Beginning of Semester Reflection

Something I was proud of this semester was my American Icon artist statement. The icon i chose was Eleanor Roosevelt and I was proud of this because I had put a lot of work into making my essay sounds professional and having it connect to the readers. Another reason I feel this was some of my best work was because I think I had accomplished the goal of making myself really connect to my icon and being able to show that through my writing. I feel i accomplished these by managing my time, staying on task, and having my paper critiqued many times. The steps It took to get to my final product was basically a lot of drafts and having it critiqued. I had started off with information on my Icon and then went into how we relate to each other. After a small draft of my writing i went more into depth and had it edited more than once. I then had my pictures taken and photoshoped it so it went more with my writing.
My American Icon Artist Statement

Mt other project that i was proud of was my H2O photo essay. I had done my project on how the water in Ocean Beach affects the Surfers. I was proud of this because i had completed the assignment a week or two before it was due and my pictures came out just the way i wanted them too if not better. The writing portion was also very informative and i thought it was the perfect amount of writing. I accomplished this project because i had stayed on task and i had made sure i got all m y work done before it was due.
Another way i accomplished this was by making myself a schedule and having many different critiques done to my paper.

Caption for the above picture:
Not only is this contaminated water making humans sick, but marine life as well. Plastic bags, bottle caps, cigarette butts, food packaging and other waste ends up choking, poisoning, or blocking the digestive tracts of sea birds and other marine animals who mistake it for food.

He's Not Black

(<--Barack and his Mother)

In this article Arana mentions "Isn't it time for the language to move on?" 

I wouldn't say i fully understand what she means when she uses language in that term, but from what i understand, i think she refers language as to race and the color or your skin. Also something that brought me to my attention was when she says "move on." When i hear this question i picture people trying to look at humans more than the color of their skin. Arana brings up how a student of hers had told her how she is half german but when people look at the color of her skin, they only see an African American girl. So you can say i agree with Arana when she says people need to move on if she's looking at it the way i see it. Just because you may not see someone's religion on the outside doesnt mean you can judge them by the different color of their skin. I do also have a slight disagreement when she says our new president-elect is not black. I, aswell as others know that he is not fully black, but by saying "He's not black" is like telling him he has no black in his blood even though the color of his skin is shown as an African American. I just found her words to be a little too precise and unstable. 

I think that the people of the United States view Obama mostly as our new black president because i believe they want change in our country and think it will do our country some good. I cannot say i dissagree with them because i am all for Obama, but viewing him as a better president just because of his color is not the way to chose our president. I personally liked Obama because of his policies and his great words that he promised this country. I see him as a great leader and someone who can make great changes.