Energy and Place
Project Reflection:
This project in humanities was about writing on our sense of place; some place that we hold deep in our hearts. Leading up to this project we studied a lot about conservationism, preservationism, and other types of environemtal ethics through articles and videos to help develop our ideas for this. We also studied a lot about different types of energy and what effects it has on the environment. We did a lot of research, reading articles, and listening to guest speakers in the area. Through different perspectives of people's environmental ethics in articles and through verbal words, we were able to create our own environmental ethic and write an autobiographical creative non-fiction writing piece.
The peer critique day really helped me improve my essay. My group seemed to really like the sensory details I gave in the beginning of the story, and like how alive I made the setting feel. They told me to try and improve the part of my story where I talk about climbing and triggering my inner animal and soul. They wanted me to elaborate more on why I love that feeling, and to dive deeper in that area. They were also a little confused on my environmental ethic since the sensory details almost drew the reader away from the main purpose of the essay. So, I went back and included examples of past experience that I don't want to happen to beautiful environments in the world, and what we can do to prevent it from happening.
Personally, it was easy to come up with the idea of writing about the beauty of Indian Creek. First of all, I am a very passionate person for the outdoors and climbing. Also, last semester I was traveling abroad with the Alzar School. At the end of the semester, we had to plan out a CLP (culminating leadership project). Through this planning I thought a lot about what I cared about in the community; preserving climbing areas. Even though, this was a while ago, I still think about it a lot which includes my environmental ethic. Therefore, thinking about what to write on for this essay was quite easy and fun to write about! I enjoyed this project a lot, and it gave us the opportunity to really explore who we are, what we care about and how we can make a change.
This project in humanities was about writing on our sense of place; some place that we hold deep in our hearts. Leading up to this project we studied a lot about conservationism, preservationism, and other types of environemtal ethics through articles and videos to help develop our ideas for this. We also studied a lot about different types of energy and what effects it has on the environment. We did a lot of research, reading articles, and listening to guest speakers in the area. Through different perspectives of people's environmental ethics in articles and through verbal words, we were able to create our own environmental ethic and write an autobiographical creative non-fiction writing piece.
The peer critique day really helped me improve my essay. My group seemed to really like the sensory details I gave in the beginning of the story, and like how alive I made the setting feel. They told me to try and improve the part of my story where I talk about climbing and triggering my inner animal and soul. They wanted me to elaborate more on why I love that feeling, and to dive deeper in that area. They were also a little confused on my environmental ethic since the sensory details almost drew the reader away from the main purpose of the essay. So, I went back and included examples of past experience that I don't want to happen to beautiful environments in the world, and what we can do to prevent it from happening.
Personally, it was easy to come up with the idea of writing about the beauty of Indian Creek. First of all, I am a very passionate person for the outdoors and climbing. Also, last semester I was traveling abroad with the Alzar School. At the end of the semester, we had to plan out a CLP (culminating leadership project). Through this planning I thought a lot about what I cared about in the community; preserving climbing areas. Even though, this was a while ago, I still think about it a lot which includes my environmental ethic. Therefore, thinking about what to write on for this essay was quite easy and fun to write about! I enjoyed this project a lot, and it gave us the opportunity to really explore who we are, what we care about and how we can make a change.
Rough Draft
Final Draft
Happiness and Meaning Project
Essential Questions:
- What is the purpose of your existence?
- What is happiness and what makes you happy?
- What does it mean to live a meaningful life?
- To what extent can literature shape your personal philosophy on happiness and meaning?
Project Description:
Visual Piece:
Reflection:
I really enjoyed this project and it was a great way to start off my second semester of humanities returning from a semester abroad school. This project made me explore myself more in depth and create a better definition for what makes my life happy and meaningful. It was great reading books, texts and listening to several podcasts, ted talks and other films to understand many different perspectives on life. After absorbing all of this information in my head, I was able to create my personal philosophy on what makes a life worth living. To summarize my personal philosophy (below), I had said that my opinion on a life worth living is a simple life. It is a life where one can enjoy lvingin in the present and not focused or worried on the past or future. A life worth living is a life full of adventure, getting outside, and moving! I learn to appreciate what I have by enjoying what was given to us. So I encourage everyone out there to enjoy nature, get outside more, go for a hike, go for a ride, ski, climb, etc. This is what makes me passionate about living my life, and what gives my life meaning. If we learn to be grateful for everything we have, even in times of desperation or troubles, we can live more pure lives, ultimately becoming more happy.
Further Questions:
Further Questions:
- Will I ever encounter an existential crisis in my life?
- Will my personal philosophy on life change?
- Is my love for the outdoors ever going to fade away?
- At what point to I need to put aside thinking to much about my future and/or past?