When people think of college, they think of getting a good secure job. They assueme that the classes will usually be borning and routine and that there is typically one answer the soution, sometimes even one way to get to the answer. I say, that's true, depending on the college you attend. College classes do not have to be rountine, or borning, and you definaitely do not have to get to a solution using one method or even have the same solution as someone else. This class has taught me that expanding one's thinking is important, but challegeing one's thinking is even more important. How can you challege yourself to make connections between topics and ideas that seem like they don't have any? The connections that others might not seem themselves or that teachers and professeors might not make themselves. My expericence in the class has caused me to question information provided to me as well as critque soruces on which I get my information from, This class has encouraged me to not only be more confident in myself but my choices as well.
Writing blog posts, our in-class discussions, project designs, sharable designs, and research papers have helped me to develop my writing skills and helped me learn what kind of writier and learner I am. The creative license that we had for the template of our research paper allowed for me to learn about myself in more ways than one, such as that I am a visual learner, thinker, and doer. The interdiscipinary context of the course allowed for me to expand my thinking from conventional ways of learning and thinking. I am planning on using the skills and knowledge that I aquired from this course to bring new a new way of looking at things to both my school life, such as my friends and family as well as my work life, such as school, work, and other professional settings.
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Many people see fashion as a flawless, yet innocent idea. However, fashion has it's drawbacks as well. And the issue is that very few individuals actually know about it or look to learn about these drawbacks. The word "sweatshop" is like a grater to our ears, disliked, but it is an important word nonetheless, garment workers, who make the clothes that we wear on our backs are usually mistreated and underpaid. These workers face harsh working conditions everyday in hopes of making the little amount of income they do for their families. Workers sometimes as little as $2 for a full days works. But this is not the only thing that these workers face on a daily basis.
Another examaple of this can be seen in The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory incident in New York. On March 25, 1911, one of the deadliest industrial disasters ink the U.S. occured. A fire broke out in the building, where garment workers were working a fire that killed one hundred and forty-six workers, one huhndred and twenty three of whom were women. They died from the fire, smoke inhalation, and falling or jumping to their deaths, most of these victims were Jewish and Italian immigrants between the ages of sixteen and twenty-three. The oldest victim was forty-three, the youngest fourteen. That means that on March 25, 1911, one hundred and forty-six people not only lost their lives, but also that one hundred and forty-six families lost people near and dear to them. They were mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, daughters, sons - and they were gone in an instance. Does the second example hit a little closer to home for you? Are you a little shocked that this could happen in the U.S.A.? Well it can. So now, you see that the reasoning behind the incident of the disaster in Thiland, was not simply because they were or are an under developed country. But it is instead that they were and still are being mistreated, are under-paid and are still in poor working conditions. The question is however, even after that terrible day in Thiland, why are there still no strong regulations on the treatment of these workers? Well maybe, it's because you simply don't care. Hope that new pair of jeans for that fashion trend that you just had to have was worth it.
Art is defined as the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. When it comes to art it's simplistic manner of getting straight to the root of an issue is uncanny. Art is as powerful as you make it, art has the highest value when it not only identifies with but also resonates with its viewers. While all individuals can resonate with art, not all art can resonate with individuals. When you believe in hard facts about a specific issue any artwork that expresses that belief, the artwork is magnified ten-folds, this is the because of the fact that the person viewing the artwork has that more of an emotional connection and attachment to the piece, regardless of if the person is aware of their belief or not. Art is a peaceful way to protest, one which allows a continuous, subtle resistance, one that sits as a daily reminder of the issue. It burns into the minds of its viewers and unknowingly drives emotional responses towards micro-aggression's on the issue matter, and allows its viewers to have the courage to stand up for their beliefs. An example of this can be seen with the "Black Lives Matter" protest that occurred on campus before the 2016 Presidential election, conducted by concerned students on Union's campus who wanted to show it's campus where they stood on the matter and what they hoped the outcome of the election results would be.
