The Great Recession vs. Everyone

In unit 1, History, of Equality we learned about issues revolving around race, gender, and class. For our action project we wrote a history chapter about a major event from the past twenty years. The catch was that it needed to be written in the point of view of a marginalized voice. The event I ended up choosing the Great Recession in 2008 because we as a country are still recovering from it nine years later. The specific voices I chose were those of business owners, college graduates, and construction workers and I interviewed someone from each category. We also needed to include three educational devices to make it both support my writing and appear as an actual chapter in a history textbook. I really enjoyed researching more about this topic because my family was greatly impacted by this event. However, I ran into many problems the main one being who to interview. I had to ask my teacher who the marginalized voice would be during the Great Recession. Please enjoy my history chapter below.

I Am Me

In unit 1, Individual, we learned all about different psychological evaluation tests that help individuals discover more about themselves. These tests measure how much we truly know about ourselves and the way we function in society. This brought us to our action project, making a self portrait and artist statement about what we've learned about ourselves. We were given free reign of how we wanted to represent ourselves in our self portraits from concrete to completely abstract concepts using whatever medium we wanted. I decided to do a more abstract drawing that shows both the tests I took and my true self. I had mixed feelings when creating this project. On one hand I loved the creative liberty given to us and that we got to share more about ourselves with others. On the other hand it was really hard to express who I am as a whole in a single image. It was challenging and took me a while to decide on an idea for the project. I knew I wanted to incorporate eyes in some way and went from there. In the end it turned out to be something I loved and am extremely proud of, I managed to capture the basics of my essence in this drawing. Please enjoy my self portrait and artist statement below.

TS. "Through the Eyes of Me". 2017. Chicago

"Through the Eyes of Me"
Computer Printing, Sharpie, and Colored Pencils on Card Stock
H 9" x  W 12"

I had taken a multitude of psychological tests in order to have a better understanding of myself. Out of all the tests the two I think represent me most were the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs. In the Enneagram test I ended up being a six, otherwise known as the Loyalist, meaning that I will do anything for what I believe in and for those I care for. Sixes are the committed, security-oriented type and are known to be “reliable, hard-working, responsible, and trustworthy. Excellent "troubleshooters," they foresee problems and foster cooperation, but can also become defensive, evasive, and anxious—running on stress while complaining about it. They can be cautious and indecisive, but also reactive, defiant and rebellious. They typically have problems with self-doubt and suspicion.” (“The Loyalist Enneagram Type 6”, 2016). It freaks me out how spot on my test results were. I tend to try and solve problems before they happen and am constantly wary of others and their intentions. The reason being is that I’m afraid to be forgotten and left behind once again; to not have the security and support that I need when life gets tough is terrifying. So when I decide to put my trust into a person or idea I make sure to defend it with all my being. If you ask anyone who is close to me what the most predominant trait I have the answer will always be my loyalty. This is represented by the eyes and the tree. The eyes are the physical representation of my loyalty, one being human while the other being a wolf, an animal that is immensely faithful and that I am compared to quite often. The blue color of the irises is for my true eye color and the color symbolization of devotion. Trees are known to be sturdy, unmoving and to solidify this thought I wrote “security” in Tagalog, my native language. For the Myers-Briggs test I was placed into the ENTP group, which is also called the “debater” or “visionary”. They are “quick, ingenious, stimulating, alert, and outspoken. Resourceful in solving new and challenging problems. Adept at generating conceptual possibilities and then analyzing them strategically. Good at reading other people. Bored by routine, will seldom do the same thing the same way, apt to turn to one new interest after another.” (ENTP Type, 2016). This is fairly accurate, but not exactly me. The problem with this test was that it was very black and white; there is no grey area. You’re either an extrovert, who thrives off of being action oriented, preferring frequent interaction and getting energy from spending time with people, or an introvert, who prospers from being thought oriented, favoring substantial interaction and receive energy from spending time alone. I am neither of these, instead am an ambivert, a person who exhibits qualities of both introversion and extroversion. I don’t prefer one way of functioning over another, rather I’m a jack of all trades doing well in any situation be it social or secluded setting. To show this I have two different skylines portraying my interactions with my surroundings, twilight for introversion and dawn for extroversion. The silhouettes of the people are manifestations of me and how I can easily blend into each trait.

