Model U.N.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation
For our second conference we researched nuclear non-proliferation. We researched about our countries and their position on nuclear weapons, and how they can stop the manufacture and spread of nuclear weapons. This research to us writing policy papers and then resolutions. After those were written, we had our final Model U.N conference.
Project reflection:
- Learning about the U.N. and how the world comes together to solve modern issues was really interesting to me, whether it was good or bad. On a positive note, one of the things that I thought was meaningful was how the U.N. came together, and started a treaty for Nuclear Non-proliferation, and that countries from around the world were able to sign it. This was interesting to me because it showed how even small countries that don’t have much voice, are able to become a part of this bigger picture. On a negative note, one thing that was eye opening to me was some aspects of the security council. While I do understand that there sometimes needs to be higher power, I think that letting the permanent 5 countries be the final decision makers could be bad. Another thing about the permanent 5 of the security council that was eye opening was that of the 9 countries that still currently have nuclear weapons, the permanent 5 members all have them. But after learning about all of this I think in order for the U.N to most successfully solve global issues they need to find ways to get countries to just do more and step up.
- From our last conference to this conference I grew as a learner in the way that I was just more interested. This last topic of nuclear non-proliferation really caught my interest and I think that that had an effect on my work. Because of my interest I felt that I created a well written policy paper. I dug into the research and put together a piece of work that I am proud of. I grew in this way because I felt that I was able to sit down and do my work, while actually wanting to do it because I was intrigued by what I was learning.
- This project changed my thinking on how I view the people in power in our world. Learning about what countries in the world have nuclear weapons is very scary. And learning about the questionable people that have the power to launch those weapons is even scarier. I was shocked when I learned about the small amount of countries that nukes, and that in that small amount of countries there were feuds between them. It made me realise how real this problem is. And how close we have come to nuclear war. But it did make me also realise that some people in power really are trying to make a change. I didn’t have much prior knowledge about the U.N and it was super interesting to know how the world can come together to fix things.
- If I was to start this project over there isn’t much that I would change. For the most part, I feel that I was engaged in this project. I was interested in the work I was doing and I enjoyed learning about it. But i will say, if i could I would go back and procrastinate on work less. I could’ve done work when i was supposed to. When it came around to the conference I think that if I was to do it over I would like to be able to comment more. But I feel like a part of not commenting and being able to speak meaningfulling is a part of your countries position. From my research, I didn’t know how to speak on things such as sanctions and things when they came up. I would go back and do more research so I would’ve been able to speak up in conference.
Policy Paper:
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy Paper
Colombia
Adrian Griffith
Colombia is a nuclear weapons free country and supports nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
While the amount of nuclear weapons has decreased over time, there is still an alarming amount of warheads left all over the world. Today, there are around 9,000 nuclear weapons around the world that are in submarines, bunkers, missile silos, warehouses, and airfields on naval bases (Nicholson). There have been many treaties that have been put into place in order to stop the development and spread of nuclear weapons. The most effective of these treaties is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968. Colombia is one of the 189 countries that have signed the NPT, which was put into place with the final goal of total nuclear disarmament. Colombia is also a part of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which is where the countries from Latin America to the Caribbean are a nuclear weapons free zone. In their history, Colombia has advocated for the creation of NWFZ (Nuclear Weapons Free Zones) and supports the initiatives on non-proliferation (Disarmament). Unlike France, China, the U.S, the U.K, Russia, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea, Colombia does not have any nuclear weapons. While the goal is disarmament, the countries listed here do have nuclear weapons, which presents a challenge to non-proliferation. Another problem is non-state actors and countries that have not signed the NPT (Pervaiz). Nuclear terrorism and nuclear war are some of the biggest threats to mankind. While the treaties that are in action are making a change, more needs to happen.
There are many possible solutions to this problem, but it’s time we get realistic and put these solutions into force. One idea that Colombia has been doing by themselves is finding ways to find and search for radioactive materials and nuclear weapons. But to expand this solution, Colombia would support increasing the budget of the IAEA. The goal of the IAEA is make sure countries maintain safeguards within the countries peaceful nuclear programs. The IAEA also improves nuclear security so that radioactive and nuclear technology does not fall into the hands of terrorists. But, unfortunately, the IAEA budget has declined. In “Options for Strengthening the Non-Proliferation Regime”, it states “In 2008, the Eminent Persons Commission advised the IAEA director general that the agency needs to substantially increase its budget for safeguards and security work.” The IAEA needs more funding because they are the ones making a change. They are finding ways to peacefully maintaining safeguards in nuclear weapons programs, and keeping nuclear technology out of the hands of terrorists.
