I rush out of the train, people looking at me like I’m crazy. Despite the humid feeling of Thirteenth Street Station, I take gasping breaths and feel free, feeling returning to my face and my breathing stabilizing. Then I notice the side-eye glances to me of those in the station. I sit down for a moment just to think before going back to my travel. My whole life seems like a series of being judged, be it for my size, my habits and repetitions, or for my nervousness about life in general. Panic attacks have become a part of my life, the feeling of dread filling me to the point where I can’t breathe.

I think about my school life. Growing up, focusing was hard when there was so much around me to provoke unease, the constant sneers and threats throughout elementary school not helping my anxiety. People never seem to notice, is what I’ve learned. People looked at me and saw a quirky child who liked even numbers and didn’t focus well. Now they see a young woman who takes on every club and activity she can. In both scenarios, people don’t see the struggle, the constant battle with my mind to convince myself that I’m sane. They don’t see the tears late at night over what people think, or how high or low my grades are. They see the outward appearance or a young lady that holds herself together well, not the broken pieces held together with what I can only describe as metaphorical duct tape.

At this point in life, I’ve finally found somewhere accepting, somewhere that I feel comfortable opening up about my issues without having to worry about being hurt. I’ve learned how to provide myself with distracts that help more than hurt, to keep myself busy rather than make pain a distraction from anxiety.

So finally, I get up from this bench at Thirteenth and get on my way, facing another day.

Eating Disorders: Aware, But Not Over

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 1 · Giknis · E Band on

Hi everyone, so I’m back for my final post for this project about eating disorders. For an overview about what they are, see my first and second posts. To review, eating disorders are a medical issue when a person’s diet and relationship with food is severely damaged in some way. There are four types of eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, and Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders (OSFEDs). They can cause a person’s body to rapidly deteriorate to the point of death, if not treated. I did a survey within SLA’s student body to see what people knew about eating disorders, and the answers were not positive. People didn’t really know much, and agreed that they aren’t talked about enough.


This is me working on my poster for the Agent of Change.
This is me working on my poster for the Agent of Change.

Before going into what I did to make a change in the world of eating disorders and awareness, I’m going to talk about what things are already being done. There’s an organization known as the NEDA, the National Eating Disorders Association. They provide a lot of information about eating disorders to raise awareness, and give a helping hand to those who are going through the process of getting better. They give free eating disorder screenings, host walks and other awareness events, suggest good treatment facilities, have support groups, and even have their own “NEDAwareness Week”. During the NEDAwareness Week this year, the NEDA’s goal was to get as many people as possible screened and to talk about their experiences with eating disorders using the “#NEDAwareness” hashtag. The NEDA also has a program called “The Body Project”, where they get a few groups of candidates and give them weekly workshops on body acceptance. Results show that these people tend to feel less unhappy with their body.

Now I’m going to talk about my own part in making a change. For my Agent of Change, I did two things; I made a video and a poster. The video is me talking about eating disorders, pretty much summarizing my first blog post, and talking about my own experience with eating disorders. I showed this video to both Jonas Advisory and Kamal Advisory on Thursday, June 1. I also made a poster, which currently hangs outside of Ms. Martin, our Health and Phys. Ed. teacher’s, room. It shows the outline of a girl’s body, and a speach bubble saying “I’m okay, I guess”. However, written inside of her body are a lot of facts about eating disorders, including the National Eating Disorder Helpline, signifying that this girl has an eating disorder, but doesn’t want anyone to know. I decided to do these two things because I felt like they would actually do something. The poster, for example, is something that every student in SLA will most likely see as long as it is up, because all students have class on the fifth floor. The video, I felt, would open a door to new questions and to talking about eating disorders in general. Even Mr. Kamal, being a knowledgeable adult, told me that he learned a lot from my presentation.
This is a photo of the crowd from my video presentation on June 1st.
This is a photo of the crowd from my video presentation on June 1st.

Now that this project is over, it’s time to reflect. Overall, I feel like I did well on this project, and I feel good about it. I learned a lot about myself, and how I feel about talking about my experiences. I also learned a bit about eating disorders in general, especially OSFEDs, and about how people’s brains work. If there are things I could do better, it’d definitely be being more organized with time. There were times when I procrastinated a lot, and other times where I felt I was doing so much my head might explode. However, I do feel like I’ve learned a lot and made a change by making others learn a lot. There is still a lot left to do to have eating disorders no longer exist, and it’s a long road, but it’s one that may eventually happen. What’s left is for people to feel good about their bodies and to not feel that food is a way to cope with life, not all the time, anyway. Unfortunately, that may be an idealistic view, but one can hope. I sincerely hope that you’ve learned from reading my blog posts, and have a great summer!

