Is America Great Again?

This is the third and final unit of my Senior Humanities course Journalism. In this unit, Audio, we learn all about audio journalism. We listened to different podcasts and researched the voices of the century. This was an assignment where we had to pick a voice from each decade of the 20th century that represents what happened in that time period. We did similar assignments in units 1&2 with headlines and photos. I really liked this assignment. It was a cool way to experience audio from history. For our Field Experience this unit, we went to Roosevelt University to see a photography exhibit about immigrant detention centers. This FE would have lined up better with our photography unit, but there was audio in the exhibit. For this Action Project, we had to create a podcast profiling and iconic or influential voice. I had a hard time thinking of who to profile, but when I thought about influential voices I've been hearing lately, I thought about President Donald Trump. I thought it would be interesting to interview people in 2 different parties. I ended up interviewing 2 people with opposite viewpoints. One is generally right-leaning and the other left. As the narrator, I took a neutral viewpoint. I stated facts and did not give opinions. The impact of this podcast is in the interviews. It is interesting to see 2 different people's opinions on one person. The intended audience for this podcast is anyone with an interest in current politics. The podcast is from a neutral perspective so it is not intended for either party. I produced this podcast using my phone to record, and an online audio editor. I am happy with how it came out!

WHEN	WHO/HOW	WHAT
0:00 0:05 0:13 0:30 1:21 2:07 2:17 2:24 2:33 2:37 3:17 3:33 3:35 3:50 3:55 4:20 4:26 4:57 5:07 5:12	News Intro NBC News Anchor Donald Trump CM Donald Trump & Chief Justice John Roberts. CM CM Sharon CM Sharon DS CM Sharon CM DS CM Sharon CM Donald Trump News outro THE END	Breaking news intro plays Now to the race to the White House and after decades of publicly flirting with the idea, billionaire Donald Trump says he really is running for president this time around. Ladies and Gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States. And we are going to make our country great again. Donald Trump was born into a wealthy family in New York. His father was a successful real-estate developer. Trump worked in his father’s company for years. Trump attended Fordham University and later the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a degree in economics. Trump continued in his father’s footsteps taking over his father’s company. Trump is known in the television world as the host of the reality TV show “The Apprentice.” He is also known for hosting the popular “Ms. Universe” beauty pageant. Americans were divided in their opinions on Trump. His now-infamous “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan angered some and inspired others. When Donald Trump announced his presidency, Americans were divided. Donald Trump was the candidate of the Republican party competing against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Against most people’s assumptions, Trump won by a narrow margin on November 8, 2016. I, Donald John Trump solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States, so help me god. I wanted to know other American’s opinions on trump. Right now, I am sitting down with DS, a fellow senior, and Sharon, a humanities teacher at GCE Lab School. So, first of all, before we get to talking about Donald Trump's presidency, what did you think about Donald Trump before his election? I didn’t really have an opinion about him one way or the other. I saw his stupid television show, “The Apprentice,” and I just thought it was dumb. When you heard that Trump was running for president, did you ever think he would actually be elected? I did not think he would be elected because he is an idiot, and it was apparent if you ever watched the show. I didn’t think the American people would actually fall for this conjaw. He proclaimed that he is a great businessman, yet the man went broke running a casino. How hard is that to do? A casino is basically a license to print money and the man could not make that successful. He went bankrupt a number of times, and for him to say “I’m a great businessman,” it just didn’t resonate with me. So I think there was surprise amongst people. I personally did not think he was going to get elected, and I was surprised when he was. And then, of course, different people reacted in different ways. Some people were happy, some people were very distraught. How did you feel when he was elected? I was really sad. I cried. I thought about my partner and I moving to Canada because we felt it would be very very hard to live in an America run by Donald Trump. And it is. Do you think the divide between Americans is a good or a bad thing? I think it’s a bad thing, because I think what happens is people put themselves on the left or right and they’re swayed by what other people think in their group, rather than basing it off of their own ideas, and the more that happens, the more divided people become and then the ideas they are supporting aren’t even their own, and they don’t even fully support them sometimes. Final question. How do you think he has impacted America throughout his time as president, and in the future? I actually think one good thing he has done in all honesty is expose the racial divide that still exists in this country. A lot of people thought that after Barack Obama was elected that racism was over, that it had been solved. And the way he ran his campaign, the people he has put in office, and that he has prompted really shows that racism is alive and well. Now with the news of the impeachment hearings, we are yet to know the fate of Donald Trump’s presidency. No matter what happens, we can all agree that his presidency has made a lasting impact on America. We will make America great again! News outro plays

What Is The Meaning Of Life?

Welcome to the second unit of the senior humanities class "Journalism." In this unit, called "photography." we explored the photographic side of journalism. We spent a lot of time looking at influential photographs. We discussed how these photos influenced the public and how we take photos today. One of my favorite assignments was when we picked one photograph from each decade of the 20th century. I really enjoyed looking through photographs of the past century. It was interesting to see the historical events captured in influential photographs. For this unit's field experience, we went to Columbia College to sit in on an introductory journalism class. We were able to learn more about journalism while getting to see what a college class looks and feels like. We also participated in Chicago Ideas Week. For this action project, we had to interview someone about what they thought the meaning of life is. I had some trouble trying to figure out who I should interview, but I thought my sister would be a good candidate. I wanted to ask her about what the meaning of life is for a young teenage girl growing up in the era of social media. I interviewed her and then took a picture of her. I think she had some very interesting answers for such a young person.

