Whether it’s a friendly nickname that people may have for someone or an insult to describe people they hate the most, nicknames can have a lasting  effect on the person. Majority of the time when people have nicknames each other it signifies a close bond between the individuals. As oppose to insults which obviously indicates a strain of tension between them. Sometimes nicknames aren’t even accepted. In some cases names are given to people based on their physical appearances 0r personal issues that they deal with. Nicknames become harmful when The victim in the situation never addresses the issue and it eventually becomes what they are known as.  

In Chapter 1 of “ Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, Ralph and Piggy have just encountered each other on a deserted island and Piggy who is a rather heavy boy shares  personal experiences of being teased with Ralph. “Ralph was faintly interested. ‘What was that?’. The fat boy glanced over his shoulder, and then leaned toward Ralph. He whispered. ‘They used to call me ‘Piggy’’”-Pg. 11. In this quote Piggy is explaining to Ralph what he used to be called back at his school. Because of his size and weight the name was Piggy. Although he has shared this with Ralph he just wants it to be between the two of them. Furthermore in the story Ralph and Piggy find a conch (a fancy seashell) on the beach. They blow through the conch to alert anyone else who may be on the island. After a numerous amount of  attempts other boys their age slowly start to show up. These boys along with Ralph and Piggy begin to assist each other in surviving on the island. As the boys are introducing themselves to each other Ralph accidentally tells the others Piggy’s name. Piggy is extremely outraged and goes off on Ralph.

This situation connects to many more in today’s society. For example the nicknames that people have made for the infamous president of the United States. According Billboard Names such as Cheeto, Agent Orange, and The Angry Creamsicle all come at his short temperance, insanity, and orange hair. Does he deserve to be called these names? Very likely, but regardless of what the person has done bullying or assault shouldn’t be the only the option.

Works Cited (MLA format)

1. Golding, William. Lord of the Flies . New York: Penguin, 2006.

2. “Donald Trump Is a 'Desperate Cheeto' in Hilariouus 'Despacito' Parody.” Billboard, www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/7997614/donald-trump-desperate-cheeto-despacito-parody-video.

It was a Wednesday morning of Summer 2013. I was extremely tired, yet at the same time I was quite excited. I wasn’t exactly ready for it but I knew that this would be one of the most important days of my life. I rolled out of bed while listening to my “daily morning song”. The aggravating blare of my Timex alarm clock made me roll out of bed and stumble to turn it off. I took a glance at my blurred window. I went into the bathroom to wash up. I came back in my room and put on my Speedos, then my fitted, but slightly loose trunks.

We pulled up to Lee Cultural Center, park, and pool. I had been here many times before but this time it felt very distinct. As I got out of the “soon to be gone” Toyota Sienna my parents finally released the butterflies in my stomach and said bye.

I walked inside the building and my coach, Boston walked past me.

“You ready for today Tim!?”

“You know it!” I yelled back, not exactly knowing if i was or not.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he replied as he hopped over the 3-foot tall wall and entered his makeshift office.

I walked right through the locker room. It felt strange walking through there and not having to change my clothes. I came out on the other side staring at a gate that opened up to the pool. For some reason everything felt new...like I had never been there a day in my life. I kept walking until I reached the pool deck. I took my purple towel out of my bag and spread it on the ground. I wasn’t the only there. Most of my teammates were also there. Amina, Isaiah, Trey, Tryce and Romeo pretty much all towered me as we began with our stretches. Today we did two sets of ten of everything, including burpees, push ups, curls, and leg stretches. After we finished we all slowly walked towards the gate and threw out the lane lines. One after another we all jumped into the freezing cold water. By the time I was in the middle of my third lane line the butterflies came back. I got back out of the pool and got my swim equipment including a kickboard, a pair of webbed swimming gloves, and a pull buoy.

As soon as I got back in the pool Boston was already standing over us on the deck, telling us what drills we were doing today.

“10 kicks, 10 pulls, put it together, then do it all again with you second and third stroke.” Boston told us while trying to keep a moderate temper.

