Frontiers

 Hello and welcome to my final action project for my STEAM class Frontiers. In this action project, we were asked to create a conference poster based on research that we did for the Space Grand Challenges. I decided that I was most interested in Grand Challenge 4: Protection of Humans. This Grand Challenge focuses on space medicine and how to give humans the best quality of life while traveling space.

In conclusion, I've really enjoyed all of my STEAM courses and action projects at GCE. It feels bittersweet that this is my final project and my final day of classes. I am excited to move on from high school but I am very proud of all the work that I've made on this blog. Thank you for following my high school journey.

How Fostering a Kitten Changed My Life

 Hello and welcome to a very unique blog post! Last month, I fostered a 6-year-old cat named Graham from Paws Chicago Medical Center. 

 

Fostering Graham has been such a fun and educational experience. I already had a cat and dog at home when we got Graham so I was nervous about how he would interact with them. It took a bit of time but eventually Graham and my dog, Liza, became very good friends.

They will lay by each other and play together. Graham has made Liza even happier than she always is because she finally has someone who is as wild as her to play with. The hardest part of this process is introducing Graham and Link, my other cat.

Link has had some issues in the past with other cats which makes it hard for him to trust Graham. Recently, they have been sitting on either side of the doors that separate them and smelling each other.

I have been researching the best ways to integrate their lives and I have learned that the key is patience. 

Graham is an extremely sweet cat, and I couldn’t imagine my life without him which is why I decided to adopt him. 

This experience has taught me that I have a real passion for caring for animals and making sure that they have proper homes. This has lead me to make a goal for myself of volunteering at animal sanctuaries every summer.

Tym's Survival Guide

 

Hello and welcome to my final humanities action project at GCE Lab School. With graduation on the horizon, it feels bittersweet to be writing my final humanities blog post. This has been one of my favorite action projects of all time. At first, it felt daunting because I found it a bit difficult to put my goals and milestones into words. Once I began writing, however, the words just seemed to flow and I was finished in no time. For this action project, we were asked to write a guide to our life mission. My mission is to become a successful actress. 

The purpose of this manual is to be able to stay grounded with my goals. I know that it is very easy for me to get caught up in the day to day and I often forget the bigger picture. Looking back at my survival guide will keep me focused. 

Grand Challenge Three Literary Review.

Hello and welcome to the first action project for my senior STEAM class, Frontiers. In Frontiers, we are learning about the ever-changing world around us. For this action project, we were asked to create a literary review based on the Grand Challenges. A Grand Challenge is a fundamental problem with a wide impact across many subjects. At first, this project seemed daunting. However, once I began researching and connecting the dots between the subjects, it was a breeze. I hope you enjoy this action project. 


Our oceans and marine life continue to be one of Earth’s greatest marvels as well as mysteries. Over the years, scientists have wondered how variables such as climate change, human pressures, and evolution have affected the oceans. It is apparent that climate change is a huge issue that looms over the fate of not only humanity, but also our marine life here on Earth. In my research, I have discovered that humans, while a huge part of the climate change problem, may not be the only reason for violent shifts in global change. Simply put, a radical reversal is needed in order for our oceans and marine life to thrive in the future. However, we do not have much time for this radical shift, in fact, according to some, we are 50 to 60 years behind. Luckily, due to changing technologies, these numbers have been proven to be outdated.

Grand Challenge 3

A Grand Challenge is a fundamental problem with a wide impact across many subjects.

The Grand Challenge that I decided to research is GC 3, Understand the Impact of Global Change on Marine Ecosystems. One aspect of global change is climate change, and A.J Richardson et al discuss climate change and dives in specifically on how it affects all ecosystems. “We found that climate change was having a coherent and significant impact across all ecosystems.”(2012). It is evident that biodiversity and adverse reactions to climate change go hand in hand. Regime Shifts and seasonal shifts are sudden changes that are mainly caused by a change in the biodiversity of an ecosystem. “..hyper-diverse regions, such as the Indo-Pacific marine biodiversity hotspot, may be under threat.” ( 2012) This was not the only paper to draw attention to this.

Pardini (Regime Shifts in Biologically Diverse Sites) 2010

Renata Pardini discusses “regime shifts” in marine ecosystems and how they relate to the diversity of marine life and disagrees with the previous conclusion. “Regime shifts represent fundamental, sudden changes in ecosystem state, and are usually driven by changes to key-variables that are linked to ecological resilience.”( Pardini et al. 2010). So, this research suggests that biodiversity in fact strengthens an ecosystem making it less susceptible to adverse reactions from climate change. Renata Pardini proves this point with charts.