I looked into other psychological assessments and case studies to gather a better understanding on human and, ultimately, my behavior. I first delved into an unofficial, but quite accurate, assessment: Pottermore. I took the test that places you into a Hogwarts house; I ended up being sorted into Slytherin. Their traits are cunning, ambitious, resourceful, shrewd, loyal, and determined. This strongly backed up my results in the other tests with certain traits being repeated. For instance loyalty makes another appearance due to Slytherins constantly looking out for eachother. Though many believe that being a Slytherin means that you’re evil. This is not true it just so happens to be that there were recently many infamous dark wizards that came from Slytherin, the other houses have had their fair share in producing dark wizards but no one mentions it. Merlin, the most famous wizard ever who was the definition of good, just so happened to be a Slytherin. The Slytherin house is just frequently misunderstood. A case study that we analyzed that connects to the Pottermore test was the Stanford Prison Experiment. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo designed a prison simulation where students played the role of a guard or inmate. The experiment ended early due to the severity the guards treated the inmates, causing them extreme psychological torture. In this case the power the guards believed they held went to their heads despite being picked randomly from the same group as the inmates. Proving that anyone has the potential for evil given the right situation.

The thought process behind my piece was confusing and didn’t have a final form until I finished. I knew that I wanted eyes to be incorporated due to their unique beauty and doors to the soul. From there I figured that a concrete portrait wouldn’t get my whole message across so I went with an abstract piece. Deciding on the medium had been the last big hurdle that needed to be determined before I could let loose my creativity. As a kid I loved to use colored pencils so I opted to go with that. Keeping the tests in mind I filtered through different ideas that I could integrate the eyes that I wanted. Once I thought of a semi-concrete idea I began drawing, but as I continued to draw new ideas kept coming causing me to add something last minute. The colors of everything was decided at the end based off of what I thought would best express both the tests and who I am. When talking to a professional photographer on the process of creating art accompanied by an artist statement she told me this: “Art helps people change the way they look at things without realizing it.” This really made me think about why I created this piece. What view was I exactly trying to change? Eventually I came to this conclusion - go out into the world to learn more about yourself and don’t be afraid to show who you truly are. The world is constantly trying to put people down and make them feel bad and embarrassed about what makes them different. This is causing people to lose touch with themselves. I want people to go express themselves, be unique, and make sure that to have fun while doing it.

Works Cited:

Berkers, E. (2017). Enneagram Tests (free). Retrieved January 18, 2017, from https://www.eclecticenergies.com/enneagram/dotest.php

Briggs Myers, I. (n.d.). The 16 MBTI Types. Retrieved January 18, 2017, from http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/the-16-mbti-types.htm

ENTP PERSONALITY (“THE DEBATER”). (2011). Retrieved January 23, 2017, from https://www.16personalities.com/entp-personality

ENTP: The Visionary. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2017, from https://www.truity.com/personality-type/ENTP

Hogwarts houses: Slytherin. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2017, from https://www.pottermore.com/collection/all-about-slytherin

On Ambiverts: Why Distinguishing Between Extroverts and Introverts is Inadequate. (2013, June 08). Retrieved January 23, 2017, from https://www.diplateevo.com/on-ambiverts-why-distinguishing-between-extroverts-and-introverts-is-inadequate/

Sol, M. (2016, November 03). Ambiversion: The Lost Personality Type. Retrieved January 21, 2017, from https://lonerwolf.com/ambivert/

Type Six - The Loyalist. (2016). Retrieved January 19, 2017, from https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-6/

Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment revealed how social roles can influence our behavior. We look at how it was conducted and what we can learn from it. (n.d.). Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment. Retrieved January 20, 2017, from https://www.psychologistworld.com/influence_personality/stanfordprison.php

KING OF GODS!