Now, that may sound like a lot to you but we all looked up to him and sighed in relief. That was less than half of what we normally do. We immediately got to work.

After two more hours of drills, swim practice was finally...half way over. We all swam to the opposite side of the pool and unhooked the lane lines. Afterwards my teammates and I got out and put our clothes over our swimwear. We all were hungry but the food that they were giving the camp wasn’t exactly the best thing for us to eat...especially not after swimming over 1,000 meters. We all went to the corner store across the street. We tried to get as much as possible but at the same time keep it somewhat healthy.

When we returned we ate our food and it was pretty much time to get back in the pool.

Today was the day of my first swim meet. I wasn’t really worried. According to my coach I didn’t have much to worry about, the competition that we were going up against wasn’t any real threat.

We changed back into our swimwear, jumped in the pool, hooked up the lane lines and started up our drills again.

We got it over and done with within a matter of minutes. When we finished warming up we all got out and put our equipment away. We all grabbed our bags and towels and went to our spots for the race. We were up against a gate. The way it was set up we had the best view on the pool deck. We were able to see everyone in all of the lanes and whether they won or lost their heat they had to walk past us as if they needed our approval. It felt good to know that half of the other kids there were scared out of their mind, that gave me even more confidence.

I was in the first group of boys to start. I thought that I would start shaking as I walked up to my lane. I was nervous, but not because of the people I was racing, it was because of the people who were watching. The captain of my team was behind me. He told me that all of the other kids here couldn’t even swim half of the pool. After that, I was no more good. A massive jolt of energy and tenacity ran through me. I was officially ready.

As I entered the pool there was nothing that could stop me now. I felt like a horse with blinders.

“Swimmers, on your marks…” the man over the PA system said.

“Get set,.....”

“EEEEEOOOOOOOHHHHHHHNNNN!!!!” the air horn sounded.

I was off. Everything that I ever learned kept circulating in my head. And I promise you, that was the longest minute of my life.

I felt my hand touch the wall and I was eager to get out of the water. My timer told me time. I didn’t know what it meant at the time, but I do now. One minute and twenty six seconds.

I walked back to where my team was, looking confused and at the same time anxious. My teammates were so hype. They told me that I had dusted everyone in my heat.

A year later the preparation was the same but the whole race went totally different. I didn’t even place in my freestyle heat. I also didn’t place in my backstroke heat. That was one of the most upsetting days of my life. I had really tried hard that year too. I knew that I had disappointed my coach, even though he never told me directly. My teammates didn’t know what to say, so they said nothing.

I told my dad that I wanted to quit swimming. He told me that he wasn’t going to let that happen. Instead, he gave me a break, considering how upset I was. He signed me up for a tennis camp that following year. I kinda missed swimming but at the same time it felt good to start something new.

After that year was up, my dad told me that I was going to go back to the swim team/camp. I told him that I didn’t want to go back. He said that he at least wanted me to think about it first. About a week before the camp started I got a letter from the swim camp, asking me to come back. I knew that I would go back to the team. I couldn’t let down my team especially not this time, considering that it would be my second to last year there.

I followed the same exact procedure that morning. Tre, Tryce, Isaiah, and Romeo had all left. There was just me, Aminah, a new kid named Elijah, and one of the swimmers who was top of his division in the younger class two years ago. His name was Vincent. He was only about 10 years old.

The training wasn’t anything difficult for him. I feel like he was used to all of the hard work because there was more expected of him. I never knew how fast he really was. Apparently he had to be pretty dang fast to be moved up a whole division at 10 years old. Now was his time to show off.

My coach introduced us to him. He seemed really confident in himself and his capability, which was a great addition to our team. Other than Aminah, and I the rest of the team was really lifeless and doubtful. That’s not ever good for a team. Not only do you lessen the chances of your potential but sometimes you create dispute for your teammates.

After he introduced himself, and we finished warm ups, we all waited for the other teams to show up. We all took our places on the bench. I watched all of the other races. I tried to trace any patterns and see what made me lose last year. The races were interesting even though still, all of my teammates won all of their heats. It wasn’t until they called my group that my stomach started to clench up.