This is my finished poster, which currently hangs outside of Ms. Martin's room.
This is my finished poster, which currently hangs outside of Ms. Martin's room.
For one final time, if you’d like more information, visit my Annotated Bibliography!

Neon Print

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Art - Freshman · Hull · d1 Band on
This is my homemade print about the element neon. First of all, I'm going to talk about neon, the tenth element of the periodic table. Neon is the second noble gas on the periodic table and was discovered in London in 1898. The name neon comes from the Greek word, neos, meaning "new". This is why I made my print of a laurel with neon's sign in Greek letters, representing the Greek background of neon's name.

Now I will go through the process for making this print. First, I researched the background of neon, and chose to do a laurel for my print. Then I drew my idea, among other ones, and chose the best. I then transferred my design onto tracing paper, and then to a foam plate. When I put the design onto the foam plate, I had to do the design backwards so that the print would come out with the letters the right way. Next class, we rolled the ink onto our plates and transferred the design onto paper by putting the paper on top of the plate with ink, and pressed down on it with a spoon, smoothing it out. Finally, I made a perfect 6"x8" square and put my final design in the middle, with an inch of room on each side.

Eating Disorders: How Aware Are You, Really?

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 1 · Giknis · E Band on

Hey everyone, I’m back again to tell you more about eating disorders. For an overview about what they are, see my last post. To recap, eating disorders are a medical issue when a person’s diet and relationship with food is severely damaged in some way. There are four categories of eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, or Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders (OSFEDs). They can cause a person’s body to rapidly deteriorate to the point of death, if not treated.


This is a bar graph from my survey, showing students' feelings on how educated they are, in general, about eating disorders.
This is a bar graph from my survey, showing students' feelings on how educated they are, in general, about eating disorders.

Last post, I didn’t talk much about treatment for eating disorders, so that’s what I’m going to talk about now. According to Akron Children’s Hospital, treatment for eating disorders “focuses on helping kids cope with their disordered eating behaviors and establish new patterns of thinking about and approaching food.” This means that the affected person is being coached to think more positively about food and its purpose as nutrition, not to be abused or deprived of. There are different types of treatment: short-term inpatient, partial inpatient, intensive outpatient, and outpatient care. These can be combined or used one after the other, like a timeline. First is short-term inpatient, which is used when the patient is too physically or psychologically unstable to be home, and needs to receive medical help and/or therapy everyday. Then there’s partial inpatient care, where the patient needs to be at the hospital often, but isn’t a danger to themselves if at home. After that comes intensive outpatient, which means that the patient is home full-time, but receives medical and therapeutic help on a regular basis. Finally, there’s outpatient. This is when the patient has reached a much more stable relationship with food and life, is becoming much healthier, and is just in therapy, usually once or twice a week. Throughout the recovery process, it’s estimated that about 168 hours per month are invested in healing. However, sometimes treatment for these disorders are hard to get. In fact, less than half of people with eating disorders actually get the help that they need, with the statistics going as low as only 6% of patients getting treatment (this rate for bulimia, specifically). Part of this is due to people’s unawareness of what eating disorders are and how dangerous they can be. It’s also sometimes due to lack of health insurance to be able to pay to get checked into inpatient care, for the sometimes required medical tests and medicine, and therapy.


This is a bar graph from my survey, showing students' feelings on the amount that eating disorders are talked about in SLA's community.
This is a bar graph from my survey, showing students' feelings on the amount that eating disorders are talked about in SLA's community.

There also seems to be a stigma around eating disorders due to a lack of knowledge. I conducted my own survey, distributed to SLA students via the advisory memo and direct confrontation, and asked about how much the students know about eating disorders, how aware they are of their prevalence, how they learned about eating disorders, and how they see them in our community. The answers were downright dreary. Of the polled students, almost 70% have known someone with an eating disorder, and 22% have had one. That’s crazy, that eating disorders are so common, even in our own community. I also asked about what eating disorders people have heard of, the majority being Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. This shows that awareness for eating disorders is low, to the point where only one or two disorders are widely known. Wake up, anorexia isn’t the only eating disorder! To see exactly how people think, I asked the recipients what comes to mind when someone says “eating disorders”. The most popular answers were: “Anorexia and Bulimia”, “skinny girls”, and “overeating”. This shows that people have a very one-dimensional view of eating disorders.


