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DJ 12 - How would you grade UK? What does UK do well, and what could the university improve?

Overall I don't mind UK. I believe the university offers many opportunities for their students. They offer free tutoring, they encourage students to visit the counseling center, and have cool flyers. In addition, I've enjoyed the dorms which have offered me the feeling that I am in a bedroom rather than a dorm room. I enjoy the private quality to. I do, however, think that there should be some changes in terms of emphasizes. By this I mean that should be more emphasizes on cultural diversity. I know that the university advertises and encourages their students to recognize cultural diversity but I think that there should be more events hosted that would inform others, bring up the importance of recognizing cultural appropriation/awareness, for example, and how improper appropriation could be toxic and insulting/offensive to those cultures.

Another issue that I've found, and it lies within my dorm, is that the Creative Arts LLP does a poor job at advertising their events. Students in this LLP are suppose to get in three events per semester; however, I have only seen two or three opportunities for events this semester and I couldn't attend them because of home work or my job. Furthermore, when they do advertise it's just one or two flyers taped to the door whereas I think they could publicly announce the events at floor meetings or through email showing a calendar of tentative events. I have seen several interesting events they've hosted and they are still growing and evolving as an LLP but I don't feel like I am in an LLP or in a community. Maybe if more arts/musisc/dance/writing events for this community, I would feel less like they're advertising for an external or larger audience and more for their actual LLP. Fortunately, they have offered a poll/opportunity for feedback so I will be able to include this input.

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dj 11 - what’s the most challenging assignment you’ve ever had?

Many assignments to me are equally challenging, especailly when it comes to art. An example being is that I was introduced to Adobe Photoshop in the Fall last year and before I had no exposure to it. So learning all the different types of shortcuts and techniques were difficult for me.

This semester, I am taking an introduction to photography and video class. And I find it very challenging in the sense that it is very fast paced. In this class we had to learn apeture, exposure, ISO, and some other in-camera techniques in the first half of the course. It was overwhelming at first because the projects were only a week a part so that meant I had to learn the material within a week. However, I was able to ask the teacher for help and she clarified the materials for me.

In addition, we did this really cool stop-motion project based on two readings we had completed for class. The part of this project I found difficult was when I had to go into post-production editing in Adobe Premiere and learn how to assemble all the sequences. Furthermore, I had many issues with rendering. Rendering in Adobe Premiere is when you have to “reformat” a selection of clips so that the timeline runs smoothly. And the need to render is indicated by green, yellow, and red lines. Moreover, the project in general was difficult because it required patience, precision and care-handling of the materials.

Another challenging project in this class was when I had to go out and record video and audio footage. This was because I was very limited in terms of environments. I didn’t/don’t have a care so I had to be creative when capturing footage so that it wouldn’t look redundant or too obvious in the sense that I was in a college setting.

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dj 10 - what are your best studying tips?

best tips for studying.

My best tips for studying are to take good notes which mean paying attention to the reading materials, the lecture, and so on. Also, doing homework is helpful. I'm not saying to do all your homework but don't make a habit of skipping out on important assignments. Some reading can be extraneious and sometimes I find it uneccesary to read it. In addition, a tip I found from online was that when studying, write with different color pens if that's how you approach studying and memorizing. I have a seperate notebook for my Art History studying wherein I just repeadetly copy the information or test myself over the information.

Another tip I found useful when studying is when you have some nice, ambient music playing while you're studying. I use YouTube and type in "study music live" and I select "lofi hip hop radio" which has music that drowns out the distractions. There are many options on YouTube for music live-streams, but this is the one I find myself revisiting.

Another tip is to take breaks -- especially if you're staring at a screen  (laptop) or if you find yourself drifitng off. Between study sessions, I usually make a cup of coffee or tea -- something warm. Or I'll take a shower to feel refreshed.

I don't actually study that often though. The only class, this semester, that requires me to study is my Art History class that focuses on the Renaissance to modern art. My classes require time dedicated to completing a art assignment, much of it has to do with Adobe programs (digital) or having a suitable environment to work on a work in progress (traditional). However, when I do study, I often find myself roaming Tumblr and reviewing what study, note-taking bloggers do to take notes. I find mass inspiration and motivation during this time.

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dj 9 - what kinds of feedback helps you improve?

The type of feedback that helps me improve the most is the kind that lets me know what to improve on. For example, when someone is critiquing my artwork they first talk about the strengths of the piece (i.e. composition, colors, technicalities) then they will begin to analyze what the weak parts of the art work are. It involves explaining to me what makes that part weak compared to the stronger and more convincing areas of the art work. In addition, the art critique-r offers supplementary information that gives me ideas to how to improve the art work. This process allows me to get an understanding of what needs to be improved and it gives me an idea on how to approach my revision. in addition, with the feedback that i am given, I usually go back and make small revisions or additions to the piece. and the product turns out with much more completeness.