I started walking to the deck, and I jumped in the water at my lane. This tyme before I took my mark I noticed some of my family on the sidelines. That gave me a “jolt of confidence”. I knew, once I took my mark that I would do good.

“Get set!”

The air horn went off again. I immediately dove under the water. The surge that I felt this time was unlike anything that I’ve ever felt before. I felt like nothing could stop. What I felt was true.  I had beat all of my opponents by almost half the pool. I felt so excited that I don’t even remember what my time was for the event!

After getting my medal for that race I never treated the sport of swimming the same. Even to this day when I look at it, I think about where I would be if I would have given up and not raced. I think about how much it hurt to still go on even when I didn’t feel like it. It’s a life lesson that I will never forget.

If you’ve been following my project you would know that I am studying and learning about Masculinity and Self-Esteem. In my studies, I have discovered in my first study Masculinity is “The possession of qualities, traditionally associated with men.”  The only problem with this is that people of the world today take this meaning way too far and just use it as almost an emotional weapon. They take what these “possessions of a man” are supposed to have and apply them to every male that they encounter. If the person that they meet does not have these possessions or live up to the expectation they are immediately judged and set as an outcast towards the rest of a group or society.

For my second part of research I did a survey with a series of questions that asked people’s opinions on Gender Roles today.

The things that people are doing nowadays are helpful but few. They advise and plan trips for people with disorders as such, involving Low Self-Esteem. There are also organizations such as Good Therapy who do Psychotherapy for people with these type of issues. Like I said, the ways that they are using to help establish change are ways that will surely help but there are some problems with them. First of all, in my opinion, I think there should way more ideas that people should have came up with by now to help people. Secondly, What if there are people who can not afford things such as Therapy and vacations? Will there be a way to help them for free?

Being only, a freshman at SLA there wasn’t much that I could do like planning vacations or having Therapists. So, I did what I thought would be best. I made posters somewhat like flyers and posted them around my community and my school. On them there were quotes about gender roles and confidence, along with words of encouragement. The posters also allowed the people who saw them to write questions and comments on them. This idea originally came from me seeing something like it around the school but they all promoted their own causes and clubs. So, I thought that if they could do it, why couldn’t I? Although it was a really late decision it was pretty easy to create these posters. Thanks to Canva. To be honest, the experience wasn’t really that exciting. Although, I did get some friends to help me put up the posters where I thought they would serve their purpose best. The effect of change was half good, half okay turn out. The posters that were posted at my school didn’t get quite the reaction that I was expecting. I think that may have been part of my mistake on where I put them. Considering that the stairwell and fifth floor aren’t exactly the most used areas of the school. But when it came to outside the school, my flyers seemed to be good help to people around the neighborhood. Although, some people who told me in person that they saw my posters said that they didn’t feel comfortable with sharing their feelings and opinions.

With this combined with all the other work and projects that I had to have done all at the same time it was extremely stressful for me when doing this project. I learned something about myself, which is that, when it comes to helping the people I care about and love I usually don’t let my emotions get to me. There were many times that I almost gave up on this whole thing, but then, I remembered the people I was doing this for and that this should be about more than just a grade and that’s it. I also learned that not everything isn’t going to just come along right away, You always have to be willing to be patient and wait for a success to be fulfilled. The one thing that I could’ve done way better was having management over my time. It took me way too long to get this done and I was not putting things that mattered the most first and kept putting other things on the backburner.

To see all of my resources and sites I used check out my Annotated Bibliography here.

Some facts about the history of Printmaking are that printmaking originated in China after paper was invented around AD 105, then Relief printmaking appeared in Europe in the 15th century. This was the same time that papermaking was imported from the East.