“What is the meaning of life?” This question has been asked forever. Since the beginning of time, people have questioned their existence on this earth. Some cultures put it up to higher powers. We were put on this earth by something bigger than us. This is how religions and cultures are formed. We are constantly questioning why we are here. In this day and age, social media has become that god. Teenagers today are constantly being shown expectations online. This can be detrimental to a young person’s image of themselves. So to a young girl in today’s society, what is the meaning of life to them? How can they figure it out through all the expectations and pressure from society?

Meredith is a 14-year-old girl from Oak Park. She has mostly grown up in this area with her mother, father, and 18-year-old sister. This fall, Meredith started her freshman year at Oak Park-River Forest High School. She is an active teenager with lots of friends. Like most teenagers, Meredith spends most of her free time on her phone. Whether it be Instagram, where she posts selfies, Tick tock, where she dances, or Snapchat where she spends countless time snapping her friends. Of course, she spends time off of her phone. Meredith likes to do makeup and hair, and she figure skates at the local rink. In general, she is a very normal teenage girl.

One night, I sat down with Meredith at the kitchen table. She was excited to be interviewed. “I’m going to have some good answers,” she told me. I started with the big question. “What is the meaning of life? She sighed. Then she started to tell me. “Huh. This is kind of strange. I honestly think the meaning of life is just to try your hardest to be happy in whatever situation you’re in.” I asked her to elaborate. “The meaning of life isn’t to be rich or to be poor, or to be sad or happy. You can be rich and successful and still be sad. That is just as bad of a situation as being poor.” I liked the direction our conversation was going. She seemed to really be speaking from the heart.

I then changed the tone of the conversation. I asked her how she thinks social media influences teens in either a good or a bad way. I could see her really think about her answer. “In the way of happiness?” she asked. “Sure,” I said. “How do you think it influences people like you?” She took a deep breath. “I think it’s both negative and positive. I think it’s a spectrum. I personally am not influenced negatively, but I know that it can damage self-confidence. For me, social media is a way to connect with my friends who do make me happy.” I was intrigued by this comment. Today, there are so many articles and news stories on how social media is ruining our lives. I had never seen this perspective from a young girl. Social media keeps her connected with her friends. It’s not always a bad thing.

At this point, I wanted to ask her about herself. I wanted to know how her meaning of life affects her. She was now up and started cooking for herself. I continued to ask her questions. “How do you practice the values according to your definition of the meaning of life? I asked. She opened the fridge and paused. “It’s hard.” She said still facing away from me. “I’m not going to lie and say I’m happy 24/7. Some things that you don’t feel like doing are beneficial, but I try to take care of myself. Self-care matters. I try to remember that even if it’s just the tiniest thing. Even if it means being greedy, so be it! Buy yourself that thing you want, even just taking a bath or lighting a candle. Do it.”

Meredith is now at the stove, making rice for her dinner. I started to wrap up the conversation. I asked her a couple of final questions. “Has the meaning of life changed for you?” I asked. “Hmmm.” She pondered. “Well, when I was little I just wanted to be rich and famous, or a princess,” she said laughing. “But when you get older - I’m not even very old,” she added, “It becomes slightly different but more realistic. I still want to be successful, but not in the princess type of way” she laughed. I decided to wrap up the interview with one final question. “What version of yourself lies in your head?” She thought for a moment. “Not the best!” she exclaimed. I was surprised. She had seemed very confident in herself this whole time. “I guess it depends. Some days I wake up and am having a good day, and other days you're just not feeling it. There’s envy. That can strive from social media.” “What are you envious of?” I asked. “You see a lot of things. I can’t even think of an example. Everything from looks, to material items. It’s hard to see something you really want but can’t have.”

Our conversation was still going, and I decided to ask one more quick question. I asked her to describe a happy memory that correlated with her meaning of life. She immediately had an answer. “This summer in Bayfield. Just being able to go down to the dock on a sunny day and do whatever I want is so nice. It is really a place I feel happy and free.”

