Photography
One of the best decisions I have made at the UW was to take a digital photography class. Setting a camera to "auto" makes for an easy experience, but capturing the brilliance of life requires the use manual mode. Independent manipulation of aperture, ISO, and shutter speed can be time consuming, but the end result is much more indicative of the moment being captured. Foremost, I learned to get weird, to position myself in socially odd places in order to capture the scene from the best angle. Sure, the standard, shoulder-height, dead-on view will work, however the best shots are the ones where you kneel down in the mud.
Thinking Freely
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It wasn’t until my Freshman year of college that I truly had the liberty to write about whatever I wanted. All previous papers that had ”open responses” were guided in a way that essentially meant that we had five topics to choose from. In this class, we were encourage to let our mind wander; to take the discussion topics and elaborate on anything that sparked our interest. For this paper, I did just that.
Starting with a note in the margins that read, ”future of human evolution?” I began formulating my theory; and what began as a question, soon took root in the form of a well reasoned argument for human machine integration. Not only did I postulate how this would take form, I laid out reasoning that was based on current and past human progressions and tendencies, projecting them into the future. This thought experiment helped shape my writing style. I no longer find myself reiterating what was discussed in class. Instead, I look for offshoots from the main topic and find unique perspectives that reflect my abstract thought process. I think this is a valuable skill that few people find comfort in. My opinions may be controversial, but as long as I enforce them with sound logic and reasoning I have nothing to fear from my critics. |
Bicycling across America
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The summer following my Freshmen year I did something absolutely insane. My friends were lining up internships, taking summer classes, working, or doing research. Productive things. But as the summer came closer, thought kept creeping up in my mind, ”You only get so many summers.” After college, unless I stay in academia (which is not going to happen), the multi-month vacations stop. The real world kicks in. So when my friend Jordan Wood called me up and proposed to drop everything and bicycle across America, I jumped at the opportunity.
Everywhere I went I encountered people who wanted to help me, anyway they could. We camped the entire way, popping our tent wherever we thought we wouldn’t be bothered for the evening. At least once a week we would meet someone who would invite us to their home. Sometimes it was a couch or bed, other times it was a flat lawn to sleep on. These offers weren’t orchestrated beforehand, they were spur of the moment (some lady behind us in line at the gas station, a guy driving past on the highway, a family sitting on their porch as we rode by). The generosity of humanity included much more than safe places to sleep. We took showers (sweet Jesus, showers feel great after bathing in streams and gas-station-bathroom sinks), were given food, I even had all of my medical bills paid for after a nasty accident in Missouri. People are fantastic. |
The heart of darkness
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There are two types of people in this world. Those who enjoy talking with Clarke Speed, and those who would rather gnaw off their own arm than try to make sense of his complex, run-on thought structure. I am definitely one of the former.
Clarke likes to poke and prod at people's core beliefs, the fundamental assumptions that they would never question otherwise. This is an uncomfortable process, which in any other setting would result in violent outbursts. However, if one can break past the uncomfortable feelings and gut reaction to blow him off, the process can be very self-affirming. It is frighteningly easy for the brain to gloss over details and convince itself that it is right. Only through examining situations from multiple perspectives, with no bias toward one's own, can one accurately understand the complexities of conflicting ideas. The most important thing I discovered from Clarke was that truly understanding conflict is impossible. The subtle differences in the near-infinite perspectives makes it so. No matter how hard I try, I am subject to my own subjectivity. |