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Peter Keo Capstone

Posted by Peter Keo in CTE Senior Capstone · Ugworji/Walker-Roberts · Wed on Monday, May 10, 2021 at 12:30 am

For my capstone, I wanted to explore something that I was really passionate about while also still trying to have fun and be motivated throughout my project. I then realized that being in the CTE Digital Video program provided an excellent opportunity to create a mini-documentary on Hallyu culture and k-pop specifically. My senior capstone is titled “K-popping A Bubble” and it is a mini-documentary that provides the history and context behind Hallyu culture and K-pop specifically. This documentary is split into five distinct sections aside from the introduction and conclusion: What is K-pop?, The Uprising of K-pop, The Golden Era & Global Breakthrough and K-popping the Bubble. I wanted to create this documentary with the intent of educating people who may not have much knowledge in Hallyu culture and K-pop while also bringing attention to certain topics that people who do like k-pop may not be well versed in. Throughout the creation of this capstone, I learned a great wealth of information about k-pop that I myself have never heard of, giving me more fuel for the passion that is the flame of my obsession with K-pop. I was also able to fully assess my capacity as a student and was able to challenge my research, time management and communication skills. In the end, I am proud of a product that I am able to show to anyone, so I hope you check it out below!

Here is my annotated bibliography: https://tinyurl.com/PKCapstone21

Tags: #giknis, #21capstone, capstone, Giknis, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuPYdxeeSoA
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Tiger Talk: Slaying the White Tiger, EP 3

Posted by Peter Keo in College English · Pahomov · B Band on Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 10:22 pm

In the first episode of Tiger Talk, we discussed the literal and figurative meaning of the prominent theme of lightness vs darkness present in the novel, alongside other narrative symbols that we’ve encountered throughout reading.

In the second episode of Tiger Talk, we explored the novel through the view of the Marxist lens, analyzing the novel’s discussions around class and wealth. The book’s central metaphor of “The Rooster Coop” alongside the debate between decisions between morally right or not fuel the main topics of this week’s episode.

In this final episode of the series, we gave our final last thoughts on the book and explained what made us choose this book in the first place. We also dove into the intention of the author Aravind Adiga and discussed about his motivation of why he chose the way he wrote those things. It is a heartfelt goodbye as we close out the series, and we thank listeners for watching all of our episodes with an keen interest. We will be back!

Tune in to our dynamic group taking down the White Tiger one final time, with renowned English students Peter Keo, Michal Czapla, Indiya Johnson, Miranda Sosa and Jacob Prunes serving as the hosts.

NOTE: This episode is audio-only due to 3 out of our 5 members cameras not functioning during the recording of this podcast.

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Tiger Talk: Slaying the White Tiger Episode 2

Posted by Peter Keo in College English · Pahomov · B Band on Sunday, January 17, 2021 at 8:06 pm

In the first episode of Tiger Talk, we discussed the literal and figurative meaning of the prominent theme of lightness vs darkness present in the novel, alongside other narrative symbols that we’ve encountered throughout reading.

In this second rendition of Tiger Talk, we explored the novel through the view of the Marxist lens, analyzing the novel’s discussions around class and wealth. The book’s central metaphor of “The Rooster Coop” alongside the debate between decisions between morally right or not fuel the main topics of this week’s episode.

Tune in to our dynamic group taking down the White Tiger one section at a time, with renowned English students Peter Keo, Michal Czapla, Indiya Johnson, Miranda Sosa and Jacob Prunes serving as the hosts.

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Tiger Talk: Slaying the White Tiger

Posted by Peter Keo in College English · Pahomov · B Band on Sunday, January 10, 2021 at 11:44 pm

The debut novel by Indian author Aravind Adiga, the White Tiger is a Picaresque novel imbued with a dark humorous tone that helps in the telling of the story of Balram Halwai, a village boy who navigates India’s class struggle in a globalized world.

In the first episode of Tiger Talk, we discuss the literal and figurative meaning of the prominent theme of lightness vs darkness present in the novel, alongside other narrative symbols that we’ve encountered throughout reading. An unexpected winner and loser of the section we’ve read comes in the form of not characters, but ideologies. The group presents corrpuption as its winner while justice and good morals being the losers.

Tune in to our dynamic group taking down the White Tiger one section at a time, with renowned English students Peter Keo, Michal Czapla, Indiya Johnson, Miranda Sosa and Jacob Prunes serving as the hosts.

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With Roles, Comes Power

Posted by Peter Keo in English 2 · Pahomov/Rhymer · E Band on Monday, March 25, 2019 at 9:47 pm

Peter Keo

Pahomov

English 2

26 March 2019

With Roles, Come Power

When a person with a given role has more authority, they are more inclined to abuse it against people that they perceive as “less than.” For a vast majority of mankind’s history, a person’s status quo affects their makeup and credibility as a human being. In an interconnected web that is so deeply complex like a simple community, the people with authority act based on their power, and not their morals or values. Rather than having their pride shattered, their egos ripped apart, or their words proven wrong, they choose to unleash their power because that is the only thing of value to them. Without the said power, they are more or less equal to their counterparts. This creates a power dynamic between higher authority and the people who follow it. If a society has a set of defined roles and rules, how can it be fair for everyone?