These charts represent the differences between a landscape (or ecosystem) that has diverse organisms removed vs a landscape in which diverse organisms are allowed to coexist with native organisms. “Our results also emphasize the critical importance of taking into account variation in species traits to evaluate biodiversity change across environmental and disturbance agents.” ( Pardini et al. 2010).


Another aspect of global change is human impact. Humans benefit greatly from our ocean ecosystems. In our need, however, we leave consistent damage to the oceanic environment. “Ocean-based activities extract resources, add pollution, and change species composition.” (Halpern et al. 2008). Halpern’s study sought to map out human impact on ocean ecosystems in order to “rationalize spatial management of human activities.” This map shows just how much humans impact our oceans and how much damage we’ve done.

Halpern "Mapping Human Impact" 2008 

“Understanding and quantifying, i.e., mapping, the spatial distribution of human impacts is needed for the evaluation of tradeoffs (or compatibility) between human uses of the oceans and protection of ecosystems and the services they provide” (Halpern Et Al 2008)

Understanding and quantifying our impact is one step of a solution for reversing the damage of climate change.


Some believe that the future of our oceans and the solutions to climate change lie within the oceans themselves. “By 2050 our seas will be viewed as more than a platform for tourism and recreation and rather an ocean for solutions. Our sustainable energy solutions will be aided by marine algae-derived biofuel.” (Leinen 2015) For most people, the fate of our oceans is not at the front of their minds. There is a lack of studies for our oceans and ocean ecosystems. This gap in research has left a whole new world, in terms of climate solutions, undiscovered.

A common thread between authors of this article is greater research put into our oceans. They believe that with more resources put into the ocean, issues like overfishing and ocean acidification can be somewhat reversed. “...In 2050, governments are investing in research and development to establish long-term observatories with sensors to monitor ocean conditions and collect the data necessary to help us understand our changing ocean.” (Susan Avery 2015) A.J. Richardson’s study also pushed for more research for our oceans. His specific research works to establish climate change ecology as a discipline. He found that 55% of biological theories relating to climate change were not tested to be compatible with different climate variables. He explains the effect of this common misstep as such, “These studies could overestimate the effect of climate change, as they do not partition out other pervasive human pressures.” (A.J Richardson Et. Al 2012). Examples of these human pressures are deforestation, pollution, the burning of fossil fuels, and overfishing.

Another solution to climate change? Evolution. “Recent theoretical and empirical work has shown that populations can evolve to cope with increasing stress over rapid time scales.”( Phillip L Munday 2013) This type of evolution is called “evolutionary rescue” and scientists are working to find the trigger of this phenomenon. The future of our oceans has a direct correlation to the future of our generation. This means that it is quite literally in our hands to find solutions to our imminent problems and put them into action. My hope for the future is that our oceans will continue to be one of Earth’s greatest marvels and we can keep discovering new information about them.



Citations

Benjamin Halpern and Et. Al. . “A Global Map of Human Impact on Marine Animals .” Science , vol. 319, 2008, doi:10.1126.

Envision 2050: The Future of Oceans - Our World. https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/envision-2050-the-future-of-oceans. Accessed 22 May 2021.

Munday, Philip L., et al. “Predicting Evolutionary Responses to Climate Change in the Sea.” Ecology Letters, vol. 16, no. 12, 2013, pp. 1488–500. Wiley Online Library, doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12185.

Pardini, Renata, et al. “Beyond the Fragmentation Threshold Hypothesis: Regime Shifts in Biodiversity Across Fragmented Landscapes.” PLOS ONE, vol. 5, no. 10, Oct. 2010, p. e13666. PLoS Journals, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0013666.

Richardson, Anthony J., et al. “Climate Change and Marine Life.” Biology Letters, vol. 8, no. 6, Dec. 2012, pp. 907–09. DOI.org (Crossref), doi:10.1098/rsbl.2012.0530.

I Made a Dress in 12 Hours!?