The World Health Organization, also known as WHO. It's primary role is to direct international health within the United Nations' system and to lead partners in global health responses. The organization aims to protect, contain, and eradicate global epidemics. Ultimately, WHO looks to protect world-wide outbreaks which, can harm both a nation's social and economic collapse, with millions dead. While that this might sound all fine and dandy, it is startling to see the organization's response time depending on the source and location of the outbreak. This can be seen in recent epidemics such as the SARS and Ebola outbreaks that happened in recent years. The SARS outbreak was quickly contained with the WHO having a quick response to the situation, plans were in action to contain and eliminate the threat within a span of a few weeks of the when the virus was identified as an epidemic. (World News MD). However, when it came to the Ebola outbreak that started in New Guinea, the time it took WHO to react to this epidemic was considerably longer. But why was this the case? Could it have been that it was the level of importance of the area impact affected the WHO and their response time to the problem? Or maybe it became a real problem to WHO when the threat of the virus became too much of a threat to their own health that spurs this organization into action. What ever the case may be, it is clear that WHO needs to not only speed up their reaction times to these outbreaks but also that they are ensuring that they are reacting to the same degree, urgency, and validity to every outbreak regardless of location. They need to work on prevention of these diseases instead of reaction. And it is our jobs as citizens of our countries and electors of our leaders to expect these changes to come about, to ensure that all nations are being considered equally and can feel confident that they are not being overlooked simply for the simple fact of our own selfish needs. For that is our duty not only as citizens of our countries but also as species of the same race.
When it comes to being an activist, every individual has a different way of rising to the occasion. The same is true with Janette Ikz, who does her activism with style. Miss Ikz uses poetry to fight for what she believes in. Miss Ikz is a passionate poet who speaks up about her tribulations in the past and how god helps her through it, she also takes it one step further, encouraging young women to speak up about sexual assault by becoming vulnerable to her audience and telling them about her past encounters with sexual assault. Her form of activism breathes new life Urban Art as she touches the core of individuals through her passion. It is her passion and determination to combine two of the aspects that makes her who she is to make a difference, which inspired me to want to do the same. With my love for fashion, art, and poetry I look to combine these passions by creating an Fashion-Art show, where I would create fashion pieces and statements that not only goes with but tells the story of Poets across the world, and not just poets but activist, journalist, and every other kind of occupation looking to make a difference in this world. After feedback from my classmates, I am even more encouraged to shoot for the stars and allow what I love to have the opportunity to make a difference in the world.
It is not often that we as American’s look in depth on topics that do not affect us directly or anything that takes time to occur. However, it is time that we stop being a self-centered society and look beyond the scope of desires. When it comes to the topic of health, obesity has become a global epidemic. For example, London is suffering from child obesity as much as we are, a place that was once filled with happy, healthy children has now followed the footsteps of America, where unhealthy foods and their impact on our health are starting to determine the quality of our life. Meanwhile, there are a few individuals out there who are looking to improve our health through what they are most passionate about, for instance, the Adidas company in Germany, are looking to combine engineering and fashion to improve our lifestyle and how we can use concepts and ideas that people are passionate about for the betterment of our lives. This can be shown with the work that they are doing with their athletes and how they are monitoring the health of their players, which they hope will soon become something that everyday citizens can have and use to their benefit. There are also individuals who look to create interactive clothing that can adjust and mature with there owners, which can potentially lead to individuals buying less clothing in the long run. There are others also working to create a more sustainable society by biologist and fashion designers to create clothing that can be made with bacteria.
"Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it" - Banksy“A lot of people never use their initiative because no-one told them to.” |
What does this mean for the future of our society, ? Will we be able to monitor our health on a day to day basis? Will this futuristic concept help us become more vigilant individuals when it comes to our health? Imagine, being able easily monitor our health, keeping an eye on it throughout our time outside of the doctors office. Imagine the possibility of monitoring your heart if you’ve had a stroke, or maybe taking your blood pressure if you suffer from high blood pressure, or maybe even being able to take your blood sugar if you suffer from diabetes. |
The world is changing fast, technology is changing even faster. Why not use it to make impacts that can better our future in more ways than one? Why not imagine the impossible?