The Stanford Prison Experiment was an infamous social experiment conducted in 1973. It took place at Stanford University and was led by psychologist Philip Zimbardo. The experiment featured 24 men; 12 given the role of prisoners and the other 12 given the roles of prison guards. Over the course of two weeks, they would live together in a simulated prison experiment. According to the official website of the Stanford Prison Experiment, a quote that was taken from the planning of the experiment said “We wanted to see what the psychological effects were of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. To do this, we decided to set up a simulated prison and then carefully note the effects of this institution on the behavior of all those within its walls.” (Prisonexp.org, FAQ) In other words, it was meant to display how much power a person can have just by their labels and status quos. The experiment was shut down only six days in, and the results showed that prisoners suffered countless abuse from the prison guards, even though before the experiment they were all equal in terms of power. One way guards exhibited their power was striking prisoners with their baton. When given the role of a higher authority, the probability to commit a power trip increases tenfold.

In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of boys just crashed and landed on an island. They all come amongst each other in order to build a basis of civilization. In order to do that, they first choose among them a leader based on a majority of votes. The author writes “‘Shut up,’ said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. ‘Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.’ ‘A chief! A chief!’ ‘I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp’” (Golding 229-231) This shows that Jack immediately comes to step up in order to take on the role of a leader because of his so-called “abilities.” His proclaimed skills of being able to sing C sharp and also that he already holds a leadership position shows an underlying nature to Jack’s human tendencies.  The choirboys that are associated with Jack reluctantly raise their hands to vote for him. This shows that they may have done this out of fear to not get on Jack’s bad side, or because of naturally wanting to side with Jack because of their already established relationship.

Following the conclusion of the Stanford Prison Experiment, an interview was conducted with one of the participants. He said, “The most apparent thing that I noticed was how most of the people in this study derive their sense of identity and well-being from their immediate surroundings rather than from within themselves… they had nothing within them to hold up against all of this.” (Zimbardo, exhibits.stanford.edu) The prisoner in question, Jerry-8454, provides a hint that helps conclude there was a lining of savagery present during the experiment. This means that when given a set of defined roles that carry different levels of power, there is bound to be chaos and a disconnect of power in a definite society. They become a shell of their former selves and begin to act differently than their normal selves would.

In one scene, Ralph and Jack are in an argument about how much value being chosen as a leader holds. They provide two drastically views on the situation, with one side not budging over the other. The author writes “‘I'm chief. I was chosen.’ ‘Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don't make any sense—’” (Golding 238-241). What is being represented here is that Golding is essentially writing Jack and Ralph as symbols for two different sides in a common debate. In the case of the Stanford Prison Experiment, one could argue for Jack and Ralph that one of them is the guard with power and one of them is the prisoner who wants power because of the way that power is handled on the island. The choosing of a leader bears some resemblance to how the way the guards were chosen, and the definition of a person based on their role is represented in the boys’ community. If the roles were reversed then, the results would still be the same.

Based on the results of the Stanford Prison Experiment and the events that occur throughout Lord of the Flies, it is safe to assume that defined roles in an established community set different amounts of power throughout everyone. There is a much-needed gap-closer between the abyss that is people with authority, and people who are simply following authority. One word being placed as a label can define the decision making and emotions of one person. A community of people is only just a group of people if there is no leader to place authority in them, but power must be controlled or else, it will get out of hand. With power, there is no morals or values if the commodity of power can stimulate instant gratification.

Works Cited

Golding, William, Lord of the Flies. Penguin Books, 2006

“More Information.” Stanford Prison Experiment, Social Psychology Network, 1999

www.prisonexp.org/faq.

Zimbardo, Philip G., Jerry Shure, Stanford Prison Experiment

    https://exhibits.stanford.edu/spe/catalog/qd146sy3096

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Aquaphobia

Posted by Peter Keo in English 2 · Pahomov/Rhymer · E Band on Thursday, November 8, 2018 at 6:20 pm

It’s ironic how I’m terrified of the one thing that makes up my entire body. Hilarious, isn’t it? It was just 4 days ago, that school was winding down and I was about to start my three-week long winter break. It was always cold in Philadelphia during this time of the year, especially around the Fishtown area. I flipped my shit when I first found out that this year, the School District of Philadelphia was experimenting with a three-week long winter break. It’s literally almost one full month of off from school. I needed this so badly. I thought I was going to relax, wake up around 11:00 am every day, and binge-watch corny Netflix shows. Not to mention, my short film that I have to finish for this upcoming youth film festival that I was participating in. It’s about me and my experiences with aquaphobia. It may sound weird, but aquaphobia is a fear of WATER. Oh and how could I forget Christmas! All my plans were thrown out of the window during the 2nd day of winter break when my mom said to me: “Jaxon, we’re going to the Bahamas for vacation!”

I almost threw my laptop out the window when I heard that. I ran so hard downstairs that you could have put me in a laundry basket and just slid me down the stairs. I really thought she was joking at first, until I saw the plane tickets sitting on the kitchen counter. I thought to myself, ‘Wait a second… aren’t the Bahamas fucking ISLANDS?”. And just like that, I’m here, on a boat in the middle of Paradise Cove, the only divide between me and what it appears to be a vast, clear and blue vacuum, waiting for someone to be sucked in and never escape. Y’know, I’d rather be inside my air-conditioned villa right now, than experiencing what it’s like to be waterboarded for the next 2 hours or so. I tried to argue my way out of it moments before boarding, but my mom said that she PAID for my OWN ticket, and that she is not going to waste her time arguing with me, which is I find completely ridiculous. I am too phased out right now for my brain to work currently, as I didn’t even realize I was the only one left on the boat. Everyone else is already in the water. Great.