 Hello and welcome to my second action Project for my senior humanities class, Endurance. In this unit, we've discussed many different journeys that people have taken to achieve their mission. In these journeys, the heroes have also had to endure many different obstacles that were thrown at them. Also in this unit, we read and discussed the book Night. Night is an extremely intense story about a man who survived the Holocaust, inspiring us to endure in our lives. For this AP, we were asked to work on a project for twelve hours. I chose to create a graduation dress since sewing is something that I have always wanted to fully invest in and become good at. My mother who is a seamstress in her spare time helped me with completing this dress. I am so happy with how it turned out! My guiding question for this action project was; what can I create within 12 hours? My mission was to create a beautiful garment for graduation. All in All, I believe that I did achieve my mission because I love the gown that I designed and sewed. 

credit to Bensound- Theelevatorbossanova for music 

Here is my vlog planning sheet that I used to organize my 12 hours in order to make the best use of my time and stay on track. 

A Story For The Ages

  Hello and welcome to my first Action Project for the senior Humanities course, Endurance. We are quickly approaching the end of senior year so, this class helps us prepare for what's coming next. For this action project, we were asked to write an autobiography chapter for ourselves. I really enjoyed this AP because I got the chance to talk about one of my idols, Debbie Allen. I have looked up to both Debbie Allen and Phylicia Rashad from a very young age. They have been my inspiration for my future career. I also talk about some of the challenges I have faced in my life as well as my plans for the future. I hope you enjoy this action project.                                         

                                                      Chapter 1: Why This Caged Bird Sang.

I remember sitting in front of my bedroom mirror applying a cold mixture of lemon and baking soda all over my body in hopes of becoming light enough to blend in with my white peers at school. I’d obsessively enunciate my words, trying to emulate the girls on Disney Channel. From the ages of 7 to 13 I tried so hard to avoid anything that would show my white peers that I was Black. Today, all of this comes as a surprise to most people because of my now obvious love and pride for my culture. At the time, I hadn’t seen girls that looked like me in starring movie roles. I only saw black girls as the quick-witted and sassy best friend with no character arch or love interest. These examples were everywhere. From Dionne in Clueless to Porsha in Glee. As a girl whose main aspiration in life was to act in television and theater, I ached to see a role that reflected me or the black girls I knew. Gradually, I noticed evolving ideals of beauty are allowing black models to embrace their black skin and features. The promotion of black culture is being pushed to the front pages and covers of high-end fashion magazines and taking over social media but not quite fast enough. The Black Boy Joy movement that was sparked by The New Edition Story and Black Panther was one motivation for this new change. These changes were and continue to be gradual. 

As I matriculated through school challenges of identity would again overshadow my freedom to be comfortable in my skin. A physical challenge that I’ve gotten through is self harm. In middle school I was bullied horribly and gaslighted into thinking that I was making the abuse up in my mind. At that time I felt that I had no other outlet for the pain. Once I moved on to eighth grade, my life got better. My abusers had left the school and I had many supportive friends to turn to. Then, I graduated and moved on to high school. Late freshman year I was bullied again and I relapsed back into my self-harm habit. I would dissociate during the day making it hard for me to remember what happened to me in order to report the next day. The experience made me realize the importance of having strong character and integrity. It was a very difficult time for me. My grades suffered and my self-esteem was low. I now realize that from that experience, I have become a representative for others. By my senior year, I was elected Student Council President. As a result of freshman year, I wrote and performed poetry related to my life as a black girl in Chicago and I have spoken out against numerous injustices I have seen or experienced.

 My mission is to further diversify a medium that reaches so many, in hopes that when a little black girl is able to see herself on stage through me, she will see excellence in my performance. She will read about who I am as a person of character and integrity. She will not limit her dreams and she will love every part of herself. One of my role models is Debbie Allen. She is an actress, dancer, director, and the founder of the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. She gained success in a time where racism and misogyny were rampant. She endured all that the industry has thrown at her. 

Like Debbie Allen, I want to leave a legacy of educated and successful black actors behind, so I set out to found The Young Actors Academy. The Academy focuses on taking aspiring actors and nurturing their talents in a community setting. When I was growing up, there was no access to a space to hone my skills where I lived. I always wanted to see something blossom in my neighborhood. I knew that this would be no easy feat; I also knew that she would need to work with her community to make the Academy successful. I know that people trust people what they know, and my community knows me. I’ve worked with my past ensemble members to realize this dream. I decided to work with them because of my connection to them, and I know just how talented these people are. I’ve seen it first hand. Before I opened The Academy, I started multiple after-school programs around the city. The main focus was to replace art programs in underfunded schools that had their programs taken away. I was able to gain the support of thousands of people. 

