Happiness Project
In this project we searched deep inside ourselves to find what happiness was to us. We watched TED Talks, read articles, and wrote essays about what we understood from these sources. This project taught us about happiness in our society or lack there of. I personally enjoyed the art piece I created, I think that it resembles what I value in society.
Sean Thornton
Sara Price
Humanities 9
5/1/15
Finding Happiness Through Meaning
Happiness has different meanings for everyone. To some people happiness comes easily with little effort and little meaning; to others happiness comes with lots of effort and lots more meaning. Meaning plays a large role in happiness. The book Brave New World shows this in the character Helmholtz Watson. He doesn’t think he is useful and he feels incomplete without meaning. He is unhappy because he feels unneeded. Helmholtz is living in a community where people have no motivation to do something other than what they do every day. He lives in a world where instant gratification is the only kind of gratification. Meaning in difficult pleasures and making our community a happier place leads to finding happiness, along with the idea of lowering expectations to increase global happiness.
In difficult pleasures you seem to find more meaning, and when you find meaning happiness is achieved more easily and it lasts longer. In the film Happy the rickshaw driver states “Meaning is what you find happiness in.” He takes people to and from places in the village. He finds it difficult but he is more happy than some of the richest people in his village. Why? It’s because he has a healthy family and a house and a loving wife with plenty of livestock and lots of loving people in his life. On another note, in Brave New World the people did not have meaning and therefore were not as happy as they could be. Without meaning happiness is not true. As stated in The Atlantic article There’s more to life than being happy written by Emily Smith Viktor Frankl says, “It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness.” This quote reminds me of a personal experience that I can connect to happiness. Happiness is like your favorite toy you lost when you were a kid. When you tried to look for it you couldn’t find it, but when you searched for something else you found it. It gives you memories of how much you loved that toy. Meaning is that something. Happiness is the toy. Meaning is what grants happiness more impact on you and makes happiness last longer. In conclusion, meaning plays a larger role in happiness than you would think; it makes happiness deeper and longer lasting, with more impact on your life.
To actively work towards achieving happiness in my life I have to make my community happy. I have to make everyone around me happy so that happiness will spread like a disease. An example of a positive community in action is in Okinawa. The people of Okinawa are very happy. Not a day goes by where someone is lacking happiness in their community. They hold weekly and monthly gatherings celebrating the survival of the nuclear bomb that destroyed part of their island, making the community more positive which, in turn, gives them a happier place to live and helps them live longer. Okinawa is an island off Japan and is known for having the largest population of the oldest people in the world. This is believed to be a result of happiness. Studies have shown that happiness has made people live longer, yet Okinawa is not the happiest place on earth. According to the Better Life Index Website, Denmark is the happiest country on earth. Their statistics from the Better Life Index are quite high in all attributes that make a society happy. They have one of the best community ratings, second to Switzerland, and the best work/life balance, along with good life satisfaction and environment. The more unhappy countries such as Greece and Turkey are unhappy because of poor jobs, poor safety, poor life satisfaction, and poor community. As you can tell, these values stated are needed for happiness, and in order to actively work towards happiness people need to actively work in their community to support others every day. In turn people will be more appreciative of the place where we live, and they will realize how privileged they are to live here.
To achieve happiness as a nation we need to lower our expectations. As Barry Schwartz stated in his Ted Talk about The Paradox of Choice, “Lower expectations make the little things more meaningful.” He said that he wanted just one choice of jeans again because he left the store with the best fitting pair of jeans that he could get, but he wasn’t any happier than when he had just the single choice of jeans. He was actually less happy than when he had the one choice. He set his expectations too high for the best jeans in the store, and he was let down. Barry states that our expectations are going to be what destroys our country. According to the OECD Better Life Index “The US is the 17th happiest country in the world.” I told my mom this information and she replied with, “I’m surprised we are that high!” This is because of how people treat each other and the space around them. People have lost sight of what brings true happiness. In this pursuit of material things we have actually lost true happiness. After all this, all we can do as a nation to work towards achieving happiness is to: first, lower expectations to increase happiness; second, we need to increase our communal awareness; third, we need to decrease rampant consumerism.
