For my external credits, I did some work at a law firm for my aunt and one of her coworkers. To give some background before I explain what I did, my aunt had a case during which some of her clients missing files were found in the basement of a police station. Along with her clients files, there were hundreds of other peoples. These files contained information that was withheld from them and their attorneys during the time of their trials, and could potentially prove their innocence. After finding all these missing files, my aunt decided to contact every person whose file was found. She sent a letter to each prisoner. One of the things the letter explained was that the courts ordered her to not give any of these prisoners their files, the only way they can have access to them is if they have their own lawyers contact her. The problem with that being that the majority of these prisoners no longer have lawyers and aren't able to contact any. In response to her letter she received hundreds of responses, not only from the people she wrote to, but from other prisoners who heard what she was doing.
What I did for my aunt over a couple months, was went through all the letters and figured out who was writing to her and why. I summarized each letter for her, and had them in categories: who she wrote to, who she did not write to, who she wrote to about a different topic, and who she did not write to but their letter made it seem as though she had. Once we got through that bunch of letters we created 3 different generalized response letters, answering the questions many of the prisoners had, and explaining the situation. After that the work consisted mainly of folding the papers, fitting them into envelopes, stamping them, and mailing them. With some hours left to go, I returned almost two months later, to go through some new responses she received, and basically restart the process with the new letters. I learned to be more open minded from this experience, so many people had very interesting stories where they spoke of many unjust things that happened to them. It showed me that even though people assume everyone in prison did something horrible, it reminded me that that is not necessarily true for many people. I think I really made a difference with this, because I was helping people whose form of living was at stake. I was helping them with a process that could potentially free them from a hell on Earth. When I volunteer in the future I plan to keep this open-minded mentality, I think that is a very important quality to have in life and especially while doing service for others. This experience is one that I want people to know about, because it is such a crazy situation. Police are breaking laws and not enough people are paying attention, and I plan to do everything I can to educate those people, and tell them about this situation along with many others.
For our final STEAM unit, Pitch in Entrepreneurship, we researched all the skills needed to pitch or sell your business. We started out with 15 second pitches, later made 30 second pitches, and finally for our action project made 3-4 minute pitches, that covered all the important facts an investor would need to know about our businesses. This unit was fun, because it was taking all of the work we did in the first two units, and combining it into a video. I'm proud of my video because I did a lot of extra editing, which was challenging for me, but I really liked the final result and think it was more than worth it.
For our final Humanities unit, Apotheosis in Endurance, we studied what it really means to fully dive into your journey, and what post-katabasis life looks like. In this unit we investigated the endurance of survivors, and we used their wisdom as inspiration for our own lives. For our action project, we were assigned to write a survival guide, which is our way of sharing knowledge once we reached apotheosis. I found this project difficult because I was, for once, at a loss for what to say, but I'm proud of myself for completing the project and all of it's components.
For our second action project in our Entrepreneurship class we took all the information we learned in the first unit and applied it to the real world. We looked at many examples and then made it more personalized by either creating our own business or working on an existing one. I chose to look into Insomnia Cookies and make many improvements. We then had to each create a business plan for those businesses, as our action project. The project was pretty difficult but I'm proud of all the work I did and that I completed it.
For our second unit of Endurance, Katabasis, we got to dive more into our missions. Throughout the unit we studied different endurers journeys and used them as inspirations for our own. We then began to pursue those journeys. We learned how to turn our visions into missions, start our journeys, and document them. For our action project we were assigned to do just that. We each chose a mission and spent 12 hours doing and documenting our process. Doing something repeatedly for 12 hours was challenging at times but I'm proud of myself for following through and doing what I set out to do.
My mission was to learn to contour, with the guiding question: what is the best contouring technique for my face? Looking back on this experience I'm really glad I had this project as motivation to try something I've been wanting to try for about a year. I'm someone who really enjoys makeup and use it as my creative outlet on a daily basis. I saw many contouring videos and images and thought it was something really beautiful and interesting but never personally got around to trying it. It's something that looked very simple but I knew wouldn't be, so I put it off to the side and never tried it. So when this assignment was given to us I saw it as the perfect opportunity to finally give it a shot. Doing the project was really fun but very time consuming --obviously. It also took a while to find the technique that was best for me. You have to find the best brand, the best blending technique, the best tools for the blending. All of that sounds easy, but it isn't something you can just figure out on the spot. You need to try again and again before you find the thing that works best for you. I'm really glad I did this project for 12 hours though, because now I have a new skill that I enjoy using. I plan to expand my contouring knowledge in the future and learn more tips in order to get better, but for now I am more than satisfied with what I've learned.
For our final Humanities course of our senior year, Endurance, we started out with the unit Morpheus. In this unit we read Dante's Inferno and Strayed's Wild, both books about two individuals' journeys. Throughout this unit we figured out what our own missions are and what our journeys look like. For our action project we were assigned to write an autobiography that takes place 30 years from now. I'm proud of my finalized project because it's hard to say what my future will look like because I don't really know what I want my path to look like yet.
For the first unit of our Entrepreneurship course, Know, we learned about all the fundamental concepts of business. We studied entrepreneurs, missions, visions, accounting, marketing, legal structures, investments, sales, management, and exit plans. I’m proud of myself in this unit because there was so much different information but I think I mastered them all. I showed this mastery with our action project. This project was a lot different than ones I’ve previously done at GCE. For this unit, our action project was taking a blue book test, showing that we are ready for the upcoming units, as well as the immense amount of preparations that happened prior to the test.
AMD . Untitled . 2016
The purpose of the entire first unit was to prepare us for the next two where we will be creating our own business plan. Without this basic knowledge of business that we learned, we’d be going in blind. I also got to see specific ways all the different information we learned is actually used. I I researched and spoke to over 15 different entrepreneurs and businesses. The ones that stuck out to me the most were all the entrepreneurs I spoke to directly, because I think you can get a much better sense of a business when you speak to the founders directly. The person who inspired me the most is the founder of GCE, Eric Davis. He is making strides every day to reinvent education and to improve the the way kids are taught. It was crazy that even though I have gone to this school the past 2 years, there was so much I had no idea about that Eric was able to shed a light on. From the way it was started to where we are now, there was so much I found out about GCE and what I am a part of. It was an interesting perspective to hear, as well, because of how honest he was and how he was able to address the mistakes that he’s made, not just the successes. When he spoke about himself personally, we were able to see what a motivated person he was, and it inspired me to be the same.