I peer over the side of the boat, trying to not vomit, and all I see a deep, blue abyss waiting to claim its next victim. I don’t know if it was my anxiety or if it was just really hot, but the sweat is starting to come down my face now. My right eye slowly twitches as the baking hot sun’s beams reflects off the water, and I heard a faint tapping near the floor of the boat. My legs. It’s not that I don’t know how to swim or not, because I DO. It’s just that I am not so keen on being in this deep section of water with no way of touching the ground. My family has gotten therapy for me, but that’s it. They didn’t take me into consideration when they planned this trip or activity. My dad said it’ll be fine, and my mom says not to worry too much. But they don’t know the FULL extent of it. Most of the times, I always wish that I had a normal life. I wouldn’t even be needing to explain my story right now if this had never happened. Why can’t my family just understand that it’s hard living a fear that is normally not feared? I need to control myself, and yet I dare, I put my feet in the water. As soon as my feet touch, the slightest ripple occurs, and I see white. My mind races back to 10 years ago, everything monotone, dull and faint. A flashback. I see my past self, in the distance, making his way to the deep end, and then it happens. I faint and I’m submerged for about 2 minutes now, bubbles appearing near the surface. The lifeguard on duty realizes what happens and she starts pulling me to the surface, doing CPR on me until I finally awake. It was a close call, but looking back on it now, it would have been very likely that I would be here to tell my tale today. Since then, I have not been able to muster myself any courage to enter deep bodies of water. Anxiety overwhelms my body, and I instantly start to feel dizzy. And that’s just how its been for me, for 365 days, every year, for the past 10 years of my life.

Everything goes black, and I am back in present-day time, still on the rocking boat on the calm Atlantic seas. All my life, I’ve been scared of this one thing that almost 99 percent of all people shouldn’t even be scared of. My mind is telling me no no no, but the water is actually resonating with warmth, and it does not feel too terrible. The warm water is somewhat satisfying against my feet, and I decide to do something that not even I myself wouldn’t expect me to do: I head into the water. The moment my body is covered in water, I start to get anxious, but after a while, I start to see that I didn’t faint or nothing like that, and that I actually survived. I’ve been missing this feeling for 10 years now, and now I realize this maybe this isn’t so bad after all. The colorful angelfish, sea turtles, damselfish, parrotfish, squirrelfish and snappers float by around me, and I couldn’t help but be amazed. Our appointment is up, and I return back to the resort as a changed man, with a big grin on my face as the boat is rushing against the deep, blue paradise, that was once an abyss. I do a huge cannonball into the resort pool as soon as I get changed, and boy oh boy, that was so satisfying to do. I’ve realized now that a world of opportunity has just opened up for me, and now I can do much much more than what I can do before. Prepare to meet your demise aquaphobia, because Jaxon is your slayer.

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Author Emulation Handbook

Posted by Peter Keo in English 2 · Pahomov/Rhymer · E Band on Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 9:16 am
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Striving For Improvement: The Advocate

Posted by Peter Keo on Sunday, September 30, 2018 at 4:55 pm

Introduction

Hello! My name is Peter Keo, and welcome to my blog, where I discuss the 3 strengths that define who I am. Throughout my life, I often don’t notice my own strengths until I take a more closer look with my identity, and there I can see who I truly am. My personality type is the INFJ, which stands for Introversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Judging. INFJ’s make up for less than one percent of the population, so I guess you could say I’m one of a kind!

What Each Letter Means For Me

  • Introversion - the opposite of extroversion, the feeling of being an introvert. I usually like to be a lone wolf in activities, and I often almost often go for the solo choice if given the choice between working alone or working with a partner. I don’t mind social activities, but I often tired quickly from it and break away after a short period of time.

  • Intuition - Imaginative, Open-Minded and Curious. I definitely would agree that I hold all of these things in my head. I never thought I would thought myself to be the one to be imaginative, but looking back I do often daydream a lot in class, thinking about what-if scenarios and the future a lot.

  • Feeling - I make decisions based off values and principles and I usually use my heart more than my head. Sometimes, this is not the right decision for people, but its the best decision for me. I gauge the temperature of the situation based on people’s feelings and what is the best decision in the heat of the moment.

  • Judging - One of the traits that determine how we view the external world, and how we do things on a daily-by-daily basis life. People with the Judging trait enjoy being organized and having to work in an environment that is orderly and established. For me, I find this to be the most true. I cannot work without a clean workspace or an organized structured assignment that allows me to follow along easily.

Strength #1 - Astonishing Altruism

My first strength is altruism. As the “Advocate”, I find that altruism easily fits into one of my three strengths. I go out of my way to help others for their well being, but I find this a bit contradicting in a way. Since INFJs are also Introverted, I wouldn’t think that altruism would be a trait for them but the more I think about it, the more that makes sense because when helping others as an introvert, I tend to put a part of myself too in helping so I can make the right moral decisions not only for me, but for the person that I’m supporting. Using this strength for good, I try to advance an idea that is better for the world instead of trying to put forth an idea that would only benefit me. Altruism is not something seen a lot anymore, especially in today’s society and I would want to change that, but with prevalent bias and politics nowadays, it is generally considered a scarcity in people nowadays. Luckily, I have tons of altruism in me, and while I’ve never noticed it before, I’ve remembered countless acts of kindness I’ve committed over my life which goes to show that I am not forcing myself to be kind, it just comes naturally.

Strength #2 - Crafty Communication

Communication would be my second strength. I can never live without communication, whether its on group projects or just having a definite way to spread my information around. I am very good at communicating, as I try to listen to both sides and offering insight on what we should do or not. Over email and text is a big plus for me, as I try to respond ASAP and I would not turn down any question, big or small, smart or stupid. Communication is hard for INFJs because they tire from social commuting, and I’m no exception to that, but I’m always available on call to answer a question no matter if I’m tired or not. If I am unable to not procure an answer for you, I’ll make it my first priority whenever I do similar things.