To conclude, how do we create a society that values authentic happiness? The answer is: we take away the instant gratification and inequality, meaning we take away the easiest pleasures to make people more appreciative of the little things. Inequality makes us dislike who we are so the world is better off without it. The world would be so much better off if we treated each other how we want to be treated ourselves: no bullying, no inequality, no being looked down upon for the things we believe or the way we look, and as the site brainyquote.com said, “Happiness often sneaks through a door you didn’t know you left open.”
Sara Price
Humanities 9
5/1/15
Finding Happiness Through Meaning
Happiness has different meanings for everyone. To some people happiness comes easily with little effort and little meaning; to others happiness comes with lots of effort and lots more meaning. Meaning plays a large role in happiness. The book Brave New World shows this in the character Helmholtz Watson. He doesn’t think he is useful and he feels incomplete without meaning. He is unhappy because he feels unneeded. Helmholtz is living in a community where people have no motivation to do something other than what they do every day. He lives in a world where instant gratification is the only kind of gratification. Meaning in difficult pleasures and making our community a happier place leads to finding happiness, along with the idea of lowering expectations to increase global happiness.
In difficult pleasures you seem to find more meaning, and when you find meaning happiness is achieved more easily and it lasts longer. In the film Happy the rickshaw driver states “Meaning is what you find happiness in.” He takes people to and from places in the village. He finds it difficult but he is more happy than some of the richest people in his village. Why? It’s because he has a healthy family and a house and a loving wife with plenty of livestock and lots of loving people in his life. On another note, in Brave New World the people did not have meaning and therefore were not as happy as they could be. Without meaning happiness is not true. As stated in The Atlantic article There’s more to life than being happy written by Emily Smith Viktor Frankl says, “It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness.” This quote reminds me of a personal experience that I can connect to happiness. Happiness is like your favorite toy you lost when you were a kid. When you tried to look for it you couldn’t find it, but when you searched for something else you found it. It gives you memories of how much you loved that toy. Meaning is that something. Happiness is the toy. Meaning is what grants happiness more impact on you and makes happiness last longer. In conclusion, meaning plays a larger role in happiness than you would think; it makes happiness deeper and longer lasting, with more impact on your life.
To actively work towards achieving happiness in my life I have to make my community happy. I have to make everyone around me happy so that happiness will spread like a disease. An example of a positive community in action is in Okinawa. The people of Okinawa are very happy. Not a day goes by where someone is lacking happiness in their community. They hold weekly and monthly gatherings celebrating the survival of the nuclear bomb that destroyed part of their island, making the community more positive which, in turn, gives them a happier place to live and helps them live longer. Okinawa is an island off Japan and is known for having the largest population of the oldest people in the world. This is believed to be a result of happiness. Studies have shown that happiness has made people live longer, yet Okinawa is not the happiest place on earth. According to the Better Life Index Website, Denmark is the happiest country on earth. Their statistics from the Better Life Index are quite high in all attributes that make a society happy. They have one of the best community ratings, second to Switzerland, and the best work/life balance, along with good life satisfaction and environment. The more unhappy countries such as Greece and Turkey are unhappy because of poor jobs, poor safety, poor life satisfaction, and poor community. As you can tell, these values stated are needed for happiness, and in order to actively work towards happiness people need to actively work in their community to support others every day. In turn people will be more appreciative of the place where we live, and they will realize how privileged they are to live here.
To achieve happiness as a nation we need to lower our expectations. As Barry Schwartz stated in his Ted Talk about The Paradox of Choice, “Lower expectations make the little things more meaningful.” He said that he wanted just one choice of jeans again because he left the store with the best fitting pair of jeans that he could get, but he wasn’t any happier than when he had just the single choice of jeans. He was actually less happy than when he had the one choice. He set his expectations too high for the best jeans in the store, and he was let down. Barry states that our expectations are going to be what destroys our country. According to the OECD Better Life Index “The US is the 17th happiest country in the world.” I told my mom this information and she replied with, “I’m surprised we are that high!” This is because of how people treat each other and the space around them. People have lost sight of what brings true happiness. In this pursuit of material things we have actually lost true happiness. After all this, all we can do as a nation to work towards achieving happiness is to: first, lower expectations to increase happiness; second, we need to increase our communal awareness; third, we need to decrease rampant consumerism.