For the actual action project we spent 3 weeks learning about the 10 concepts I mentioned earlier--entrepreneurs, missions, visions, accounting, marketing, legal structures, investments, sales, management, and exit plans. We also did our own research, created our own study guide, made our own test questions, planned and participated in group study sessions, taught our own lessons, and then took an hour and a half long test showing the mastery of all those concepts and that we know how to apply them to the real world.
I’m nervous going into this next unit because it’s one thing to learn all these concepts and see how other people use them, and it’s another to have to use them yourself. I’m not yet sure what I want my business to be, or how I will plan everything out, but I’m excited to figure it out. I know that whatever I choose it will be an intense yet extremely useful two units. I’m looking forward to creating my own business plan and maybe even follow through with making it happen.
For our final action project of Equality we were assigned to conduct an interview with someone about an important event they were a part of. I chose to interview my aunt, a lawyer, who has had a very unique and interesting case. I was really proud of the work I did because it was a difficult but very important subject and I was glad to be a part of educating people on it. To read more info on the subject you can read her blog here, as well as other writings here and here as or with a simple Google search.
For our final unit in Systems and Models, we studied I-O Psychology, specifically its history, relevance, systems dynamics, and an organization’s ability to attract and serve its employees. Psychology has been around since the 4th century but wasn't considered a legitimate science until the APA was formed in 1892. I enjoyed this unit because it made me think more about what is important to look for when getting a job and what types of places I may want to work for in the future. For our last action project we each chose a part of the school to focus on and then were assigned to create a SWOT based on that part. I’m proud of my final result because it was about a part of the school that I am a part of and think is very important, so I was glad I got to represent it.
AG . Examples of Maslow's hierarchy implemented by Student Council . 2016
For my SWOT I focused on the Student Council. As President of the Student Council, I have a great insight on how everything is run and what strengths and weaknesses there are. When thinking about this group, you must also think about the “Tragedy of the Commons,” which is the potential to abuse a shared opportunity and everyone shares the consequences. There are multiple different commons in my scenario. One of those would be time; the Student Council meets each Thursday during lunch, which is an hour long. However, Falcon Fiesta got added to the schedule making lunch 55 mins. We then allow the Council members 10 minutes to get lunch, cutting our time down to 45 minutes. If Falcon Fiesta runs longer, or if members take extra time getting lunch, that affects everyone else on the Council because we can’t fully start without all the members. It also interrupts the discussion every time someone walks in late. Another example of the commons would be the entire student body. The Student Council is the student body’s representation on any issues; if the representatives of the school aren’t doing their job, then the entire student body, and in turn the entire school, is impacted.
The way the Council solves problems reminded me of Six Sigma. They have two processes for improvement, DMAIC process consists of: define, measure, analyze, improve, and control; the DMADV process consists of: define, measure, analyze, design, and verify. The DMAIC is for existing processes that aren’t meeting expectations and the DMADV is to develop new processes or products. I compared this to the way we look at issues in Student Council and how we implement policies, we pretty much used the same steps. I also saw similarities to Total Quality. A part of the Total Quality Management definition is “In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work,” this is what members of the Council do as well. I was glad to notice these comparisons because I feel that it validates how the Council works. If this is how these big, well known, companies run things, it must be effective.
When interviewing people about the Student Council, I got a lot of positive comments which reminded me of all the strengths the Council has. I wanted to get a range of feedback so I made sure to interview a student on the Council as well as one that is not on the Council. Similarly when interviewing the staff, I wanted to interview the teacher who is present at all Council meetings as well as someone who only sees the external effects of the Council. JM, the Student Council Vice-President, stated that “The Student Council is a really helpful tool for communicating with teachers. A lot of times there are issues in classes that have easy solutions but the class doesn’t feel comfortable telling the teacher because we don’t want to negatively affect the classroom dynamic. Through the Council, we’re able to respectfully let a teacher know about any issues and what solutions we have come up with.” BKJ said “I feel like it finally gives us a voice” which I was very glad to hear. Hiu told me that “Spirit week was awesome” but also suggested that “more events like that should be put on, not enough community action from the Student Council”. I thought her suggestion was really good and decided to get some more advice from people on how to improve the Council. Jamie who is present at all meetings suggested: “The Council should collaborate more frequently on projects that will directly engage students and staff to build community.” Eric also pointed out to me a really interesting opportunity I had never considered before, the opportunity to meet and talk with Student Councils at other schools in order to learn from each other.
I was thinking about possible solutions to the Council’s weaknesses and possible threats. I wanted a solution that related to systems thinking, so that we really solved the root of the problems. One of the issues that I thought was really important to think about more closely was the lack of communication between the Council and the rest of the student body. I thought a good solution that would actually solve the issue is a mandatory sort of exit slip at the end of every two weeks. This way everyone would get a chance to say what they think, and it would be anonymous so they would be able to tell us things that they might not have felt comfortable letting us know one on one. This would be really beneficial to the entire school because it will address more issues to the Council and give us the opportunity to help come up with solutions for these issues. Another issue I came up with a systems thinking solution for was not having a designated space, which causes confusion and some members to not show up due to not knowing where to go. A solution to this would be to have a set space in the new building where we are already scheduled to meet each week and cannot have the space taken from us. This will remove confusion and thanks to that more members will show up. The more members show up, the more insight the Council has on new issues and the more minds we have available to help brainstorm solutions.
Works Cited
Koppes, Laura L. "What Is I-O?" A Brief History of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Inc.-. SIOP. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
McLeod, Saul. "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." Simply Psychology. 2007. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
T.L. Brink. (2008) Psychology: A Student Friendly Approach. "Unit One: The Definition and History of Psychology." pp 9 Web. 18 Mar. 2016
"Total Quality Management (TQM)." TQM. ASQ. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
"What Is Six Sigma?" ISixSigma. ISixSigma. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
For our Equality class, we split our unit into three subgroups- Race, Gender, and Class. We looked at each of these groups, as well as others, as examined the inequality in our society that these groups face. We read a book- Invisible Man, to get a more in depth glance at how someone's life can be affected by these inequalities and disadvantages. For our action project, we were assigned to discuss how this book related to one of the many theorists whose work we read, and compare how their theories were shown in the book. I’m proud of the discussions I was a part of in this unit because I feel like I went really in depth in explaining my opinions, while also listening and respecting other people’s beliefs.