Strength #3 - Intuitive Insightfulness

The final strength that I would say is probably insightfulness. Insight is when you have a strong capability of seeing through dishonesty and disingenuous motives. This ties hand in hand with communication as if you are being dishonest and disingenuous, I will sever ties with you or communicate to you with why you are acting this way. I also see insight as a way to offer your take and POV of the situation in order to bring up a given situation. Insight is a great skill to have for anyone, as it will help immensely in the real world when it comes to business practices and the working environment. I just see Insight as one of my greatest skills that will surely help me down the line in the future.

Conclusion

    These are my three strengths: Insight, Communication, and Altruism. Each and every single one of these skills will be a valuable asset down the road, in the working environment. Being a doctor is my dream job, and altruism is an important core factor that defines what kind of doctor you are which is similar to the CTE DigVid program for being altruistic will allow me to offer feedback and guide people towards a more successful experience. Communication is important in the medical field, and the same can be said about my time in the DigVid program. I must have pinpoint communication during film production in order to ensure the highest quality film that we can make possible. Finally, insight is a valuable skill in not only DigVid, but in any type of study or program that you can participate in. Insight allows you to be more understanding of others and it allows you to have a broader perspective of the big picture, which allows you to come up with solutions that you would have not thought of before.

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The City of Temples

Posted by Peter Keo in English 2 · Pahomov/Rhymer · E Band on Friday, September 21, 2018 at 2:56 pm

It was July of 2017, in Cambodia, where it was always a scorching 98 degrees almost daily. That day was no exception, and it felt even more humid than it ever was. Still, I wasn’t going to let this weather ruin my day of walking and sightseeing one of the most famous landmarks in all of Asia: the Angkor Wat. I was born in Philadelphia to a Khmer family, and I’ve only visited Cambodia once before then, but I don’t remember much of it. Now, I’m visiting the once rich, and flourished country again. To get there, we took a car, and during the ride, I could not stop but smile and think about the marvelous ruins and luscious plant life that is found in Angkor Wat. As soon as we parked the car, I hurriedly opened the door and took a step outside, breathing in the fresh air and smelling hints of river water and various trees and plants. All around me were other tourists; some were locals who took annually flocked to their most prized source of pride in the country while others were tourists who came internationally, from countries such as China, Mexico, America, India, France, etc. It appears to me that they were all here for the same reason that I am.

There is an old stone bridge that would normally take me towards the main entrance of Angkor Wat, but its status and shape are so bad that it has been closed for renovations and examination by Cambodian and Japanese experts. Instead, I cross a temporary floating bridge that is able to contain hundreds of people walking on it at once. As I walk closer, I can see birds flying around on the jungle-like trees and various tiny insects crawling on the old stone ruins that leads up to the bridge.

When you start to walk on the bridge, there will be officials on the bridge who gives you a simple test; they say Hello to you in Khmer. The catch here is that if you respond to them in a language other than Khmer, they will stop you and ask for your “ticket” which is essentially a tourist admission fee. If you say hello back in Khmer, they will assume your of Khmer ethnicity or a local. I know it may seem like a shady practice, but believe it or not, hundreds of thousands of people visit the Angkor Wat every year, and about 65 percent of them are tourists, which makes this a very lucrative source of money for the government and officials. Luckily for me, my family is all Khmer and we had no trouble getting past officials. Looking back, I saw a lot of officials talking to foreigners and at the time, I didn’t know why we were not stopped and all my dad simply said to me was “They are just looking for directions.” Being born in America, I never really witnessed an event similar to this, but today I understand now why my dad didn’t tell me the truth and I respect him for that.

Walking on the temporary bridge did not take long and soon, I was ready to explore the Angkor Wat in all its glory. As I headed into the main courtyard, I visited one of the shrines and was given some money and a piece of silk fabric which acted as a gift for which we were supposed to give to the shrine and the monk that was present. The monk said some blessings and prayers and gave me a red bracelet, which means good luck in Cambodian culture. After this, I headed to the main courtyard that led to many different small and various temples.

The courtyard had a rustic charm to it, and the atmosphere was archaic but in a cool way. All around me were guides, vendors, and photographers, all of which were implemented to generate income for the country, which relies heavily on tourism so it was no surprise that every employee was bugging us to buy their services. We just ignored them as we walked by. I kind of felt guilty because these people are usually people in poverty which is a common sighting today in Cambodia.

After that, the entire day usually went on as normal. I took many photos, and read plaques that were scattered along the walls of the temples, which detailed the history of a particular part of the ruins. For example, there was a huge wall in which there were thousands of carvings that depicted heavenly nymphs and it was a sight to see. I also happened to get the chance to ride an elephant! Not many people can say that and it was such a riveting experience. The elephant ride was slow and calm, but I was very high up as we went around the main courtyard in a circle. I even got to take some photos along the way. It just felt like a magical and exotic experience that you could get nowhere else in the world.

In the end, it was a truly magnificent experience that lived up to my expectations. The breathtaking views of the ruins combined with the majestic and dense jungle-like vegetation made it feel like you’re hiking on an expedition and it will be a journey that I will never forget.