To conclude, how do we create a society that values authentic happiness? The answer is: we take away the instant gratification and inequality, meaning we take away the easiest pleasures to make people more appreciative of the little things. Inequality makes us dislike who we are so the world is better off without it. The world would be so much better off if we treated each other how we want to be treated ourselves: no bullying, no inequality, no being looked down upon for the things we believe or the way we look, and as the site brainyquote.com said, “Happiness often sneaks through a door you didn’t know you left open.”
I chose to do this because my essay spent a good amount of time talking about community and happiness and how they work together. This picture shows what I think of community happiness. I think that many things can be achieved alone, true and authentic happiness and connections not being some of those things. I chose to create this because I enjoy spending time with others and it personally sparks a deep connection and understanding for others and what it takes for them to be happy.
Model United Nations
This project was teaching us about many skills that we will use in our later life. These skills include critical thinking, complex writing, comprehension, and perspective. We had to use all of these skills multiple times during the conference and the papers to complete them and enhance our knowledge. This project was reaching us about the way the United Nations worked. I enjoyed this project more this year than I did last year because I felt that I had a deeper understanding of what to do.
Documents:
Israel-Palestine Policy Paper
Israel-Palestine Resolution
North Korea Policy Paper
North Korea Resolution
Project Reflection
Documents:
Israel-Palestine Policy Paper
Israel-Palestine Resolution
North Korea Policy Paper
North Korea Resolution
Project Reflection
- If another student asked if the Model United Nations project was important I would tell them that it was very important. This project was important because you developed independent research skills, better comprehension, and better understanding on how to write more complex documents. An example being my resolution for the Israeli-Palestinian issue we just completed. In this document we had to read and understand our country’s perspective which is where comprehension is used, then we had to write a complex resolution in that country’s perspective, this is where complex writing come into play, then we had to remain in our country’s perspective during the conference.
- I was most proud of the HOHAM perspective. I had to remain in my perspective for the whole conference, I had to make decisions from my country’s point of view, based on the research that was done to find the perspective. An example of this was the resolutions and the speeches I wrote for this project. I felt that I did a good job remaining in my country’s perspective.
- The most challenge I had in this project was comprehending what my country’s view was. Most of the research I found was mostly two sided, but others were just straight forward. An example of this is the country research packet. I had found many resources to research my country’s view and that helped me to put myself in Mexico’s shoes.
- The most interesting speeches were ones that were calling out other countries on their opinions and perspectives, a good way to start a fight. An example of this was my speech and many of the other speeches criticized other country's resolutions.
Greek Tragedy Project
Sean Thornton and Zach Wood
The Man on the Balcony
(A Story on Gun Control)
Prologue
(In a flashback 2 years prior the scene opens on an 11th floor, ratty apartment room in New York City in a time that crime rate is high, Jen, (Dan’s fiance), Emma, and Dan (siblings) are talking in the apartment about their money problems and the new law banning guns.)
Emma: What are we going to do, we’re going to have to work twice as much to get enough money to live here.
Dan: Maybe we should move. I mean New York is a dangerous place to live, lots of crime and thievery.
Emma: What?!? We have lived here for almost 18 years, we can’t move now!
Jen: I think we need to move.
Emma: Don’t take his side Jen! New York is a great place to live.
(Scene fades to black)
Chorus:
(As Dan’s consciousness talking to Dan)
Why would you argue about your life,
this argument has only caused you strife,
but this is everything you've worked for,
lets try not to throw it out the door.
Scene 1
(Scene opens to reveal a psychopath/thief named Chucky out on the balcony, waiting for Emma, Jen, and Dan to leave for the night hours at the office.)
Dan: I can’t protect you any more.The government took my guns, thus taking my only defense and protection from criminals.
Jen: I’m sick of talking about this night after night, I need to go to work.
Dan: Ok I’ll see you later.
Emma: I’m done with this argument, I’m going to the bathroom.
(As Emma is in the bathroom, Dan goes to his room to get ready for work, and the Thief takes his chance and goes in. Dan hears some commotion from the kitchen and finds the Thief looking for anything of value. Jen is at the bottom of the stairs heading out to her car.)
Dan: Find what your looking for?
Thief: (Surprised, draws his gun) What does it look like.
Dan: (Instinctively reaches for his gun) Lets not get ahead of ourselves here. (Realizing he doesn’t have his gun, slowly raises his hands above his head)
Thief: Don’t try anything funny bub.