Works Cited
“The Global Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/report/global-nuclear-nonproliferation-regime.
“Challenges and Solutions for Nonproliferation.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, thebulletin.org/roundtable_entry/challenges-and-solutions-for-nonproliferation/.
“Nuclear Weapons Solutions.” Union of Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/solutions.
“Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations in Geneva.” Disarmament | Misión Permanente De Colombia Ante Las Naciones Unidas En Ginebra, ginebra-onu.mision.gov.co/en/disarmament.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy Paper
Colombia
Adrian Griffith
Colombia is a nuclear weapons free country and supports nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
While the amount of nuclear weapons has decreased over time, there is still an alarming amount of warheads left all over the world. Today, there are around 9,000 nuclear weapons around the world that are in submarines, bunkers, missile silos, warehouses, and airfields on naval bases (Nicholson). There have been many treaties that have been put into place in order to stop the development and spread of nuclear weapons. The most effective of these treaties is the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968. Colombia is one of the 189 countries that have signed the NPT, which was put into place with the final goal of total nuclear disarmament. Colombia is also a part of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which is where the countries from Latin America to the Caribbean are a nuclear weapons free zone. In their history, Colombia has advocated for the creation of NWFZ (Nuclear Weapons Free Zones) and supports the initiatives on non-proliferation (Disarmament). Unlike France, China, the U.S, the U.K, Russia, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea, Colombia does not have any nuclear weapons. While the goal is disarmament, the countries listed here do have nuclear weapons, which presents a challenge to non-proliferation. Another problem is non-state actors and countries that have not signed the NPT (Pervaiz). Nuclear terrorism and nuclear war are some of the biggest threats to mankind. While the treaties that are in action are making a change, more needs to happen.
There are many possible solutions to this problem, but it’s time we get realistic and put these solutions into force. One idea that Colombia has been doing by themselves is finding ways to find and search for radioactive materials and nuclear weapons. But to expand this solution, Colombia would support increasing the budget of the IAEA. The goal of the IAEA is make sure countries maintain safeguards within the countries peaceful nuclear programs. The IAEA also improves nuclear security so that radioactive and nuclear technology does not fall into the hands of terrorists. But, unfortunately, the IAEA budget has declined. In “Options for Strengthening the Non-Proliferation Regime”, it states “In 2008, the Eminent Persons Commission advised the IAEA director general that the agency needs to substantially increase its budget for safeguards and security work.” The IAEA needs more funding because they are the ones making a change. They are finding ways to peacefully maintaining safeguards in nuclear weapons programs, and keeping nuclear technology out of the hands of terrorists.
Works Cited
“The Global Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, www.cfr.org/report/global-nuclear-nonproliferation-regime.
“Challenges and Solutions for Nonproliferation.” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, thebulletin.org/roundtable_entry/challenges-and-solutions-for-nonproliferation/.
“Nuclear Weapons Solutions.” Union of Concerned Scientists, www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-weapons/solutions.
“Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations in Geneva.” Disarmament | Misión Permanente De Colombia Ante Las Naciones Unidas En Ginebra, ginebra-onu.mision.gov.co/en/disarmament.
Venezuelan Refugee Crisis
In this project each student was to choose a country in the United Nations. After choosing our countries, we researched about the Venezuelan refugee crisis, and our countries perspective on the country. We then wrote resolutions and amendments. All of this lead up to our practice conference.
Project Reflection:
This project has been really challenging but very interesting. I really enjoyed taking a look at how this crisis has affected the world and my specific country. I’ve always enjoyed learning about current events so this was really engaging for me. I also really enjoyed talking about resolutions that kids in our classes wrote. These were realistic, and talking about them in the conference made it feel like we were making a real change.
In this project I grew some good new skills and habits. I found that during work time, I got distracted very easily at first. Not only getting distracted, I’d say that I procrastinated a lot in the first bit. But once the real heavy work loads started coming in, I changed that. I had to manage my time a lot better if I wanted to get things done. And because the deadlines in this class were really important, when I got to work I turned my work in on time and I did it well.