 Many of those people went on to volunteer with the after-school programs. The demand for the program was so high that I was confident that there would be even more support for an Acting Academy in my community. The response from the public is what inspired me to kick my dream project into high gear and start building The Academy. I’ve studied acting for almost all of my life. I always knew that I wanted to perform and entertain for my career. The Acting Academy was my way of giving back to the community where I grew up. The opening event was a beautiful festival filled with art, music, and of course, food. The streets were lined with colorfully decorated stages that featured lesser-known theaters in Chicago. This event was truly meant to celebrate the art form of Theater. I wanted to take the opportunity of this enormous event to show off the incredible talent of theaters that don’t get as much attention as they deserve.

HeyBeautiful Network!

 Hello and welcome to the final Action project of my senior STEAM class, Social Entrepreneurship. In this class we discussed starting our own businesses marketing and other things. We discussed stereotypical marketing and how that may benefit a business in the long run. For this Action Project we were asked to build a business plan for a business idea that we have. We were assigned business incubator groups where we talked about our businesses and launched our plans. Many people in my class  already have their own businesses up and running including me. I recently launched a podcast called the Amigas podcast. I did not choose to use this business for my business plan. Instead I decided to make a more ambitious plan of a network idea that I've had for many years. I hope you enjoy this Action project.

What Will Happen in 2120?

 

Hello and welcome to my Action project for my senior humanities class, Equality. In this unit,  we discussed racial equality, gender equality, and class equality. It was important to our class that we highlighted new gender norms other than the binary of male and female. We discussed non-binary people and their  fight for equality. We learned about the different classes and why they exist. we also discussed if the 1% should exist. For this Action project we were asked to discuss a civil rights issue that may exist in 100 years. I decided to take on race and age discussions as I wrote an article about two black women heading the presidential race of 2120. I also included a new Amendment about age and presidential races. We were also asked to create a toy for the children of that era. I chose to make 2 dolls to represent the presidential candidates. It is very rare to see dark skinned dolls these days and I hope it would be more common to see dolls that represent all people. I hope you enjoy this Action project.

2020 Vision- Three Historical Events from the Turn of The Decade

 Hello and welcome to the first Action Project of my senior humanities class Equality. In Equality, we have discussed marginalized groups and their impact on American society. Today, people are grouped based on race, gender, and class. While discrimination is usually looked down on, people's inherit biases still exist and we must work in order to not let our biases inhibit connections with people across different demographics. In this AP, we were asked to choose a moment in history and make a text book from a marginalized perspective. I chose to cover three of what are, in my opinion, the most historic events of 2020 and early 2021. I hope you enjoy this action project. 

                             

Citations 

“Did Bat Soup Cause the New Coronavirus? Rumors and What We Know.” Healthline, 11 Dec. 2020, Fausset, Richard. “What We Know About the Shooting Death of Ahmaud Arbery.” The New York Times, 17 Dec. 2020. Jr, Richard A. Oppel, et al. “What to Know About Breonna Taylor’s Death.” The New York Times, 6 Jan. 2021. Otterman, Sharon. “‘I Trust Science,’ Says Nurse Who Is First to Get Vaccine in U.S.” The New York Times, 14 Dec. 2020. Tan, Rebecca. “A Black Officer Faced down a Mostly White Mob at the Capitol. Meet Eugene Goodman.” Washington Post. “‘They Set Us up’: US Police Arrested over 10,000 Protesters, Many Non-Violent.” The Guardian, 8 June 2020,

Health and Wellness at GCE

 Hello and welcome to the first AP of my senior STEAM class, Entrepreneurship. In this unit, we have been exploring personality and how it influences the economic world. For this AP, we were asked to take an aspect from our school that we would like to change and make an analysis of that aspect. I chose health and wellness, which is a graduation requirement but I and many other students believe that the system can be improved. I hope you enjoy this action project. 

   

Citations 

About the Commons | On the Commons. 

“Common Characteristics of the ESTP Myers-Briggs Personality Type.” Verywell Mind, 

“Know the Characteristics of the INTJ Personality Type.” Verywell Mind, 

Mcleod, Saul. “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology, 

“Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: The 16 Personality Types.” Verywell Mind, 

Music that Matters Just Like I Do

Hello and welcome to my action project for my civic term course, Music That Matters. In this course, we are learning about music that has made an impact and how to analyze it. We have had three amazing field experience guests. Faiz Razi, Conan Neutron, Fransisco Ramirez. These guests are all active in the music community and talked to us about the music that matters to them. For this action project, we were asked to create a proposal for My Block, My Hood, My City's newest project that asks "How can you make a positive impact on your neighborhood?" I hope you enjoy this action project.