Emma: (Coming out of the bathroom which is behind Chucky, she leaps onto his back only to be thrown to the ground. The criminal pulls her in and holds her close like a hostage) Don’t try to stop him Dan.
Dan: I told you we should move.
Emma: (With tears in her eyes) I’m so sorry, I should have listened.
(The Thief points the gun towards Dan, and is about to pull the trigger when Emma head butts him in the nose and knocks him out. As a reflex The Thief pulls the trigger, landing a bullet in Dan’s right shoulder)
Emma: Oh my god!!!! Nooooo!!!! Dan!!!!
Dan: (Sweating profusely) Don’t worry about me, get the police and find Jen.
Emma: (Sobbing) Ok just hold on.
(Scene fades to black)
Chorus:
Gun control has caused your pain
Granting you no real gain
If this law was not in place
Lying on the ground would not be the case
This will happen again
If this law is to still reign
Scene 2
(The scene opens with Jen and Emma back in the apartment searching for Chucky who is on the loose with a gun and willing to shoot anyone)
Jen: I can’t believe he shot Dan!
Emma: I called the police and the ambulance, they are on the way, we just need to keep this psycho contained.
Jen: How can we contain him if we don’t know where he is.
Thief: (Slowly rises behind the couch) Right here deary.(Raises gun)
Emma: Watch out! (Pushes Jen knocking her to the ground just as a shot rings out right where her head was)
Jen: Ahhhh!! My wrist!! It’s broken!!
Emma: Better than a bullet in your head.
Chucky: (Rolls a smoke grenade across the room) Lets play some hide and seek with Chucky. (Diabolical laugh)
Jen: (Frozen in shock) Oh god no, oh god no.
Emma: (Hears slicing sounds) Jen? Jen?!? (Hears sirens outside and runs out on the balcony. She opens the window and the smoke starts to clear)Up here!!!
Jen: (Muffled screams)
Emma: Jen, Where are you?!?!
Dan: Emma!! Tell them to come in and help. (Starts wheezing)
Emma: No Dan not you too!!
Chucky: Why won't you play with me?
Dan: Ahhhh!! (Gargling)
Emma: (Runs to what was her brother he’s very bloody and is barely breathing. She starts to cry) We should have moved a long time ago, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen if I had you and Jen wouldn’t be dead. (She is so busy sobbing that she doesn’t realize that Chucky is behind her. Suddenly she hears a gunshot and Chucky crumples to the ground, the police are standing in the doorway with guns drawn and medical aid behind them.)
(Too late, Emma thinks, she wishes she never lived in New York and just moved to a small town or city. There is nothing she can do about it now)
Emma: (Wakes up from dream breathing heavily) Was it all a dream? (Looks at the foot of her bed and sees Chucky with a bloody knife and a wild look in his eyes)
Chucky: Hello again
(Scene fades to black)
Chorus:
Just think, you could have moved and avoided this
The government has taken our right to carry guns
Now this psycho in just having fun
No death would have happened here
If you just overcame your fear
Now you can’t be at eternal bliss
Credits:
zach as Dan/Chucky
Sean as Chorus
????? as Emma
????? as Jen
Reflection
My project was not the way I wanted it to be. I wanted to animate the whole thing to show exactly what I wanted, but it turned out to be a plan b, which was a graphic novel. I did not give myself enough time for the plan b and that resulted in a late project. I wanted to make this project really cool with video and scenery and so many other things that I should have carried out, but when my partner was unable to help with that certain part, I put plan b into action too late. If I was proud of it I would have finished the project early, but this was challenging, and I was unable to think of any better ideas about gun control.
I would say that if your partner is not going to be able to do the project the way you envision it, execute plan b sooner rather than later. Like I said before, I did not finish this project on time and it resulted in fear of presenting and fear of turning it in because I thought it was not good. Don’t doubt your idea and turn in the work.
I think that working in partners was helpful although I did all of the pictures and most of the writing, I think that the project would have been a lot better if my partner would have gotten the game that we were doing the project in. It was challenging because I was on my own for creating everything in the scenes while my partner was writing some of the play and refining it. Overall I think we should have been assigned partners instead of having the freedom to choose them.
I found it the most challenging creating and taking pictures of the scenes, I was locked up in my room for a full day with no food and I could not come out until I was done, I didn’t like this idea at first but it turned out that I focused a lot better when I was alone. I could have done a little more than I did but that is the past.
