Reaction to 10/25

I was very impressed with Dillon's creation for our recent assignment. I've always admired those that can improve photos using certain techniques. I'd like to learn how to do this myself. I liked that he used a photo depicting IUPUI and of course, the title of our class. In fact everyone who presented their assignment did a nice job being creative. I'd really like to incorporate more creativity into my projects. For the 'what is important to you' assignment, I made a poster of the things I had also mentioned on my blog that were important to me, but did not share it due to the class discussion on religion. I'm going to post a picture of it at least so that Beth can see what I did. Class became especially interesting at the end when she opened a package that seemed to contain someone's mail. I think it may be something like a gag gift, but I'm still not really sure. I did not participate in class today, but my mind was occupied with many thoughts.

Open Assignment

To be honest, I was not sure where to start for ideas on this assignment. Then, after remembering a friend's suggestion to go feed a homeless person with her, I realized that's what I wanted to do. I asked Taylor to accompany me downtown, where we parked and began our search for a likely candidate to buy lunch for. Originally I thought we would just pick up a $5 footlong from Subway and give it away to someone deserving, but then I realized that may seem shady. Instead we figured we'd find a restaurant somewhere near our person. We parked just off of the circle on Meridian. It took us less than five minutes to find our guy. He was sitting on the Northeast corner of Meridian and Washington St. I walked up to him, said hello, and asked if we could buy him lunch. He seemed surprised, but said sure. There happens to be a Jimmy Johns right there as well as a Qdoba so I asked which he would prefer. He said Qdoba. Then I asked him what he wanted from there and his response was "What do they have?" I know I've seen this guy sitting in the same spot before, maybe even more than once. I recognized him by a little Scooby Doo stuffed animal he had sitting near him. I figured he was familiar with the chain, but he did not know what Qdoba serves...really? I thought that was kind of sad. This either means no one else has ever offered him food from there, he's never eaten there with money he did have, or just forgot maybe? After catching him up on what kind of food they have, he said he would take a beef burrito but no sour cream or lettuce. I asked if he wanted a drink, but said no and pointed to his water bottle. Taylor and I went and ordered his food and took it back to him. Along with the bagged burrito, I handed him $3. He said thank you and smiled. He still seemed as if this might be too good to be true. Finally we asked his name; it was Anthony. We then introduced ourselves. I wanted to get a picture, but mostly felt it was rude and I did not want to ruin the gesture by labeling the fact that we were doing it for a project. We told him to have a nice day and he wished us the same. On the way back to the car, I felt like a million bucks and was hopeful that maybe someone noticed our act enough to pay it forward, or so to speak. I did notice that two women in a white car watched us as we handed Anthony the bag and the cash. It was really rewarding to do something selfless for someone less fortunate than I. I honestly hope it made his day and warmed his heart.

Response 10/11

I am actually pleasantly surprised things didn't get out of hand with our discussion on religion. I thought that in general everyone was respectful and the conversation was productive. Clearly there are many different views, just within the people that showed up. It was interesting when Beth pointed out that as a class we could be considered a cult; hadn't thought of it that way. To be truly honest I enjoy that we have established a community environment, especially more so than any other class I'm currently taking. I really do look forward to coming to class every week because I always leave feeling fulfilled in some way; I can't always explain why, it just happens. Maybe it has to do with this aspect. And I was going to mention this during class, but I think one of the main reasons this particular course is a success is because Beth teaches it and people love her. I personally love that she encourages openess regardless the issue really. Never have I had a professor that is so accepting and open. Today I learned a bit about Paganism which I previously knew very little about. I thought the film took a very interesting view point too, considering this country was founded on religion. I could not stay for the whole thing, but I have netflix too, so I can rent it and finish it.

What really is Important?

