AGENT OF CHANGE

For my final agent of change I decided to did 3 posters that really set the mindset of how smoking is bad for every human around the world.  When I first started this project I was going to do only children but I quickly realized after some research that it is not only the children that need help, the adults also need help with smoking because I pretty sure they do not realize the extensive and everlasting damage smoking puts on your body and your pockets. So what I did to spread some awareness around my school community was to put up several different posters that depict how smoking affects you and the people around you. My first poster was a picture of the words Ńo Smoking” and below that was multiple reasons and effects smoking has on You My next poster that I made was a picture a vertical cigarette that shows the different ages( to the max of 60). For my final poster I made was a pictures of  cigarette explaining the dangers and how. I realized a lot through these past couple of months the worst of smoking and the effets aren’t just made up, they are real and I learned that from multiple MDs about smoking and the dangers. From this project I also want and have been talking to my family that smokes and sharing this information with them. I believe I should do that because It shows how much I have learned from this project and I feel as though it’s my duty and my job that I try to make a change in people lives to stop smoking to one protect their health and two stop a trend that smoking is cool and I hope that I achieve that with my posters.

1)           2)       

                         3)

I have invested this past year in learning and writing about a controversial topic in America. I chose to explore transphobia.  If you are unaware of what that is, it is “intense dislike of or prejudice against transsexual or transgender people.” In my first essay Transphobia in America I wrote about the percentages of mistreatment and unequal treatment against transgender individuals. In my second essay Change Is Still Needed I interviewed two people, a transgender male and a doctor at CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) who educated transgender people on safe sex. I then explored the murder rate of transgender people.

Since my last article there hasn’t been any activism for transgender persons rights, but that doesn’t mean the fight is over. Although there has been no activism, there has been more deaths since my last essay (March 18th 2018). Only days later on March 26th 2018, Amia Tyrae Berryman was shot to death at the Shades Motel in Baton Rouge, LA at the age of 28. Sasha wall, 29 years old, was found shot to death in her vehicle in Chesterfield County, S.C on April 1st. Carla Patricia Flores, 18 years old, found strangled to death in her home in Dallas, Texas on May 9th. ALL transgender women of COLOR. The rate that transgender women are murdered is one of the highest in the country. Nino Fortson, 36 years old, transgender man found shot to death in Atlanta May 13th. These are just a few reported cases. Many are not even recorded.

Since there has been no activism fighting or educating anyone about the transgender people, I decided to go out and do it myself. Tuesday, March 6th I was on a panel in the Mutter Museum hosted by CHOP. I was accompanied by my mother and four other transgender males. We answered questions to feed their curiosity and to educate. Here is the panel I was on, fast forward to 1:11:00 if you want to see the panel part. I answered questions about my life and my visits at the hospital. I decided to go about my activism this way because I am offered to do things like this all the time, of course I accept. So I figured I can use these opportunities to educate.

Throughout my year of doing this project I learned more about myself and community. My community is at danger and nothing has been done about it. No acknowledgment from law enforcement, no help just “thoughts” and “prayers.” Those are nice, but they don’t help the people in need. I learned more about myself than ever, I need to start being more open minded and exploring topics that I usually don’t. It is up to my generation and I to right the wrongs everyone has made.

I will not acquiesce animal abuse:The end to animal abuse is alluring

                           My Dog

Before                                           After

How many animals get abused in the U.S

https://www.petsafe.net/learn/help-prevent-animal-cruelty

Part 1:

The Numbers are high considering the chart, 60% of all abused animal victims and 60% of them are dogs, 83% are cats and dogs, and if you think how many people abuse animal across the united state.The SPCA is is a good choice , because most time they have to euthanize animals if they don’t have enough room, but They said the don’t ethinzia adoptable animals, and they try to save as many animal as much they can which is also why it is also a good choice, and  they are getting less animals in so they don’t have ethinize as much, and maybe more room. And animal abuse is a very serious problem, and SPCA is still good because they try to help as much as they can, it is like me trying to help every homeless person of the street and taking them in to my home I can’t do that to all of them, I don’t have enough room to do that, not to mention I have small house, so I would have to let go of some people like what SPCA does, but now they probably don’t do it as much ( they do not accept birds , dogs, cats, small animals). An the ACCT is a good choice too because like my interviewer said the ACCT  is an open it take shelter,so they will take any animal bird, cats, dogs, etc. So if you know you can’t take care of an animal please take it to ACCT, or any shelter, because if you know you can’t take care of it it is a form of abuse and it is better off in any shelter. She also said that abuse is what they regularly see so don’t be afraid to take the animal in , but if it would be related to the police like your neighbor is the abuser then call the PSPCA.And if you help lessen the number of animal coming in , and to help people take care of animals, and if you don’t know how to take care of an animal but you enough money to take care of one then you can look on web sites and ask for help, don’t be embarrassed, there is more people like that than you think.and my other interviewer said that all my question where more for PSPCA for an interview, but I was already running out of time for that when I got her response.                                                                My interviewer telling me that I could hep ACCT with my agent of change

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the other interview that said PSPCA was a better choice to interview for my questions

But Anyway, I have a dog(the first picture above) that is probably been through that, Although we don’t,know her back story besides her being shot 16 times and her being still here, not to mentions she had a couple of disease before the adoption center got her, and usually dog adapt and if she was wild she probably would not have a disease, but who knows she may have escaped, but I mean she is in my family's care for about 2 years in march 12th and she is very happy and she is always wagging her tail, beside when she goes for a car ride, tha vacuum goes on , and if we put on a tv show that has a gun shooting a one point like a mystery show,or if there is a fake gun like a nerf gun near, which would be the trauma, but that is kind f why i am doing this.

Rabies: why most people terrorize dogs.

https://www.tes.com/lessons/ZfjkR0gtFqB-jQ/animal-rights

Dog are Abused 20% More Than any Other Animals in the U.S

But  Abuse can’t get unnoticed, and that means we have to start speaking up, I mean the abuser doesn't have to know a thing, most calls are autonomous, and you don’t have to tell the person that you going to tell, like almost every one of my site say to do, because it is important.And what is even more important is that 100% of people who commit  sexual homicide has a history of animal abuse which is kind of bothering that a lot of them do that, and it doesn't mean the other way around so if there is a neighbor who is abusing an animal doesn't mean they will commit sexual homicide so don’t be afraid to do your own actions and report them.Not to mention abusers, abusers don’t give the animals enough room for  them sometime to breathe and grow, or give them too much room, like the whole yard but can’t use all of the yard because they are chained up from the picture in many sites. Which is again terrible, considering the effect, which is physical and mental health issues.Or animal hoarder, I mean they collect animals and are like I can take care of them even though they obviously cannot, but they completely think they can handle everything but they have a lot cats, dog, etc.

And to kind of wrap this up a bit, I read the laws(which I suggest for you if you care for animal, because one of my site suggests it too in one of the steps for reporting animal abuse). first, animal abuse penalty includes the officer to file a felony charge(a felony is a severe crime and is viewed severely by the society, and can include murder, robbery, kidnapping, etc)dog t fighting is already a felony, and breaks down into different grade pentaly’s base on how hard the abuse is. And veterinarians have civil immunity( where you don’t get served the punishment) now I don’t get too much of this but if they actually harm animals I think they will get charged because rules are rules, I think it is only for checking things from the dog and stuff. And a little bit obvious but if they commit animal abuse they will have to give animals. And did you know there is a new law that if someone abuse horse’s they will be charge the same charge as abusing dog and cats.