In unit 2, Are You A Game, of Game Changers we delved deeper into the processes of how games are made and worked on creating our own games. For our FEs, we had talked to many people who have a successful career in the game industry. This had helped us significantly while creating our games since we had professional advice from people who have been in the industry for years. We had gone to Chicago Toy & Game Fair to compete in the Young Inventors Challenge where we had presented our second prototypes. Our action project was to create a final prototype of our game, show its process, and make an elevator pitch. My game is called King of Gods; it is a battling race game. I really enjoyed being given such creative liberties over this project, being able to come up with a unique game of my own without any restrictions was amazing. I had so many ideas, but the one about mythologies was by far my favorite. However, I didn't enjoy feeling rushed while making it because in total we only had about two weeks to finish three prototypes. Despite this emotion I put my head down and worked hard to get everything done. Please enjoy learning about my game below.

Pitch

One day, gods from four different mythologies got into a fight about who was the most powerful god and you have been tasked to help one of them win the battle. You will travel through the Underworld, Middle Earth, and Overworld. Along the way you will encounter monsters and fight other players. Your aim is to survive through the battles to reach the Overworld throne to become the king of all gods.

Going into the project, I was fairly confident. I had not realized how truly difficult it is to make a game. Coming up with the theme and type of game I wanted was fairly easy, but making it a reality was much harder. There is a lot of trial and error involved in making a game. In order to have a successful game, you must make it virtually unbreakable (meaning everything needs to be clear cut, easy to follow and solid mechanics) ,  all the while still having it be fun, aesthetically pleasing, and marketable.

The way to achieve this is through multiple rounds of play, testing. By having people play your game, you can learn what things need to be fixed and how to make it more enjoyable for the players. For example, when I had people play my first prototype, they weren't following the path, were battling wrong, and didn't have a lot of fun. They told me my boards were confusing and the battle mechanic had many flaws; overall it was not a lot of fun to play. From there, I made the borders clearer and made changes to the battle mechanic. When I had the same people playtest my game after the changes they had a lot more fun, actually laughing and enjoying the game’s theme. They had found the board’s paths to be clearer and easier to follow.

I think my favorite part of making a game was the experience of going through the stages of game design and watching your game grow.. Seeing what it is like to make a game that is appealing to the public, but at the same time functional, is amazing. You have to put in tons of mental and physical work in order to achieve this. This class has given me a whole new appreciation for games and their designers.

Scouting for Games

In unit 1, Game Mechanics, of Game Changers I learned all about tabletop games from defining what a game is to the mechanics of a game. We also looked at different randomizers such as dice and the statistics for what you will roll. We had gone on a few FEs that helped us understand what a player's perspective and a game designer's perspective is during a game. Out of all the FEs the one I found most useful was when we talked to game designer Jason Little, who has created over 50 games. He gave us very in depth answers to all our question and tips on dos and don’ts when creating a game. For our action project we were tasked with coming up with a scenario where a person or group wanted to play a game where we then gave them two different recommendations. I found it to be challenging to describe the mechanics of the two games without going into the rules of the game. After talking to my teacher and classmates I was able to write the mechanics of the games. I really enjoyed having to have a lot of freedom in this project by being able to choose a scenario and the

games that would best fit those needs. Please enjoy my scenario and recommendations below.

Capricorn.August 2016.

In my scenario, a scout group needs a game to play during multi-day events. The group is looking into games that would be enjoyable and not a great hassle. The biggest needs I’ve identified for the scouts are:

• Transportable, meaning it needs to be relatively small and easy to carry around and play anywhere be it in the airport, car or boat.
• Inexpensive since they spend most of the treasury’s money on their events.
• Be able to accommodate large groups due to there being 12 scouts and 4 adult leaders on the trip.
• Re-playable due to them playing multiple games

I have chosen two games that fit the needs the best: Egyptian Rat Screw and Werewolf (Mafia). Below are the reference sheets that will introduce and explain each game.

The scout group would easily benefit from either of these games. Since both games can be played anywhere and with a lot of people. Another thing is that each game is slightly different from the last making it re-playable enough that the scouts won’t get bored of it. These two games are able to raise the energy in a room since people can get really into it which would help the scouts to not be as sluggish later on in the day. Werewolf has the bonus of being themed with a background story as to why the game is happening which Egyptian Rat Screw lacks.