Here are some facts about the invention of Printmaking.They enabled Chinese scholars to study their scriptures, the classic texts and accompanying holy images were carved into large, flat stone slabs. After lines were cut into the stone, damp paper was pressed and molded on the surface, so that the paper was held in the incised lines. This technique was the foundation of printing. The development of printing continued with the spread of Buddhism from India to China; images and text were printed on paper from a single block.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/185492078375533317/

           Masculinity and

Self-esteem

Blog Post #1:

Have you ever heard the phrases “Take it like a man” or “Real men don’t cry” or have you ever been told that for someone to like a man he has to be wealthy, physically fit , good looking or highly intelligent? Well if so, whoever told you was most likely misguided or even blinded by these deceptive morals.

My topic that I am studying Masculinity and Self-Esteem, in a way expose the truth behind these theorems. I would like to try and decrease the amount of low self-esteem in at least the freshman class at SLA. I want to do a poll for the current freshmen, that asks if they have any self-esteem complication, and if so what is the reason for it.

I am really interested in this topic because of personal experience that I have had with it. My personal connection is that when I was younger people always told me things that made me good...in their eyes. The false rumor that “Real men don’t cry”, I believe is extremely misleading. I think this because people always told me not to cry when I had to experience burdensome events. For an example, all of my grandparents passed away within a span of 3 months. Every time I thought of them I would always want to just cry. A lot of times people would tell me that I shouldn’t cry and that I should “take it like a man”. So, without knowing any better that’s what I did.

When I look back at it now, I realize that the longer I held it in the more independent, lonely, and even self-conscious I became. These emotions affected me big time because they were starting to show in my grades. I began to think that I wasn’t good enough for school or even life.

I think that it is important to know my story and how this relates to me because it shows how things that are natural in life can really affect you emotionally. And those emotional effects can be displayed physically.

This dilemma is significant because this is an issue that is widely spread across the world but, not many people are doing anything to solve it. This is also an important issue because if an individual lets the emotions that they get from this issue get the better of them a lot of the times it leads to suicide or suicidal thoughts. It’s not only good for people who struggle with this to know about it but it’s good for everyone to know about it. It is important for others to know about it because often times the thoughts of not being good enough randomly cross through everyone’s minds and it’s better to recognize it now than to have the thoughts and not know what to do about it.

This topic has really affected me because I always thought about self-esteem being an issue but I never thought about where it might have came from or why it was such an alerting issue. I just would like to know why boys and men always judge someone and or themselves based on their outward appearance and why they start doing it at such a young age.

Intro:This telenovela is about Domínico (played by the witty Tim) who has been an unfulfilling and lazy boyfriend of Veronica (played by Mayah). Veronica is tired of it! Watch as she meets (and cheats) with the adventurous Cecilia (played by the stunning Odilia). Will he find out that she has been unfaithful? Watch as the drama unfolds!

Personajes

Timothy Williams como Domínico

Odillia como Cecilia

Mayah Gold como Veronica

Technology is a huge part of my life from my phone even when it comes to my laptop. Some of the thing that influenced the things in this slide were the most important things in my life.These things also have to do with some of the most important accomplishments in my life.

Swimming has been really important to me for the past six years. I have won 3 of my 4 meets. And it just so happened that my coach was a lifeguard coach also. Therefore this coming February, I get to take the lifeguard test. This will be a great accomplishment for me, for the future.

My dad can be really strict...like, a lot.  It took a long time but I feel that I have been able to build a really strong relationship with him. Although he constantly annoys me, I still answer to him and love him as my dad. I honestly don’t know where I would be if it wasn’t for who my dad is. He’s always been there for me in my life even in “bad times”.

Last, but especially not least, comedy has been a huge part of my life. It has opened lots of doors for me. Making people in general is just another passion for me. Although, people don’t understand my jokes (half of the time they just don’t want to admit that I’m funny) I still try to make people laugh because, it’s what I love.

I didn’t really learn much from this project, because of other media fluency classes that I have taken similar to this. Yet, something that I did learn, is getting inspiration from thing as simple as store signs. I learned about some of the things that make a sign intriguing. Things like typefaces, colors, fonts, sizes, and even grammar and wording. The way that all of these things look affect the way that someone interprets your presentation.