The Man on the Balcony
(A Story on Gun Control)
Prologue
(In a flashback 2 years prior the scene opens on an 11th floor, ratty apartment room in New York City in a time that crime rate is high, Jen, (Dan’s fiance), Emma, and Dan (siblings) are talking in the apartment about their money problems and the new law banning guns.)
Emma: What are we going to do, we’re going to have to work twice as much to get enough money to live here.
Dan: Maybe we should move. I mean New York is a dangerous place to live, lots of crime and thievery.
Emma: What?!? We have lived here for almost 18 years, we can’t move now!
Jen: I think we need to move.
Emma: Don’t take his side Jen! New York is a great place to live.
(Scene fades to black)
Chorus:
(As Dan’s consciousness talking to Dan)
Why would you argue about your life,
this argument has only caused you strife,
but this is everything you've worked for,
lets try not to throw it out the door.
Scene 1
(Scene opens to reveal a psychopath/thief named Chucky out on the balcony, waiting for Emma, Jen, and Dan to leave for the night hours at the office.)
Dan: I can’t protect you any more.The government took my guns, thus taking my only defense and protection from criminals.
Jen: I’m sick of talking about this night after night, I need to go to work.
Dan: Ok I’ll see you later.
Emma: I’m done with this argument, I’m going to the bathroom.
(As Emma is in the bathroom, Dan goes to his room to get ready for work, and the Thief takes his chance and goes in. Dan hears some commotion from the kitchen and finds the Thief looking for anything of value. Jen is at the bottom of the stairs heading out to her car.)
Dan: Find what your looking for?
Thief: (Surprised, draws his gun) What does it look like.
Dan: (Instinctively reaches for his gun) Lets not get ahead of ourselves here. (Realizing he doesn’t have his gun, slowly raises his hands above his head)
Thief: Don’t try anything funny bub.
Emma: (Coming out of the bathroom which is behind Chucky, she leaps onto his back only to be thrown to the ground. The criminal pulls her in and holds her close like a hostage) Don’t try to stop him Dan.
Dan: I told you we should move.
Emma: (With tears in her eyes) I’m so sorry, I should have listened.
(The Thief points the gun towards Dan, and is about to pull the trigger when Emma head butts him in the nose and knocks him out. As a reflex The Thief pulls the trigger, landing a bullet in Dan’s right shoulder)
Emma: Oh my god!!!! Nooooo!!!! Dan!!!!
Dan: (Sweating profusely) Don’t worry about me, get the police and find Jen.
Emma: (Sobbing) Ok just hold on.
(Scene fades to black)
Chorus:
Gun control has caused your pain
Granting you no real gain
If this law was not in place
Lying on the ground would not be the case
This will happen again
If this law is to still reign
Scene 2
(The scene opens with Jen and Emma back in the apartment searching for Chucky who is on the loose with a gun and willing to shoot anyone)
Jen: I can’t believe he shot Dan!
Emma: I called the police and the ambulance, they are on the way, we just need to keep this psycho contained.
Jen: How can we contain him if we don’t know where he is.
Thief: (Slowly rises behind the couch) Right here deary.(Raises gun)
Emma: Watch out! (Pushes Jen knocking her to the ground just as a shot rings out right where her head was)
Jen: Ahhhh!! My wrist!! It’s broken!!
Emma: Better than a bullet in your head.
Chucky: (Rolls a smoke grenade across the room) Lets play some hide and seek with Chucky. (Diabolical laugh)
Jen: (Frozen in shock) Oh god no, oh god no.
Emma: (Hears slicing sounds) Jen? Jen?!? (Hears sirens outside and runs out on the balcony. She opens the window and the smoke starts to clear)Up here!!!
Jen: (Muffled screams)
Emma: Jen, Where are you?!?!
Dan: Emma!! Tell them to come in and help. (Starts wheezing)
Emma: No Dan not you too!!
Chucky: Why won't you play with me?
Dan: Ahhhh!! (Gargling)
Emma: (Runs to what was her brother he’s very bloody and is barely breathing. She starts to cry) We should have moved a long time ago, I’m so sorry I didn’t listen if I had you and Jen wouldn’t be dead. (She is so busy sobbing that she doesn’t realize that Chucky is behind her. Suddenly she hears a gunshot and Chucky crumples to the ground, the police are standing in the doorway with guns drawn and medical aid behind them.)