AG . Invisible Image on Page 36 . 2016
The 1952 novel Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison was published during the Korean War and two years before the Civil Right Movement started. It was a time when people were fighting to end racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans. Ellison was born in 1914 and pursued a variety of different jobs throughout his life, from an artist to being a cook in WWII to being a writer. Invisible Man follows the life of an African American man living in the Jim Crow south during this time period, whose name we never discover and is simply identified as an invisible man. We see how racism and other obstacles affect him and how he deals with the alienation he feels throughout his whole life. The book begins with the narrator explaining why he calls himself an invisible man, and telling us he decided to live underground in order to write his story. He then narrates his life story, through college in the South, a move to New York, memory loss, joining the Brotherhood, a riot that led to his decision to live underground, and ending with an understanding of himself and the truth of invisible and structural American racism. W.E.B. Du Bois, an early twentieth century African American writer, sociologist, and critic, offers an interesting way of analyzing Ellison's novel. The first chapter from Du Bois’ 1903 book, The Souls of Black Folk, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings”, introduces one of his main concepts for understanding race and racism is: “double-consciousness”. Du Bois describes double-consciousness as the “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity,” meaning always having to think about how other people are seeing you, and that affecting how you see yourself (Du Bois). Du Bois also pushed African Americans to do the most in life and to strive to get an education and do more than just the things expected of black people. These concepts are shown many times in Invisible Man.
One of the many ways Invisible Man illustrates Du Bois’ beliefs and theories was by pursuing a greater education, despite society saying his race wasn’t good enough for that. In the scene early in the novel the narrator had been asked to show a benefactor of his college, Mr. Norton, around the campus. The two characters were making conversation, and Mr. Norton was talking about the college, and described it at “a great dream become reality”; he then stated “Slavery was just recently part. Your people did not know in what direction to turn and, I must confess, many of mine didn’t know in what direction they should turn either. But your great Founder did” (Ellison 38, 39). This brings to light Du Bois’ writings about how many people believed black people should only do hard labor and stick to what they know, but how he pushed them to do more and strive to get an education. Mr. Norton was a man who agreed with this point of view, and he believed that black people deserved to have an education as well. This also brought up the other perspective-- Norton had said that the invisible man’s people and his people both didn’t know what direction to turn, many people including black people, didn’t know how to act or what to do. While theorists like Du Bois were pushing them in one direction, many other people were pushing them back down in the other direction. This caused even more of an internal struggle, and caused many people to be lost and not know what to do and what they were expected to do. This is what I believe is a big factor in creating the feeling of double consciousness within African Americans.
Another of double consciousness occurs also early in Ellison’s novel when the invisible man is asked to give a speech to the white leaders of his southern town, supposedly because they saw him as a great orator. The narrator realizes pretty quickly, however, that these men he has been taught to look up to, fear and respect aren’t paying attention to his words or intellect. In fact, the narrator spent time revising his speech in order to present a more appealing and respectable message to his audience. He reveals:
On my graduation day I delivered an oration in which I showed that humility was the secret, indeed, the very essence of progress (Not that I believed this--how could I, remembering my grandfather?--I only believed that it worked.) It was a great success. Everyone praised me and I was invited to give the speech at a gathering of the town’s leading white citizens. It was a triumph for our whole community (Ellison 17).
This quote showed how he was treated as a black man in a society of white men. He was a successful student, and yet his mind wasn’t valued simply because he was black. It also showed how he was so conscious of what he said and how he acted for fear of how he would be perceived. He made sure to only say the things that the white men wanted to hear, because he knew if he didn’t say what they wanted to hear they would just refuse to listen. This is shown even more so in the battle royale scene, which occurs directly after the invisible man delivers his racial uplift speech to the disinterested white audience. Our narrator was told fight other black men simply for entertainment while the white men watched. Black men were seen by white people as animals simply there for their entertainment; they weren’t valued for anything else.
Finally, we see double consciousness is illustrated Invisible Man through the narrator’s struggle to unite his black identity to his American identity, which is exactly how Du Bois defines this concept, in terms ofthe inner conflict between being both black and American. The invisible man struggles to see himself in any other way than through other people’s eyes. This is a struggle not only he faces, but all black people in America. Ellison uses symbolism to show this when the narrator describes the statue of the Founder of his college holding the veil over the face of a slave. It is unclear whether he is pulling the veil up or pushing it down to keep it over the slave’s face. The narrator states: “I am standing puzzled, unable to decide whether the veil is really being lifted, or lowered more firmly in place; whether I am witnessing a revolution or a more efficient blinding” (Ellison 36). It shows a black man’s relationship with the world, how it blinds him from the truth, and how he is misperceived by it. It also represents how members who are higher up in the black community keep other black people down and below them, by making them believe in false notions and how they should interact with whites. They are told by others how they are supposed to act and what they are supposed to be, and it causes them to struggle with their identity and become lost in themselves, as the reader sees played out through the invisible man's often chaotic and confusing journey away from the school and into the North.
Ralph Ellison demonstrated Du Bois’ theories a number of times throughout his novel. He showed double consciousness and had his character go to school and do work that wasn’t just hard labor, just like Du Bois wrote about and encouraged. Invisible Man is a book filled with metaphors and so many of them relate to double consciousness and the struggles with identity for an African American male of this time period. I focused on some of these examples that took place in the beginning of the book but they are found throughout the entire novel. Du Bois’ theories were proven time and time again. These connections all show us the relationship between society and black people, specifically men. We see the way they are stereotyped and misperceived by society, and the way that makes them question themselves. They are forced to second guess all their actions in order to make white people happy while also not betraying their race and themselves.
Works Cited
Bois, W.E.B. Du. "Chapter 1 Of Our Spiritual Strivings." The Souls Of Black Folk. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1903. Print.
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. New York: Random House, 1952. Print.
For our second unit of Systems and Models, Groups, we looked at how ones’ behavior changes when in the presence of others and whether or not they are aware of this change. We looked at trends and group dynamics and what makes them work. My favorite part of this unit was the different team building activities we tried out, they were really fun and really helped us come together. For our action project we had to conduct an experiment for a research study. I’m proud of how my action project turned out, because it was a topic difficult for people to discuss sometimes, and I know my form made some people uncomfortable, so I’m really glad I was able to complete it and how it turned out.
For our first unit of Systems and Models, a STEAM class that studies people and their roles in society, we self-reflected by taking a range of personality assessments. Each of these assessments brought to light something new such as how we deal with conflict or what our motivations are. I very much enjoyed taking these tests because they made me realize things that I wouldn’t have otherwise. For our action project, we were assigned to create a self portrait using any type of art that shows how we see ourselves and reflects some of the information we gained from this unit. I’m proud of the things I’ve learned this unit because, after reflecting on them, I have been striving to be more conscious of my actions and reasonings.