Part #2

For my Agent of change I was thinking of having a bake sale and and giving the money to ACCT, and I will be especially easy because my interviewer is working in fundraising and money department. I had limited choices to do think, because I can’t just walk up to a person like hay your and animal abuser I will call the cops and make sure this animal is safe, and there is volunteer options but that means I might have to do it way more than I thought. I have students run philly style, during saturdays an hour after school on mondays tuesdays and thursdays, and also have robotics, not to mention I also have green season in running which means I have to practice in the summer, and all of that make My time very limited, and I don’t know what hours they would like me to go in, plus I don’t know how to get there, I haven’t even travel in there over there a thousand time on the train but I haven't been in there, not to mention it is nowhere near the train station and the close septa there is 53 an I don’t even know where I could even catch that,  and I can definitely not get another dog, my dog is j same way about elouse with other dogs and she is a nut case, we can take care of her but with my grandma, my grandma would be going nut, my grandma already freaks out over pretty much anything we do (my dad, mom, brother, and me ,feel the her, way protective, always want to cleans, too much, but we love her anyway). I could sent care packages, but I can’t take car of that, mostly likely my dog will rip up ANYTHING, money is better, she hates money and metal, when I show her money she is not tempted to eat it.

Part 3 , final part:

So I did do a bake sale, just to let you know. And I was surprised at how many bought stuff, and how much I made too, so I raised $40, and I at least had 100 items.And just to let everyone know because the majority of the people who bought my cupcakes and brownies where freshman, so I gave the physical money to my dad, then he gave $40 to ACCT. And I what it means to me that you helped me get this money, to  help them means a lot, because I mean the place , doesn't have much room, money for people to hire to take care of the animal, an in my mind giving them the money is like help the animal not die, I mean like if they die, because of the shelter, then the person who did it would feel the pain and guilt they made, and they will keep doing, so it kind of helps fight animal abuse in a way. And in my opinion if I had started earlier in the year I probably could have done more, what I think I would have done if I did have more time, is send care packages, more bake sales, maybe an grade advisory presentation, sold pins with animal awareness color, and an stuff.

And one thursday 17th  I did an presentation to my advisory.  It explained what to do in the vent if someone were to abuse an animal, and what it looks like that, Now That is called teaching the public which is where, people show how it happens, or what to do , which is what ACCT does sometimes with posters and stuff.And teaching the public is very important because , it is how we introduce a topic if some people doesn't know what it is like in african american history with the memorials, how an we make and memorial to show the public what happen here. well what teaching an thing that is already happening is showing what is happening like police shooting a dog, for all most no reason (which did happen an saw it on social media) it is showing even dog, police are crossing species, they were shooting black people for no reason and now there shooting dogs, not to mention, there was better way to solve the problem in all of the situation of the police shooting people for no reason. If you want you can see my presentation here.

I mostly decided to do a bake sale was that first morgan polly was the one I interviewed and she helped with money, second they sounded they need money, for stuff like more room or hire more people. Why I also choose a presentation was that I also needed to actually support the awareness and that is one way to do that, and I can’t really make anything with in the time I had for awareness. My experience with bake sale was much, much easier than I thought, I mean I just emailed, mrs.sessa, and she reserved me the date, then I pretty much just sat there and people gave me money and I gave them the cupcakes and brownies, but what was horrible, is that, it was the day where it rain HARD, and I was completely wet, cardboard wet, only some cupcakes and brownies wet, and presentation, was a usual presentation, I went up to the board talks about animal abuse and how horrible it is and what are the signs of animal abuse, and sat back down, now if was in front of other people, maybe whole grade advisory, or 10,11, or 12 grade group advisory, then I would feel more nervous but all I could do is my advisory. Now my whole project was a range of excitement and emotions, ike when I saw this project I was like animal abuse, because it is a big part of my life, and I hate abuse. Now the research, wasn’t too bad, maybe could of done more, but was ok, and I did learn some things, like dog racing was even in ancient rome and stuff, and  saw new picture, that gave me more visual representation of dog abuse, when I did the bake sale I was so nervous, like what do I do, where do I go, but then I sat down for a couple of minute in the business I was ok, And then when I sent the money, i was even better, because it was in my bag (don’t trust my dog, she LOVES paper, including money) and I didn’t want it to get stolen or lost, but I kept it safe for the whole week and sent the money, and then the couple of days I didn’t really have to do much until the presentation were chill and calm, and I was still calm on the day of the presentation, because I did practically thousands of presentations. Now I know this is a lot of words, but I want to make sure you knew what I was doing with your money,I mean if I were you, and someone did a post about their charity, I would want to make sure what asctly happen with my money, right?