Honestly, there are so many things that are important to me. Being able to appreciate small things is one of them. I suppose for this assignment, I'll only choose a few to explain however. For one, having honest, loving, positive relationships would definitely be one thing that is very important. I can't stand having drama within relationships that is completely uneccessary; this could very well be why I don't have as many girl friends as I do guy friends, they tend to be less dramatic. Most of the girls I am friends with have been long established. I also highly value the relationships with my family. I am extremely close with my mother's side, my mom and dad, and my little sister. When she and I are in a fight, my whole world is screwed up because she's the one person I feel I can be completely honest with no matter what and we have so much in common because we are family, we get eachother. It is important to feel loved. Actually, I guess love might be another aspect. I can't imagine my life without at least one person who loved me. And for that matter, I can't imagine not loving anyone. I think I gain just as much from loving someone as they may from me loving them. I thought I had found the love of my life, whom I thought I was going to marry, but it ended very hurtfully. I don't know that it still isn't meant to be; I could just not be over him yet and not found that person. Regardless, a loving relationship to share things with is important when the person is right. And not to forget my baby kitty, Chevy. Though she is not a person, I feel loved by her everyday and it is a wonderful companionship.
Because of who I am, I also consider success very important. I have worked pretty hard to be where I am and can say that I am proud of my accomplishments. Having the ambition also helped to get where I am. I think that with most everything truly important in life it is important to act with conviction and sentiment. (If you haven't guessed by now, I am an emotionally invested person.) If you don't put your heart into the things that require it most and just half ass, you won't get as much out of your experience. I also try very hard to appreciate everything I have because I am so very blessed and being a good person is also important.
And finally, music. Music although cliche, defines me. I love the way it makes me feel, the way it helps me through some things, and the way it enhances relationships and experiences. When I hear something I think sounds good, I am happy; sometimes it is euphoric. Music helps me express things that sometimes I don't have the words to say. And nothing makes me happier than discovering a wonderful new song.

Response to 10/4

I was anxious to see the rest of the experiment presentations today since there were so many that still had to go. I enjoyed the humor in Travis' blindfolded experiment. The most significant moment for me today was Justin's speech. It took a lot for him to stand up to us and face himself and his fear. I felt so much compassion and empathy towards him, especially when he became emotional. At that point, although awkward I just wanted to give him a hug. I also felt that him being open to being emotional in front of such a large group really set him apart as a man. I don't think it is wrong for men to express their emotions, but many do in our society. Basically the fact that he exposed himself to us was very compelling to me. If I were in his position I would have been terrified. I also enjoyed the brief intro we had with respect to religion and look forward to see where next week's class goes on the topic.

Fear Experiment

Often anticipation can induce fear. In scary movies, music can often trigger the anticipation of something scary happening. The purpose for this assignment was to produce fear in an experiment demonstrated in class. For my experiment, I decided to take three unsuspecting volunteers from the class and have them open a container of biscuits. There were a few reasons I chose this as my experiment. First, I did not think anyone else would perform this experiment, so it would be original. Second, I myself hate opening them because of the anticipation of when the container pops. Ever since I can remember I've hated opening them and when possible I have someone else do it. If I have to open it, I usually jump when it pops, therefore I thought there would likely be at least one other person that would too.
I chose three male volunteers to open the containers. I had each one do it separately because I thought the experiment would produce better results if the volunteers were not aware of their task until the very moment they had to do it. Not one of my three male volunteers jumped when the containers popped (Will, Lloyd, and Travis.) However, I jumped at least once, Beth jumped, and another female classmate, Julia jumped twice which I saw out of my peripheral. My second volunteer, Travis also told me that he used to jump when opening them, but no longer does.
My prediction turned out to be correct, however not in the way that I expected. None of my volunteers jumped which surprised me, but three people present did. I found these results to be interesting because Beth pointed out after my experiment that each person who jumped was female. This could likely be because women generally tend to be scared easier than men.
If I could do my experiment differently, I would have chosen all female volunteers. However, I did not know this prior to the experiment. I definitely think if I would have chosen all females to begin with, I would have gotten better results, especially considering the only people who reacted to my experiment were female. Another possibility to enhance my experiment would be to either heat or freeze the container in order to create a more profound "pop" of the container.