Hello, my name is Tymony and I live in the Beverly neighborhood in Chicago. If you are not familiar, Beverly is a neighborhood on the far south side of Chicago near Roseland. The racial makeup of my community is imbalanced and while some people can just ignore this fact, I notice it every day. Before Covid-19 I would take the Metra train home from school almost every day. Sometimes I would get off at 111th which is closer to Morgan Park, a majority-black part of Beverly. Mostly, I would get off at 107th and the difference of people is astounding. From who walks to their destination vs who drives to who has a shiny briefcase vs a tattered tote bag. I would walk home next to white men who seemed to fear me more than I did them. It is a familiar feeling for people of color, the stares that sear through your skin or watching people almost run across the street just to avoid you. As time moved on I've learned to try to shrink down and blend in just to make it through the walk home.

I was a bit nervous to begin a project that would disrupt this invisible way of life that I had adapted to, so when Faiz Razi joined our Zoom class I asked "... do you ever feel out of place when making and installation in a place that is mostly white?'' He smiled, laughed, and said, "of course, whenever I even have a conversation with white folks it feels performative." This stuck out to me more than anything an FE guest has said before and that's because he put into words the feeling of "other" that I had tried for so long to suppress and make invisible. But I literally cannot make my skin invisible. So, with those words, I decided to put my installation in two places one on 107th street and one on 111th street.

This video is a sample of what it would be like to experience my installation once you get off at either train stop. The remixes that I made portray blackness in a way that cannot be ignored. The entire point of this installation is exclusivity. When most people hear the word exclusivity they think of it as a negative thing. However in this case I am using exclusivity to create a community. What my neighborhood desperately needs is racial diversity and diversity in thought. My installation will benefit the community by offering a new way of thinking for some and fostering a feeling of belonging for others.

 

I used Tinkercad to make a mockup of the giant boombox that will be placed at the 111th and 107th street Metra Stations. The real version is meant to be colorful, vibrant, and eye-catching. 

For the remixes, I decided to use two topics that I am very familiar with. Being a woman and being Black.

The first remix, The Black People Mix, uses clips from Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, James Brown, and N.W.A. I used repetition and stubbornness to highlight some parts of each song. The Black People Mix is intentionally more ambiguous than The Black Woman Mix and is up to interpretation by the listener. I decided to go with ambiguity because it allows a listener to be more engaged by using their own thoughts rather than having an idea pushed into your lap. TBPM has a rhythmic tempo that is unique because of the mixing of different songs from different genres. Today's popular music is very formulaic and predictable, both of the mixes are the opposite. When you listen for the first time it is meant to be very difficult to predict the next note or word coming. 

Tymony · The Black People Mix

The second remix, The Black Woman Mix, uses clips from the news, Queen Latifah, Beyonce,
Noname, The Woman's March and Betty Wright. I used quiet and space in this peace to accentuate
the pain that is constant but was extreme in June and July of 2020. In fact, the Noname clip was a
response to the erasure of the Say Her Name movement. I decided to be more intentional with the
message of this peace because all women are often forced into compliance and silence. We are often forced to be the submissive ones to take on and listen to the world's problems when many dismiss our problems. TBWM isn't as strict as The Black People Mix when it comes to tempo. Because of the extreme contrast of genres in this mix, the tempo changes drastically from the beginning to the end.

Tymony · The Black Woman Mix'

This installation is meant to Teach, Inspire, and Ignite here's how it will do this.
My installation will teach people to listen, each time they hear the mixes on the way to their destination
I hope that they will listen for something different.
By fostering a community this installation will inspire and ignite people to engage
with our neighborhood more.
Hopefully, with this installation, the people of color in Beverly will be
empowered to be comfortable to live life without worrying about stares or people avoiding them.

All in all, I would love to make this installation a reality. I truly believe that this installation could make a big impact in my neighborhood. I enjoyed working on this project, I was able to try something I've never done before (music mixing) and combine it with something I really love (video editing). 

The Average Human

                                                 “The Average Human”

The Average Human

Consider “The Average Human” to be the adult millennial child of the economic man. 