I felt great about doing this project I mean when ever I saw any animal abuse photos or videos I always wished that I could do something, but I couldn’t mostly because I didn’t know how to give to charitys, and I didn’t have money, and I could of asked my parents for money, but again didn’t know how to get money to the place, or which one I should donnate, so I felt happy at the moment when I saw this project because then I could actully help witht his problem. And the way I felt i could have done better if I had more time, like if I had more time then I could of done much more, like care packages. Well what is still done for us to do is donate,help/volenteer , notice the sings explained in my presentation (and again DO NOT HANDLE IT YOUR SELF they can be very dangerouse, consiring they hurt dogs, they can do it to you).  Some other ways is also to know whether you can actully keep the dog, if the dog gets adopted twice then they will die, if it you can’t keep it and no one wants it with in the time they will ethinzie, and not to metion the poor dog is just going to the same thing twice. And if you do want to be a part of the action the most safest thing is probably to volenteer ofr get a job at an shelter (almost every shelter has volenteer spots, and for kids).

A picture of the receipt of my donation

                                          Annotated bibliography

1. “Animal Cruelty”Learning to give,https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/animal-cruelty

The definition of animal abuse is the acts of violence or negling the animal on purpose or at least mostly on purpose.and it is important to know which ones are which because, police or animal control will know and asses the problem, like if it is dog fighting, and you say i don’t know abusing an animal in a backyard, they might think oh only one and not bring enough equipment, to ring them to a shelter. This abuse can cause physical and emotional pain, considering my dog whenever she hears gunshots(even on TV, plus we live near an country club that has an gun range) she gets scared and when we first got her she was jumpy and whenever and man/boy try to take her collar off she would growl, but when me or my mom took it off she did nothing(she is fine now and is very happy and understands that we will not hurt her and stuff because now my dad and brother can take her collar off) so that memory will live on.

• Animal abuse is very cruel and hurtful to other animals (I do not trust SPCA because if they run out of room for animals, they ethiniza some animals)

• It is very horrible because animal are just like us, they have feeling just like us, so it is very unfair for someone to do that to an animal.

              2.“Animal abuse and Human Abuse: Partners in crime” PETA,https://www.peta.org/issues/companion-animal-issues/companion-animals-factsheets/animal-abuse-human-abuse-partners-crime/

Studies have shown that aggressive animal are likely to be abused because people are afraid and a coward. 100% of sexual homicide  has a history of animal abuse.Albert Desalvo killed 13 women and abused puppies so it can back up my reasoning.

• It is very usual for a sexual homicide person to abuse animals

• And I am not surprised that aggressive animal get abused more,because again people are cowards

3.“Animal Abuse”Amarican Human https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/animal-abuse/

4.I didn't know that there was steps, I kind of knew some signs but I am not sure whether I will recognize the signs.owners often neglect their pets because they don’t know there pets need, but most of neglect is on purpose.but outrageous because human system can take calls right at that minute, but they get a lot calls so they will not take the call right at the moment.

• We can testify or sign a complaint about the abuse like how you sign a complaint about noise

• Neglect in both children and dogs are horrible  and can result in death

“Reasons for abuse” wildlife rescue and rehabilitation http://wildlife-rescue.org/services/advocacy/animal-abuse/

5.Actions can be active and passive, like hurting the animal and not doing anything for the animal. Like some kid decapitated dog and stuff and setting fire on their tails and butts.Passive actions can cause severe pain to a dog or cat

“ U.S Animal Abuse records deleted-What we stand to lose”National geographics.https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/wildlife-watch-usda-animal-welfare-trump-records/

The roadside Zoo neglected the animals including premature death. And making the monkey Dehydrated while performing experiment on them that is just rude.and whipping elephants and changing them.