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Printmaking Element Print

Posted by Peter Keo in Art - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on Friday, June 1, 2018 at 7:34 pm
Final Art Print
Final Art Print
  • My element was Gallium, and it's atomic number was 31.
  • Gallium was discovered in 1875 in Paris, France by a french chemist named Paul E. Lecoq de Boisbaudran. Before it’s discovery, the father of the periodic table Dmitri Mendeleev predicted it’s place on the periodic table. He named it eka-aluminum as he predicted it would be placed below aluminum on the periodic table. Gallium’s main use is often combined with arsenic to create Gallium arsenide, which is dominantly used in electronics. Such electronics include the circuits of microwaves, infrared circuits, and high speed switching circuits. Also, Gallium is part of gallium nitride and indium gallium nitride, which is used in production of semiconductors mainly for solar panels, and laser and light emitting diodes. Gallium can also be used as a substitute for mercury in medical thermometers. 
  • My idea for the imagery was that since gallium is often used in electronic motherboards and such, I decided to place it inside of a computer screen, combined with a mouse, and electrical pathways coming out the side, representing the motherboard.
  • I went through a strict process that I had in mind to create this print. I wanted to dish out as many ideas as possible for my print; some of the prototypes that I came up with was the Ga31 being microwaved in a microwave, lasers shooting at the atomic number and symbol, and the sun shining down on solar panels engraved with Gallium's atomic number and symbol. I ultimately chose the computer design due to it's connection to modern day society, and also it will be easily recognizable.
  • If I did this print a second time, I would have probably tried to make the colors more full instead of making it look faded, because the fade does not play in with the theme of computers being old and what not. By making my color a bit more stand out, the computer will shine brightly on the print.
  • I really enjoyed making the actual print, and using the ink alongside the brayer roller. It was really interactive, and it got me thinking that people do this as a profession, so they could make really cool designs with this kind of technique.
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Planned, Spent, Wrapped and Sent

Posted by Peter Keo in English 1 · Giknis · Y Band on Friday, May 18, 2018 at 5:11 pm

Planned, Spent, Wrapped and Sent

Image Credits


    Welcome back! In my first post, I introduced the topic and the importance of poverty in Cambodia. I showed how some factors like education play a role in the issue, and the history of it. In my previous post, I interviewed my father, who himself grew up in poverty. He shared his experiences with me, and made some really key points on what he should believe happen in order for modern day Cambodia to make a change.

    During my time between the last post and this, I’ve uncovered a couple of organizations that do work in Cambodia, primarily towards relief aid and poverty. One I have discovered in particular was Cambodia’s Children Fund, which is a charity directed towards children in poverty. They encourage impoverished children to hopefully turn into tomorrow’s leader. To do this, they take the children in, provide a home for them and enroll them in their “rich and challenging curriculum”, which will hopefully educate and inspire them. The organization has existed since 2004. One example of a major case was when they took in 45 children that was living on a garbage dump in 2009. Their programs focus on 6 core values similar to my own school’s values: Education, Leadership, Community Outreach, Healthcare, Childcare and Vocational Training.


   

Logo of the CCF


    I believe that this organization is actually very ingenious in how they operate. They plan out their steps to create a better change, which is very organized, and they actually go through with their plans, which in the end results in an improved future for the children.

    As explained in my previous post, I told about my plan to send a care package to Cambodia. I’ve decided to change a few aspects of the plan, since the plan itself is pretty tentative and supple. Originally, I wanted to send multiple care packages, each containing different items for different family members, but I concluded that it would cost way too much due to shipping and handling. In the end, I decided to send on big package, to one family of 4 that contained items that they would certainly prove useful. I included various amenities that you would not find normally in Cambodia or find at a relatively low price; some of these items included various hygiene products, clothing items, educational literature, and toys.


Examples of Items Included in the Care Package

Depicted From Left To Right: Men's Body Wash, Fragrant Shampoo, Mouthwash


My reasoning for including these items in the package was that hygiene products are hard to come by in bulk, and they are usually marked up higher than their original retail price than you would find in say the United States for example. Next, I included clothing because most Cambodians usually sew and stitch their own clothing, which while it is cost-friendly, it is not as durable as something you would buy from a big department store, so these clothes would give them a fresh change. Then, the addition of educational literature was party based that they are learning English in their schools, because most of the education system in Cambodia focuses on English more than Khmer, the national language, in order for them to travel out the country and go study in English speaking countries. With my books, which range from simple coloring books, to books like The Hunger Games and Maze Runner, this gives them a free and cheap source of education and leisure in their free time, which hopefully provides a boost to their English fluency. Lastly, the last example of toys is that most toys that are sold in Cambodia are cheap and break very easily, due to them being manufactured in China at a very low cost, so quality toys that I purchase from a store like Target will last longer, and hopefully the children would have a fun time playing with it!


Depicted From Left to Right: Toothpaste, Various Books


I did not have much trouble in purchasing these items, nor did I have much trouble packaging and sending it to the desired location. The only challenge I had during this Agent of Change was the items that I had to buy. I had to consider the people I was sending them to, so once I did, it made it for a relatively easy process. The package is still currently on it’s way to Cambodia at the time of this writing, so I cannot say for sure if it has made an impact yet on the family I sent it to, but I will provide you all with an update when the time comes. One thing I can say for sure though, is that I hope this will make an immediate impact on how they live for the next few weeks or years, and that I will feel elated knowing they can live in a environment that is a drastic improvement over their previous one.