Title: Giving
Medium: Video
Length of Video: 2 minutes and 9 seconds
With all the tests we took, I had results that reflected how social I am. One of the tests we took was the Enneagram test which tests your motivations. My result was a Six - Loyalist, which is someone who would do anything for their closest friends. I was also very close to being a Two - Helper, which is someone who strives to help people and be kind to everyone. Both of these are very true for me; I’m a very social person who always tried to help others and I definitely would do anything for those closest to me. Sixes are described as “reliable, hard-working, responsible, and trustworthy” and Twos are described as “friendly, generous, and self-sacrificing,” again all traits that the people in my life tend to describe me as. I care about helping others and making sure others are happy, because other people’s happiness leads to my own.
In the work setting, I got similar results: someone who is very social. The DiSC test, an assessment of how one interacts with others in a work environment, reinforced that. I got the result S/i a blend of Supportive and Inspiring traits, which describes me as people-oriented and as trying to solve conflict. At work, this is exactly how I am; in fact my actual job is basically that. Instead of having an exact role, I just help with everything around the office. Anything my boss and coworker need me to do, I do. Any issues that arrive, I solve. I have a number of roles depending on who needs what each day, and that just shows even more so, that I am someone who does all that I can to help others.
Another test we took in class was the Myers Briggs Test which tells you which personality type you are out of 16. My result was ENFP, which is Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Prospecting. Some of the terms used in a longer explanation of my personality were “compassionate”, “connect emotionally with others, giving them cherished insight into what motivates their friends and colleagues”, “empathy and sociability”, “ such strong people skills”, and “supportive”. Once again, the results showed that I am a social person who cares about the wellbeing of others. There were different categories that you could choose to look at deeper, I explored all of them to see how I related to others. It told me that outgoing types gravitate towards me but that I also strive to get to know more reserved people. It also stated that I am someone who knows how to be friends with all different types of people and all types of different groups and that I am someone who boosts moral in different types of settings.
One of the tests I that took outside of class, was What Divergent Faction Would You Be In? While this may not be as accurate as the ones assigned to us in class, it showed me similar results. I was put in the faction Candor, which revolves around Honesty above all else and doing the right thing. I don’t think I value this as seriously as those in the movie who can come off as cold and putting honesty before people’s well-being, but I do think honesty is important and that it is an important trait to have when it comes to others.
Aside from all the tests we took, we also looked at many different case studies. The one that grabbed my attention the most was the Stanford Prison Experiment because it showed that, in the right situation, everyone has an evil side. I tried to put myself in that scenario and I can’t imagine myself ever acting the way the guards did; I couldn’t even inflict any sort of psychological torture. I’m sure I’d enjoy being in power but I know my limit and what line not to cross and I don’t understand how some people don’t have that restraint or why anyone would want to act that way. Similarly, there was a study done at Yale, with a “teacher” and “learner” where the teacher is being told to shock the learner. I understand this one more because you assume that authoritative people know what they are talking about and we are taught to listen to them. However, I know myself and know that I wouldn’t be able to do that to anyone. I am a vegetarian because I can’t think of animals being hurt and if I can’t hurt animals I definitely couldn’t personally cause pain to any people either.
My self portrait is a video clip of my life: an action of service for the people around me. I decided to bake, wrap, and give my loved ones cookies, which I felt it perfectly represents my life, and all the results I got. I am someone who does things for others to try to make them happy and just to be nice. The reason I chose to give them to the few people that I did is because they are the people in my life closest to me and the people I care about the most; they are the people whose happiness I care about the most. As a Loyalist, it is hard to become someone who is very close to me, but once you are one of those people, I would do anything for you. While I have hundreds of friends, I didn’t go and give them all cookies because there are less than a handful of those friends who are a part of my close circle.
The purpose of my project was to show what kind of a person I am while at the same time making the people I love happy. I wanted to do something that wasn’t just ordinary art, and something that would allow me to go out into the world and do something positive. In an interview I conducted with an experienced artist, I was advised to create something with a purpose and make it clear why it is important to me. I might not have made a huge impact on the world with this project, but I know I made four people’s days a little bit brighter and that all I need to make me happy. I hope watching this video provokes people to think about their loved ones, and inspires them to take the time to go out and do something nice for those loved ones.
For our final action project in the course If These Walls Could Talk we had to bring to life the image in our groups’ swatches, and turn them into a mural inside of our school’s new building. For our entire last unit we focused on making plans to enlarge our mural and make those plans happen. We looked at all of the different options and tested out our different ideas to see what would be best for the area we were given to work in. Our options became more limited when it ended up that we couldn’t work in the actual space until 3 days before our project was due, so we are still in the process of finishing our mural, but we expect a great looking outcome, and for everything to be finished this week.
This mural is a tribute mural to GCE as well as a revolt mural showing GCE’s mission to reinvent education. It depicts a golden boat with 3 people inside going towards a huge wave. The boat is made out of a banner and has the words “Overcoming the Wave” written in it. There were a lot of steps going into making our mural into large-scale. We first made a sketch on a regular piece of paper, then we projected it and traced it on paper, piece by piece, for a total size of 112 x 352 inches, then we mixed paints to get the colors we wanted and painted the pieces of paper, as well as spray painting part of it. We currently still have to wheatpaste the papers onto panels in the new building, as well as add acrylic media as a final touch. For the paint we used mostly blue hues, with a touch of green. We kept a similar color for a lot of the mural and only changed the value and intensity. We also made our boat a shimmery gold to stand out and show victory. Our mural gives a strong and powerful representation of GCE, which is perfect for our space because it is in the entrance, so it is the first thing people will see when they walk in.
Working on the mural was a challenging but very fun experience, there were many bumps along the way and things to work through, but I was really glad to get to work on this amazing project because I think in the end it will end up looking great. There were four different roles during our process-- Artistic Director, Director of Operations, Mule, and Documenter. I had each role at least once, as did the rest of my group members, but in general I was someone who often organized things and kept people on track with what they were supposed to be doing. Throughout the whole process I was also always a part of the cutting, sketching, painting, and pasting. My favorite role was director of operations because I was managing what people were doing and making sure everything was going smoothly which is something I’m good at, because I’m someone who is good at organizing things and managing people to make sure they’re doing what they are supposed to. My least favorite role was being the mule because I don’t like doing the dirty work of running around and fetching stuff, I felt it was an ineffective use of my time because it would be more useful of me to help more with organizing and planning.
We hope that in the end our mural ended up looking as amazing as we planned. I would have preferred to get to work on the space directly instead of having to paint of paper and then wheatpaste. There are four panels in the space and working directly on the walls would have probably looked neater and we would have seen exactly how what we were doing would look, instead of having to wait and hope for the best. On paper you get a thinner paint look, and when you wheatpaste you can tell that the art was done on paper and not directly on the surface. Both options can look really great, just different.
