My first year at Freestyle opens with the burning question of adolescence: “Who am I?”
Introduction
Over the course of two months, we were challenged to look back and consider our identity, and how it was shaped by our experiences. Across all 3 classes, we looked for the things we care about and the moments that left an impact, and put them into projects in different mediums. In previous years, this question would pop up primarily during English class (being the centerpiece of AP Lang’s Tapestry), so it was impressive to me how exploring the same concept could lead to such different products with completely different goals. In English, I wrote a personal essay to present myself to others who may not know me for the college admissions process. In Digital Media, I took different aspects of my passions and character and put them into different details on a mandala that represents my identity, and made a video in After Effects presenting my core values. Finally, in my Design elective, I created a surrealist digital collage looking back at my summer experiences, and a PSA based on an issue that I find important.
At a time where I have to present myself as favorably as possible to universities and scholarships, I got to look back at achievement, which was refreshing. I got to witness how ideas bottled up inside of me and my frustrations about the world let me make work with more inspiration, and got to feel more complicated than the narrative I formed in my AP Lang. Tapestry which was also refreshing. I remembered that there are things I care about legitimately, and considered how authentically I may present myself in different settings.
In English class, we brainstormed some core values that we have and some ‘essence objects’ that embody us. The second part, which at first felt cliche, actually let me find some details about myself that I otherwise take for granted and wouldn’t think about (and thus wouldn’t present to others in my works). I also added on to this list after remembering things further along in my projects, allowing me to think about even more aspects connected to what I already was presenting. Here are some highlights:
Core Values:
- Legacy – Can I preserve others’ legacies? Will I have one? Will at least I remember the things I did?
- Harmony – Community isn’t about being homogeneous, it’s about fitting together.
- Adaptability – I should be able to navigate both expected and unexpected changes in situation.
- Complexity – You’ll notice a lot of my essence object descriptions have the word “but”.
- Integrity – Can I be trusted to do the right thing; to help others and be responsible for myself? I want to trust others that way.
Essence Objects:
- Ty Pluffies – an old line of stuffed animals that are flexible but also stand on their own. My mom insists that they are Beanie Babies and they absolutely are not.
- Uno wild card – it has the potential to be any color when it’s in your hand but at the end of the day, when played, can only be one.
- Pilot Shaker – it’s completely functional as a mechanical pencil but also has a quirk which I often forget to use.
- ACT Club pin – I was in a lunchtime club where my membership got me lunch line priority but I never took advantage of that privilege. I still have the pin even though it lacks even a potential use.
Digital Media: Core Values Video
In Digital Media, we learned how to animate text in Adobe After Effects by presenting our core values in a short narrated video. Since these values lack explanation, my narrowed down list ended up different from my selection above as I chose words I thought would give a better picture of me with their brevity.