If I had to choose only one game for the scout group to bring with them it would have to be Egyptian Rat Screw. The main reason for this is that it is cheaper than Werewolf. All you need for the game is a deck of normal playing cards, about $0.50, versus the special cards needed for Werewolf, about $15. The other major reason is that once you out in Werewolf you are no longer engaged in the game. In Egyptian Rat Screw they have a mechanic that can get you back into the game therefore keeping you constantly engaged.

Investing Towards the Future

In unit 2, Wealth and Wages, of Economics we learned about investing and the different things you can invest in such as stocks, mutual funds, or bonds. For the math portion of the class we delved further into matrices by using them to solve systems of equations. For our action project we were given an imaginary scenario where we had been gifted money that was put into a savings account for 18 years. With this money we had to invest it into companies of our choice to reach our three SMART goals, a 1 year, 5 year, and 25 year. The companies I invested in were General Electric, Apple, and Disney, the more in depth analysis is in my post. It had been difficult deciding what companies to invest in and how much of the money I was granted should go into each of my goals. I loved doing this project, despite the hardships, because I will be ale to carry this knowledge with me for the rest of my life. It will make financial decisions easier to deal with and understand. Please enjoy my investment portfolio below.
______________________________________________________________________________

We were given a scenario where I was gifted with $49,128.87 from my guardian angel. With this I decided to invest in companies that are in line with my values and investment philosophy, but will also stay in line with my goals. Below are my three financial goals.

1-year goal: Have pocket money to spend in Europe ($5,000)
5-year goal: Get a custom made motorcycle ($21,000)
25-year goal: Own a bookstore with small cafe  ($450,000)

I value multiple types of companies, especially ones that focus on innovation. The innovative are always looking to improve what exists, making it more efficient and, hopefully, cheaper. This will help guarantee that those companies will be around for many years. Children are our future so I highly value companies that are family-friendly, they inspire young people to do things and enjoy life. Being passionate profit-driven brings forth the best the company has to offer. They will try their hardest to produce a product that will do well and make people happy. I believe in watching the economy to look for trends, this way I will be able to predict what will happen with my investments. By waiting out the bumps in the stock I will make more money in the long run.

I ended up choosing to invest in three different companies - Disney, whose share prices are $93.05, General Electric, whose share prices are $28.92, and Apple, whose share prices are $113.72. Each of them are leaders within their own fields and encompass the majority of my values. The two companies I liked the most are Disney and General Electric, below is more information on these two companies.

Walt Disney Corporation: Disney is in the entertainment industry and they are matchless in their reach. They have one of the largest shares in film, television, animation, merchandising, and theme parks industries and have shown continual growth since they opened. They even say in their mission statement "The Walt Disney Company's objective is to be one of the world's leading producers and providers of entertainment and information" which only shows the dedication they have towards their work. They have a P/E ratio of 17.84, compared to the industries 28.60, and a dividend yield of 1.53%. With new Marvel, and now Star Wars, movies coming out every year from now to 2020 there is no doubt that Disney will continue to grow. Many people grew up watching Disney, be it movies or television shows, and it brings them joy. The Disney Corporation covers all the things I value and then some.

Walt Disney Stock Price. 2016. Via Google.

General Electric: General Electric is involved in all sorts of innovations thus the reason why it is in the diversified industrial industry. Their products and services range from airplane engines to medical imaging. Some inventions they were involved in are alarm clocks, light bulbs, televisions, and turbines.,and those are only a few. They are also involved in power, renewable energy, healthcare - the list goes on. With so many fields in their grasp they are able to take innovations made in one field and apply it to the rest. General Electric has a P/E of  27.32 and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Compared to the industries P/E which is 23.82 meaning over the next few years GE has some big things planned. This company is constantly growing in multiple areas.

General Electric Stock Price. 2016. Via Google.