For the elective term of my senior year, I decided to take the class Book Bound, which is a course that explores the relationship between the reader and the materials used to read in this day and age. Many people these days read online or not at all, and we looked into how this affects our society. My class was assigned to read The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a very well known book that is in the literary canon. I personally am not a fan of the book, simply because I strongly dislike many of the characters, and I am someone who prefers to read a book where I like and make a connection with the characters. I didn’t believe this was a book that belonged in the canon, but I understood why it was there. We also talked about libraries, because we were supposed to design our school’s new library. I pictured it with bean bags, work spaces, and hundreds of books. Unfortunately, we are no longer getting to be a part of the construction process as much as we had planned, but our suggestions are still being considered. I enjoyed the field experiences we went on because I got to experience all different types of libraries; there was a huge variety and they all strongly differed, which surprised me. For our action project, we put together a portfolio of our best work that we did throughout this course. I liked the fact that we are showcasing a digital portfolio, because it shows all of our work throughout the term, as opposed to just one assignment that might not be the best reflection of how hard we worked. I included my favorite project in my portfolio, which was the My Choice for the Canon Slideshow.
Storyboard
For this assignment, we were told to create a storyboard that tells a story about us reading, and more specifically, learning to read--it had to include at least 5 frames and captions. This related to our course because it had to do with reading, and it helped us make connections between us as individuals, and the act of reading. I selected this assignment to showcase because not only did I think I did it well but also due to how much fun I had with it. I think this was one of the assignments I enjoyed the most. When I began my project I struggled with what exactly to show in my story. In the end I decided to show my reading progression over time, from when I was a baby until now. I later also made revisions to perfect the images and add captions to help explain the story shown. I really love how it turned out in the end.
For this assignment, we were put together in a group and told to create our own literary journal. This included pieces of writing from all group members, as well as images, and some external submissions. This related to our course because it has to do with all different types of literature and shows the huge variety. I selected this assignment because it shows not only the work I have done, but also my peers’, which I think is just as important as my own. When going about this project we began by splitting up the different tasks among members and making a time frame for deadlines. There were some challenges along the way - as there often are with groups - about miscommunication and timing, but in the end we got everything we needed and published our journal. I was really proud of my entire group for getting to that point. To get it ready for our blog there were some final touches I needed to make, and some page setup changes, and afterwards it looked as great as we had planned.
Literature Poster
For this assignment, we had to make a poster based upon a guiding question we created about literacy and reading. We then had to research the answer to the question using valid sources. This poster is to help promote reading and literacy, especially in the new library space, which is what our entire course was about. I thought this was a very important thing to add to my blog because it brings up the issue of illiteracy which is shockingly still a big problem in our world right now, and because I gave a lot of facts and data that I think people should know. I want to encourage reading to everyone as much as possible and I think this assignment helps to do that. I decided to make my poster on a design site called canva.com. At times it was difficult to size everything and make it look the way I wanted, but I overcame that and made it as perfect as I could. I’m proud of the final product because it all looks really neat and eye-catching in my opinion.
AG Literature Poster 2016
Slideshow
For this assignment, we had to chose a book that we believe belongs in the literary canon, explain why, and present/defend the book as best as possible. This project was about the canon which is an important concept in literature. The reason I chose to publish this assignment to my blog is because of how enthusiastic I was about both this project and the book I chose. I want to get the word out even more about this series because it really is amazing, in my opinion. I chose the book series The Night World by L.J. Smith and made a slideshow about it, including all of the components that were required to teach others about the book. I struggled very much to find a good video to add to my slideshow because there were very few that related to the series and the audio books don’t portray the books very well. To get my slideshow ready for the blog, I just perfected it as much as possible by fixing any typos and grammar mistakes. I’m really proud of this project because I’m helping to spread the world about a book I love very much. The audience seemed to really like the series and asked a lot of questions about the plot and characters, many of them agreed that it should be included in the canon.
For the second unit of If These Walls Could Talk, we studied different types of media used from the 1920s to the present, such as wheatpasting, block-printing, acrylic media, and many more. This was something I really enjoyed because I got to work with a lot of different types of art media and technique that I never have before. We looked at different murals that used these mediums such as work done by Banksy who is known for spray paint murals, or JR who uses different media in each of the countries he visits. For our action project, we were assigned to work in a group to create one image, and then each member of the group chose a media to work with. Afterwards we had to each chose two sections of the finalized sketch, to create material swatches using each of our chosen material. At some points, my medium was difficult to use because it’s pieces are bulky and they were difficult to get in the small spots that had more details, but I managed to overcome that struggle to create a really cool image. I’m really excited for the next unit, to see the bigger, final version our our mural.
AG
Overcoming The Wave
12/2015
12” x 5” and 12” x 4”
Coarse Pumice Gel Mixed with Acrylic Paint on Canvas Paper
In our image you see a small boat, with four people inside, rowing towards a big wave. This is supposed to symbolize GCE’s mission to reinvent education and the school going against the traditional education system. The people inside the boat represent our community, because we are the ones who actually make this vision possible and make it happen. They represent both the students and the staff. The wave represents the traditional education system we are working to change and improve.
BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Sketch . 12/2015
We didn’t come to create this image right away, however, it was a long process that didn’t just take one day. We started by looking at all our group members' sketches from the first Unit, in order to figure out the best elements from each image. We started out with MF’s Japanese wave because we really liked the details and how is looked. We also really liked LL’s layering, the simple message behind NVA's cellphone image, the detailed banner from BKJ's sketch, and the use of silhouettes from my sketch. We then tried to think oh how we could put these all to use into one image. We brought our images together, and decided on a silhouette of a person, pushing the wave over a symbol, we hadn’t yet decided on, that would represents traditional education, and a banner at the bottom that holds a sort of caption. We researched the meaning of the Japanese wave and found that it meant strength, which we thought is symbolic of GCE. After talking to our teacher, we decided to simplify the image and to switch our symbols so that instead, traditional education is the wave, and the thing it is above GCE. We decided the perfect thing to put in was a little boat with four people, swimming towards the wave. This was to represent GCE and their fight to go against standardized education and reinvent the system, and like I stated earlier, the people represent the GCE community that makes the idea of our school happen and come to life. We also decided to make the boat out of a banner, and write inside of it the title- “Overcoming The Wave”. This mural is both a revolt mural against the education system in America, but also a tribute mural to our school for all that they do for us and make happen. We recognize the battle they fight and appreciate all the work that is done to help make all this possible, and we want others to realize and appreciate this as well.