The Agent of Change is the final part of the trilogy of You and the World and I can’t believe how much I’ve come so far. This has been a wonderful ride, and this is one of the few projects over my 11 years in the school system where it really got me thinking about my world. Multiple parts of the project widened my eyes on the issue in Cambodia, and really educated me about a deep and serious issue that many people do not pay attention to. I knew that there was poverty in Cambodia for a while now, but with the addition of the research conducted during the project, I never realized how serious and problematic the entire situation was. I saw my father in a new light after that interview and reading the transcript. He sacrificed everything he had to come to America, looking for the American Dream, and I am honestly speechless. Cambodia is in a bit of a predicament right now, and it’s up to us to see it. Sending a care package to a family, fixes a minute part of the problem, which is a huge step toward the actual solution of the problem. I wished I would have found a documentary to screen to an audience, but I felt the care packages felt more in theme with the entire problem of poverty in Cambodia. To be completely honest, it is going to take more than me, or you as the reader to put even a dent in the poverty situation in Cambodia. There is always hope, but the light will be at the end of of a long dark tunnel for Cambodia. We must spread awareness for this problem, and my Agent of Change will hopefully inspire you to do something similar. Remember, there are millions living without food or water. It is up to us to help them. Save Kampuchea! (កម្ពុជា)

Take a look at my annotated bibliography!

​
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Negative/Positive Space

Posted by Peter Keo in Art - Freshman · Hull · e2 Band on Friday, April 27, 2018 at 10:50 am
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1. Negative space is an art term, in which describes the space between and around the subject of an image. For example, a black object on top of a white background. The white area that is around the black object is considered the negative space. 

2. In my cut-out, negative is found on both sides of the image. On the left side, you can see the blue tree which is surrounded by orange, and the orange is the negative space. On the right side, it is the opposite, with a blue tree being surrounded by a blue negative space. 

3. Using negative space can help an artist tremendously, because they can see the object they want to surround in negative space clearly. It usually contrasts against the dark/light background which can aid an artist in designing their art piece.

4. Seeing images in negative space does help enhance the image. It emphasizes the subject in question of the artwork, and it provides balance and composition to the artwork as a whole. It also sets boundaries between negative and positive space.
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A POV of Poverty

Posted by Peter Keo in English 1 · Giknis · Y Band on Sunday, March 18, 2018 at 8:24 am

A Unique Point of View of Poverty

A young child carrying grass for cattle. These are usually odd jobs any child can do for miniscule amounts of currency.

Image Credits


In my previous post, I introduced you to the topic of poverty in Cambodia. I provided immense research and information of why it's such a prevalent problem in the country today. One such factor was the effects of wartime, and another one is because of the deteriorating quality of education present in the country. After conducting a bit more research, I found out that the rate of poverty fell by almost 30% in recent years. In 2004, it was a high as 50% in the nation, before dropping to an astonishing but still troubling 24% in 2014. If the data was conducted in 2018, I would predict that the poverty rate would be around 13% if the poverty rate fell by 3% each year. As stated in my other post, Cambodia is backed by money from foreign aid. In my new research, I found out that such countries include the United States, and China. It is said though that China only looks at the potential resources and business that the country can offer, rather than pouring money in for the sake of human rights and living conditions. Over 70% of the country with a population of 15 million is under the age of 30, which is staggering for a country infested with poverty.


Houses on stilts that are deployed along the river are common sights to see in these kinds of areas.

Image Credits


Also related to the new information I found while conducting new research, is that while poverty is mostly in the rural areas of Cambodia (such as the countrysides and so), it is also beginning to appear in urban areas as well. Cities like Phnom Penh (the capital of the country), or Siem Riep (home to Angkor Wat), are slowly starting to see poverty rates rise. In my opinion, this is especially alarming because these are big cities and you should see people going to work and having conversations about the weather, not people begging for spare change on the cobbled and musty streets of Phnom Penh. The last piece of information that I found is that more than 25% of all households are led by a single mother, due to the wars and strifes that have occured during the nation’s bloody history. Combined with the existence of poverty, and an high rate of uneducated unemployed women, they often have to turn to the sex industry, which is another yet unofficial source of income for the economy. Due to this, there are a lot of question marks to whether or not the government should do something about this.


This graph shows the comparison between people in poverty and people who’s on borderline poverty. As you can see, the rate of poor people decreased, but the rate of people who are endangered to becoming poor is astonishingly high in 2011.

Image Credits


For my original research, I conducted an interview with my father. I produced a total of 8 questions, all relating to my topic. There was a lot of reasons for interviewing him such as time, accessibility, language barrier, and etc. But the main reason was that he is a person familiar to the country, with him growing up there himself. He to me is considered someone who lived through poverty. From my interview, I learned many things about him that I did not know or I knew but very vaguely. For example, my first question asked about how it was like growing up for him, and he responded by describing the hardships he had to deal with growing up. One such example included him saying that he would have liked to go to school, but instead he had to focus on working in order to provide for his family. A similar pattern I saw in his responses is that he believes no jobs and the government not caring are the main reasons to why poverty is so prevalent in modern day Cambodia. This leads me to believe that in order to extricate the root of the problem, the government must listen to their people more and there needs to be more jobs with higher paying salaries. These are huge additions to the understanding of my issue and I believe that learning from a person who’s gone through the same things as people I’m researching is invaluable to my knowledge. My personal opinion on poverty has not changed due to the interview, but rather it has strengthened. My opinion is that poverty is a major issue, and if it's not fixed soon, then the future of Cambodia as a nation looks grim and bleak. With this interview, this just confirmed my opinion and there is nothing that can even remotely change it.

The Interview


Here is the person I interviewed, which is my father who is pictured alongside my mother.


This brings my Original Research post to a close. I hope you find the interview interesting as it takes you to a point of view that is told by a person who experienced poverty first hand. Now for my Agent of Change, I plan to send at least 10-15 care packages filled with various amenities and cash. Said various amenities could include, travel sized bottles of toothpaste, shampoo, or instant foods such as ramen noodles or other various instant foods. Monetary values could range from $10-15 dollars which may not seem like a lot, but one  U.S dollar is worth 4000 Cambodian riel and most items in Cambodia such as clothing and food can be worth from around 2000-300 riel, which is a huge bargain. These will be delivered to my lesser relatives in Cambodia who I hope will appreciate it. This plan is tentative for now, but this is just a general idea of what I am planning to achieve for my Agent of Change. Thanks and remember, you can make a big difference to save Kampuchea ( កម្ពុជា)!