The time horizon is extremely important because it will affect how much money you will make when investing. In this case time was on my side due to my most important goal being in 25 years, giving my money more time to accumulate and increase. With all this in mind this is how I invested into my 1, 5, and 25 year goals:

Portfolio I - 1 Year Goal

$4,912.89 (10% of money allotted)

30 shares of AAPL @ $113.72 ($3439.02 total) (70% of portfolio)

5 shares of GE @ $28.92 ($1473.87 total) (30% of portfolio)

The ROI for investing in these two companies is 18.06%. After one year I should have made $5,800.16.

Portfolio II - 5 Year Goal

$9,825.77 (20% of money allotted)

43 shares of AAPL @ $113.72 ($4912.89 total) (50% of portfolio)

52 shares of DIS @ $93.05 ($4912.89 total) (50% of portfolio)

The ROI for investing in these two companies is 233%. After five years I should make around $22,894.04.

Portfolio III - 25 Year Goal

$34,390.21 (70% of money allotted)

295 shares of DIS @ $93.05 ($27512.17 total)  (80% of portfolio)

190 shares of GE @ $28.92 ($5502.43 total) (20% of portfolio)

The ROI for investing in these two companies is 1254.28%. After twenty-five years I will make about $465,739.74.

Total Investment Portfolio Value: $494,433.94

I expect to make this much, which is significantly over each goals amount, but even if I under perform I should sill be within my target range.

This may sound a little risky, however according to Rutgers University's Risk Tolerance Quiz I have a 27 risk tolerance. Meaning that I have an average or moderate tolerance towards risk and am unlikely to get involved in highly risky situations, financially or personally. However I'm not overly cautious when taking risks since I analyze in order to take good calculated risks.

TS. Risk Tolerance. 2016. GCE Lab School

Assumptions:

1. Assuming that ROI holds steady (or at least does not drop significantly) there will be no changes in my ending investment.
2. I have assumed that companies will last and will remain at the head of their field.
3. I assume that, even if my goals don't go as planned, I will still make enough money to be in the ball park of my goal.

References:

"Apple."csimarket.com.N.P. N.D. Web. 27 Oct, 2016.

“General Electric Return on Investment.” CSI Market. N.p.,n.d.Web. 25 Oct. 2016

“Investment Risk Tolerance Quiz.” Rutgers. N.p.,n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

New York Stock Exchange. 2016. NYSE.

"Walt Disney." csimarket.com. N.P. N.D. Web. 28 Oct, 2016.

“Walt Disney DIS”. MorningStar. N.p.,n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2016.

Authors That Touch Your Soul

In unit 2, Sound, of Journalism we learned about how radio and voice is used to connect and share with people. We studied different podcasts and learned how to formulate one so that the words flow. By watching Ira Glass videos we saw what it is that makes a good story. For our FE, we went to the Journalism Department of Columbia College, where they do tv and radio broadcasting and write for the school newspaper. For our action project we chose a voice that represents the 20th century, and tell their story, and create a podcast about them. I chose J.K. Rowling because, despite her being an author and not hearing her voice, I fell in love with her and her series. People don’t realize who Rowling really is and I wanted to show them that in the podcast. It was really challenging shortening down some videos I found of her because I thought all of it was so amazing. Though, with some help, I was able to shorten the clips to the best parts and I am very proud of how I told J.K. Rowling’s story. Please enjoy my podcast and transcript below.

 