Our first conference was a little crazy. I wrote my speech and felt good about it, but forgot to print it for the conference. This led me to speed writing a new speech during other presentations. So I was a little unprepared. I also didn’t do any research into countries allies and enemies, or sanctions. Not knowing who exactly who is my countries allies was hard when writing my speech and during the comments. And a big topic during comments was sanctions. I was completely lost and wasn’t really able to contribute a good amount of comments because I didn’t know what to say.
In order to prepare for our next conference, I plan on making a couple of changes to my previous presentation. In order for me to feel most confident and get a meaningful point out, it is necessary that when I present my speech next conference, it should be printed. I just feel like being prepared and not scrambling a presentation together last minute will make the conference less stressful for me. And the other change I wish to make is to do more research. Not being able to comment and get my word out because I simply didn’t know what to say didn’t feel good. I really wish I could’ve spoken more during our last conference. So, but learning about all the topics that will be covered in the conference will allow me to speak more and feel less stressed to say things just to get a good grade.
This project has been really challenging but very interesting. I really enjoyed taking a look at how this crisis has affected the world and my specific country. I’ve always enjoyed learning about current events so this was really engaging for me. I also really enjoyed talking about resolutions that kids in our classes wrote. These were realistic, and talking about them in the conference made it feel like we were making a real change.
In this project I grew some good new skills and habits. I found that during work time, I got distracted very easily at first. Not only getting distracted, I’d say that I procrastinated a lot in the first bit. But once the real heavy work loads started coming in, I changed that. I had to manage my time a lot better if I wanted to get things done. And because the deadlines in this class were really important, when I got to work I turned my work in on time and I did it well.
Our first conference was a little crazy. I wrote my speech and felt good about it, but forgot to print it for the conference. This led me to speed writing a new speech during other presentations. So I was a little unprepared. I also didn’t do any research into countries allies and enemies, or sanctions. Not knowing who exactly who is my countries allies was hard when writing my speech and during the comments. And a big topic during comments was sanctions. I was completely lost and wasn’t really able to contribute a good amount of comments because I didn’t know what to say.
In order to prepare for our next conference, I plan on making a couple of changes to my previous presentation. In order for me to feel most confident and get a meaningful point out, it is necessary that when I present my speech next conference, it should be printed. I just feel like being prepared and not scrambling a presentation together last minute will make the conference less stressful for me. And the other change I wish to make is to do more research. Not being able to comment and get my word out because I simply didn’t know what to say didn’t feel good. I really wish I could’ve spoken more during our last conference. So, but learning about all the topics that will be covered in the conference will allow me to speak more and feel less stressed to say things just to get a good grade.
Adrian Griffith
Lori Fisher
Humanities 10
13 November, 2019
Colombia Policy Paper
Although Colombia is one of the neighboring countries of Venezuela and has one of the highest numbers of refugees in their country, Colombia has been very open and understanding by helping these Venezuelan people in many ways.
At one point in time, Venezuela was one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America. But after the death of their president, Hugo Chávez, Venezuela fell into a deep economic crisis. There is now a lack of resources for the Venezuelan people. Some people can barely afford simple food staples, medicines are scarce, and some health care providers have a hard time operating because of a lack of resources (Van Praag, 3). The maltreatment of the Venezuelan people has led to a large refugee problem. On page 8 of Understanding the Venezuelans Refugee Crisis, Praag states, “According to the United Nations, almost 4.3 million venezuelans were living abroad as of August 2019, more than 12 percent of the total population” (Van Praag, 8). This problem needs to be fixed as soon as possible because if not more people will be leaving at concerning rates. Colombia is doing as much as they can to help these people out and they are the ones making a change towards ending this humanitarian crisis.
Colombia is one of Venezuela's neighboring countries, and when the crisis broke out, many Venezuelans fled into Colombia, yet Colombia is doing a lot to help out the refugees. Colombia’s solution to the refugees has been developing special border mobility cards/creating special work permits, developing policies for refugees to work and create income, and giving Venezuealan children born in Colombia nationality rights (Janetsky) (Baddour) (Colombia Offers Nationality Rights to Venezuelan Children Born There: UN Hails 'Very Important Step' | UN News). Colombia has had such open arms partially because of an animosity between Colombias government and Maduro (Janetsky). In “Here’s Why Colombia Opened Its Arms to Venezualan Migrants Until Now”, she states that “They [Colombian Politicians] see them as victims of their enemy” (Jenetsky). What Colombia needs most is help and resources from the U.N. in order to keep helping the venezuelan refugees.
