My Life on Earth Project
For this project we looked at philosophy, to be more specific what makes our philosophy, and what is our personal philosophy. The direction that I took was what is one of the most important things to pursue in life. I chose confidence because for the past 3 years I have worked to regain my confidence after losing all of it falling off my horse.
While I was working on my project I noticed that Confidence is one of the most important attributes to have in this world because if you don't have confidence you can’t grow and change and the only thing we can depend on is that change is going to happen. This has changed the way I look at things because I don't take my confidence and the smallest things for granted.
This project has made made ask the following questions:
While I was working on my project I noticed that Confidence is one of the most important attributes to have in this world because if you don't have confidence you can’t grow and change and the only thing we can depend on is that change is going to happen. This has changed the way I look at things because I don't take my confidence and the smallest things for granted.
This project has made made ask the following questions:
- How can our confidence affect our mental health?
- What about our confidence influences our social circles?
- Does our confidence affect what career you go into?
- Do people with more confidence tend to have less anxiety or depression?
The Importance of Confidence
Three years ago it was a summer evening. The sun was starting to set and I was heading into the arena to run barrels.( a clover leaf pattern around three barrels) I walked through the gate and everything was going well and suddenly, my horse took off running back to the gate. I panic because I can’t stop him. When he gets to the gate he turns, stops and I fall on and hit the gate and pinch my ear between the gate and my helmet. It knocks the wind out of me.
This had not been my first fall off a horse, but it was certainly the most scary. After a lot of discussion and reflection, my family and I decided to find a new horse because my horse wasn't happy with the work we were making him do. He was telling us this through his change in behavior. After this, I was scared to ride this horse. I became scared to do the thing I loved to do most in the world. I didn't know what to do.
This confidence loss and newfound fear was not just on the back of the horse but; it also transferred to everything in my life: my public speaking, my grit, and my friendships. It also didn't help that I was going into high school next year with no one I knew . After we found a new horse for me to ride, we went to a barrel race and the same thing happened. My horse ran. I panicked and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. But the difference this time is what happened after. We walked back out of the arena and my trainer asked me if I was ok and I said “yeah” she goes “ok get back on.” I was a little terrified but I got on and what happened after I went back into the arena and walked the pattern, my confidence started to build. It was that swift kick in the butt that I needed to get me back in the saddle. Ever since that day the words “You have to get back in the saddle” have stuck with me. Over time my confidence had come back, but there was still one thing that I needed to do, I needed to get back on my first horse.
He had been sitting in our corral for almost 2 years. I finally mustered up enough courage to get in his corral and work with him. Once I was confident with that I said lets go one step further. So one summer day during quarantine, I threw the rope over his neck and climbed on bare back. This day was one of my greatest accomplishments. It all started with a fall and most people would think it was a small fall, and you're right it was. I've seen people get maimed or worse in this sport but what makes this one different for me. It was me, you can see it a hundred times but, when it is you it could be the smallest thing that makes the biggest difference. I was scared and I had lost all of my trust in myself and my horse.
This isn't just in the equine world this can apply to anywhere in anyone's life. Sports, school, friendships, doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you do what you're scared of because that is how you grow and build your confidence. When you have confidence you can lift yourself up as well as those around you. To argue the devil's advocate, one can have an overabundance of confidence resulting in arrogance. I know some people who think this is the same thing. It's not. Arrogance means you feel like you are important and are tearing people down to build yourself up and confidence is being able to build you and the people around you up. Keep in mind this is not an easy task. This task had taken me 3 years to pull off.
Three years ago it was a summer evening. The sun was starting to set and I was heading into the arena to run barrels.( a clover leaf pattern around three barrels) I walked through the gate and everything was going well and suddenly, my horse took off running back to the gate. I panic because I can’t stop him. When he gets to the gate he turns, stops and I fall on and hit the gate and pinch my ear between the gate and my helmet. It knocks the wind out of me.
This had not been my first fall off a horse, but it was certainly the most scary. After a lot of discussion and reflection, my family and I decided to find a new horse because my horse wasn't happy with the work we were making him do. He was telling us this through his change in behavior. After this, I was scared to ride this horse. I became scared to do the thing I loved to do most in the world. I didn't know what to do.
This confidence loss and newfound fear was not just on the back of the horse but; it also transferred to everything in my life: my public speaking, my grit, and my friendships. It also didn't help that I was going into high school next year with no one I knew . After we found a new horse for me to ride, we went to a barrel race and the same thing happened. My horse ran. I panicked and the next thing I knew I was on the ground. But the difference this time is what happened after. We walked back out of the arena and my trainer asked me if I was ok and I said “yeah” she goes “ok get back on.” I was a little terrified but I got on and what happened after I went back into the arena and walked the pattern, my confidence started to build. It was that swift kick in the butt that I needed to get me back in the saddle. Ever since that day the words “You have to get back in the saddle” have stuck with me. Over time my confidence had come back, but there was still one thing that I needed to do, I needed to get back on my first horse.
