HSI

Last Day. HSI. Self Reflection

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I feel really upset that my HSI experience is almost over. I never thought I would so sad about leaving. The first week dragged on and I thought it was going to last forever. After that it flew by. I cant believe that these three weeks are coming to an end. The part that makes me the most upset is thinking that I will never be able to participate in this camp again. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I have so many favorite memories here its hard to describe them all. One of my favorite memories was ordering pizza with Hannah and Emily. We sat in their room, listened to music, talked and just ate pizza. Another one of my favorite memories was the field trip to the Snowy Range Mountains. It was so beautiful up there. Plus we had the coolest PC drive us. Jose was singing with us, and listening to music with us the whole drive up there.

This whole experience here at HSI has made me appreciate the simple things in life. The little things that everyone takes advantage of. I’m also going to miss my team. We all have become so close. HSI has by far been the greatest experience of my life. I’ve learned to become more outgoing, independent and how to just live in the moment. Last night was our last seminar and that was very sad. I really liked my seminar leader. His name was Robert. We wrote letters to ourselves and turned them into him. In a year he is going to mail those letters to us and I think that is neat. I really appreciate that.

When I get home my head is going to be spinning with all the stories I have to tell from HSI. So  much happened in these 3 weeks it will be hard to talk about. Also, it will make me miss everything and ill probably start crying. I made a lot of new friends and I hope we stay in touch for a long time. It makes me sad right now thinking about how today is my last day I will ever be in this class. I’ve learned so much in this class. It really opened my eyes to a lot of topics that I’ve never thought about. For example, the news. I have no idea what is going on around the world today because I never watch or listen to the news. I’m going to miss my teacher Kristen too. She is one of the most down to earth teachers I’ve ever had.

I’m also going to miss my other teacher Meg. This is her first year teaching and I hope she does it again next year because I know everyone will love her as much as we did.  That class interests me because we talk about a lot of things that I’ve been questioning the last year. Like sleep disorders and lucid dreaming. We got to take a fieldtrip to a ladies house that has a studio in her house. We meditated and learned about meditation. It was such a good experience!

Tonight is going to be an emotional night. It’s going to be a lot of fun but on the inside everyone knows it our last night together. I will cherish these past three weeks for the rest of my life.

Day 10. HSI. Digital Media & Multitasking

I personally think that I don’t multitask that much at school. Some teachers do allow multitasking such as being on the computers or being on your phone. Once in a while I will get on my phone or the computer but I never do it while my teachers are lecturing. So its not even multitasking. I think its very disrespectful to multitask while your teacher is trying to teach, so I normally don’t. If we have to take notes while a teacher is lecturing I would much rather take notes with a pencil and paper then on the computer because I don’t want to get distracted with being on the computer.

Outside of school is a different story though. I multitask as much as possible. I multitask when I do homework or study because I will listen to music and occasionally surf the internet. When I do my chores I am texting on my phone and listening to music. I multitask with the simple daily things. Personally, I know I’m not that good at multitasking for the fact that I get distracted very easily.

Day 8. HSI. Youth Directed TV Programming

A mook is a male that is stuck in adolescence but every male still wants to be. A midriff is the female version of a mook, but instead of being stuck in adolescence they are very over sexualized for their age. This were the people that every teenager wanted to be 13 years ago. I think both mooks and midriffs are both relevant today, just in a different way. You can find them both on social media outlets today such as vine and Instagram. These people are now reflections of society because this is what teenagers portray to be. I completely agree that midriffs still are relevant today because they represent a teenage girl that is way to grown up for her age. It is a perfect example on todays society of teenage girls because everyone is trying to grow up way too fast. You see twelve year olds wearing makeup and spending all of their time worrying about how many likes they get on social media. You see thirteen year old girls getting pregnant. I think that if social media outlets were different maybe girls wouldn’t feel pressured to grow up so quickly.

Day 7. HSI. Media Consumerism

Watching the video “Generation Like” really opened my eyes to what was going on behind the computer screens and made me focus on the people running all of these websites, programs and even people that are famous on social media. I never thought about who was running all of these websites and how they made money off of it. I always questioned if people who were famous on youtube actually made money. Now I know that these famous people on social media go through so much just to get where they are, and its crazy to even think about.

I understand that these companies have to make their money by advertising but at the same time I feel as if these famous people on social media are almost manipulating the person watching these people. For example, when a teenager follows someone they like on Instagram its usually someone they look up to or someone they aspire to be. When the famous person is advertising a product and telling everyone to go get it, of course the teenager is going to go get it.

Day 6. HSI. Media and Body Image

Today’s society has a very unrealistic expectation of both men and women. They say that women should be tall, very tall. And at the same time have no fat on their bodies. With men its very similar. Society expects men to be tall and muscular, without having fat on their bodies as well. This is causing problems with people all over the world. They have these unrealistic expectations they see on how they should look. Some people are willing to do anything in order to achieve these goals.