For my material, I chose to use coarse pumice gel mixed with acrylic paint. I chose this because when experimenting with many media in class, this was my favorite one. I enjoyed working with it, and even more so, the way it looked when it dried. Aside from just enjoying this medium, I also just thought it would look really cool for the foamy part of the wave. It makes that part of the wave seem to come out, and the crunchy part is almost like the bubbles that create the foam. I had a vision in my mind of the final mural, and that is what I saw for that part of the image. In the end I think my image was pretty cool because of the way it created the three-dimensional look I was going for, and it was really interesting to look at. However, I didn’t think this would work for the entire image, when everything has that “pop” it takes the attention away from from all the important elements in the image. That’s why it’s important to only have it for part of the image.
AG . First Swatch. 12/2015 AG . Second Swatch. 12/2015 AG . Close Up Of Swatch. 12/2015
In the end, we really like the way everyone’s swatches looked and wanted to use each of the media that were chosen by the members of the group. We decided for the majority of the wave we would use both the semi-gloss soft gel, as well as regular gloss soft gel. For the foamy part of the wave my medium- coarse pumice gel. We decided the sky would look best in just acrylic paint, that the boat would be spraypainted, and the people be as well, but with stencils, not free handed. We think using all these different media will help draw attention to the key elements. Our boat will be a glittery gold that will really stand out and show that the symbol for GCE is the most important part of our mural.
BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Collaboration One . 12/2015
BKJ, NVA, MF, LL, AG . Collaboration Two . 12/2015
For our first unit of If These Walls Could Talk, we learned about the history of murals. We looked at art during different periods in time, from Prehistory to the Italian Renaissance. We examined all their different techniques and styles of art. We were then assigned to design our own murals that fit the needs of a community of our choice. I really enjoyed the things we learned in this unit, because it was interesting to see how art evolved over time.
AG
"Walking With The Dead"
11/2015
11”14”
Printed Images, Glue, Paper
Today, we know Lincoln Park as home to a zoo, a conservatory, stores, restaurants, schools, and homes. But before that, Lincoln had had a vast history. It was first established in 1824, back when the area was primarily forest in which the US Army built a small post. In 1837, Chicago became established as a city with today’s Lincoln Park neighborhood as its northern boundary. Over time more settlers came, and the area began to transform into more of how the neighborhood is today.
Lincoln Park has changed a lot throughout the years and holds many memories and secrets. But what’s the biggest secret? Very few people know this, including Lincoln Park’s own residents, but during the mid-19th century, this area was a cemetery where more than 35,000 people were buried. What’s more, is that while many bodies were exhumed and relocated to other cemeteries, about 12,000 bodies still remain. That’s right, under all these homes and schools there are dead bodies buried.
This is why I decided to create this mural as both a tribute to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, and as something that will bring awareness, since most of the residents don’t even know about the cemetery they live over. I find it sad that people who lived in Lincoln Park have just been built over and forgotten about. No one deserves that, and this mural is to honor them and the lives they lived.
This mural is not only to honor and bring awareness to all the people buried in Lincoln Park, but also to bring the community together. Right now, Lincoln Park’s community is pretty torn. For example in the election for Alderman, the votes were split almost exactly 50/50. This means the community has very strong opposing sides, so this mural is supposed to remind them to step back and remember that we are all the same and to help them come together. As grim as it in, in the end we will all die and be buried in the same Earth together. Just like the people before us who were buried in Lincoln Park. So, instead of arguing and being against each other, they should spend time together and live their lives to the fullest.
I chose to mimic the style of Prehistoric cave paintings in my mural because a lot of Prehistoric art dealt with the the spiritual world. People from Prehistory believed that spirits and live people were basically the same and could still communicate. While I’m not so sure about the bodies buried in Lincoln Park communicating with the current residents, I do think that the people who have passed are the same as the people who are alive. I also mimicked the colors used at that time, or rather the lack of colors- my mural is only black and white to make it more simple and to show, even more so, how we are all the same.
For our second unit of Economics, Wealth and Wages, we looked into how wealth is accumulated and how it is distributed. We gained knowledge on how to invest our money and increase our money as much as possible, and we were assigned to put this knowledge into use for our Action Project by making a portfolio. This project was challenging because it required a lot of planning and calculating but I really enjoyed it and plan to use some of these skills in real life.
For this project, we received a scenario where 18 years ago, our “guardian angel” set up a college savings plan for us with an initial investment of $8,500. They then would continue to add $50 each month ($600 yearly). After 18 years, at an average annual interest rate of 7%, compounded annually, the plan is now worth $50,556.80. We then had to decide what we do with the money after cashing it out and depositing the money in a brokerage account to invest on our own.
My investment philosophy is to invest when a stock is lower than the annual stock rate, for example when Disney’s stock dropped in July of 2015, and cash out when it’s really high up, but also to wait a long amount of time, because the more years you wait the more likely you are to profit. I also don't care for big fluctuations and prefer stability in my investments, the more fluctuations the less likely I am to invest.
According to a risk assessment quiz I took, by Rutgers, I have an average tolerance for risk. I agree with that result. While, I am willing to take some risks, they aren’t usually aren’t very large risks. If I don’t feel it is almost certain that I will profit, I am not willing to invest my money. I’m more willing to invest in something that I will make less of a profit on it it’s less risky, than to invest in something that I would make a much larger profit on but that has high risk.
AG Screenshot Risk Assessment 2015
I chose three investment goals I have over different periods of time. 1 year, 5 years, and 25 years.
1-year goal: Own a used car - Jeep ($6,500) 5-year goal: Rent an apartment for one year without having to work ($12,000) 25-year goal: Pay off all my student loans ($120,000) Own a house ($400,000)
When choosing which companies to invest in I looked at how well they have done over the course of 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, and since the company first started. I also paid attention to fluctuations and how big they were. If a company’s stocks would change constantly, I automatically crossed them off my list. If they were a sure and steady company for years and continued to have a steady increase the past year, I took a closer look at them. This way I could be almost positive that I would make a large profit and I knew that they would be the least risky. I also was only willing to invest in companies that don’t do anything that harms animals, people, or the environment. I decided that when it comes to money, I think the most important thing to look at is what will make money, not what is the nicest or friendliest, but I also have morals and harming others isn’t acceptable to me.
The two companies I chose were the Walt Disney Company and Amazon. The reason I chose these two companies is because I felt could invest in them both no matter what time horizon, since they both have had a steady increase over the years and I think they’re a safe bet no matter what time frame you choose.