This is a bar graph from my survey showing students' answers as to whether or not they've ever experienced knowing someone with an eating disorder.
This is a bar graph from my survey showing students' answers as to whether or not they've ever experienced knowing someone with an eating disorder.

To see how students felt about eating disorders in our community, I asked about what they knew and felt. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being “I disagree completely” and 5 being “I agree completely”), students were asked to rate how much they agree with a statement. Most rated a “4”, for whether or not they feel eating disorders are a problem in our community. What’s outrageous is that not a single student said that they completely disagree that eating disorders aren’t a problem. That means that every student to take my survey thought that eating disorders are at least a little bit of a problem in the SLA community. Most people also rated a “2” on the statement “Students are well educated on eating disorders.” Therefore, the majority of students who took my survey think that we should learn more about eating disorders. I agree with this, because I have never, in any health or eating course, learned about eating disorders. I was never talked to about eating disorders, I learned about these disorders from a book and the internet, like a large number of my surveyors. Most of the people who took my survey also agreed that eating disorders aren’t talked about enough in our community, which I personally agree with.


This is an image from my survey that shows students' feelings, in a rating of disagree to agree, on whether or not eating disorders are a problem in our community.
This is an image from my survey that shows students' feelings, in a rating of disagree to agree, on whether or not eating disorders are a problem in our community.

As you can see, I and other members of the community feel that eating disorders are an under-communicated about problem. Eating disorders aren’t talked about much in our community, meaning that the only information people get about eating disorders, if any, is from their own research and the internet. Shouldn’t we be learning about this stuff in school, or from our parents? How can we know how bad these things are for us if we barely even know what they are. If someone finds out about bulimia, but doesn’t know all the consequences, they may think that it’s okay to get food out of your system in those ways. This needs to change. Therefore, I am going to raise awareness for my Agent of Change piece of this project. I intend to make one or two posters to hang up in our school, talking about eating disorders and their statistics, and to make a video. This video will talk about my own experience with eating disorders, as well as what they are and treatment for them. I will also include help resources for any struggling. I intend to show this video, perhaps at a grade-wide advisory if possible. Tune in next post to see how this all goes!

For more information, visit my Annotated Bibliography!

My Stamp

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Art - Freshman · Hull · d1 Band on
In this stamp, I made a personal logo of a coffee cup, cutting out the negative space to outline the positive space. First, let me explain what positive and negative space are. Positive space is any space in a picture where there is something, it's your subject. Negative space is the opposite, the space where there is nothing. It outlines the positive space, the way it forms my coffee cup. 

This project was done over the course of a few days. The first day, I was told to come up with a list of words to describe me, then to research and brainstorm image ideas for this stamp. This stamp represents me as a coffee-lover. I think that coffee seems to represent me, because some people like me and others don't, but the ones who like me appreciate me a lot. It also represents me as a barista, a job that I love. 

After brainstorming, I sketched my design. My first idea was too small at first, so I had to blow it up a bit. That's how I came up with this idea. I made my coffee cup bigger and added some steam coming off of it. Then, I cut out the negative space of my design on construction paper using an exacto knife. Finally, I glued my negative space onto a piece of pink construction paper and glued the whole thing into my sketchbook.

Negative Space Cut-Out

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Art - Freshman · Hull · d1 Band on
Negative space is any space in a drawing where there isn't anything. It's the black area. In my cut-out, negative space is the space outside of the outline of the wings. There is the outline of the wings, and an area of wing inside. Between those two, and the background, is negative space. Negative space is important because it can show the boundaries, or outlines of the subject of the photo. Negative space definitely enhances drawings, because it's just as important as positive space. When you have negative space around a subject, it can make the subject pop by outlining it with negative space.

The Hidden Disorders

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 1 · Giknis · E Band on
Hi, my name is Sara, and I’m going to be telling you about eating disorders. As you probably know, this is for the You & The World project, a project where ninth grade students in Ms. Giknis’ class take on an issue that we see in the world. We become the experts of our classes on our topics, researching them deeply until we completely understand them. Then, we will become an agent of change in the world, making an impact on this issue or someone who suffers at its hand. For my project, I’m going to delve into the world of eating disorders. My goal for this project is to learn as much as I can about eating disorders, then sharing that with the world to raise awareness for these issues.