As we all know, humans have their minds consumed by many different things at once. 

Unlike the economic man, the average human has incentives other than money. The average human has children, pets, needs, and even wants. Like Raworth says in chapter 3 of Doughnut Economics “A new economic self-portrait must reflect the way that we see humanity’s place in the world.” This includes, as much as people may not want to admit, nonessential spending. According to USA Today, “the average adult in the USA spends $1,497 a month on nonessential items.” That is 26% of the average American’s monthly salary according to ZipRecruiter.

I believe that economics needs to be reformed to think about its participants in a way that is realistic and not hypothetical. Others have found fault with the “the economic man” idea. At a panel of economists, David Eastburn said, “I see this conflict not only within society but also within individuals.- Economic Man is at war with Social Man.” 

He also made a T-chart that showed the differences between the economic man and the social man (or the average human). His T-chart represents the stark difference of what the two models would prioritize and in turn what will influence them in the economy. For example, the economic man would rather produce goods and services quickly and in great amounts; where the average human would rather make a quality product that may have taken more time and care. 

The economic man	The social man (The average human)
Production	Distribution
Quantity	Quality
Goods and services	People
Money Values	Human Values
Work and discipline	Self-realization
Competition	Cooperation

 

This T-chart represents the stark difference of what the two models would prioritize and in turn what will influence them in the economy. The average human model should replace the economic man model because if we change the rigid model the people who do not fit the mold could be better suited in the economy. 

Citations 

Backman, Maurie. “You Don't Need That: Average American Spends Almost $18,000 a Year on Nonessentials.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 7 May 2019,

“Q: How Much Do Average Jobs Pay per Month in 2020?” ZipRecruiter

Raworth, Kate. Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist. Random House Business Books, 2017. 

Thought Bubble by Alex Muravev from the Noun Project

Person by Valerie Lamm from the Noun Project

GifterBot 1.0

 Hello and welcome to my second AP for my class Computer Science. In Computer Science we have been learning the coding language Python. In this action project we were asked to look at a popular online chatbot, then make one of our own. For my chatbot, I decided to implement a cool fashion element that allows you to receive a "gift" from the chatbot. 

In the end, I really enjoyed this AP  and this class in general. I found it very compelling to explore and learn this coding language and I hope I will have the chance to use it again. I am very proud of the work that I did in this project and I wouldn't do it any differently if I had more time. 

The Meaning of Life

 Hello and welcome to the second action project in my senior humanities class, Journalism. In this unit, we have been looking at photojournalism and the ethics behind it. We had many class discussions about dilemmas when photographing intense and negative situations. We also learned about Sebastiao Salgado a photojournalist who focuses on climate change. For this AP, we were asked to choose a person in our life and interview them about their ideas of the meaning of life. We were also asked to conduct a photoshoot using the skills we learned like changing aperture, the rule of thirds, and focus. I hope you enjoy this action project 

Throughout my life, I have always questioned my beliefs and have constantly changed my ideas based on what I have experienced in the world. I have struggled (like most) with controlling my ego and working to better myself as a person. When I’m questioning I often ask myself what is my goal or what is my meaning of life. So, I asked one of my friends. 

Shanet is a senior and loves to paint and create art that represents her Puerto Rican heritage. For as long as I have known Shanet, she has had a very personal relationship with God. We met up on an unusually warm November day, and we laughed and talked as friends do. When Shanet and I hang out, we usually do photoshoots, so this time was not odd. We sat on the bench of a local park, and I asked her, “What is the meaning of life?” She pauses and giggles. It takes a while for her to respond, but when she does, she says, “The meaning of life is selfless and intentionally doing what we are called to do-- if what we do at any moment is good, we are glorifying God.” We both sat with this statement for a while. Usually, when it comes to talking about religion with my other friends, the conversation can be awkward. However, Shanet never judges; she always has a friendly and graceful disposition that makes me more open to chat. “Everything that we have here is temporary. Living with an eternal mindset and setting our eyes on God is how we should be living.”

Our conversation lulled and we decided to take our first set of pictures. We moved to the top of a small hill that was perfectly lit with sunlight. The air was perfectly warm, but also still, and the world around us was silent. I thought it was the perfect atmosphere to take these pictures to go along with such a mindful and grounding conversation.

