Since our product was designed for paraplegics and quadriplegics, our team wanted to focus on the benefits of our product, the Power Spine. Paralysis is a very serious matter, and it is also depressing. No one needs to be reminded of that fact. Therefore, we decided to keep our message positive by not including images of people who can’t walk. Instead, we kept our message and commercial positive. We put together images of people being happy; taking walks, dancing, playing, skipping and even doing a backflip. Enjoy!
Now, I can’t take full credit for this entire assignment. This was a group effort, and I can’t thank my teachers and teammates enough for helping me get through this long, gruesome project. The information we learned was very interesting, but the amount of work and stress really got a hold on me. The purpose of this project was to create a product that is either environmentally friendly, or helps with life-style improvement. We also had to create a whole business that promoted our product, which included a business plan and commercial.
Our company name was Spine Tech, and our product was the Power Spine. It is a spinal cord re-activator that restores movement for paraplegics and quadriplegics. I was the Chief Executive Officer of our company, Gustavo Gomez was the Chief Financial Officer, and John Criley was the Chief Technical Officer. The credit for our business plan design goes to our Multimedia teacher, Mr. Randall Depew. My teammates created the print advertisements and 2D model of our product. I was in charge of taking all of our research and putting it into our business plan in an orderly fashion, and incorporating relevant graphics in different sections. I also had to make sure I knew all of the content in our business plan inside and out, so that when the judges of our presentations asked questions, my team and I were able to answer all of them.
Our team did not make it to the finals. However, GreenBizz was an experience that I will never forget. We learned countless transferrable skills that will only benefit us in the real world. We learned how business works, and how to sell ourselves to a wide variety of people. Along the way, we also learned how to manage our time, do research, and work as a team.
The Innovation Fair was a blast, and I was so proud of my team and how involved they were. They looked and sounded like real businessmen. According to several people, our booth was awesome. I was actually quite surprised at the amount of funding we received. However, I must say that the biggest surprise was finding out that one of our presentation judges was going to offer me a summer internship, and she wasn’t even our business mentor! I was thrilled that I was given the opportunity, but I was also sad that I couldn’t take it since I’m starting college in the Philippines shortly after graduation.
Complete Business Plan:
I can’t even begin to tell how much time I spent creating several drafts of this project, both on paper and in my mind. First, I started off wanting to make a poster that portrayed my interpretation of home. I thought the feeling of home was lacking in my life, so I tried to create that image through my poster by thinking about the kind of life I wanted to provide for my future children. However, along the way, I realized that the image would be too complicated for me to execute, and it really wasn’t me. The whole point of the project was to advertise myself, and when I thought about who I really am, I realized that I am very simple, yet very complicated. Since I wanted to give people the real me, I decided I wouldn’t hide anything with makeup or hairstyling. Instead, I simply pulled all my hair back and took a picture of my bare face and a locket around my neck.
I’ve had that locket since I was a little girl. I begged my mom to buy me a locket after watching the movie “A Little Princess.” We searched for a whole day, trying to find the perfect locket. Finally, at the last store we went to, there it was. As soon as I had it in my possession, I immediately began digging through photo albums, trying to find the perfect-sized pictures of my parents that would fit in my locket. My mom and I found them together, and she helped me cut out the faces and place them inside the locket with glass covering them.
Despite my simplicity in attire and wardrobe, that locket always reminds me that there’s so much more to me than a face and a body. I have drive, dedication, and persistence. I will not stop until I get exactly what I want. My needs are simple, but my wants are complex. Everything that I am composed of, internally and externally, makes me who I am. This project allowed me to really dig deep, and artistically define myself through a picture.
Our second documentary was a lot easier to edit than our first one. The whole point of our story is that I haven’t made my decision yet as to what I am going to do in the future. I know what takes first place in my life, and that is my relationship with Jehovah God. My issue is finding a career that will allow me put spiritual things first, but at the same time, be something that I won’t be completely miserable doing. The easy and secure approach would be taking courses for jobs like nursing or accounting that can be reliable in any economy. It would be so much easier for me to take those opportunities if I were very fond of science and math, but I’m not.
Therefore, instead of ending our documentary with a decision I make, we portrayed the simple fact that I am not alone in this struggle to choose between culture and passion. We interviewed two people that are going through similar situations as I am, and we got their perspectives on the matter. In the end, I realized that although it’s frustrating to not know yet about what I want to do in the future, it’s still okay, because at our age, it’s normal to be confused. Exploring the issues of ethnicity and culture really made me realize the complexity of this subject, and writing a paper about it made me think a lot about possible solutions to the problem as well as what would make the problem worse. I’m happy with how our project turned out, and I’m thankful for the help that my group members provided.