Works Cited
Janetsky, Megan. “Here's Why Colombia Opened Its Arms to Venezuelan Migrants-Until Now.” Foreign Policy, 14 Jan. 2019, foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/14/heres-why-colombia-opened-its-arms-to-venezuelan-migr ants-until-now/.
Baddour, Dylan. “Colombia's Radical Plan to Welcome Millions of Venezuelan Migrants.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 Jan. 2019, www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/01/colombia-welcomes-millions-venezu elans-maduro-guaido/581647/.
“Colombia Offers Nationality Rights to Venezuelan Children Born There: UN Hails 'Very Important Step' | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, 6 Aug. 2019, news.un.org/en/story/2019/08/1043771.
Van Praag, Oriana “Understanding the Vezualan Refugee Crisis.” Wilson Center, 13 September 2019.
Lori Fisher
Humanities 10
13 November, 2019
Colombia Policy Paper
Although Colombia is one of the neighboring countries of Venezuela and has one of the highest numbers of refugees in their country, Colombia has been very open and understanding by helping these Venezuelan people in many ways.
At one point in time, Venezuela was one of the wealthiest countries in Latin America. But after the death of their president, Hugo Chávez, Venezuela fell into a deep economic crisis. There is now a lack of resources for the Venezuelan people. Some people can barely afford simple food staples, medicines are scarce, and some health care providers have a hard time operating because of a lack of resources (Van Praag, 3). The maltreatment of the Venezuelan people has led to a large refugee problem. On page 8 of Understanding the Venezuelans Refugee Crisis, Praag states, “According to the United Nations, almost 4.3 million venezuelans were living abroad as of August 2019, more than 12 percent of the total population” (Van Praag, 8). This problem needs to be fixed as soon as possible because if not more people will be leaving at concerning rates. Colombia is doing as much as they can to help these people out and they are the ones making a change towards ending this humanitarian crisis.
Colombia is one of Venezuela's neighboring countries, and when the crisis broke out, many Venezuelans fled into Colombia, yet Colombia is doing a lot to help out the refugees. Colombia’s solution to the refugees has been developing special border mobility cards/creating special work permits, developing policies for refugees to work and create income, and giving Venezuealan children born in Colombia nationality rights (Janetsky) (Baddour) (Colombia Offers Nationality Rights to Venezuelan Children Born There: UN Hails 'Very Important Step' | UN News). Colombia has had such open arms partially because of an animosity between Colombias government and Maduro (Janetsky). In “Here’s Why Colombia Opened Its Arms to Venezualan Migrants Until Now”, she states that “They [Colombian Politicians] see them as victims of their enemy” (Jenetsky). What Colombia needs most is help and resources from the U.N. in order to keep helping the venezuelan refugees.
Works Cited
Janetsky, Megan. “Here's Why Colombia Opened Its Arms to Venezuelan Migrants-Until Now.” Foreign Policy, 14 Jan. 2019, foreignpolicy.com/2019/01/14/heres-why-colombia-opened-its-arms-to-venezuelan-migr ants-until-now/.
Baddour, Dylan. “Colombia's Radical Plan to Welcome Millions of Venezuelan Migrants.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 30 Jan. 2019, www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/01/colombia-welcomes-millions-venezu elans-maduro-guaido/581647/.
“Colombia Offers Nationality Rights to Venezuelan Children Born There: UN Hails 'Very Important Step' | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, 6 Aug. 2019, news.un.org/en/story/2019/08/1043771.
Van Praag, Oriana “Understanding the Vezualan Refugee Crisis.” Wilson Center, 13 September 2019.
Adolescence Project
Project Description: In this project we studied the idea of adolescence. We studied different theories and read the book "Diary of a Part Time Indian." After we were finished with our background knowledge we interviewed someone important in our lives and asked them about their adolescence. We then turned their interview into a write up and took a portrait of them that resembled their adolescence.
This is the portrait I chose that resembled my interviewees adolescence.