On another note, for written papers, individual presentations, group presentations, and so on the kind of feedback that helps me improve is when I get somewhat detailed feedback that also does the things mentioned above such as point out the strengths and weaknesses. In addition, another method that sometimes I find helpful are peer reviews. However that's only when I am with a group of people that actually care about the work presented to them. As I mentioned before, I like kind of detailed feedback and what i find often with assigned group peer reviews is that I will get one comment here or there that is two or three words. there is not solid or feedback, just a comment or statement.

On the other hand, what disallows growth and successful revision (to me) is when someone just critiques one's work without the feedback being beneficial to the author, writer, and so on. in addition, something else that isn't helpful is when someone reads in biased eyes and analyzes solely on their opinions and not the quality or technical skill of the publisher.

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March 20 - DJ 8 Do you set rules for yourself about how you use your time?

I do actualy try to set small goals throughout my week -- even if it includes making my bed. I just like the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing something.

A way in which I am able to stick to this small routine is through bullet-journaling. Another student mentioned it earlier in the semester, and it is a very efficient way to take care of small, medium, or large tasks. In other words, it is a planner, journals, and it can even be a sketchbook of some sort. It's flexible and there are no "rules" (pre-set dates). In addition, it is relatively easy to set up. One could even make it a conventional looking planner if they wanted while writing in faux calligraphy or adding pictures and stickers.

Furthermore, the ways in which one can set up their bullet journal varies. There are different "spreads": monthly, week, and daily. What you would find in a traditional planner. However, here is where the flexibility comes in. One can design each monthly, weekly, and/or daily spread differently. On-the-go or beforehand. Doesn't matter. There are also other spreads such as a "future log/yearly overview" that allows one to write down important future dates. And there's such things as trackers that one could incorporate like expenses, habit, diet, mood, &c.

I primarily set up my bullet journal monthly cover with a calendar, an expense tracker, and the weekly spreads -- and this allows me to feel like I've setting goals for myself because I feel motivated. To get back to the question, do I set rules for myself about how to use my time? I do. My bullet journal (slash art journal) helps me indirectly improve my collage-art skills and organize my life. In some ways, accomplishing something that I've listed in my bullet journal helps me calm down my worries for minor incidents that appear throughout the day.

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How often do you interact with people of another race or ethnicity?

The demographic of my home town is dominantly Caucasian. There are hardly any people of color (p.o.c.) in my community other than Hispanics. My home town isn’t rural, but it is very small compared to Paris, KY – meaning there isn’t a lot of diversity. And this extends into the school as well. In high school, I may have encountered one or two African Americans and a handful of Hispanics. So, in my first two years of high school I never interacted really interacted any person of color. However, when I transferred to a new (and better) school my last two years, I encountered more people of color. I haven’t noticed this until now, but I have never been a close friend to another person of color. Most of my friends were white. It wasn’t until college that I made more friends who were a person of color.

In college, I have met and talked to many different faces. The diversity here is amazing, in the sense, that there isn’t instilled normalcy of “white (Christian) culture” like there is in my home town. The people of my town aren’t racist, but they are definitely not used to new faces and skin tones. And they are more on the conservative side of the spectrum. It is refreshing to be in a community, now, that is completely different from what I’ve had to “adapt” to.

For instance, I am becoming closer to a friend that is taking the same art history course as me. They were in one of my classes last semester too. We are very much alike in attitude and personality. We’ve made going to Willy T a “tradition” of ours as well. And I am glad that I have met them because they’re one new friend that I can become to trust now.

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What’s the best advice you’ve gotten?

Some reputable advice I’ve received has been to clean my room and my surroundings. This includes, but is not limited to, my car, my bed, my floor, the kitchen (mostly the kitchen). This advice has been painfully instilled by my mother. The consequences not obeying her command use to be a punishment wherein she would steal my phone and go through my texts. Now, it’s more of a loud and booming noise from the other room. Often, I ignore it but it is usually not a wise choice.

Anyhow, the reason why cleaning is the best advice I have received is that I have acquired organization skills (i.e. organizing my closet, bookshelf, clothes, &c). I actually enjoy cleaning, here and there. The lessons I have learned from not cleaning my bedroom (at my home) is that cat hair and dust enter my body before the actual oxygen does. In addition, there is just this feeling of satisfaction achieved when your room is spotless (even though my room returns to its incorrigible state a week later).