I am excited, but scared for tomorrow. I’ll start with what I’m excited about first. Well, first of all, I’m excited about the Multi-Cultural Assembly. I’ve always thought that these shows are a wonderful way to display the various flavors of culture that we have in our world. It’s especially nice for our school since we are culturally diverse, and many of the students are actually enthusiastic about learning more about their ethnic roots. Obviously, very few of us are professional dancers, but the fact that several students have the courage to go out and perform a dance or song that they love is quite amazing and commendable. The point is to have fun, and if people like it, great, and if they don’t, so what? I wanted to perform this year, but my academic plate was just way too stuffed, so time didn’t permit me to do so. It’s alright though, because I performed last year, and I know I’m definitely performing next year. So I was able to sit back and enjoy the show for half of my high school experience, and I also get to feel the adrenaline rush of performing in front of a crowd. Last year was so much fun. I was the only Asian in a group of Hispanics performing Hispanic dances. It was awesome! I can’t wait till next year! I don’t actually expect anyone to read this blog, so that’s why I don’t mind putting up some information that I don’t plan on telling anyone until after it happens. I met a very special person this year, but every time I’m around him, I don’t think, and that scares me a lot. That’s why I really hope that he comes by tomorrow. I need to tell him that he needs to give me time to grow up without him. He needs to let me learn to use my head instead of my heart. It’s going to be extremely painful, but it needs to happen. I know for a fact that it will benefit both of us in the long run, even though it may not feel so beneficial at the moment.
Here is a documentary of my life. My faith is my priority, my culture and family mean the world to me, but all these factors conflict with my own desires. If I were to choose something that makes me happy, I wouldn’t go with a career that is safe and favorable in our culture. I would like to express myself artistically and get paid for it, but I don’t know how I would be able to do that without making any major compromises that would be extremely difficult for me to handle. Confusion is always in the air, and I’m stuck not knowing what to do. I wish I could figure it out already, but at this point, that is pretty much impossible. If I had to make a quick decision and choose a path that is safe, I wouldn’t be able to guarantee my happiness if it means that I would have to suffer through college studying a subject that I either hate or take no interest in. Choices, choices, choices are all I have right now, and it will continue to be that way until I figure things out.
I don’t have a Tumblr, and for the most part, I’m not much of a blogging type of person. However, today the DSA heard some beyond devastating news. One beloved member of our family committed suicide yesterday. The news was shocking to say the least. We went into our first period classes when all of a sudden, Ms. Fonti left the classroom and Randy came back telling us to come into the lab. We then saw Ms. Fonti crying. We knew right away that something was terribly wrong. When we were all gathered together in the lab, Randy told the whole class, “There’s no way to sugarcoat this, but Crispus killed himself yesterday.” Every bit of warmth fled my body, and everyone in the class responded to the news differently. Some immediately broke down crying, while some were just frozen stiff from being in shock. After I let some tears out, I needed some air. There were a few people outside crying, and I kept telling myself, “This isn’t happening.” Randy then opened the door to the studio. I had been dying to hear his I.D.entity song, and he played it. As soon as his voice came on the speakers, everyone in the studio burst into tears, because we knew that was the only way we would ever hear his voice again. We then played it for the entire class, who also burst into tears. Thankfully, we were excused from our classes the whole day. Some counselors came in to talk to us, and it was very emotional hearing everyone’s memories of Crispus. He was in out photography group at the beginning of the year, and Randy asked if we could print the pictures we had of him. One of the pictures I was most proud of was a solo shot of him. He was such a natural and so photogenic. I know that what’s done is done, but I couldn’t help but feel guilty even if I know it wasn’t any of our faults. The smallest deeds and a few simple words could have prevented this. Why couldn’t I see through his beautiful smile and beaming eyes, and see the pain that he succeeded in masking? This isn’t fair. It still isn’t sinking in completely. The whole day was draining, even if we just spent the majority of it in the lab. This experience, although tragic, still brought us closer as a family, and for that I am truly thankful. It just sucks that this particular even had to happen in order for us to bond the way we did today. Throughout the day, I’ve been going on a crazy emotional rollercoaster. I have a massive headache and my body is worn out. I just don’t feel like doing anything. I wanted to take a nap earlier, but I couldn’t even if I had the opportunity to do so. The DSA is creating a remix of his song, and we’re each making our own verses. I already wrote mine today, and I got the tune and timing down as well. I can’t wait till everyone else does their part, and we can all listen to the final product together. Oh Crispus, if only you could see how much losing you impacted our whole family. I wish you were here to see the tears and the pain and devastation on people’s faces. You would have been reassured that you are not alone, and that you are loved in this world. You have a place here, and that place is here with us. We want you to come back to us, but unfortunately, we can’t always have what we want. So we can only hope that we will see you again in the future. We miss you, and we love you more than you probably knew.