Take a look at my annotated bibliography!


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Just a Loss of 30 Cents

Posted by Peter Keo in English 1 · Giknis · Y Band on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 6:23 pm
Just A Loss of 30 Cents a Day

Run down buildings in a once what was popular shopping district is now almost destitute-like.

Image Credits


For a country (or kingdom as it was previously called), that was once flourished with royalty and riches has now fallen to one of the most poorest countries in the world. Coming from a family who almost entirely immigrated from Cambodia, the country holds a special place in my heart and it was painful for me to see millions of people living under harsh conditions. This past summer, I myself visited the country for the 4th time in my life, and it was like day and night between America and Cambodia. My family members who live in Cambodia mostly classifies as middle class and I lived with them during my sojourn there. We often traveled and visited family members who were living in poverty in order to support them and give them some basic necessities. One day you’re in the middle of a rich and wealthy neighborhood, and the next you’re struggling to find a running faucet or toilet. It was an experience that I cannot describe having to witness firsthand of people without the normal amenities such as water or food. Some signs were scattered alongside an unmarked path which roughly translates to “DANGER: Landmines ahead. Use extreme caution.” I’ve read about thousands of landmines that are still armed from decades ago, so this did not surprise me at all.  As a child before, I didn’t really understand that much and paid no attention to what people’s social status because you know, children only see vacations as having fun! Now as a 15 year old, (14 at the time of the visit), it breaks my heart to see people live like this. My parents also told me that they had to live like this when they were little and lived in Cambodia. It just all felt surreal and hit a little too close to home.  


Daily, people wait alongside on the road in order to busses or pickup trucks to pick them up for work in a factory. Dozens of these trucks can be on the road at one time, and up to 50 people can be squeezed in on each one, often crowded.

Image Credits


Poverty in America is nothing compared to what poverty in Cambodia is like. Over 70% of the population is classified as “poor” or “near poor”. The situation is so dire that in fact if those people who are classified as “poor” or “near poor” just lost 30 cents from their daily income, then they would fall into extreme poverty. Education quality is one of the biggest reasons to why poverty exists in Cambodia. Even though private schools become more and more affordable, public schools just cannot keep up. In 2014 75% of Cambodia’s high schoolers failed their graduation exam due to inadequate teaching and funding. Another major factor was history of the country itself. It experienced a bloody massacre which killed most highly educated scholars and farmers. Once it ended, the country was left to rebuild but the only people remaining were either children or small-scale farmers. Today, the country relies on textile manufacturing and tourism as its main source of income,but even so, this is not enough to revive the economy on its own as these are two very weak compared to things such as fishing, technology manufacturing and the car industries that are present in big countries such as Australia, Japan and the United States.. There is also a source of income from foreign relief as in 2015, the country received a total of $677 million dollars from foreign aid. Compared to other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, Cambodia does not farewell in terms of employment and the economy itself. Let’s take a look at a poverty map for Cambodia.


Here we can see two maps, one being from 2009 and the other being from 2012. In 2009, almost 70 percent of the country was in the red area which means over 40 percent of households were identified as “poor”. In 2012, the situation improved, with over 45% of the country dropping from red to green, but a large portion of the country still remains in the red.

Image Credits


Now let’s take a look at a comparison bar graph.

Cambodia has the highest poverty rate at 30% with Singapore and Laos coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively. The lowest is Malaysia with just 3.8% of the population being in poverty.

Image Credits


Finally, let’s take a look at where Cambodia stands in education ratings.

Like I said before, education plays a big part in why Cambodia has a lot of poverty. As we can see, Cambodia is ranked 116 out of 146, which is lower than average.  Compared to other SE Asia countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, they just do not fare well with them.

Image Credits


Every day that passes by, that could be tens, hundreds, even thousands of people suffering from the effects of poverty. A staggering 37 percent of all children under the age of 5 suffer from some form of malnutrition. The main question we are looking for here is: Can we save Cambodia from poverty? The answer is yes and no. We can support from relief aids and taking down corruption, but we are only so limited in our power to end poverty in Cambodia. That is up to the government and its people to change themselves. No one deserves to live like this. The government has turned a blind eye to its people, and that is a dangerous place to live in. Extirpating the cause of the problem will help, but won’t solve it completely.


Even in their dark situations, Khmer children always finds a way to smile. One reason I can think of this is because maybe they were taught that everything will be fine or to just be happy. Either way, you can’t just help but smile looking at them.

Image Credits


Ever since I embarked on to that trip, it opened my eyes wider than before and burned the issue into my mind from then to now. It will always be a shadow in my vision until the day that it’s fixed. I plan to be a helping hand in the issue. For me, this IS my community. My international community of Cambodia. Educating others about this issue is something that I hope to accomplish by writing this, and I believe they will have a change in their way of thinking towards Cambodia after this. I am confident that the moment you finish reading this, you are going to do a Google search of Cambodia and learn about its history, photos, and the amazing landscape that it has to offer. Please, help save Kampuchea ( កម្ពុជា)!