Furthermore, since living in the dorms, I have been able to keep my dorm room in better shape. I regularly clean my room – and the kitchen. It’s mostly due to the fact that I am sharing a space with someone else but it’s also that I am just treating my dorm (and room)  like “clean slate”. In fact, I am usually the room mate who cleans both of our dishes. Cleaning, as advised by my mother, has given me the ability to be successfully semi-independent. By being, for a lack of better words, forced to clean, I have been able to subconsciously translate it into my daily routine. This includes actions such as knowing how to sweep the floor, to dust, and disinfect the toilet, clean out the drain, make my bed and so o

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How do you feel about Valentine’s Day?

I don’t have any distinct feelings towards the holiday. I never really “celebrated” it – unless you include the time in elementary school where a class would pass out cards to one another. And now that I think about it, it was less of a holiday, more like a competition to see who got more cards. Or who had the coolest box. There weren’t any “feelings” involved in this tradition, for me at least. Like then, I don’t really care about having a holiday dedicated to being in a relationship. Most holidays are commercial-based, including this one which advertises a lot of red, pink, and chocolate. None of which I really care for. Overall, there isn’t this odd disgust a lot of kids went through years back which went something like, “Valentine’s Day is like throwing the ‘single’ status towards someone who isn’t in a relationship.” That kind of complain.

Also, I find it funny how Walmart and Target and other stores have the boxed-chocolates lined up. I feel like giving someone a box of chocolate is a (literal) cheap tactic. Where’s the creativity? How does it show that you’re a person who is creative (in terms of coming up with ideas)? I just find it silly that it’s referred to as a sort of “tradition” in America. And that it’s so abundantly supplied. I hope I’m not offending any hard-core Heart Shaped Box givers but, let’s be honest, there are better ways to “woo” your love interest.

Last thing I can think of mentioning is that, in a way, I kind of enjoy watching couples walk together. I feel like having a day dedicated to “love” creates opportunities for people to find “love” or whatever term you want to apply. It doesn’t even have to be love, it can be friendship, a bond, chemistry, &c.

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Music Video Rhetorical Anaylsis

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How are you and your parents alike and different?

My mother is single, and I am adopted. At least one difference can be deduced from that statement. Some other differences are that she is a Christian and I am agnostic-and-or-atheist. (Before high school we were both Christians (it was a similarity), but it was predisposed onto me; and during high school I was able to separate myself from that label.) Also, she is democratic, and I am – well – independent, I guess. I don’t identify with democrats or republicans because I am not familiarized enough with current events too definitively choose a party.

A singular similarity between us is that we both love the company of cats. She sees it as an inherent characteristic – one being in a family that mostly adopted cats is going to transfer that into their next generation. Oh, we both dislike to clean the litter box – that count’s, right?

Her decision to not marry and her ideals and her opinion on why she didn’t marry has influenced my perceptions of relationships. I feel like there isn’t a need for me to have a significant other; although, I am not opposed to it. The point being, her deciding to be independent has influenced my ideas of what it means to be successful. Like her, I am very career-oriented. Her students were like her children because she wanted them grow and succeed in high school (she was a biology teacher). And she didn’t focus on her relationships like people do today. I want my career (visual art) to be my center of attention so that I can be successful and can constantly improve; I don’t want to be held down by the negative implications of being in a relationship (but I am not opposed to overcoming them either).

In many more ways, I see that we are different. And in our case, it works. There’s no detachment or inability to bond because of our differences – they compliment each other and offer interesting conversations (i.e. our stances on religion, sexuality, politics).

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Why do you share photos on social media?

I mostly use this platform (Tumblr) and I don’t really post any picture on here. I don’t use Twitter or Facebook, but do Snapchat and Instagram – sometimes. On Instagram, I mainly post pictures of my art. And I choose to share these photos because they are artworks that I take pride in or feel comfortable with posting. Rarely, do I post something that isn’t related to my art (like “selfies” or pictures with my face in them) because I don’t utilize Instagram for much other than looking at art and posting my art.

On another note, Snapchat is a more intimate sharing of photos in my opinion. I only send pictures to my friends, meaning I don’t share with “strangers”. I’m especially not worried about how people perceive me because I am only communicating to my friends. And although I don’t feel like this really applies to me Snapchat users can freely express their selves to others without having to put on a façade that they would on Instagram (i.e. having a certain feed, theme, filters, content, appeal) In general, Snapchat is more laid-back.