WHEN	WHO/HOW	WHAT
0:00 0:02 0:17 0:20 0:32 0:58 1:10 1:15 1:17 1:35 1:50 1:52 2:09 2:26 2:47 3:10 3:29 3:45 3:51 4:05 4:08 4:26 4:57 5:10	TS    Background Music Starts (“Hedwing’s Theme” by John Williams) J.K. Rowling Music Fades Out J.K. Rowling TS SV as Krystal Sim Background Music (“Dumbledore’s Army” by Nicholas Hooper) Lily Potter TS Music Fades Out SV as CathrynWaller MN TS Sai as Cassandra J J.K. Rowling TS J.K. Rowling Background Music (“Harry and Hermione” by Nicholas Hooper) SV as Charlotte Howle Music Fades Out J.K. Rowling TS J.K. Rowling THE END	From GCE Chicago High School, this is TS. I’d like to talk about J.K. Rowling, a famous and influential author. My parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that would never pay a  mortgage or secure a pension. I would like to make it clear that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. They had been poor themselves and I have since been poor. Poverty entails fear and stress and sometimes depression. It means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts that is something on which to pride yourself. When Rowling was six months into creating the first book of Harry Potter her mother had passed away. This influenced Harry’s relationship with his mother; her becoming his refuge during times of real stress. I remember staying up to read it through the night and ending up in floods of tears as Lily Potter said to Harry: “You’ve been so brave.” Those are the kind of words you long to hear when you’ve lost a parent. These stories hit you where you live sometimes, in the most beautiful way. You’ve been so brave. Rowling started suffering from clinical depression after her mother died. She felt cold and numb during this time, like she would never be happy again, this later inspired her idea of dementors. When I was 9 my best friend died. I was depressed for the next two years, but this summer I started reading and watching the Harry Potter series. I found out Harry’s tragic story and I learned that love will get you through anything and that there will always be someone for you, In a book or in real life. J.K. Rowling’s books are what inspired me to fall in love with reading and what made me want to become a writer. Because I wanted to have people to talk to about all of the books I loved I found an online community, and I have become friends with people all over the globe that I never would’ve met otherwise. People all over the world know and love the characters from the Harry Potter series. These characters have helped to empower and bring together communities like never before. Her story as well as her series is well known, and she shows people that success can only be achieved through repeated failure. I wrote a paper on Jo for my English class, the subject being ‘people that inspire us the most’. My English teacher didn’t like it that much, which really frustrated me, because I worked very hard on it, but I kept trying, and I didn’t let it discourage me because I knew it’s what Jo would want me to do. I mean look at her, she was put down by, what was it, 9 publishers? But did that stop her? No! A mere seven years after my graduation day I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short lived marriage had imploded and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless. Rowling’s success did not come immediately. She had to work hard and persevere in order to even be published. She points out how we worry about failure, but without it we cannot continue to fight to bigger, better, things. It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not lived at all. In which case you fail by default. My therapist told me to think of a person who was non-judgmental and imagine what they would say to me when I was feeling particularly down on myself or anxious. “I thought of Luna Lovegood. She saved my life, without a doubt. I always think of her when I’m down and no matter what, she brings a smile to my face and makes me realize that it’s OK not to be perfect, as long as I’m myself. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. I was set free because my greatest fear was realized and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter who I adored, and I had an old type writer, and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. Authors motivate people to continue living the life they want to live. J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter gave people a chance to see that no matter where you come from you can do amazing things. We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. We have the power to imagine better.

Life is C Between B and D

In Unit 1, Image, of Journalism we learned what it is to be a journalist. There are many different types of journalism out there, but the main one we studied was photojournalism. This is where an image will tell a story. During class we looked at famous images and had to come up with the meaning behind each image. For our FE we went to a gallery to view an exhibit called "Killing Season Chicago" which showed the places where 172 homicides took place in Chicago over the summer of 2010. It is true what they say an image really does say 1000 words because when looking at these places to know the meaning behind it is a real eye opener. Regarding our first action project, we were tasked with interviewing someone on what they believed the meaning of life to be, and to take a photo representing that meaning. I found it very difficult to take a photo of them since I wanted an action shot and many of mine turned out blurry, but the last one I took turned out clear and looked good. I enjoyed this project because my best friend and I talk about things like this all the time, but we had never brought up the meaning of life in our random, late night chats. Please enjoy my interview and picture below.
_________________________________________________________________

Life gives meaning to life, at least in the book Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, a children's novel written by Wendy Mass in 2006. Despite it being meant for children, there are thoughts that all ages can take away from this book. One such person this book influenced was my best friend, SV. He believes the meaning of life is “to live life not just live through it, but to experience it and push its limits”.