I am so proud of how our music video turned out. The song that was assigned to us was “You Give Me Something” by James Morrison. Our group came up with several different concepts for our video. We were able to agree on an idea when we were scripting. The story was that there were three guys and four girls. They are all friends, but the three guys like three of the girls as more than friends. However, the girls put all the guys on “friend zone,” so when they try to make a move on them, they react in a not-so-pleasant way. The three guys go to the remaining girl for advice since she’s friends with all the girls, and she knows what they look for in guys. She advises the first guy to bring his girl a love note and chocolate. She tells the second guy to bring his girl flowers, and she tells the third guy to just go for it. In the end, all three guys take her advice, and they win the girls’ hearts. It took us a while to shoot the whole music video because the people we used were in different classes, and one scene was shot at a restaurant. However, we pulled it together in the end, and it turned out great.
I was hesitant to start the photo essay project. I had no idea what to do, and I’m not really a fan of taking pictures of myself. I don’t mind if other people take pictures of me, but I dislike using the self-timer on cameras. I had some ideas in the beginning, but when I tried to execute them with the help of a good friend, they didn’t turn out the way I hoped they would. However, what ended up happening was a completely new concept was developed, and it just worked. I was able to visually portray the way I see myself, and not be embarrassed to show my imperfections. I did very little editing with my photos, thank goodness, because the original ones were great the way they were. I just needed to do some cropping with some background simplifying. My writing was able to fit with the pictures as well, so that was something I didn’t need to worry about too much. The project overall was stressful, but enjoyable since my friend helped me to bring out the emotions that I needed to capture on camera.
Complete Photo Essay:
I am so proud of everyone! The I.D.entity showcase was a major success. Romaine Hall was so packed that people were either standing or sitting on the floor. Our class is that cool. All the performers did an amazing job. It was such a privilege to see the sides of everyone that I normally wouldn’t see on a regular basis. It was a humbling experience to witness the significant amount of talent the students of our class have. However, I didn’t really know how to feel after my performance. I thought I would feel relieved, and to an extent, I was. Yet, a part of me was scared to death, not only because I suddenly became vulnerable, but because the person that my song was about was actually in the audience that night. I have been facing an internal battle as to whether I should play the selfish card or not. I.D.entity is the only thing I’ve ever done that was just for me, and involved the opinions and views of no one else. My whole life, I’ve struggled to love myself for who I am. I still continue to face that struggle. For once in my life, I feel like I deserve to do something for myself and not feel guilty about it. The process was extremely painful though. First, I thought too hard about my monologue. I concentrated so much on putting my words into song format and making them rhyme. I forgot that the project was supposed to get down to root of who I am. However, thanks to some friends, I was able to go to that spot where I never wanted to go because it was just too painful to go there. The answer was right in front of my face the whole time. I just needed someone to poke me. I wrote the lyrics to my song when I was half asleep. It turns out that was the best time to write. I didn’t over think. Instead, I just slapped all my innermost thoughts and feelings on paper. When Loris helped me with the melody, I knew that was it. I was afraid, however, of the response I would get once it was all out there in the open. I feared rejection and hate from the people that are so important to me. I had to be reminded over and over again that this step I was taking in my life was brave, and something worth being proud of. When shooting my video, I went for a very simple and organized feel. The visuals didn’t directly relate to my song until the end. I started with my spirituality, then I went into hobbies and supposed “talents” of mine, and then I moved on to some of the people in my life that mean the world to me. The ending was my favorite part of the video, and it also took the longest to shoot, but thanks to some very loyal and extremely talented and creative friends, I was able to get it done. This has truly been a life-changing experience. I’m still dealing with the aftereffects of performing. However, I am incredibly thankful for the support system I have here in the academy, and other loved ones as well. They helped me to cope with the pain, and rejoice when I was finally able to accept that I am brave. The next step for me is something greater. That next step is realizing and being at peace with the fact that I am beautiful.