Another reason why I share photos are that I like the recognition that comes from posting something I see a success or aesthetic. I’m not necessarily concerned with how many views or likes I receive (in fact, I disabled notifications on my Instagram). I just want to show others what makes me happy or sad or angry or what I’ve accomplished. I’m not concerned with people caring about what I post and how I post it because I’m posting photos for me, not them. In terms of posting pictures on Instagram, I do want my photos to have a nice quality and an aesthetic appeal, but it isn’t for their viewing pleasure. I know I don’t receive a lot of likes (typically I get thirty likes maximum) but it doesn’t disrupt my desire to post what I like.

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What personal achievements make you proud?

During high school, my main personal achievements were making improvements on my art. Presently, that is still true but there are other things I have to focus on as well. In high school, I could direct all my attention to my art and now I have to balance art with my other classes. So currently, my personal achviements would have to be completing my assignment several days earlier (so that I don’t stress the night before it’s due). This isn’t difficult to accomplish either, it’s just a matter of discipline. My classes require a lot of readings and little writing assignments which already attract my interest. Other achievements are random such as finding new music (i.e. recently, I have created a playlist on Spotify with throwback music before 2013 (I’ve very proud of it)), successfully having a conversation with my friends, forcing myself to get out of the comfort of my dorm room. A lot of small goals I like to set have to do with benefiting my mental health.

Another personal achievement would be using all my meal swipes per week. I have the basic plan and I still struggle with using all seven meal swipes. This is mostly due to me visiting home on the weekends (when I don’t have to work) because I, fortunately, live an hour away. And the other factor is that UK has a limited amount of places where one can use their meal swipe as well as using their seven dollar compatible swipe (which in itself is limited to two per day – crazy unfair).

Lastly, another personal achievement would be cleaning my room and making my bed – something I often ignore (at home). I’m the type of individual that will wait till my territory is at its worst then I’ll begin to take notice. At home, I mostly focus on throwing away unnecessary paper I’ve collected over the months as well as dusting (because of my cats). Here at the dorm, I mostly need to dust due to the construction (across the street) that travels to my room.

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What are you looking forward to, or dreading, this semester?

By the third week of winter break, not even Bob’s Burgers on repeat could feed my desire to stay home. I was restless. I was ready for routine. To use my hands for something other than opening my fridge every thirty minutes. Let’s just say my mom was happy to see me go too. She’ll be saving a lot of money on groceries now.

Anyhow. I am pleased with my schedule this semester. I will have to put more effort into studying (yikes); however, I find that directing studying towards things I’m passionate about is worth the one A.M. coffees and tears – in this case, the contributors are GWS-201 (Gender Women Studies) and AH-106 (Art History: Renaissance to Modern Art). Furthermore, I am (oddly) admitting that I am looking forward to working more this semester. I work at the Singletary Center for the Arts (and they have applications available if anyone would like to apply); it’s a very easily and anxiety-free job. The pay isn’t terrific; however, the payout is the experience. The environment is healthy and lively. And the patrons are usually very nice (unless it has to do with parking).

On another note, I am a Graphic Design and Digital Media major and am looking forward to the art I will be creating in AS-102 (Art Studio: Two-Dimensional Surface) and AS-285 (Art Studio: Lens Art). My intentions with this degree is to go into animation (anything involving creating a world (and characters) detached from the real world/reality) and/or illustrative design. My influences (what you’d see surfacing in my art) are Over the Garden Wall, Gravity Falls, Adventure Time, Bob’s Burger, and other shows with a similar humor, intelligence, charm, and aesthetic. I would like to work for/with Cartoon Network in the future. Maybe even Disney, if they begin creating more content like what one would gain from Brave. I hope to find myself this semester studying and looking in to the behind-the-scenes of these animations and the company and opportunities that this degree offers me.

I am slightly dreading my AS-285 (Lens Art) class. The trepidation inside of me is writhing. I know next to nothing about photography, videography, and sound design. So, it is very “scary” to walk into a class without being familiar with the curriculum/medium. Another thing that I am dreading this semester will be having to move out. It’s not like I want to stay on campus. In fact, I would rather live off-campus. It’s too fricking expensive to live (at UK). Plus, I have so much junk in my dorm room. I visit Goodwill too often and practically have a new wardrobe. My wall has disappeared because I have literally covered it with miscellaneous paper from across campus (i.e. mini art from SA/VS, pictures, posters, postcards, art prints). Anyhow. I just see the moving-out process being extra laborious; however, I am thankfull (this case only) that I live in Kentucky and only an hour away. Or. It means that I can gradually take my junk back home. At least my room feels like a home.