• I love elephants so I hate that they would do the elephants

• And I hate that the family zoo would do that and I wonder if they ethinza

Extra websites:

http://placerspca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/faqs.pdf

http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-law-basics/what-distinguishes-a-misdemeanor-from-a-felony.html

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/animal-cruelty-pennsylvania-libres-law-20170628.html

https://www.today.com/pets/aspca-adoption-euthanasia-s-down-animal-shelters-t109029

Light Pollution

In my first post, I talked about how light pollution is harmful to both humans and animals. I learned that it affects the migration of birds. In my second post, I took pictures at 30th St. station with my Mom, and I learned that Philadelphia is one of the worst cities with light pollution. For my agent of change, I did a presentation to my Boy Scout Troop on some facts about light pollution and how to reduce light pollution. It was interesting because I learned how to reduce light pollution and I learned some facts about light pollution. Some of the facts that I learned were that the sky glow of Los Angeles is visible from an airplane 200 miles away, but people there haven't seen the stars in a long time, artificial light at night disrupts the seasonal cycle of trees, light pollution contributes to climate change, light pollution kills millions of birds a year, and exposure to artificial light at night puts your health at risk. Ways to reduce light pollution are to turn off lights, especially outdoor lights, replace outdoor lights with low-glare fixtures, place motion sensors on outdoor lamps, and replacing high-energy bulbs with outdoor CFLs and LED floodlights. I think that simply by turning off lights you can make a difference in reducing light pollution.

I was effective in making a change because I got my Troop to think about how they are not able to see the stars in the city because of light pollution. I suggested that they turn off the lights and switch to motion sensors for outdoor lighting so they can reduce light pollution.

This project was pretty hard, but I had to do it. I learned that I wait until the last minute to do things. I feel that I could have prepared for this project better. Turning off the lights will help to reduce light pollution. Here is the link to my Google Slides.

Here is the link to my annotated bibliography.

Previously on my High School: Drug Abuse research project I did some background research on teenagers and common drug use, and the dangers and risks that come with it. In this post I reference diagrams,graphs, quotes, and statistics that show that using many of these drugs result in brain damage, and sometimes physical damage depending on the drug. In the 2nd blog post I had a 45 minute interview with my Uncles coworker, David Johnson who told me his story and experience with drug use/abuse since he was 12. You can read more about those two posts by clicking here for the 1st one and here for the 2nd.

For my Agent of Change I tried to think about the best way to make a change for my problem which was Teenage Drug Abuse. My logic behind the thinking revolved around me thinking about how I could tell the kids not to try drugs, or become a regular user of drugs, without getting them to do the exact opposite. In my presentation instead of saying do not try or do drugs at the beginning, I instead showed horrific and shocking statistics surrounding the dangers of drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and consuming nicotine via smoking and vaping. When the faculty saw these statistics which were fairly recent, in the past decade to be exact that started to think about their own children in their lives as well as the students. I went on to explain how even though at the surface these drugs can be harmless they affect teengers the worse. The reasoning behind this is the developing adolescent brain which could be negatively affected by drugs causing less brain development and lack of skills or traits in certain parts of the brain like the cerebral cortex and the limbic system. While doing this project I felt challenged, but Iḿ glad I was able to complete it, and it brings me joy that the faculty thought it was good enough that they should present to students at Germantown Friends School.

To conclude my series of post, this project was amazing and really made me look at an important topic and help the problem become non-existant. While doing this project I felt like I was making a real contribution to the world and my issue. If I were to do anything differently, I would challenge myself to make even more of a change than I did initially. I think in the bigger picture of Teenage Substance Abuse, there a lot of room for improvement as well as thinks that could be addressed and fixed. This includes clearing the stigma of rehabilitation, encouraging adolescents to speak up about drug use, and any personal problem they may have, and properly educating adolescents about the dangers of drugs.

For my final part of my You and The World project, I decided to use social media to my advantage. I created an Instagram account that is about food. In my two previous posts were showcasing a plant-based diet. My first post was mainly me glorifying not eating meat because it is bad for you. Looking back at it, it was biased but my second post level the playing fields. For my second post, I decided to gather my own research to back up my original research. I interviewed 3 people, the first person decided to be vegan for health reasons, the second person my friend who has been a vegan her entire life, and her mother. By searching for my own research I learned that having a plant-based diet isn’t as good as I thought it might be, but that just wasn’t enough for me to believe that not eating meat was beneficial to me.