TN "SR" 2020

I feel that this picture perfectly depicts the stillness and the peacefulness of this day. The aperture (which is called f-stop on my camera) was set to a low setting, and the shutter speed was also at a low value. I made sure to place my subject in the left of the frame which means she is only taking up ⅓ of the frame. I also used a special lens that allows me to take beautiful portraits by hyper-focusing on my subject and blurring the background. You can see the effects of the low aperture because the picture is darker than usual. I like this setting because it brings a certain mood to the image. This “moodiness” allows the viewer to really get a good feeling of how the atmosphere felt on the day. I took this photo subjectively because I knew exactly what I wanted to portray in this photo and how I wanted it to be. I told Shanet where to stand so this means that my own opinions of what looked good influenced my photography.


At the end of the photoshoot, we packed up all of our belongings and got in my car. As I drove, I asked her what advice she had for people who are questioning their beliefs. She quickly responded, “I’d say explore them! Don’t be afraid to not understand things.” I asked her to elaborate on that. “ Well, find a community of people that you can trust and can help guide you and answer your questions.” She went on about how it takes a lot of time to feel secure with your beliefs,, and then she recalled a time when she was questioning. “I felt discouraged and doubtful but then I realized that it’s normal and everyone goes through it. Everyone struggles and everyone has this process of revival.”


On the drive home, I went through everything we talked about in my head. The last thing Shanet said that stuck with me was, “Something that I tell myself when I am going through something is that what I go through or what I am currently experiencing doesn’t matter. What matters is that I continue to seek out my relationship with God, I will be okay.” I think about this quote often because even if someone doesn’t believe in God, they can still look towards whatever grounds them and allows them to feel at peace.

TN "SR Field" 2020

What Will I do With My Life

Hello and welcome to the first action project in my senior STEAM class, Econ. In Econ, we are discussing our future plans and how the economy affects them. For this AP, we were asked to take note of our future plans (college and career) and make a comprehensive document for people to take a look at. I hope you enjoy this project. 

In conclusion, I have made the decision to go to college for acting. When I asked Tirsa Mena for counsel she added that it doesn't matter where I go to school as long as I am happy with what I am doing with my career long term. There are 3 assumptions that I have made in order to compile this information. 

The first is that I get into my top schools, the second is that I stay on the path that I am now and the final one is that I will be living on campus for both school options. 

Can I Build an AI?

 Hello and welcome to the first Action Project of my class, Computer Science. In Computer Science we are studying a coding language called Python and learning how to write simple code. I have been having a blast experimenting with code. For this AP, we were asked to create a code for solving a math problem and a code for writing a letter to an Alderman. I hope you enjoy these codes

Farenheight to Celcius Letter to the Alderman   

Hello and welcome to the first Action Project of my Senior humanities class, Journalism. In Journalism, we have been reading from a book called Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago by Lealan Jones and Lloyd Newman. Our America takes a deep dive into the housing project where Lealan Jones and Lloyd Newman lived. We also had the opportunity to virtually attend two Northwestern University panels on journalism. These panels prepared us for our Action project, where we interviewed people who understand the issues in our world. Our America has been our first step into taking on the role of journalistic reporters for this AP. For this AP we were asked to take an issue that is present in our respective "Americas" and turn it into an article. I decided to use the racist and sexist culture around social media as my issue. I hope you enjoy this AP.

          CNN "Breonna Taylor" 2020 @megantheestallion Instagram @thedigitaldash Twitter 

      Misogynoir in My America

On August 8th, 2020 Dash uploaded a selfie to Twitter, and immediately they were met with a mixed reception. The post became a topic of discussion because Dash, in their own words, doesn’t meet the standard of beauty that is usually accepted by the masses on the internet.

“Of course my girls were hyping me up as always, but then the post started getting more attention.” People began to compare Dash to Gunna, a male rapper. Dash didn’t bat an eye at first. Until the posts comparing them became relentless, then Dash spoke up. “I know that the hate was coming because I am a dark skin femme, and I’m not skinny.” In 2010, queer black feminist Moya Bailey coined the term Misogynoir. Misogynoir is the hatred, dislike, distrust, and prejudice of black women. “It does break you down, to see black women and girls torn apart on the internet everyday… especially when it's black men doing the most”, says Dash (@thedigitaldash on twitter)

Incidents like this happen all of the time on Twitter, a social media platform that is mostly text-based. Due to Twitter’s algorithm, it is relatively easy to go viral. If a post is getting a lot of attention, the racist, colorist, and sexist trolls are not far from attacking. Even extremely famous and popular black women are not protected from the hate that comes from this platform.