Walt Disney Company has a great competitive advantage over other companies in the entertainment industry. They have one of the largest shares in animation, television, film, theme park, and merchandising industries and over 10 years of a steady growth. They also offer dividends, $0.66/share biannually, but what’s more impressive is their steady growth, with an ROI of over 200% in just the past 5 years. They are constantly releasing new movies, TV shows, merchandise, and attractions.
Disney Stock Price. 2015. Via Google
Similarly to Walt Disney Company, Amazon has a competitive advantage over other companies in their industry. It is the largest Internet-based retailer in the United States. They are not likely to fail because of how many different things they offer, such as entertainment or retail. There is almost nothing you can’t find on Amazon and they find you the cheapest prices which is something consumers love, so I doubt they would drop in the market anytime soon. While Amazon itself hasn’t profited that much, people who invest in them have because of their good business model that customers like so much. Like Disney, they have had a steady growth over the years and also have an ROI of over 200% which is incredible.
Amazon Stock Price. 2015. Via Google
I then organized my investments into three portfolios, one for each goal.
Portfolio I- 1 Year Goal
$3,954.24
4 shares of Amazon @ $563.91 ($2,255.64 total) (57.0% of portfolio)
15 shares of Disney @ $113.24 ($1,698.60 total) (43.0% of portfolio)
This grouping of Amazon and Disney has an expected ROI of 64.4%. After one year, I should have enough money for the car I want- $6,500.
Portfolio II- 5 Year Goal
$2,033.74
2 shares of Amazon @ $563.91 ($1,127.82 total) (55.5% of portfolio)
8 shares of Disney @ $113.24 ($905.92 total) (44.5% of portfolio)
This grouping of Amazon and Disney has an expected ROI of 490%. After 5 years I should be able to have enough money to pay rent for an apartment for an entire year without having to work- $12,000.
Portfolio III- 25 Year Goal
$44,980.21
39 shares of Amazon @ $563.91 ($21,992.49 total) (48.9% of portfolio)
203 shares of Disney @ $113.24 ($22,987.72 total) (51.1% of portfolio)
This grouping of Amazon and Disney has an expected ROI of 1056.06%. After 25 years I should have enough money to pay off my student loans- $120,000 and own a house- $400,000.
Total Investment Portfolios Value- $50,968.19 (This is $411.39 over how much my guardian angel gave me to invest but I have my own $411.39 to invest already saved so it’s ok👍)
If you look at my Stock Sector, you see that I have chosen two companies that are very different and would branch into two very different sectors. A sector is a type of business that a company deals with, basically the category or industry, for example Disney’s Stock Sector is entertainment. The reason I chose entertainment and retail was because, while I doubt either of these sectors would fail anytime soon; if they were to for some reason, some of my money would still be safe in another stock so my loss won’t be as detrimental.
With each portfolio I tried to put in as close to a 50/50 balance in each company as I could, so that if one were to fail I would still have half of my money. I put the majority of the money I’m investing into my 25 year goal, since that is where I need the most amount of money.
Financial Advisor Nathan Aldinger came to speak to our class and a big part of what he does and what he talks about it financial planning. He also talked about how things happen a lot that you just can’t account for with the government, banks, and just money in general. You can never really plan something because you don’t know what might happen. So I think it’s important to keep that in mind while investing, because even if everything were to go perfectly in the stock market for me, I never know if something like what happened in Greece will happen in America, where I won’t be able to get my money out of the banks. I think it’s important to have another back up plan with the money I make on my own, not from my guardian angel.
Three assumptions I made while doing this project were that:
These companies will continue to flourish and their stocks will continue to rise at a steady rate.
That nothing major will happen with American money or the value of the dollar or my bank (Chase)
That Disney’s recent drop is just an anomaly and won’t happen multiple times.
If this scenario were in real life I would definitely choose to actually do this project and put in it the stocks the way I did. The only thing I would change is the time horizon, because I would rather focus on my long term goals rather than my long term goals, so I would most likely just cash out the majority of the stocks after 25 years if not longer.
For our final unit in Journalism, Text, we learned about written journalism and how it has been used to connect us to here and now. We studied essential skills, values, and concepts of written journalism in our century, and we learned about spot stories, in which all of the information is gathered “on the spot”. For our Action Project, we were assigned to cover our own spot stories at an event that we each chose to attend. This was a unit I enjoyed because I’m someone who loves to write, and I liked being able to improve upon my writing skills.
Childhood Taken Over By Technology...Or Is There Some Hope?
AG Technology Taking Over 2015
“Give that back! Why would you take that away from him?” a father yelled at his 9 year old daughter for taking away an iPhone from her 3 year old brother. Meanwhile, the small boy is screaming and crying off to the the side. This familial moment, which nowadays seems to happen all too often, is a prime example of what I worry about most when I think about today’s youth (by which I mean younger than me).
To clarify, I’m referring specifically about young children in this generation, children whose lives will be changed forever because they will never have the opportunity for a childhood that isn’t taken over technology. People my age are already technology obsessed - I’m not any different - but at least when we were younger we had childhoods where we actually played, childhoods where we still played outdoors, and with each other, with actual toys, not all-tech all of the time. Today’s youth have childhoods that don’t involve these things, but instead are corrupted by technology, disconnection, less socialization, and what I consider to be a much duller experience of being a kid.
On October 18th, I had an opportunity to witness both phenomena in action at this year’s annual Fall Harvest Festival at Wagner Farm in Glenview, Illinois. I was there volunteering for community service hours and had been assigned to supervise the Arts and Crafts section of the festival. The event was comprised of many different sections and opportunities for creativity and okay: the farm contained a large field with a farmhouse, a historic center, many different educational exhibits, and there were other fun, hands on activities such as wagon rides, apple cider making, animal petting, pumpkin picking, tours, and a lot more. Being in the crafts section, I got the opportunity to witness a variety of “interesting” artistic talents in my young “students” that day, but my mind also kept returning to our glaring difference in childhood experiences - tech or no/less tech.