I had two parts to my Agent of Change; the first part was to stop eating meat and the second was to document it. I created this change for myself where I would stop eating meat for six weeks but I broke it up in parts. Every two weeks I would increase the intensity of my diet by making it more strict. The first week 1&2 I was a pescatarian, week 3&4 vegetarian, and 5&6 vegan. The hardest part was being vegan because I felt like I couldn’t eat anything and the easiest was being a pescatarian. I after completing the 6 weeks I didn’t feel much of a difference other than the fact of knowing the I’m not eating an animal. Then I created an Instagram to show people how easy it is. I decided to create the account because during the six weeks I followed multiple food accounts on Instagram and YouTube, so I decided to make my own.

Follow me @whatinthefood

My experience of not eating meat wasn’t necessarily hard if I did it correctly. When I wasn’t eating meat I had to find other things to eat. The main thing I found myself a lot of starch. I ended up gaining 10 pounds at the end of the 6 weeks because I wasn’t watching what I was eating. When you don’t eat meat it is easier to gain weight unless you plan out what you’re eating. Several weeks later I still no longer eat meat, not for health reasons but because my body has adapted to being a pescatarian. I still struggle with my diet but I’m getting better by planning out my meals.

After completing this project I feel more aware of what goes into my body. By doing this my entire perspective on people who don’t eat meat. When I used to eat meat I thought people didn’t eat meat were crazy and not eating meat was the dumbest choice in the world. I felt as though I wouldn’t be able to survive with having a burger in my life but when I tried it for myself it blew my mind. I wanted to break the stigma of eating meat is the only way I could survive, and that is how my Finsta( food Instagram) was created.

The process of doing my Agent of Change was a little bumpy. My original plan was to document everything I ate but then I lost all my content because someone stole my phone. So then I was back to square one, but I still pushed through. I later came up with the idea of creating an Instagram and finding recipes to recreate. My project didn't turn out exactly how I planned but I managed.

Bracelets Give A Hope For a Change

It’s time to make a change! Seniors living isolation is an issue that all of us should be aware of. In my previous posts, “Elderly Living in Isolation” and “Home For The Isolated,” I talked about elders that live in isolation and things that we could do to help them. As part of my research, I went to NewCourtland, a senior home that interacts with their residents and makes their lives better every day. I left the home knowing that seniors are part of our community, and just like children, we should take care of them. Along with this, I interviewed Gail Kass, the president and CEO of this amazing home. She told me about the experience at NewCourtland and  said: “The hope I have for the life they have here is to try to give them a quality of life, try to make them feel independent as possible, safe, fed, happy, and clean.” I went to NewCourtland and Mrs. Kass’ words reflected everything I had seen that day. I was happy to know that someone cared about senior citizens and was willing to try to make their lives better.

Have you ever felt that you are on your own and that no one is there for you when you need them the most? That’s how people that live in isolation feel. Loneliness can lead to depression, and even suicide. As part of my research, I informed people about this problem, as well as showed my support for helping this issue. I know that I can not make families decide what they will do to care for elders, but I can at least create the doubt over deciding whether or not the family should send the elder to a retirement home. I also have the power to make sure senior citizens feel loved and appreciated. For all this to happen, I decided for my agent of change, how I can make change, I would create bracelets of hope that would spread a message to all of the seniors who receive it. This  will help show support and love from teenagers.

A picture of the bracelets

At first, the bracelets were a failure, they were very hard to make. The material would get tangled and it would take around 50 minutes to create one bracelet. I made 10 bracelets, and when I tested the bracelets, all of them broke. I was frustrated because I did not know what to do. It had taken me two weeks to make those bracelets. But then, I found out that waxed cotton cord can be really helpful. I went to every craft store near my house, and could not find the waxed cotton cord. I was ready to give up until I found it online and bought it. I brought ten yards of waxed cotton cord and started making new bracelets that were way easier to make. The bracelets took only 15 minutes to make.