First of all, an eating disorder is categorized as a disorder in which a person’s eating pattern changes dramatically, resulting in negative effects on the person’s health. There are four types of eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, and Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders (OSFEDs). Anorexia Nervosa, usually known as simply anorexia, is when a person severely restricts their diet, even to the point of sometimes not eating at all, due to thinking that they are very overweight. Someone with anorexia will weigh themselves often, exercise excessively, and have a very strict diet that they hold themselves to almost religiously. This has a huge impact on the person’s health, causing brittle bones (osteoporosis), hair loss, severe dehydration that can manifest into kidney failure, and more. In 2011 it was discovered, by looking at fifty years of research, that “anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder”. A different study noted that “people with anorexia nervosa had a six-fold increase in mortality compared to the general population.”

This photo depicts how anorexia affects the body (in a woman). It causes a ton of problems. https://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/anorexia-nervosa.html
This photo depicts how anorexia affects the body (in a woman). It causes a ton of problems. https://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/anorexia-nervosa.html
Binge-Eating Disorder is like the opposite disorder of Anorexia Nervosa. A person with Binge-Eating Disorder will binge on food, meaning to eat a lot in a small time frame, often secretly. They will sometimes feel shame about their eating habits and diet frequently, sometimes with little to no effect. When a person with this disorder binges, it’s usually to cope with an emotional issue occurring in their life lately. Some people joke that they “stress eat”, but those with Binge-Eating Disorder actually do. When something bad happens or they are feeling upset, they use food as a way to cope, regretting it later. This cycle of pain and food is pretty much the opposite of good for these people’s bodies. It can cause high blood pressure and blood sugar levels, gallbladder disease, and even Type II Diabetes.
This image shows some statistics about Binge-Eating Disorder in the United States. http://www.healthline.com/health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder-statistics
This image shows some statistics about Binge-Eating Disorder in the United States. http://www.healthline.com/health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder-statistics
Furthermore, Bulimia Nervosa also consists of binging on food, but a person with Bulimia will then either make themselves throw up or take laxatives to empty their system of this food quickly. Someone with Bulimia is also very concerned with their weight, dieting and exercising a lot, but unlike those with Anorexia, they keep a normal weight. This makes bulimia harder to see. However, over time symptoms and consequences arise, such as tooth decay, severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, inflamed intestines, and more. One study “found that the elevated mortality risks for bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified (now recognized as OSFED, other specified feeding or eating disorder) were similar to those for anorexia nervosa.”
This photo shows the cycle that someone with bulimia goes through, advancing their illness. http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/ask-dmine-how-bolus-bulimia
This photo shows the cycle that someone with bulimia goes through, advancing their illness. http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/ask-dmine-how-bolus-bulimia
Finally, there are OSFEDs, Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders. These include atypical versions of standard eating disorders. For instance, atypical anorexia is like anorexia without some of the symptoms. Atypical bulimia is bulimia, but the binge-and-purge cycle is practiced less often. Another OSFED is purging disorder, where the person purges like with bulimia, but without binge eating. The final OSFED I’m going to talk about is night eating syndrome, where a person eats excessively eats at night.

You might be wondering why I chose this topic. I feel that eating disorders are a big problem, especially here in the U.S., because they seem to get no recognition as an actual disease. People pass it off as just a common thing, and something that only girls do. This problem relates to me, because I used to have bulimia. When I had told a friend, she didn’t feel the need to tell an adult until she noticed me throwing up after every meal. She thought it wasn’t a big deal. The reasons behind eating disorders are almost as complicated as the disorders themselves. One main reason is due to pressure from friends and the media. The media portrays all of its models as tall and unhealthily skinny, conditioning kids to want that body from a young age. Another reason is due to Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a disorder that causes the person to believe that they are ugly and fat when looking in the mirror or at their body, even if they are the skinniest person in the world.