Annotated Bibliography


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Makubesu: The Unforgiven

Posted by Peter Keo in English 1 · Giknis · Y Band on Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 9:44 pm
​Editor’s Notes -
Welcome to our project! Hi, Peter here. I am one of the creative directors for this project and I just wanted to say it’s been a blast recreating the entire Macbeth universe into the country of Japan . Me, Lucas, and Eden have worked hard to produce a product where people of all ages could effectively understand and enjoy the play. We rewrote the entire play to reflect today’s modern English language and changed the settings and names to a Japanese inspired theme/era. We decided to make these changes in order to improve the overall pace of the play and to remove any lines that we felt are unnecessary or dragging on too long. One example of this was Act 4, Scene 3 which is the longest scene in the play and was our biggest challenge. There was a lot of lines but ultimately we got it completed by taking the main focus of the play and rewriting it into our own words.
One major change I would like to point out is our omitting of Act 3, Scene 4 as we felt like it was not relevant to the original storyline and we wouldn’t be bothered to put it in our rendition of Macbeth. We also tried to shorten the story so it’s pace is well rounded (and for our own sakes…) The overall story is the same with Macbeth (or Makubesu), receiving prophecies, killing Duncan, becoming Emperor...well you’ve read Macbeth before. Anyways, after a lot of time, researching, planning, grinding, and a couple of energy drinks, I hope you enjoy our rendition of Macbeth dubbed "Makubesu: The Unforgiven". The Team: Peter "PSwizzle" Keo Lucas (Ezekiel) Capitolo Eden Hershey

Makubesu: The Unforgiven
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18gyq5BEIcQRQbSFTVoeJfWzH9lO1WR5CqRW4EjMNpIQ/edit?usp=sharing

Full Complete List of Each Character/Story Changes
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1503ZysOoG_6of8FhxNETQA6uJf4xZSEaolzpmxFWs9Q/edit?usp=sharing
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SLA Promo Video - Peter, Dougie, Karima, Cameryn

Posted by Peter Keo in Spanish 1 · Hernandez · C Band on Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 8:12 am
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Peter Keo - Media Fluency Remix

Posted by Peter Keo in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 1:18 pm
Slide (1)

I knew from the start that my slide was not going to be perfect, but I was prepare to handle any critique that was thrown at me. While I was presenting to my small group, the critique that everyone gave was constructive and resourceful. From their critique, I learned that everything could not be interpreted the way you want it to be. For example, in my slide I put a feather and ink as a symbol my for passion of writing, but Doug suggested that people may not what it means or what it is in the first place. I also received criticism for my placement of arrows, pointing out that I was taking away emphasis from one part and focusing it all on another and instead suggesting of balancing the ensemble of visuals correctly by connecting them. Finally, Jacob P. pointed out that my video game controller lacked depth and felt like it was “not up to par” and suggested I use a more modern representation of the video game controller. His final comment was that the color scheme threw off the balance of the slide and created discord.

In my reworked slide, I made those changes so the finished product will look more urbane and polished than the first time around. Instead of a feather and ink, I replaced it with a fountain pen writing some words so it could be interpreted as symbolism for writing. I also changed the arrows completely; instead of having a circle of arrows focus on the baseball I connected the “Choose Your Game” visual to the baseball just by using one arrow, which shows that they are connected in a way. The one arrow also makes it superior to the previous arrows, because that way there is less clutter on the slide to open up more room for empty space.

The research I did helped me create a better slide, by introducing me to terms I’ve never heard of before. Things of rule of third and empty space creates a visually appealing slide that reduces the amount of things that your eye has to see, allowing the information being processed to be quicker and faster. Previous elements such as texture, color, and lines that I had a basic understanding of before, I became more advanced in those specific areas. Not only this research allowed me to efficiently finish the project, it will also allow me to create future presentations that will be aesthetically pleasing. Finally, I’ve learned that I should keep it simple and not to overkill the design. In fact, while researching I found my new favorite quote that is a homage to what my design is like; “Simplicity is complexity resolved.”  Various resources across the web were helpful in the creating of this slide. Some resources included Presentation Zen, pictures of IKEA advertisements, and various videos on Youtube.


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Peter Keo - Media Fluency

Posted by Peter Keo in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on Monday, November 20, 2017 at 7:17 pm
Slide

My slide here today is part of me on a screen. This slide was designed using many techniques employed by Presentation Zen and various resources all across the world wide web. For example, if you see the contrasting colors inside the text, blue and orange go tremendously well together. I then made sure to include a lot of empty space so the visual aids and text would have a more profound effect on the viewer. Also, if you notice I used a drop shadow for the text and a reflection for the scroll behind it, making it appear like it’s reflecting from the ground. As for the actual visual, I used blue arrows around it signify that it’s pointing to the video game logo controller and the pen and feather, which stands for my love for writing. My goal for the text was 20 letters/numbers or less so you wouldn’t have to read that much.

I chose my way to design this slide because the baseball, video game, and pen and feather all represents 3 of my hobbies. I love to play baseball, play video games, and I am a passionate writer.


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Home Network - Peter Keo

Posted by Peter Keo in Technology - Freshman · Hull · e1 Band on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 9:02 am
​1. My LAN is comprised of a coaxial cable connected to a  modem and router combo with my ISP being Verizon Fios. Most of the devices I use are wireless with the only hard-wired devices being my desktop and the Canon Fax and Copy Machine. Some of the wireless technology used in my home is a PS4, a printer, and various phones.
2. I learned a lot while taking on this unit. The thing that was most interesting to me was how fiber optic works and how it is performed; with the light bouncing off at a very fast speed is really astonishing. 
3. When having a home network, and you own either a desktop or a printer, it's important to hard wire them through an ethernet cable to take advantage of the gigabit per second it travels through. Also, opt for a router instead of a switch as routers are much faster. 
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