My Proudest Pieces of Work

An example of work that I ended up being really proud of was my American Icon project. That is because I enjoyed the multiple components that worked together to complete it. By having the freedom to pick the icon of my choice and the ability to represent myself though her, it made the process much more interesting and fun. The steps that I took to accomplish this was to first research my icon and figure out how I could express her through a photo of me. Audrey Hepburn and I both loved helping and volunteering to benefit children, so that was the main focus of my essay. After completing several drafts of my writing, I needed to take my picture. I dressed myself with clothes Audrey would have worn and in my picture I’m with two girls. In the center of the picture, on construction paper it says a famous line Audrey once said “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other”. I felt that the picture expressed Audrey’s compassion and mine for children. That we had more in common then I first thought we did, and the fact that I was able to represent so much in a photograph felt really good. I was really proud of what I accomplished.

To see more about my American Icon Project, click the link to my digital portfolio here.

My first Rough Draft of my Video

A recent example of work that I am proud of was my H2O water project. The reason why I am so proud of it was because I never used iMovie HD and I felt the need to push my computer skills since I always have technical difficulties. I wanted to do something different than I’m used to and I wanted to experiment with new things and programs to come up with a product. The steps I took to complete my project were long and hard. At first I had to come with my question, and then have the research to answer it. My question was, “How does the La Jolla Friends of the Seals organization affect the seals, the society, and the community of La Jolla?”. I made story boards of how I wanted to structure my video, and watched other videos to get examples of how I wanted my video to look like. After my research I needed to get a hold of someone to interview, so by calling various numbers and contacting multiple people, I was finally able to get a connection with Jerry Horna who was the president of the organization. I had the opportunity to get a ride down to La Jolla to interview Jerry and two other volunteers, plus get footage of the seals. I also wanted to interview students at HTHMA who visited the La Jolla Children’s pool often and see what they knew about the seals and organization. Once I had all my footage I began to put my film together, and after the second critique I decided to put an introduction, rearrange and cut most of my clips. Once I had the film down I was able to write out my transcript, along with finishing the final draft of my video. I really like how it came out in the end because I came a long way to get to my final product and it really shows that through my video.

The Final Draft of my video

Our Modern Day Pirate

Fairy tales always consists their wild stories of pirates roaming the seven seas hunting for treasure and riches. In reality, these tales happened many years ago, but now we have todays modern pirate and his name is Paul Watson. He isn’t after the gold and money, he is after protecting the world’s marine life. Whales were intensively hunted down by the Japanese fleet who sails into the Antarctic waters every winter to catch minke whales and the endangered fin whales. Watson believes that he can make a difference and save the whales from being hunted. His will is good, his tactics however, are not the best and smartest decisions he makes. In this controversy involving whaling and Watson, I believe that neither are “right”.

Watson’s way of stopping the hunters are by using his method called “Operation Asshole” which is so named because it involves ramming one vessel into another’s stern. Watson states “I’ve sunk ten whaling ships and destroyed tens of millions of dollars’ worth of illegal fishing gear, and I’m not in jail”. His actions benefits the whales, but at the same time endangers human lives. “We intervene against illegal activities, and we are simply upholding international conservation law, and the United Nations World Charter for Nature allows for us to do that. It says that any nongovernmental organization, or individual, is empowered to uphold international conservation law.” Whale hunting “is not banned, but it is not exactly permitted, either.” Watson believes that it’s wrong no matter what the situation is, so he is willing to put up this fight for the lives of whales. Watson is appreciated by his “commitment, and his courage and his daring and his humanity.”

The Japanese say that they are “hunting whales off Antarctica in order to ascertain when there will be enough to harvest for profit.” Whaling for science is allowed without restrictions, but all the whales that the Japanese fleet have killed in the name of science ended up with no research at all, and “all the whales that are purported to be under study are also butchered for the purpose of selling whale meat to the Japanese public.” So technically, they have no right to be killing any whales either.

Many consider Watson a hero, but as the same time “some have even called him a terrorist.” They are threatening to put the lives of many at risk, and that is not the right way to pursue something you believe in. “They must act safely and peacefully. They are not advancing the anti-whaling cause they espouse by threatening lives in this way.” says New Zealand’s Officials. Watson’s intentions to save the animals are incredible, he is so motivated and passionate for what he doing, that it is blinding the choices he makes which impacts the lives of many. It is banned to be whaling if it is not for a scientific purpose, so what the Japanese fleets are doing is illegal as well, even if they are selling the meat to the public. I believe this situation can be handled in a more mature fashion so that the lives of the people and the whales, are not endangered.


Neptune's Navy Article

The Comparison Between Marie Arana and I

Marie Arana focus’s her thesis on how “progress has outpaced vocabulary” in her Washington Post editorial by her use of evidence and analyses. Arana discussed the issues that regarded the racial boundaries that the color of skin would limit their heritage. That just because you are a multicultural mix, it wouldn’t matter as much to other people because they only see what you look like. Arana writes: “Isn’t it time for the language to move on?”, I believe it is.

I feel that our “vocabulary” and “language” has been long over due to mature. The reason I feel that Arana is right is because I see it happening everywhere I turn. People don’t take a second glance to look at someone. They only see what their eyes can tell them and eyes can sometimes be deceiving. Arana tells the story of when she met the child from two cultures, of Germany and African America. “I am fifty percent German. But no one who sees me believes it.” said a college student from Pittsburgh, because her skin tone was brown. Obama is also another live, modern example because he is not only African American, but he is also half white. He is not our first black president, “He is our first biracial, bicultural president. He is more then the personification of African American achievement. He is a bridge between races, a living symbol of tolerance, a signal that strict racial categories must go.” In the first place, I had no idea Barack Obama was half white. I always hear him being referred to as the “black president”, how this was a great achievement for “black people”. But he is more then just black, he is of all cultures like we are. This isn’t just an achievement for blacks but for America as a whole to be considered as “racially sophisticated enough to elect a non-white president.”

In every example Arana provided in her article, she would also include an analyzation to help pull her point across even further. By bringing up famous people in today’s modern world I was able to relate to her message even more. “We see it in Tiger Woods, Halle Berry, Ben Kingsley, Nancy Kwan, Ne-Yo, Mariah Carey ... we insist on calling these hybrids by a reductive name ... even they label themselves by the apparent color of their skin. With language like that, how can we claim to live in a post-racial society?” She broke down what race corresponded with each person based on solely appearances so that we could realize how this type of judgement is everywhere.

In 2004, Obama gave a speech towards the Democratic National Convention. Obama declared “there is not a black America and a white America ... There’s the United States of America.” Our country has made so many advances through out the years, from slave times to now liberty, equality, and freedom. However, I feel that just because we have overcome most of the racial tension, it doesn’t mean that we are completely free of it. I have personally gone through times where people think they can tell what I am just from my skin. I am constantly mistaken for a Mexican American. The reason for that is usually because Americans are not commonly exposed to latinos outside the borders of Mexico. Automatically it is assumed that because I am fluent in spanish, I am Mexican.

Its what we learned in kindergarden. Not to judge a book by its cover, and not to judge a person by appearance. I believe we are mature enough to try and apply that to our life and the way we view others and the world. We are all different, and that diversity is what brings us all together.




Obama and Race Article
He's Not Black by Marie Arana