This picture shows how someone with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) can see themselves, versus how they actually look. This disorder can encourage them to exercise and fast to the point of being too thin. https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/the-modern-male-an
This picture shows how someone with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) can see themselves, versus how they actually look. This disorder can encourage them to exercise and fast to the point of being too thin. https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/the-modern-male-an
As you can see, eating disorders are a big and underestimated issue in the United States, and there needs to be more awareness for them. My research has given me so much more knowledge about eating disorders and the reasonings behind them. By my next blog post, I want to know more about how aware people are of eating disorders and their impact on people’s lives. I hope that I’ve been able to educate you all a bit on eating disorders, tune in next post to learn more.
This photo shows the standard treatment for an eating disorder. This is only the standard, because the treatment depends on the individual. https://www.akronchildrens.org/cms/kidshealth/b03f6b355bc60ea4/
This photo shows the standard treatment for an eating disorder. This is only the standard, because the treatment depends on the individual. https://www.akronchildrens.org/cms/kidshealth/b03f6b355bc60ea4/
For more information, see my Annotated Bibliography!

Printmaking

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Art - Freshman · Hull · d1 Band on
​Printmaking is an art that consists of etching a design into a surface (wood, acrylic, styrofoam, etc.), covering it in ink, and pressing paper on top. The ink then transfers the design to the paper, making a beautiful print. Printmaking originated in Egypt in about 500 BC. Relief printmaking is a type of printmaking where the ink is transferred from the surface of the material, meaning that the etched lines will come out white on the paper design. Printmaking was so important because it was the beginning of modern printing devices and book-making.
Flowers, https://4eb303af-a-6181a5ed-s-sites.googlegroups.com/a/northerncassschool.com/artroom/printmaking/printm/relief-print-examples/Flowers.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7cpTTikO-XfBL9MKp6m24RVpfTRMoY62Hf4Ksury1V9o0U93E-Ojh6kSyXqo2GUoRjKfYTFyeGumZywfsDmt_F3tjdSG
Flowers, https://4eb303af-a-6181a5ed-s-sites.googlegroups.com/a/northerncassschool.com/artroom/printmaking/printm/relief-print-examples/Flowers.jpg?attachauth=ANoY7cpTTikO-XfBL9MKp6m24RVpfTRMoY62Hf4Ksury1V9o0U93E-Ojh6kSyXqo2GUoRjKfYTFyeGumZywfsDmt_F3tjdSG
This print depicts two different flowers, one appears to be a sunflower and the other a daisy. The artist had a great use of contrast to show design in the petals and seeds in the center of the flower. They also used negative space well to create a tension between the two flowers. The way that the artist used texture in the sunflower’s seeds is also very impressive. I think that the flowers being on opposite corners of the paper could represent two people reaching out to each other without being able to touch. I believe that this relief print is aesthetically pleasing.

E1U5 Poema- Sara Frunzi

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Spanish 1 · Manuel · C Band on

Sara Frunzi

Soy yo

La hija sin un padre biológica

Una familia en el abierto

Una hija con una hermana

Una producto de muchas nacionalidades

Una chica en el mundo


Veo los barcos

Saboreo los tomates y salchichas

Toco las gentes en el multidad

Oigo música fuerte

Huelo alcohol


Leo todos los mis libros

Aprendo sobre me

Ejercitar mis derechos

Necesito mi familia, mis amores


Somos productos de muchas nacionalidades

Somos Italianos y Irlandes

Nuestros hogar original

La tierra de tomates y papas

Pero somos Americanas, está es nuestras hogar

Nuestras hogar es hecho por nuestras padres

Es hecho con pasión, amor, y trabaja dura

América es nuestra hogar, pero nosotros recordamos la historia de nuestras familia

E1 U4 Telenovela: "¿Por qué?": Sara F., Briannie M, Daeja R., Sean A.

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Spanish 1 · Manuel · C Band on
​ This telenovela about a man who is killed and there are 2 suspects, Rosa (played by Sara) and Sr. Santiago (played by Sean). Two detectives are on the case, Maria (played by Daeja) and Carmen (played by Briannie). They plan to figure out this cold hearted case. Who murdered him? How does the investigation play out? Click here to find out!

Personajes: Sara como Rosa (suspect), Daeja como Maria (detective), Briannie como Carmen (detective), Sean como Sr. Santiago (suspect)

Media Fluency Reflection

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Technology - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
Google Slide (1)
In this project, I learned more in-depth about some things I already knew. For example, I knew about the rule of thirds, but I didn't know exactly why it wasn't appealing to the human eye. I didn't change much about my second change, but I feel like the change I made changed the slide drastically. I wasn't given many things to critique about my slide, but the one thing that seemed crucial was the text. I was told that my text should be bolder, so I chose a similar, but thicker font. I was also told that my former location of the text wasn't as great as it can be, so I changed it to appeal to the rule of thirds. To conclude, research is something that's incredibly important for this project, as is practicing what you'll say. Without research, knowing what to say and how to answer questions will be very difficult, and it'll definitely be evident that you didn't research or practice.