Megan Thee Stallion is arguably one of the most influential female rappers of 2020. Tragically, on July 12, she was verbally attacked and shot by a Canadian male rapper, Tory Lanez. Her fans instantly poured support for her. However, people (mostly men) flooded her comments with hate. “The worst part of it [the hate] is that young girls are seeing these comments and they will think they have to do the most just to prove that they were attacked,” says Rachelle, an avid fan of Megan Thee Stallion. People accused Megan of attacking the Canadian rapper first because of her size. The biggest problem with the attacks were the claims that Megan Thee Stallion was not a cis woman. This statement is rooted in transphobia. It villainizes trans women making it seem like their goal is to trick men into being with them. And that is extremely far from the truth.

Recently, The Daily Mail released images of Breonna Taylor holding her boyfriend’s guns that were owned legally. These images were purposely released to villainize Breonna Taylor and justify her murder. According to US News and World Report, Black girls are twice as likely to be suspended from school than white girls in every state. Black girls are seen to be loud, angry, and overdramatic in most situations. Microaggressions plague the everyday life of black women and when these microaggressions are confronted head-on is when the harmful stereotypes are brought up.

The way black women are treated in our America is harmful and deplorable. It is imperative that people speak up and start protecting black women.

Snapshots of Civil Unrest

It is the end of the spring term at GCE which means it is the end of my junior year. Next year I will be applying for colleges and thinking about the rest of my life from high school. People always say that junior year is the hardest year and it was, but not for the academic reasons people may expect. In April the world began to shut down due to the pandemic we were rushed out of school not really getting the goodbye we all wanted. We have celebrated birthdays, mother's days, and veteran's day through Zoom calls and facetime. Now we celebrate graduation 

The past two weeks has been full of emotions. Anger, Sadness, Grief, Joy, Vindication. It's hard to put into words all of the ways that people have felt at this time.  This has been the first time that I've seen Black Lives Matter so widely accepted in the mainstream media. Its the first time that I've seen musical artists and influencers recognize the impact that black culture has on them. And for that I am happy. It seems like a cultural reset. It seems like something is changing for the better. And yet when I leave the echo chamber of my social media, I still see blatant racism spewed everywhere. Below is a collage of images that remind me of the Black Lives Matter protests. In these pictures, I see beauty, depth, and joy behind all of the pain people are feeling. 

In conclusion, although this is not what we expected out of 2020 I think that a new revolution was bound to happen with my generation of changemakers. I am no longer sad that we missed out on a lot of this school year, I am glad that we had the experience of distanced learning. However, I can't wait to get back into school albeit maybe in a mask!

On My Block| Reimagining a space for good

Hello and welcome to the final action project of my Junior year! For this action project, we were asked to take space from any city in the world (including our own) and imagine it. I decided to use a closed/abandoned school in my own neighborhood. This used to be a special needs elementary school that was also a place for neighborhood kids to sled on snowy days. Ever since the school shut down no one has been allowed to use the space for anything. I wanted to design the space so we can give it back to the kids of the neighborhood and I also made some age-appropriate changes since everyone that used to sled there has grown up.

TN Sketch 2020

This is my rough draft sketch of what I feel like the area should be turned into. The unused buildings from the school can be turned into a cafe, a restaurant, and a bookstore and the playground in the back can be upgraded to a skate park to fit with the growing ages of the neighborhood teens.


Below are images of a 3D model I built using the Sims 4. I thought using sims would replicate the feel of the future construction billboards that you see at construction sites

TN park 2020

                             

TN park 2020

TN park 2020

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this project. To begin I sketched out an idea for the empty space in my neighborhood. Then I made a 3D model and made my slideshow. The hardest part of this project was finding a medium for my 3D model. I started out in Minecraft but quickly realized that I did not have enough time to place each block piece by piece. That's when I came up with the idea to build my model in The Sims. In The Sims, it is easier to build because you are able to place a whole wall in one click. The hardest part of that was posing the models. I think that this was a perfect AP to end off my Junior year. See you all in Senior year!

How Shocking! | Ideas for an Energy Efficient Home

Hello and welcome to the second action project for my STEAM course, Urban Planning. In this unit, we discussed electricity, circuits, and energy-efficient appliances. The goal of this action project is to share and explain SDG 7. I hope that you enjoy this action project and can take some of the ideas into consideration!