This isn’t a concern to me alone. Fellow twitter users will recognize the trending hashtag “#TodaysKidsWillNeverKnow” where people nostalgically share the different games, books, or experiences in general that this and future generations of children don’t and won’t ever know because of how overcome they gave been by technology. Everything is just at their fingertips, and it’s there without any waiting. It’s amazing that technology has gotten so advanced, but what ever happened to jump rope, freeze tag, passing notes in class, mash, mood rings, Twister, the Barbie Cash Register or Hot Wheels? Do kids even still want treehouses? The most my generation had, technology-wise, when we were growing up were Gameboys, slow internet that would take 15 minutes (if you were lucky) to start up, flip phones that you had to record your ringtones on, cableless TV, and CDs. Movies weren’t “instantly streamed”-- you went to Blockbuster to rent them with your family and then you would spend some time rewinding the tapes to the beginning before returning them to the store. You couldn’t look up the definition of everything on Google in a couple of seconds -- you had to flip through the dictionary. You didn’t just take a million pictures on your phone -- you had a disposable camera, where every picture was taken with precision and care because there was no redo or delete button. And then went and developed the film -- it didn’t just upload quickly to your computer. But “Today’s Kids Will Never Know” and that’s just downright sad.
What I witnessed at the Fall Harvest Festival, however, was a relief to anyone who worries that technology is taking over today’s children. Kids were actually playing with toys, each other, animals, and the outdoors. They weren’t all sitting with tablets and cell phones and Gameboys. In fact, aside from the one incident I overheard with the child crying over the iPhone being taken away, I didn’t see any kids playing with any tech, which made me feel extremely relieved. One of my fellow volunteers said “I’m surprised we had this many kids coming in; I thought most kids nowadays just play on their phones.” The children and parents in my section were genuinely excited about the crafts we had set out to make. We created apples out of yarn and leaves out of paper, which might not sound like the most exciting things to do, but the kids actually enjoyed it, their little smiles along with exclamations of oohs and aahs, were proof that this was certainly a highlight of their day. We helped children of all ages - some of them so young that they even struggled to loop yarn around cardboard - who stuck with the crafting and did their best. An excited parent exclaimed, “It’s really nice to get to see the kids play with things hands-on for a change.” Whether her comment and this whole experience confirms my worries or proves them wrong, it was nice to get to spend a day with children, playing and creating, just like I once did.
For my third period elective of the Fall Term, I chose to take Self Defense. In this class we learned many different techniques to defend ourselves and about personal safety. For our Action Project we were assigned to make a video showing at least one of the things we learned in this class. I really enjoyed this class and liked getting to learn techniques to defend myself; I honestly feel safer walking down the street thanks to this class. Sometimes the maneuvers were challenging, but I was able to get past every challenge and successfully master the moves.
For our second unit of Journalism, Sound, we studied radio and how it is used to connect people. We listened to many podcasts and studied many different voices. For our Action Project we were assigned to choose who we considered to be the “voice of the century” and make a podcast about them, including an interview and soundbites. It was a lot of work, but I really enjoyed the project because we got to do it on someone meaningful to us, and I really enjoyed getting to discuss Lana Del Rey and her art.
WHEN
WHO/HOW
WHAT
0:00
0:02
0:26
0:46
2:49
2:53
2:56
3:04
3:08
3:14
3:17 3:19 3:20 3:25 3:28
3:35
4:01
4:31
[soundbite]
[AG]
[music fades in]
[old music fades out, new music fades in]
[soundbite]
[AG]
[IJP]
[AG]
[IJP]
[AG]
[IJP]
[AG]
[IJP]
[AG]
[IJP]
[snippet of Lana Del Rey’s song “Brooklyn Baby” fades in]
[AG with music fading in in the background]
[soundbite]
THE END
Elizabeth Grant, more well known as Lana Del Rey, was born June 21, 1985 in New York state. She began songwriting when she was 18 and released her first album in 2005 under the name May Jailer. Later she signed her first record deal and released her debut studio album- Lana Del Ray AKA. Lizzy Grant, ray spelled with an a not an e like currently, under the name Lizzy Grant, but it got very little attention. She then changed her stage name to Lana Del Rey, rey with an e, and released Born to Die, which became a major hit, 5th best-selling album worldwide in 2012. Later she released two more albums, Ultraviolence, and more recently Honeymoon. In between all those albums she also released many hit singles.
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Lana Del Rey about how people consider her to be “not authentic”, and she is often criticised for many reasons. However, people need to realize, that all celebrities have a persona, that doesn’t make them fake or “not authentic”, it just makes them a celebrity. There is a lot of mystery surrounding Lana Del Rey and what kind of person she is, but the rumors about her are just that- rumors. For instance, people think that her father paid money to get her where she is today just because of how wealthy he is, but that’s completely false. 5 Points Records label boss David Nichtern said “Her father never had anything to do financially with supporting her creativity.” Her music is good, and people realized that which is why she’s gotten where she is, it has nothing to do with money. People also think that she slept with many people in the industry to get her higher up, but again this is completely fake. Lana Del Rey is brutally honest and even said herself, “You know, I have slept with a lot of guys in the industry, but none of them helped me get my record deals.” She owns her actions and does it with no shame, which just goes to show how not fake she is, and it also confronts another issue of people calling her anti-feminist. But how can someone who completely owns something like that be anti-feminist? Her music strives to show women's’ points of views on many things, and explains what goes in their minds, not to make an excuse or encourage it, but just to make the world understand, and to show women going through these situations that others feel the same way and that they aren’t alone, but I don’t think that’s anti-feminist at all, I think it’s just honest.
The things Lana Del Rey sings about are critical for this century because she brings to light issues that most people don’t really address, like domestic violence. She also confronts death and what comes after. Her music is so hypnotic it captivates people and her lyrics force you to listen and pay attention. I interviewed the person who first introduced me to Lana Del Rey to discuss her music and why she thinks it’s important.
Why do you like Lana Del Rey's music?
I think she inspires a lot of people, um, especially young women; she serves as a role model for me, and my other young women as well.
Why do you think she's important for out generation?
Um, I believe that she inspires a lot of people to be their true selves.
Which of her songs has the deepest meaning to you?
Um, "DarkParadise".
Why?
It reminds me of the dark times and being able to get through them.
What made you play me her music for the first time?
I thought you would enjoy her music as much as I did, and I thought her music would help you go through hard times like I did.
Lana Del Rey’s music is so important in our generation, because it is so honest. Her music tells the truth about our time period and it helps others know that they aren’t alone. Time Magazine described her song Brooklyn Baby as “by far the most millennial song ever written”. I think her music is something that everyone could relate to if they just listened to her words, and I think it is something important for everyone to listen to, so they can know what they’re feeling is normal and okay. Because that’s what her music does for me.
Works Cited:
50 Geeky Facts About Lana Del Rey | NME.COM. (n.d.). Retrieved October 14, 2015.
Harris, P. (2012, January 21). Lana Del Rey: The strange story of the star who rewrote her past. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
Lana Del Rey. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
REVIEW: Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence Is the Album We Need Right Now. (2014, June 17). Retrieved October 14, 2015.