CM "Happiness" (2019)

We then went into her room to take some pictures. She sat down on her bed and I used my phone to take pictures. I wanted to capture the essence of her happiness, but it felt staged, so I took a picture of her smiling. We tried a few different angles. I decided on the angle from the bottom. It looked the best of all the pictures. For lighting, I used artificial lighting. Meredith has a ring light for her makeup, so I set it up behind the camera. We used the neutral light setting so she didn’t look too warm or cool in the moderately dark room. I crouched down under the ring light to take the photo. I used my iPhone. Aperture is the amount of light let through the lens. This affects how much exposure and depth are in the photograph. The lower the aperture, the higher the exposure and vice versa. This photograph has a lower aperture. This exposure is fairly high, and Meredith is in focus, while the background is out of focus. The shutter speed measures the length of time the sensor on the lens is exposed to light. For this picture, I used my iPhone. I have no way of telling what the shutter speed is. In general, the faster the shutter speed on a moving object, the blurrier it will be. Since Meredith was not moving, the shutter speed was probably in the middle. The rule of thirds is a rule of photography where the photo is divided into thirds both ways. The subject of the photo should be at the intersection of one of these lines. In this photo, the center of Meredith’s face is along one of the lines. To me, this photo is subjective. A subjective photo refers to a photo that captures how the photographer/subject sees the world. The photo of Meredith shows how happy she is both from my perspective, and her perspective.

I have another picture of Meredith that I think captures her meaning of life more than the picture I took of her. This picture was taken in Bayfield, on the dock that she described in the interview. This picture was taken by her friend one morning on the dock. She truly is happy in this picture, and according to Meredith, happiness is the meaning of life.

RG "Dock" (2019)

In conclusion, this was a challenging project. It's always more challenging when you are relying on another person. I really like the end product. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough content, but she had a lot to say! In the future, I would interview her before I started the project. I started writing before I actually interviewed her. It maybe would have made things go a little smoother. In the end, i am happy and proud of this project.

Landing a Cure for Cancer

Welcome to the first unit of Journalism, the first senior humanities course. In the first unit, we explored the news values. These values are impact, immediacy, prominence, proximity, and conflict. These represent the values of any news source. We looked at these values in specific examples from news articles from all different time periods. In my article, I specifically used the value of impact. I wrote about the impact of an event on the community. We went on a field experience to the Newton Wienberg Gallery to look at a photography exhibit. For this action project, we had to write our own article on a specific event or conflict. My best friend Lily, who I have skated with for a long time with was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. My skating rink put on a benefit to raise money for cancer research. I chose to write about this event as it was an important event for the community. I really liked this project and I am very proud of how it came out. 

Landing a Cure for Cancer

By: CM

In Oak Park, there is a dedicated group of figure skaters. This group practices diligently at Ridgeland Commons Ice Arena in Oak Park. In a sport as intense and strenuous as figure skating, people become close. The skaters at Ridgeland are like a family. Practicing, performing, and competing together. So when someone in the community needs support, people come together.

The flyer for the event.
Lily Scully "Flyer" (2019)

16-year-old Lily is an active participant at the rink and has been skating for many years. In March of 2019, Lily was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She had always known something was wrong. She has always been prone to sickness. She hadn’t been feeling right for over a year when she noticed the lump growing on her neck. “I just knew it was something,'' said Lily. She asked one of her fellow skaters who studies medicine what she should do. It was suggested that she see a specialist, who then made the diagnosis. When she broke the news to her fellow skaters, they knew they had to support her through her journey.

The thyroid is a small butterfly-shaped gland in the neck. The purpose of the thyroid is to regulate hormones. The 2 hormones produced by the thyroid are Triiodothyronine (T3) Thyroxine (T4). These hormones help regulate how the body uses its energy. According to the Thyroid Cancer Survivors Association, there are 15.4 cases per million adolescents ages 15-19. Females are slightly more at risk for thyroid cancer. Lily had to undergo a thyroidectomy where her entire thyroid was surgically removed, as well as radiation therapy. Since she had her thyroid removed, Lily will have to take medication to replace the job of her thyroid for the rest of her life.

The community came together to put on an exhibition on Saturday, September 21. The goal was to raise money for the Wellness House in Hinsdale and ThyCa association. The proceeds will help the Wellness House expand their teen programs, and will help ThyCa research cancer treatment. “Even though I am sick, I am so happy to be able to give back to the people who have helped me,'' said Lily.
The event was organized by Lily and her parents, as well as her coach and other rink staff members and friends. The event was a big success. There were raffles and a silent auction, as well as free food and drink donated to the event. The event attracted many people, the lobby was filled with people mingling and buying raffle tickets. The main event was a skating exhibition where 30 of Lily’s fellow skaters paid tribute to her by skating to her past music. This was a surprise to Lily. “I had no idea what was going on! I only noticed when they started skating to my solo music. It was so special.”

The night ended with a celebration of Lily. The raffle winners were announced, and silent auctions were closed. Lily and her family were embraced by the supporters. “This truly means everything to us.” said Tim Lily’s father.” “When your community comes together, it’s incredible. The support shown for Lily is more than we could have asked for.” Cathy Brown, Lily’s coach helped coordinate the event. “This is so important to raise awareness for. I’m so happy we can raise money to find a cure.” By the next day, the total money raised was over $15,000 which was donated to both the Wellness House and ThyCa.

Lily, third row, far right, and her friends from school in the stands at the event.
Margaret Scully "Friends" (2019)

In the end, I really enjoyed this project. I liked how I was able to cover something in my personal life that I care deeply about. I am happy with the quotes I got, and I am very happy with how the event turned out. We raised $15,000 for cancer research, and for the Wellness House. I hope I can do more action projects relating to my personal life in the future!