(Too late, Emma thinks, she wishes she never lived in New York and just moved to a small town or city. There is nothing she can do about it now)
Emma: (Wakes up from dream breathing heavily) Was it all a dream? (Looks at the foot of her bed and sees Chucky with a bloody knife and a wild look in his eyes)
Chucky: Hello again
(Scene fades to black)
Chorus:
Just think, you could have moved and avoided this
The government has taken our right to carry guns
Now this psycho in just having fun
No death would have happened here
If you just overcame your fear
Now you can’t be at eternal bliss
Credits:
zach as Dan/Chucky
Sean as Chorus
????? as Emma
????? as Jen
Reflection
My project was not the way I wanted it to be. I wanted to animate the whole thing to show exactly what I wanted, but it turned out to be a plan b, which was a graphic novel. I did not give myself enough time for the plan b and that resulted in a late project. I wanted to make this project really cool with video and scenery and so many other things that I should have carried out, but when my partner was unable to help with that certain part, I put plan b into action too late. If I was proud of it I would have finished the project early, but this was challenging, and I was unable to think of any better ideas about gun control.
I would say that if your partner is not going to be able to do the project the way you envision it, execute plan b sooner rather than later. Like I said before, I did not finish this project on time and it resulted in fear of presenting and fear of turning it in because I thought it was not good. Don’t doubt your idea and turn in the work.
I think that working in partners was helpful although I did all of the pictures and most of the writing, I think that the project would have been a lot better if my partner would have gotten the game that we were doing the project in. It was challenging because I was on my own for creating everything in the scenes while my partner was writing some of the play and refining it. Overall I think we should have been assigned partners instead of having the freedom to choose them.
I found it the most challenging creating and taking pictures of the scenes, I was locked up in my room for a full day with no food and I could not come out until I was done, I didn’t like this idea at first but it turned out that I focused a lot better when I was alone. I could have done a little more than I did but that is the past.
Mask project
In this project we made masks and essays to go with the masks. We had to show how we have been socialized in certain identity categories. I chose the two categories, age and economic class. I showed how I have been socialized by my parents and everyday life. I had fun creating this mask because I enjoy art. This project really opened my eyes to things that I had overlooked.
Sean Thornton
The Socialization of Age and Wealth
Have you ever been socialized? Ha! Trick question, in one way or another you have been socialized. I have been socialized as an middle-upper class agent, to see all the other economic problems of the world. On the other hand I am a teen which makes me subordinate or a target.
Wealth is sometimes, not always, earned, sometimes it is inherited, and then there is the lottery which is all luck no skill or work or inherited money it is just a matter of how lucky you are. We are socialized to look at class very differently, we want to see the wealth of the country distributed evenly throughout all economic classes, but the reality is inequality greater than we could imagine, the video Wealth Inequality in America points out, “That the poorest americans don’t even register on the chart, and the middle class is barely distinguishable from the poor. Even the rich are starting to struggle, on the top ten percent have gotten more money than what we thought they had, and the top one percent has about forty percent of the country’s money. The bottom eighty percent have about seven percent of the country’s wealth.” Connecting back to an activity that we did in our class. We threw some pennies in the center of the classroom and had people fight to get as many pennies as we could. We were then divided into groups, ie. rich, poor, middle class, depending on how many pennies we got. The rich got more pennies just because they were rich. The middle class remained with the amount of pennies they earned, but the poor, the poor got pennies taken from them because they were poor. Traveling to Chicago and New York City and New jersey I have seen the masses of poverty and homelessness. I also see some of the homelessness here in Durango. I see homeless people on the streets begging for money and during their spare time playing and/or listening to music on their iphone or kindle or ipad or ipod. It makes no sense.
My age is a target. I have been socialized to grow accustomed to the dirty looks given by parents and store owners. They think I am a hoodlum or a shoplifter, and that is just subconscious. I try to beat this by dressing like a mature young adult so the adults won’t think I’m a bad person like movies portray teenagers. Sometimes parents look at teens a different way because of the class they are in. My parents don’t give me advice about what I should wear. They let me choose. I also have troubles getting jobs, since I look like I’m in 7th grade. I went and asked a business for a job a few months ago and they told me, to my face, “sorry we don’t hire 7th graders.” I told them that I was 15 years old and that I was going into tenth grade and they immediately started apologizing. I told them that they had just lost a customer and I haven’t been there since.