My Interview Essay:
Adrian Griffith
Rory Freidenk
I interviewed a curly-haired blonde man named Rory. At 33 years old and a staggering 5’7, he one of the funniest people I know. I’ve spent a lot of time with him over the past ten years. Whether we were riding bikes or going on trips, he was there and was an important person in my life. He taught me to ride a bike, how to snowboard, and now that I have gotten older we share the same strong passion for mountain biking. I chose to interview him because he’s told me a lot of stories about his teenage years. They always make me laugh or intrigue me in some way. In my interview with Rory, I learned a lot about his adolescence, the mistakes he made, the lessons he learned, and the lessons I can take away from the stories he shared.
For him, adolescence was a time where he really learned from these mistakes he made. Rory grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the end of a cul de sac, where he spent his time riding skateboards and hanging out with buddies like “Bones” and “RC”. He also enjoyed mountain biking and snowboarding. He even played football for a while when he was younger. He’ll be the first to tell you that he never liked school. During high school, he spent a lot of his time at his friend Ryan’s garage where he learned to “turn wrenches” (Freidenk). Rory said he “would be over there a lot more than being at home and studying” (Freidenk). To this day he still works on cars. When he was around 19 he opened an off-roading shop with his friend Ryan. In the interview, Rory didn’t specify what type of stuff he did at his off-road shop, so I texted him and asked him. His response was “build badass rock crawlers” (Freidenk). I just chuckled and responded with a thank you.
As a teen, Rory definitely had a party stage. In the interview, I asked him if he ever felt peer pressured to make certain decisions. He would respond with no, but I didn’t really believe that. I think that while peer pressure might not have been how they show it in movies about high school, but it was still there. I believe that when Rory was with “Bones” and “RC” peer pressure Rory faced was just doing the same stuff his friends wanted to do. They always wanted to party and I think Rory went along with it and eventually that was a part of who he became. I asked Rory what a bad decision he made was. He responded with “getting too heavily into drugs” (Freidenk). After working at his shop for a while, “the drugs and the party scene was taking over” (Freidenk). His partner ended up firing him from the business that he owned. You could tell by the crack in his voice when he told this story that it had depth. And the idea of mistakes came back.
Rory being fired opened his eyes to how his partying was affecting his life. He knew he needed to make a change. Looking for change he was at a party and searched for jobs. He applied for a position at Purgatory Resort. The next week they called looking for an interview. He packed his bag and left Albaquerque two weeks later. From there he cleaned himself up, started on a new path, and this led me to have a change in mind. Before, I thought people automatically learned from their lessons. But then I realized how the choices you make because of the mistakes you make are what teach you lessons. Rory made a big mistake, and it was his choice to make a change and not continue on the same path he was on. This led me to ask my next question, “what is one decision you wish you could undo?”. “I don’t know if I would really change anything,” (Freidenk) he said. He then said that life is hard, and even through those rough patches, you can learn from the mistakes you make. “You gotta figure it out on your own” (Freidenk) is something that particularly stuck out to me.
In reflecting on this interview and the stories Rory had to share, I’m reminded that every adolescent makes mistakes. As an adolescent, whenever I make mistakes and get in trouble it’s easy to think that it’s the end of the world. Whenever you make a mistake as an adolescent, just think about the bigger picture. Rory talked about how he looks back on those mistakes and just laughs, and thinks about how they changed him. When you look at Rory’s story you may think that he was just a typical partying teenager. But there's a lot you can take away from this story. The mistakes we make as adolescence can truly change us and our future. A major part of adolescence is self-growth and learning about yourself. Making these mistakes and learning from them teach you things about yourself. They teach you who you want to be. So the lessons I learned for myself and other adolescents are to make mistakes. Rory taught me that if you don’t make mistakes, you might not learn some life-changing lessons. I also learned that it’s up to you to make a change for your decisions. It’s in your hands to choose whether you will learn from your lesson or not.
Rory Freidenk
I interviewed a curly-haired blonde man named Rory. At 33 years old and a staggering 5’7, he one of the funniest people I know. I’ve spent a lot of time with him over the past ten years. Whether we were riding bikes or going on trips, he was there and was an important person in my life. He taught me to ride a bike, how to snowboard, and now that I have gotten older we share the same strong passion for mountain biking. I chose to interview him because he’s told me a lot of stories about his teenage years. They always make me laugh or intrigue me in some way. In my interview with Rory, I learned a lot about his adolescence, the mistakes he made, the lessons he learned, and the lessons I can take away from the stories he shared.