Media Fluency Reflection

Posted by Sara Frunzi on
Google Slide (1)
In this project, I learned more in-depth about some things I already knew. For example, I knew about the rule of thirds, but I didn't know exactly why it wasn't appealing to the human eye. I didn't change much about my second change, but I feel like the change I made changed the slide drastically. I wasn't given many things to critique about my slide, but the one thing that seemed crucial was the text. I was told that my text should be bolder, so I chose a similar, but thicker font. I was also told that my former location of the text wasn't as great as it can be, so I changed it to appeal to the rule of thirds. To conclude, research is something that's incredibly important for this project, as is practicing what you'll say. Without research, knowing what to say and how to answer questions will be very dificult, and it'll definitely be evident that you didn't research or practice.

Media Fluency

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Technology - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
Google Slide

As you can see, this slide is about photography. Well how do you know this? Rhetorical question for you, I’ll answer it myself. I set up this slide to be glance media. What is glance media you ask? Glance media is a type of media that you can look at or pass by quickly and instantly know what it’s about. A billboard, for example, should be glance media; companies want you to be able to know exactly what they’re talking about or selling as you pass it by.


Well now that you know why it’s simple, you may be thinking, “Okay I know it has to be simple. But why does it have to be so big? [Gestures to slide, specifically the word “Photography”] It’s not an actual billboard.” Good question! It only needs one point because the slide is just an aid in speaking. If it only needs one point, why not make sure that point gets across thoroughly? Big font and little points are remembered.


“Why do you have that empty, blurry space on the edge, Sara?” [Gestures] some would ask. The reason for that is known as the Rule of Thirds. Imagine looking through the viewfinder on a camera. Have you ever noticed that there are faint lines going through the image? [Draws lines] The viewfinder breaks up what you see into thirds going horizontally and vertically. The Rule of Thirds makes things aesthetically pleasing. Think about if you had a picture of a flower or a person [Drawing] in the center of the photo. It’d be incredibly boring! I have this set up like this specifically to appease the Rule of Thirds.


As you can probably tell by now, there’s a lot of color in this slide. Did you know that color is the first things we see when we look at a picture? You probably already did, at least subconsciously. In this slide I used some subtle contrast. Contrast is when the subject colors are drastically different from the background colors. In this slide, the bright pinks, oranges, yellows, and whites in the subject [Gestures to flower and colors] are way different than that of the dark green hues in the background. [Gestures to the background colors]

E1 U1 (Sara, Sam, Elijah, Isayas)

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Spanish 1 · Manuel · C Band on
Video 1 Tú VS Ud.:
Watch what happens when Isayas shows bad etiquette towards Sam. Isayas says "tú" to Elijah, a friend, and "Ud." to Sara, an adult. When Sam, another adult, comes in though, he says "estas", implying "tú". That is so disrespectful, Sam explodes.

Video 2 Cumpleaños:
Watch us learn each other's birthdays! A cake will come out for the closest birthday, so pay close attention. 
Video 3 Alfabeto:
Do you like Cosmo? Let's see if you like our recreation! This is us hanging out with Cosmo and learning the alphabet.
Video 4 Numeros:
Elijah can't count in Spanish, so Comso comes to help him! A spell is placed on him to clone him, and he counts the clomes. After he is cloned fifteen times, Elijah realizes he can count!

My Home Network

Posted by Sara Frunzi in Technology - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
This is my home network chart. The internet comes from the Cloud through Fiber Optic wires into my family's router in our dining room. From the router comes my home's WiFi, LYBCJ. That WiFI is connected to all of the devices in my family; my father's tablet and phone, my mother's tablet, my phone, my grandparents' iPad, and our desktop tower. The tower connects to our desktop computer, and two printers, by USB cords. I didn't have an "OMG moment", but I did learn a lot more in-depth about the way the internet works and gets to my devices. I didn't realize how much work it actually takes. If I were advising someone else, I'd tell them to choose a network with fiber optics, because I learned that it moves the fastest of all of the types of wires.
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