A picture of the original bracelet

After a good amount of work, I finished my bracelets and got on the road to begin boxes. The boxes were 5 x 5 inches and made out of paper. They were super cool to make! Since I was almost done, I decided to include a small message in the box, which said, “I want you to know that someone out there cares.” I made 7 boxes and gave them out to my close friends to spread the message of support to elders who live in isolation. I heard some of my friends say, “Who am I going to give this to?” others said, “I’ll give it to my grandma.” I was delighted to hear that many thought about neighbors and friends, which was just my intention and an incredible way to spread the message.

A picture of the boxes

Since everybody I knew got a bracelet of hope and gave it to someone they loved, I decided to make one for myself and my neighbor. My neighbor is an incredible lady who I just met. I was walking and when I saw her, I knew that she deserved a present. I went home and made her a bracelet for her and me. When I gave her the bracelet, her smile was one of the most wonderful things I’ve seen in my short life. I saw her eyes and I felt the joy, I couldn’t stop smiling. Even though I could not take a picture with her, I am glad that I got a smile from her.

A small message to the receivers of the box       Friends showing love and appreciation.

A picture of my friend’s grandma wearing             My teacher and a student showing support to seniors that

the bracelet                                                                live in isolation

I learned that small things can mean a lot to other people, things as small as a “good morning” or even a “hi” can make someone’s day. Making someone happy makes you feel happy, and that's when you notice that there is hope to be better and change someone’s world. Now, I appreciate every single moment I spend with my family. I expected to have enough time to make more bracelets, but I would not have imagined that I would face numerous obstacles. Living in isolation is something that no one wants and it is our duty as members of a society to help anyone who lives in isolation to feel loved and appreciated no matter what race, gender, or age they are.

Annotated Bibliography

Previously, you may have read my two blog posts on orca captivity, (post1: Mistreatment of Orcas) (post2: Extinction of Orcas). I was curious about any news on orcas that I might have missed for my blog post 2. In an article by National Geographics, Sarah Gibbens (the writer for the article) writes about another one of the captive born orcas dying at a young age because of infections that stem from the captivity pools. Kyara, a 3 month old orca was pronounced dead at the San Antonio Seaworld after it was confirmed she died of pneumonia. 60 percent of captivity orca deaths are caused by the infectious diseases from the park, according to the investigation done from San Antonio News. SeaWorld has since then officially ended its breeding program for the killer whales. It is a good step because the movement of the people has begun to work. Recently, Seaworld has announced to shift their park from the live whale shows into more education and animal conservation. Although, these are huge steps in ending captivity, there is still so much to do.

Picture of Kyara with her mother Takara.

by the end of 2018, in the state of Florida, there will be no more orca entertainment shows. If this bill proceeds successfully, it could inspire other states to act the same.

As I ventured deeper into my project. It has hit me that I could not easily solve it in two months. The next best thing I believed that I could do was to raise awareness so that people can get their knowledge on a topic that is not thoroughly discussed. I decided that I was going to do a fundraiser for a orca conservation organization that aids orcas. I decided on the OrcaConservancy, they are a non-profit organization that help the wildlife and environments where orcas live in. They also act to help orcas get out of captivity by organizing marches and signing petitions. They also have programs where young people can be educated on orcas and help out with volunteering.

I contacted them through email to see how they are, why they should be the one organization out of many other ones to donate. They replied in a day and said that they would appreciate a donation very much.

Picture of the response of one of the Orca Conservancy spokesperson.

I thought what a better way to spread awareness than to show a documentary to young people. I had chosen the documentary Blackfish because not only is it just a heart touching, beautiful documentary. It conveys the message of what is wrong about orca captivity, it hits many points, scientific and even personal scenarios. My goal was to have at least 10 people attend and donate. But I had actually surpassed that number which was amazing. I would charge the admission fee be $4 for each person to come to see the documentary. I also gave attendees the option to purchase a rainbow loom bracelet for $1, all proceeds of the event would go to the organization.