For him, adolescence was a time where he really learned from these mistakes he made. Rory grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at the end of a cul de sac, where he spent his time riding skateboards and hanging out with buddies like “Bones” and “RC”. He also enjoyed mountain biking and snowboarding. He even played football for a while when he was younger. He’ll be the first to tell you that he never liked school. During high school, he spent a lot of his time at his friend Ryan’s garage where he learned to “turn wrenches” (Freidenk). Rory said he “would be over there a lot more than being at home and studying” (Freidenk). To this day he still works on cars. When he was around 19 he opened an off-roading shop with his friend Ryan. In the interview, Rory didn’t specify what type of stuff he did at his off-road shop, so I texted him and asked him. His response was “build badass rock crawlers” (Freidenk). I just chuckled and responded with a thank you.
As a teen, Rory definitely had a party stage. In the interview, I asked him if he ever felt peer pressured to make certain decisions. He would respond with no, but I didn’t really believe that. I think that while peer pressure might not have been how they show it in movies about high school, but it was still there. I believe that when Rory was with “Bones” and “RC” peer pressure Rory faced was just doing the same stuff his friends wanted to do. They always wanted to party and I think Rory went along with it and eventually that was a part of who he became. I asked Rory what a bad decision he made was. He responded with “getting too heavily into drugs” (Freidenk). After working at his shop for a while, “the drugs and the party scene was taking over” (Freidenk). His partner ended up firing him from the business that he owned. You could tell by the crack in his voice when he told this story that it had depth. And the idea of mistakes came back.
Rory being fired opened his eyes to how his partying was affecting his life. He knew he needed to make a change. Looking for change he was at a party and searched for jobs. He applied for a position at Purgatory Resort. The next week they called looking for an interview. He packed his bag and left Albaquerque two weeks later. From there he cleaned himself up, started on a new path, and this led me to have a change in mind. Before, I thought people automatically learned from their lessons. But then I realized how the choices you make because of the mistakes you make are what teach you lessons. Rory made a big mistake, and it was his choice to make a change and not continue on the same path he was on. This led me to ask my next question, “what is one decision you wish you could undo?”. “I don’t know if I would really change anything,” (Freidenk) he said. He then said that life is hard, and even through those rough patches, you can learn from the mistakes you make. “You gotta figure it out on your own” (Freidenk) is something that particularly stuck out to me.
In reflecting on this interview and the stories Rory had to share, I’m reminded that every adolescent makes mistakes. As an adolescent, whenever I make mistakes and get in trouble it’s easy to think that it’s the end of the world. Whenever you make a mistake as an adolescent, just think about the bigger picture. Rory talked about how he looks back on those mistakes and just laughs, and thinks about how they changed him. When you look at Rory’s story you may think that he was just a typical partying teenager. But there's a lot you can take away from this story. The mistakes we make as adolescence can truly change us and our future. A major part of adolescence is self-growth and learning about yourself. Making these mistakes and learning from them teach you things about yourself. They teach you who you want to be. So the lessons I learned for myself and other adolescents are to make mistakes. Rory taught me that if you don’t make mistakes, you might not learn some life-changing lessons. I also learned that it’s up to you to make a change for your decisions. It’s in your hands to choose whether you will learn from your lesson or not.
Project Reflection:
In this project, looking back there are a couple things that I was proud of. The piece of work that I was most proud of thought was my interview write up. The person I interviewed had a really cool story and I felt that in my final product I was able to incorporate his story pretty well. One thing he talked about was a place he worked at and how the decisions he made affected him. In my write up, I feel that I used that story and was able to get an important message across. And I was able to use detail and imagery to create depth in a way. Another part about my write up that I was proud of was how well I revised it and made changes to it. When we started these write ups, we called out firsts versions “Shitty Rough Drafts”, and my rough draft was indeed “shitty”. I was completely lost, I didn’t know what to specifically write about, how to write it, how to organize it, etc… But after I worked with Lori, had some peers reed over it, and read it outloud to myself a couple times, I changed a lot and was very happy with the final product.