It makes me sad thinking that people aren’t happy with the way they look because they think they need to look like the people on the magazine covers. What people don’t think about is that most of these people are photo shopped. For example, when a women looks at a magazine cover she sees a beautiful women that is flawless. What she doesn’t think about is that this lady probably looks like the average person and is being photo shopped into this unrealistic perfect woman.

Media images affect not only men and women, but also children. When little girls are simply playing with a Barbie they are already being exposed to what society expects them to realize. When a boy opens a sports magazine he may see body builders and think that’s what he wants to look like when he’s older. This is wrong because children shouldn’t have to be growing up already thinking about how they want to look. They should be happy with who they are and not have to worry about working to look a certain way.

Not only does the media expect you to look a certain way, but the average person now has expectations on people. When a person see’s these perfect people on billboards and magazines they begin to develop unrealistic expectations of normal people. For example, men are always comparing women to the models and that is something that is not fair at all. But at the same time women are comparing the average male to a body builder or professional athlete.

I think people in general need to become aware of what is going on with body imaging and media. Then maybe people will be happy with themselves and wont have these unrealistic expectations of others or themselves.

 

Day 4. HSI. Book Banning

In the book “and tango makes three” two male penguins become a couple and end up raising a baby penguin. It seems as if there is a lot of controversy over this book because it involves homosexuality in a children’s book. I see both sides with these opinions. I think children do need to be exposed to these issues in today’s society but it just depends on how early. When it comes to these topics involving homosexuality most kids probably don’t even understand what is going on and they simply question why there is two fathers and no mother. Sooner or later they will learn what this all means but I think it would be better if it was later. Then as they grow older and they actually understand they can develop their own opinions on the topic.

Book banning to me is not right. I think that its a personal and family decision on whether or not a child can be exposed to a certain book. When there are books that contain information that is questionable I think the school should just make children get parent permission to read the book. Instead of banning the book from the whole school entirely. Everyone has a different opinion and maybe some parents want their children being exposed to the topics in todays society. If a parent doesn’t want their kid to know about these controversial issues yet the parent can just simply not give permission to their child to read the book. Either way in todays age with all the technology nothing can technically be banned. Once it is out there for the world to know about people can find ways to access it. Although you may not be allowed to have something at school you can still access it.

Day 3. HSI. News and Entertainment Use

I did poorly on the current event news quiz. It makes me realize what society is coming to when every single teenager in my class knows that bruce jenner is changing genders but hardly anyone knows who is running in the 2016 presidential elections. When I look at my survey results on paper it really makes me think about how much I am on social media. I know that I am on my phone way too much but I feel as if that is what society is turning into. For example, a lot of people now a days are more worried about taking pictures of a moment rather then simply just living in the moment.

News to me is something that I hear about when I turn on my TV or open up my facebook. It is someone reporting daily activities that are happening all over the world. When I hear a news topic that I am curious about I normally just google it on my computer or phone. The only time I talk about the news is with my grandparents. They get the local newspaper every morning. Since they are both retired they do nothing but watch the news all day. So whenever I go visit then its an easy topic to talk about because they know a lot about what is going on in the news.

My favorite entertainment source is Netflix. I love Netflix because I can watch whatever movie or tv show whenever I want. I spend about at least an hour on Netflix every day. Usually at night when I want to watch a movie. At some point this past school year it affected my academic life because I would stay up late watching a tv series then I would be very tired the next day and it would be hard to wake up the next day. Then once my mom found out what was happening she told me I was only allowed to use Netflix during the weekends. That was fine with me because I knew I was staying up too late watching it, but I had good grades still so everything was okay. Over Christmas break I watched a whole tv series and I think I taught myself a lesson just in that. I will never do that again. Usually I get at least 2-3 hours of physical activities a day. So when I was watching Netflix all day I wasn’t getting the physical activity my body was use to and I felt so sick.

Day 2. HSI. Online Privacy

My online privacy compared to the vast majority of people interviewed is basically all the same. I am not too concerned about my privacy online, mostly for the fact that I don’t really post anything. Especially anything that people would be able to use against me. My parents don’t put any limits on my online identity. They trust me enough to know that I will make the right decisions. When I do post something that my mom doesn’t agree with she simply just tells me to delete it. My mom is really tech savy and she understands all the social media really well. So whenever I do post something she sees it right away and makes sure its appropriate. I think that people don’t think about the consequences when posting things. Once you post something on social media it stays with you the rest of your life. It may either make you or break you. That’s why when you start to think about going to college or getting a job you need to watch what you post. Because your online identity is a reflection on you. When colleges and jobs look at online identities I think its only fair that they are only going back two years on your profile. At the most. People easily change and I don’t think it’s fair if they are getting judged on something they did or said six years ago. They can be a completely new person and everyone deserves a chance!

Day 1. HSI

Although it’s only been a few days, I already feel like I’ve been here for at least a week. I wake up in the mornings and go lift. At night I go play basketball on the outdoor court with kyle. Which means I really don’t have a lot of down time. I showed up to HSI not really knowing what to expect. Honestly, when we got here I wanted my mom to bring me back home. Now I am glad I stayed. Just from these past two days I can already tell its going to be an unforgettable experience.