Wealth is, in some cases, a prison. Other cases it’s an opportunity. Wealth gives more opportunity the more of it you have, but in some cases you don’t want to lose it so it becomes a prison. A prison of solitude. Howard Hughes, while OCD, got more and more afraid of touching people the older, and richer, he got. Bill Gates actually did stuff that mattered with his money. As Wikipedia states, “A US$35 million grant for the AFI supports a coalition of countries from the developing world to create savings accounts, insurance, and other financial services that are made available to people living on less than $2 per day. A US$5 million grant allows Financial Access Initiative to conduct field research and answer important questions about micro finance and financial access in impoverished countries around the world. A five-year US$3.1 million grant to Pro Mujer—a micro finance network in Latin America combining financial services with healthcare for the poorest women entrepreneurs—will be used to research new opportunities for the poorest segment of the Latin American micro finance market. A US$1.5 million grant allows Grameen Foundation to approve more micro loans that support Grameen's goal of helping five million additional families, and successfully freeing 50 percent of those families from poverty within five years.” As you can see there are people trying to help the country and other countries and there are people that don’t deserve to be rich.
I have many symbols on my mask to represent what I’ve stated here in this essay. First I will talk about the numbers and colors. I chose to do the number 40 with the color bright green because adults are agents and green is an agent color. Then I did 15 with deep red hue to symbolize how teens are the targets. Next I did 8 with sky blue to show that children are not agents nor targets, they are more neutral. I did the money over the eyes and mouth to symbolize how the government keeps us quiet with money but it takes a little more to keep us from seeing.
Conclusion:
How have you been socialized either positive or negative? Negatively there are many socializing forces that come into play such as having to be like your friends so you have to smoke weed or do illegal stuff to remain their friend. We can break this cycle by dropping that friendship like you should and not being their friend anymore. Thank you for your time.
Project Reflection:
What are you most proud of about your mask? Why?
I am most proud of the whole thing. I felt like it was a much better mask than last years and that I did a really good job on it.
Quote the section of your essay that you are most proud of and describe, in detail, why you are proud of it.
Wealth is, in some cases, a prison. Other cases it’s an opportunity. Wealth gives more opportunity the more of it you have, but in some cases you don’t want to lose it so it becomes a prison. A prison of solitude. Howard Hughes, while OCD, got more and more afraid of touching people the older, and richer, he got. Bill Gates actually did stuff that mattered with his money.
This section was not actually my idea, it was my mom’s idea, but I am glad I put it in because it is one of my proudest statements. I am proud of it because I included people that not everyone knows or has heard of, so they would have to do some research to find out who they are, or were.
What will you remember from this project? Why?
I will remember making the mask. I was able to talk and work well. I am going to hang my mask in my room. I will never forget the feeling of the mask on my face and I won’t forget painting it because it was a lot better than last years.
Which habit of heart and mind do you need to work on in your next project to get better at Project Based Learning? Why do you need to improve and how that Habit of Heart and Mind will help you?
I need to work on perspective. I need to be open to suggestion and use them to improve on my project. I will be able to make a pleasing project if I have opinions that would help.
The Socialization of Age and Wealth
Have you ever been socialized? Ha! Trick question, in one way or another you have been socialized. I have been socialized as an middle-upper class agent, to see all the other economic problems of the world. On the other hand I am a teen which makes me subordinate or a target.
Wealth is sometimes, not always, earned, sometimes it is inherited, and then there is the lottery which is all luck no skill or work or inherited money it is just a matter of how lucky you are. We are socialized to look at class very differently, we want to see the wealth of the country distributed evenly throughout all economic classes, but the reality is inequality greater than we could imagine, the video Wealth Inequality in America points out, “That the poorest americans don’t even register on the chart, and the middle class is barely distinguishable from the poor. Even the rich are starting to struggle, on the top ten percent have gotten more money than what we thought they had, and the top one percent has about forty percent of the country’s money. The bottom eighty percent have about seven percent of the country’s wealth.” Connecting back to an activity that we did in our class. We threw some pennies in the center of the classroom and had people fight to get as many pennies as we could. We were then divided into groups, ie. rich, poor, middle class, depending on how many pennies we got. The rich got more pennies just because they were rich. The middle class remained with the amount of pennies they earned, but the poor, the poor got pennies taken from them because they were poor. Traveling to Chicago and New York City and New jersey I have seen the masses of poverty and homelessness. I also see some of the homelessness here in Durango. I see homeless people on the streets begging for money and during their spare time playing and/or listening to music on their iphone or kindle or ipad or ipod. It makes no sense.