1000 Ways to Die and You Choose this One?
One of my favorite all-time shows is t.v. series, which recreates unusual supposed deaths and debunked urban legends and includes interviews with experts who describe the science behind each death. The show takes on a tongue-in-cheek dark humor with approach to death through its presentation of stories derived from both myths and science, the show makes liberal use of artistic license to change the circumstances of real-life incidents that resulted in death for greater entertainment value. Regardless of the shows dark humor and it’s unethical ways of making money on the misfortune of individuals, the show teaches us one very important idea; that we face danger everyday of our lives and mostly survive it.
There are a lot of ways to end up dead, everyday we fight a new fight a new war against germs, toxins, injury, illness, catastrophe, and more. So why is it that we continue to add to the pile? Why is it that we place ourselves in situations that will harm us, and why is it that when we notice these disasters from afar we still do nothing to try and stop them? Is it human nature to self-destruct, or is it in fact that we are too lazy to do anything about it?
That is the question we must ask ourselves right now, when it comes to childhood obesity. While it may seem like just an American issue where, in the 1970’s 1 in 10 Americans were obese, and now, 1 in 3 Americans are obese and ⅔’s of the population is overweight. This epidemic can now be seen across the globe in all ages, in places such as London, England, where 1 in 3 children are obese; which is higher than England’s average of 18.7%. A study done by the Health and Services Committee found that 240,00 children in London were obese.
A TED Talk by Jeff Speck informs us that, In America, 25% of young men and 40% of young women are to heavy to enlist in our military forces, while according to the Center of Disease ⅓ of children born after 2000 will have diabetes. We have the first generation of children in America who are predicted to live shorter lives than their parents.
Speck also informs us that 14 Americans die each day from Asthma, which is now caused by car exhaust and not factories. It can be seen that particles in air pollution is actually harming our lungs and even damages and kills brain cells, as reported by CNN. If we are aware of all of this why are we ignoring the signs and living as though everything is alright.
It is time to start taking action, not only to save our planet, but to save our lives as well. Jeff Speck asked “What if lifestyle is quality of life; something better”. I deeply believe his is how we have start thinking.
It is time to start taking action, not only to save our planet, but to save our lives as well. Jeff Speck asked “What if lifestyle is quality of life; something better”. I deeply believe his is how we have start thinking.
The Beauty of finding new ways to mark our existence
We are in the age where anything is possible and everything has been done. With that being the case, how do we go about making our marks on a world which has been marked in every way possible? That is the question today's youth ask ourselves. How do we leave a lasting mark so that we are not forgotten? So that the world and it's future generations knew we were here? How do artist make their own designs if everything is assumed to be already taken? How do we do any of this when we are just considered a bunch of hooligans, who do not know what they want in life or appreciate what they have? |
The answer is to do so by breaking the rules, finding a way to leave our marks, (I mean why not, it is already expected of us, right? So why not make the most of it) As a youth who actually did graffiti in her prime I can tell you that it is not just vandalism, however it does in fact exist, same as those who sell cheap knockoff designer bags on canal street. It is an art form that we created and embrace, while that does not necessarily mean that it is encourage by our elders we do it anyways. Why? Well, it is the same reason why our parents generation refused to follow their parents rules growing up, why my mother was considered a "hippie" back in your youth and why we look for approval in our peers instead of our parents growing up. Because, we want to make sure when we die our story does not die with us. That their is something left behind to say, "I WAS HERE"!
The "Arousal Culture" is so much more then just tagging the walls to annoy people. It is our way of yelling at the world and asking them to see our unique identities verses just being another youth looked down upon. It looks to show our individuality and our passion, our beliefs, our values, our goals in life. |
While it might not seem like it from just a glance, if one really stopped to look at the artwork displayed on the wall they would see the pain, passion, the story being told behind every artwork that is shown to the world. It is our jobs as the youth to pave the way for the upcoming generation, why should we be punished for our work of art? Is it just because it does not follow the status quo of what the older generation calls art? IS that fair to us as the youth?
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A world full of people and here I am trying to find my place in it.
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