He had been sitting in our corral for almost 2 years. I finally mustered up enough courage to get in his corral and work with him. Once I was confident with that I said lets go one step further. So one summer day during quarantine, I threw the rope over his neck and climbed on bare back. This day was one of my greatest accomplishments. It all started with a fall and most people would think it was a small fall, and you're right it was. I've seen people get maimed or worse in this sport but what makes this one different for me. It was me, you can see it a hundred times but, when it is you it could be the smallest thing that makes the biggest difference. I was scared and I had lost all of my trust in myself and my horse.
This isn't just in the equine world this can apply to anywhere in anyone's life. Sports, school, friendships, doesn’t matter, all that matters is that you do what you're scared of because that is how you grow and build your confidence. When you have confidence you can lift yourself up as well as those around you. To argue the devil's advocate, one can have an overabundance of confidence resulting in arrogance. I know some people who think this is the same thing. It's not. Arrogance means you feel like you are important and are tearing people down to build yourself up and confidence is being able to build you and the people around you up. Keep in mind this is not an easy task. This task had taken me 3 years to pull off.
Into the Wild Intertextual AnalysisIn The film version of Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer the movie takes so much time to explain this book and one of the best ways they do it is the original soundtrack by Eddie Vedder. They did such a great job with the music to the movie because in most movies the music follows the mood of the movie and you get some foreshadowing. But in this movie all of the music is happy and upbeat. Into the wild is just one example of a film's ability to create emotions and influence the audience's perception of the characters emotions and the film.
The reason that they did this is because it adds meaning to the movie. It shows that even though he was suffering or was struggling in life the music showed that he was happy. This reminds me of the film Harold and Maude. Though it is the weirdest movie I have ever watched, the sound track is a little bit the same if you have this character that seems to be suffering but you can tell by the music that they are actually happy. For example when Maude dies, Harold drives his car off the cliff and then walks off playing the banjo and the music picks up and is happy. One quote in the song “Setting forth” is “ point of no return going forward in reverse”. These lyrics have stuck in the mind of the viewer because I see it as he is not going back to where he started but he is going forward, but society thinks that this is the wrong direction. They think forward means up and successful but not forward means that you may go down first and then up then down again. Chirs had his series of ups and downs but in the end he found where he wanted to go and that was to find happiness. The last song of the film when Chris is dying is happy. When we think of death we think of sadness and slowness and not energy and happiness. This symbolizes that he was happy. That is one of the pieces of this that makes it better. You are thrown off course to open your mind another film that does this is Bridge to Terabithia when she dies and he builds the bridge. This has a tragic ending but is dubbed with happy music which makes us think that the characters are actually happy. |
Zoo Controversy
For my rogerian argument I focused on the Zoo Controversy: Whether zoos should close or stay open. When I was researching this I thought that there is only one side eto the argument. But when I was researching I found that I agreed on both sides of the argument. Well as I finished up and drew up my solution I realized that I did not need to be on one side or the other I could be somewhat more in the middle. So the solution that I came up with is that zoos should meet some certain requirements to benefit the animals' health and wellness. But if they can't provide this they should close. As you can see my argument is not met to one side or the other it is more in the middle.
Before this project I have taught myself to tune out politics and news. I never cared or was interested in whether I am a republican or democrat or left or right. But after this project and hearing and learning from both sides I learned that I am moderate I sit in a lot of these topics and see both sides like in my Zoo Ted Talk.
Something I learned about my Ideology of an american. We can live in this amazing part of the world but with one sentence I can change your opinion of america. Like if I say that Americans have an awesome democracy. OrI could say American politics suck. But both are true. A few words can change the whole way you think.
I have learned a lot about ideology and rhetoric. But I think one of the main ones is that it is very easy to influence people and with that you can impact their ideology. It was really cool to learn how people's environments influence who they are as a person and I feel like it has a really big impact on their political ideas.
In our political system I feel like rhetoric is used too much. These people want to get people on their side and because of this they do whatever it takes to get that vote. With the willingness to be disturbed this plays into this because we are using rhetoric to allow people to become more lazy and dehumanized. And the more that happens the more we shut ourselves off from being disturbed. It feels like we are moving backwards from society. I mean suddenly we are afraid to be around other people. Yes it is from covid but it is reinforced by news and media.
Before this project I have taught myself to tune out politics and news. I never cared or was interested in whether I am a republican or democrat or left or right. But after this project and hearing and learning from both sides I learned that I am moderate I sit in a lot of these topics and see both sides like in my Zoo Ted Talk.
Something I learned about my Ideology of an american. We can live in this amazing part of the world but with one sentence I can change your opinion of america. Like if I say that Americans have an awesome democracy. OrI could say American politics suck. But both are true. A few words can change the whole way you think.
I have learned a lot about ideology and rhetoric. But I think one of the main ones is that it is very easy to influence people and with that you can impact their ideology. It was really cool to learn how people's environments influence who they are as a person and I feel like it has a really big impact on their political ideas.
In our political system I feel like rhetoric is used too much. These people want to get people on their side and because of this they do whatever it takes to get that vote. With the willingness to be disturbed this plays into this because we are using rhetoric to allow people to become more lazy and dehumanized. And the more that happens the more we shut ourselves off from being disturbed. It feels like we are moving backwards from society. I mean suddenly we are afraid to be around other people. Yes it is from covid but it is reinforced by news and media.