My age is a target. I have been socialized to grow accustomed to the dirty looks given by parents and store owners. They think I am a hoodlum or a shoplifter, and that is just subconscious. I try to beat this by dressing like a mature young adult so the adults won’t think I’m a bad person like movies portray teenagers. Sometimes parents look at teens a different way because of the class they are in. My parents don’t give me advice about what I should wear. They let me choose. I also have troubles getting jobs, since I look like I’m in 7th grade. I went and asked a business for a job a few months ago and they told me, to my face, “sorry we don’t hire 7th graders.” I told them that I was 15 years old and that I was going into tenth grade and they immediately started apologizing. I told them that they had just lost a customer and I haven’t been there since.
Wealth is, in some cases, a prison. Other cases it’s an opportunity. Wealth gives more opportunity the more of it you have, but in some cases you don’t want to lose it so it becomes a prison. A prison of solitude. Howard Hughes, while OCD, got more and more afraid of touching people the older, and richer, he got. Bill Gates actually did stuff that mattered with his money. As Wikipedia states, “A US$35 million grant for the AFI supports a coalition of countries from the developing world to create savings accounts, insurance, and other financial services that are made available to people living on less than $2 per day. A US$5 million grant allows Financial Access Initiative to conduct field research and answer important questions about micro finance and financial access in impoverished countries around the world. A five-year US$3.1 million grant to Pro Mujer—a micro finance network in Latin America combining financial services with healthcare for the poorest women entrepreneurs—will be used to research new opportunities for the poorest segment of the Latin American micro finance market. A US$1.5 million grant allows Grameen Foundation to approve more micro loans that support Grameen's goal of helping five million additional families, and successfully freeing 50 percent of those families from poverty within five years.” As you can see there are people trying to help the country and other countries and there are people that don’t deserve to be rich.
I have many symbols on my mask to represent what I’ve stated here in this essay. First I will talk about the numbers and colors. I chose to do the number 40 with the color bright green because adults are agents and green is an agent color. Then I did 15 with deep red hue to symbolize how teens are the targets. Next I did 8 with sky blue to show that children are not agents nor targets, they are more neutral. I did the money over the eyes and mouth to symbolize how the government keeps us quiet with money but it takes a little more to keep us from seeing.
Conclusion:
How have you been socialized either positive or negative? Negatively there are many socializing forces that come into play such as having to be like your friends so you have to smoke weed or do illegal stuff to remain their friend. We can break this cycle by dropping that friendship like you should and not being their friend anymore. Thank you for your time.
Project Reflection:
What are you most proud of about your mask? Why?
I am most proud of the whole thing. I felt like it was a much better mask than last years and that I did a really good job on it.
Quote the section of your essay that you are most proud of and describe, in detail, why you are proud of it.
Wealth is, in some cases, a prison. Other cases it’s an opportunity. Wealth gives more opportunity the more of it you have, but in some cases you don’t want to lose it so it becomes a prison. A prison of solitude. Howard Hughes, while OCD, got more and more afraid of touching people the older, and richer, he got. Bill Gates actually did stuff that mattered with his money.
This section was not actually my idea, it was my mom’s idea, but I am glad I put it in because it is one of my proudest statements. I am proud of it because I included people that not everyone knows or has heard of, so they would have to do some research to find out who they are, or were.
What will you remember from this project? Why?
I will remember making the mask. I was able to talk and work well. I am going to hang my mask in my room. I will never forget the feeling of the mask on my face and I won’t forget painting it because it was a lot better than last years.
Which habit of heart and mind do you need to work on in your next project to get better at Project Based Learning? Why do you need to improve and how that Habit of Heart and Mind will help you?
I need to work on perspective. I need to be open to suggestion and use them to improve on my project. I will be able to make a pleasing project if I have opinions that would help.