Our first STEAM class as seniors in Economics. The unit this course starts with is Utility and Value which mainly looked at how and why people made decisions, and the economic value behind these decisions. For our action project, we were assigned to chose two post-high school paths leading to our careers. I personally, want to be a lawyer, so both my path required college and a further education. This action project was a lot of work and quite time consuming, but I'm so glad we got to do it because not only was it interesting, but it gave me a sense of what kind of money I'll be paying for college and how long I'll be paying it.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Circle of Life
Our first humanities class for our senior year is Journalism. Journalism is about observing, analyzing, and reporting current events through different media. Our first unit is about journalism through images, also known as photojournalism. In this unit we learned about photography skills and how photographs are an essential part of journalism. For our first action project, we were given the task of interviewing someone who we believe has an interesting view of the world, and what they believe the meaning of life is.
For my action project, I chose to interview a friend who is very close to me. I’ve known him for only a year but he’s already become a very influential person in my life, and I believe I already have pretty good sense of what kind of a person he is. JM is almost 18 years old, going to the top ranked school in Illinois, and one of the brightest people I know. He enjoys bike riding and being out with friends; he also mentors underprivileged kids three days a week. I chose him for my interview due to how much he has already experienced in his life. Growing up in Colombia, I know he’s witnessed many deaths and has dealt with many hardships, and has to have a different perspective of the world than most people our age, even those who’ve lived in Chicago.
In our interview, conducted on September 15th at my house, JM told me he believed that the meaning of life is “to leave something behind that others will experience and learn from, while at the same time, having experiences that will you with pleasure,” part of what shaped his view on life, surprisingly had little to do with his childhood and Colombia, but instead came from a book his father gave him during a rough patch in his life. The book, Amador, is a Spanish book written by Fernando Savater as a sort of guide for his son. It is about the ethics of life and the questions his son should ask to lead a good life. This book, which my interviewee read last year, inspired him to change his views on what was worth shaping his life toward, and it enlightened him with topics and perspectives he had not previously considered.
JM personally, has yet to demonstrate the first part of what he believes the meaning of life is- leaving something behind for others to experience and learn from; however, he explained to me, how his parents have done this for him. He stated “My parents were the first ones to get an education in our family and to strive for a stabilized financial situation. The trials and tribulations that I experienced in life are not something I want my children to have to experience as well.” He has, however, demonstrated the second part of his meaning in life- filling your life with experiences that fill you with pleasure, and this is something I’ve personally witnessed many times. For the past two summers I would constantly see him doing things that I know he finds fun. Even before I knew him, when I would just see him around, he always had a smile on his face whether he was somewhere lively like a music festival, or just somewhere more ordinary like a park, showing how he strives to find something positive in everything he does, in order to fill his life with pleasure like he stated.
When I asked JM to describe what image he thinks would represent his meaning of life- he said a circle, a fun, adventurous, colorful circle, not a regular one. The circle represents his belief that life goes on, but it’s not just ordinary because so much happens - good or bad - in life. That’s how I came up with my idea for the subject of photograph.
For my action project, I chose to interview a friend who is very close to me. I’ve known him for only a year but he’s already become a very influential person in my life, and I believe I already have pretty good sense of what kind of a person he is. JM is almost 18 years old, going to the top ranked school in Illinois, and one of the brightest people I know. He enjoys bike riding and being out with friends; he also mentors underprivileged kids three days a week. I chose him for my interview due to how much he has already experienced in his life. Growing up in Colombia, I know he’s witnessed many deaths and has dealt with many hardships, and has to have a different perspective of the world than most people our age, even those who’ve lived in Chicago.
In our interview, conducted on September 15th at my house, JM told me he believed that the meaning of life is “to leave something behind that others will experience and learn from, while at the same time, having experiences that will you with pleasure,” part of what shaped his view on life, surprisingly had little to do with his childhood and Colombia, but instead came from a book his father gave him during a rough patch in his life. The book, Amador, is a Spanish book written by Fernando Savater as a sort of guide for his son. It is about the ethics of life and the questions his son should ask to lead a good life. This book, which my interviewee read last year, inspired him to change his views on what was worth shaping his life toward, and it enlightened him with topics and perspectives he had not previously considered.
JM personally, has yet to demonstrate the first part of what he believes the meaning of life is- leaving something behind for others to experience and learn from; however, he explained to me, how his parents have done this for him. He stated “My parents were the first ones to get an education in our family and to strive for a stabilized financial situation. The trials and tribulations that I experienced in life are not something I want my children to have to experience as well.” He has, however, demonstrated the second part of his meaning in life- filling your life with experiences that fill you with pleasure, and this is something I’ve personally witnessed many times. For the past two summers I would constantly see him doing things that I know he finds fun. Even before I knew him, when I would just see him around, he always had a smile on his face whether he was somewhere lively like a music festival, or just somewhere more ordinary like a park, showing how he strives to find something positive in everything he does, in order to fill his life with pleasure like he stated.
When I asked JM to describe what image he thinks would represent his meaning of life- he said a circle, a fun, adventurous, colorful circle, not a regular one. The circle represents his belief that life goes on, but it’s not just ordinary because so much happens - good or bad - in life. That’s how I came up with my idea for the subject of photograph.
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| AG Circle of Life (2015) |
The photo I chose to include with this piece is of a circle made of flowers because I thought it was a good representation of how JM described his image of the meaning of life. I chose flowers of all things because plants are actually life - they’re organisms and they help sustain life- and they are all different and unique, just life each individual and his/her experiences; but at the same time they are all in the same circle of life together. I chose to center the circle instead of using the rule of thirds because it’s just one shape and I thought it was more aesthetically pleasing that way. I used a pretty low aperture (f/2.2) to allow more light in so that the image would be brighter because I wanted to show life in a more bright and positive light. My shutter speed was pre-set, but it must have been short since I took a picture of something that was still and it wasn’t blurry. Furthermore, I set the focus directly the circle since it’s the subject and most important part of the image, and there wasn’t much else I wanted the viewer to see.
This action project was one I especially enjoyed, because not only did it allow me to become closer to someone in my life, and see their view of things even more, but it also allowed me to improve in a field that I find very enjoyable- photography. I’ve always had in interest in photography, but never felt as though I knew enough about camera’s and the science behind picture taking, so I never really pursued my interest in it. Now, however, I have almost a second opportunity too, and maybe it’s something that can bring more pleasure to my life.
This action project was one I especially enjoyed, because not only did it allow me to become closer to someone in my life, and see their view of things even more, but it also allowed me to improve in a field that I find very enjoyable- photography. I’ve always had in interest in photography, but never felt as though I knew enough about camera’s and the science behind picture taking, so I never really pursued my interest in it. Now, however, I have almost a second opportunity too, and maybe it’s something that can bring more pleasure to my life.
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