I honestly felt pretty good about this project but one thing I struggled with was incorporating the adolescence topics and information into my write up. When I was writing, I felt good talking about the story that my person told, but when it was time to talk about the topic of adolescence I was stuck. Now and then I would talk to Lori and try to get help, but most of the time I would just stare at the screen and just try to get words down. Looking back at it, I think there were a couple of solutions I could’ve done that would have helped me get unstuck and include what I needed to. We did a lot of research in this project, a lot being readings and handouts that could have been very helpful to include in my write up. It seemed like it would lot of work at the time but it was right in front of me and it could’ve made my work so much better. Another solution would have been to advocate for myself and talk to Lori. I honestly think that I didn’t want to talk to Lori because she would just give me so much feedback that it would be way to much that I didn’t want to do. Looking back that was very immature and lazy for me to do that.
The biggest take away that I got from this project was how important this time in a person's life really is. Studying the idea of adolescence as an adolescent really opened my eyes to a lot of things. The two biggest ideas that were interesting to me was how every adolescent needs to make mistakes and to have fun. The person I interviewed touched on both of these topics, and the idea of making mistakes is what I wrote about in my write up. He talked about how the mistakes that you make in your adolescence, teach you some of the biggest lessons for later on in life. And I’m surrounded by the idea of having fun. I’ve been in so many situations when I have had conversations with adults and they will tell me to have as much fun as I can. And the stereotypical quote “don’t blink, you’ll open your eyes and be 30” or whatever, just shows how important it is for adolescents. My person talked about how you aren’t a teenager forever, take advantage of it. And it has stuck to me sense.
My self-assessment in this class so far this year would be an 8. I gave myself this score because I feel that I do well in this class but need a little bit of work. In this class I’m good at coming into class with assignments done and am ready for class. During crunch time leading up to the exhibition, even though I was highly stressed I met the deadlines and did my work well. One thing I could do to improve in this class is spending my time more effectively. I am very easily distracted in this class. It was a dangerous game I played, I had a lot of work but would just talk to friends or do something else on my computer. I could get better and less distracted by separating myself from my friends and reeling it in to do my best work. All in all, I feel that I do well in this class and I only have to make small adjustments.
I honestly felt pretty good about this project but one thing I struggled with was incorporating the adolescence topics and information into my write up. When I was writing, I felt good talking about the story that my person told, but when it was time to talk about the topic of adolescence I was stuck. Now and then I would talk to Lori and try to get help, but most of the time I would just stare at the screen and just try to get words down. Looking back at it, I think there were a couple of solutions I could’ve done that would have helped me get unstuck and include what I needed to. We did a lot of research in this project, a lot being readings and handouts that could have been very helpful to include in my write up. It seemed like it would lot of work at the time but it was right in front of me and it could’ve made my work so much better. Another solution would have been to advocate for myself and talk to Lori. I honestly think that I didn’t want to talk to Lori because she would just give me so much feedback that it would be way to much that I didn’t want to do. Looking back that was very immature and lazy for me to do that.
The biggest take away that I got from this project was how important this time in a person's life really is. Studying the idea of adolescence as an adolescent really opened my eyes to a lot of things. The two biggest ideas that were interesting to me was how every adolescent needs to make mistakes and to have fun. The person I interviewed touched on both of these topics, and the idea of making mistakes is what I wrote about in my write up. He talked about how the mistakes that you make in your adolescence, teach you some of the biggest lessons for later on in life. And I’m surrounded by the idea of having fun. I’ve been in so many situations when I have had conversations with adults and they will tell me to have as much fun as I can. And the stereotypical quote “don’t blink, you’ll open your eyes and be 30” or whatever, just shows how important it is for adolescents. My person talked about how you aren’t a teenager forever, take advantage of it. And it has stuck to me sense.
My self-assessment in this class so far this year would be an 8. I gave myself this score because I feel that I do well in this class but need a little bit of work. In this class I’m good at coming into class with assignments done and am ready for class. During crunch time leading up to the exhibition, even though I was highly stressed I met the deadlines and did my work well. One thing I could do to improve in this class is spending my time more effectively. I am very easily distracted in this class. It was a dangerous game I played, I had a lot of work but would just talk to friends or do something else on my computer. I could get better and less distracted by separating myself from my friends and reeling it in to do my best work. All in all, I feel that I do well in this class and I only have to make small adjustments.