This book actually changed his view that the meaning of life was to make an impact or leave your mark on the world. This book helped him realize that not everyone can be famous or have a legacy, and it wouldn’t make sense if only a select few people had a meaning to their lives. So while reading, he thought about what the meaning of life truly is, and realized that just by experiencing what life has to offer that your life has meaning. “Kids in the 1970s and 1980s had it right, they would go ride their bikes or do hobbies that they enjoyed”. However, he feels that people now are not living. Everyone is constantly on their phones or computers and when they do go outside or do something, anything, it turns into a photo op. When you go to a concert you see most of the crowds phones or tablets out recording. Being too absorbed in social media causes us to miss the things around us. At home people are finding the best lighting to show off their looks. Now, that's not to say technology’s completely bad; it’s there for a reason. “Hell, I use my phone all the time but I rarely use it for pictures; if all you do is stare at the world through a phone's camera you will never see the world”.

“As long as I can remember I’ve been going to plays and when I moved to Chicago we started going to plays up in Wisconsin. Where this theatre company performed was an area where they tried not to destroy the surroundings; meaning that there is no cell service. I love it. Instead of looking around to find people on their phones I see that they are all sparkle eyed enjoying the plays”. Being in the moment brings more joy to future you than the picture you’re showing off. It’s nice to have memories to flip through that you can see, but we don’t often look at the photos in our phones. When we scroll through our accounts we see what other people are doing and think “oh haha I’m better than you, or oh no you’re better than me”. This causes us to feel like we need to strive to be better or that we need to be just like them, then we’re not living our lives but trying to live someone elses.

It’s impossible to have every person be one-hundred percent unique and there are many people who live very similar lives, but you still are your own person. Once you start trying to be someone you’re not, that’s when your meaning of life becomes clouded. As long as you are living your own life and experiencing it the way you want to, you will have your own meaning. However this meaning can change as you grow older and experiencing different things can influence the meaning. “The way I view the meaning of life is similar to what others think of as destiny in the sense that there is some place you are going to end up, but you can take any road you want to get there”. People have their own way of doing things and their lives can be packed with plans for the future, or taking it easy and going with the flow. A quote that he brought up perfectly explained this concept. “What is life? They say it’s from B to D. From Birth to Death, but what’s between B and D? It’s a C so what is a C? It is a choice. Our life is a matter of choices, live well and it will never go wrong” (Jean-Paul Sartre). The only time that a person is not living their own life is when either they are striving to be someone else or someone is trying to live their dreams through them.

Photographers are not included in this vast majority of photo opportunities, in fact they are some of the people whose life has so much meaning. When they look through a camera, not a phone's camera, but an actual camera they see so much more and are able to share how they see the world. Others just post pictures on social media to show off, not to show the world in a different way.

TS "DMing" (2016) Chicago

In this photo, SV is explaining the scene in our ongoing role playing game. As you can see, we’re sitting outside and he is referring to an actual book instead of a PDF on a laptop or tablet. When we get together with our friends for this weekly game, we enter a no cell phone zone. Anyone who pulls out a phone, unless it’s an emergency, has to give him their phone for the rest of the game. I like how in this photo, there’s a bit of a glare at the top and it isn’t very dark in general. I like the light because it represents how we are not trying to hide who we are to meet the status quo.

Other than making sure the photo had good lighting, I didn’t alter the picture at all. I didn’t want to add in changes due to aperture, shutter speed, or focus because I felt it would take away from the natural life of the photo. This is the same reason I decided to go with an objective photo instead of a subjective one. If I had staged the photo at all, it would’ve taken away from the idea that he is simply living life, not trying to be seen in any certain way.

I took many photos of him over the course of the week from him dancing to him playing video games, one of his passions, but either they came out too blurry, didn’t give off the right feel or he noticed the camera and his demeanor changed. When I took this one we were in the middle of our role playing game, and he was so into it he didn’t even notice me taking the picture. He just looked like he was in his element and like he was really enjoying life. During dance I couldn’t get a clear picture since he was almost constantly moving, and while playing video games he started to get upset with the game because he kept dying and it didn’t give off the feeling of someone just living life. Being relaxed and having fun with friends in an environment where everyone could be themselves really showed off his meaning of life.