Extra Credit Outside Cultural Event (10 points on quiz) - The Power and Discovery of Music

In the newly build Concert Hall, the UMBC Department of Music held a free Giving Thanks concert open to everyone. It was a concert performed by Trio des Alpes; the Trio is made up of three people, each playing a different instrument: clarinet, cello, and the piano. During the concert, the Trio is joined by UMBC faculties that used voice, clarinet, and the violin. The concert was different from concerts by celebrities or super stars; this concert was performed with solely the Trio and UMBC faculties, which means no other music or dances around the stage.

The concert started off with opera-like singing and music, which was boring to me and almost made me leave, but didn't because it was only the beginning. After the singing part, the Trio started to perform and that was when I discovered the power of music. The songs that the Trio played consisted of all different types of music: deep, high, fast, slow, sad, happy, etc. The music I liked the most when they play were the music with fast and happy melody, it relaxed my stresses and made me feel very peaceful and calm, which attracted me to stay for the concert. After watching each part of the concert, I learned something I never knew in my life before. I always knew we had to clap when people finishes performing, but what I didn't know for these type of concert is you had to keep clapping as the performers finishes, bows, and leaves, then the performers will come back out on the stage to bow again and the clapping would stop after the performers leave again. I never thought I could learn and discover such helpful things from just a concert, so it was definitely worth it to go to the concert.

Word Count: 299

Extra Credit Outside Cultural Event (10 points for believe statement on TIB essay) - Art Moving with Time

            Tom Scott is an artist that created quality arts over 3000 thousand pieces in his art career. His art works can be traced back to the early 1950’s until today. Located at the UMBC Fine Arts Building, Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, there holds a gallery of Scott’s art works from different times of his career life. Scott’s arts contain different style from century to century; his works are form from a wide range of materials, which are range from abstract to oil paint to recycle materials to three dimensions and more. All these can be seen in the gallery filled with Tom Scott’s work.

            The gallery contained arts by Scott from the 1950’s to the 2000’s. It was fascinated to see almost all types of style of art in just one place. Even though there is many of Scott’s art work from his career time, the section of art work that attracted me the most was the works of 1990s through 2000s section. That section of art works had a lot of today’s fashion styles, trends and creativity inserted in the art works. First, a section of arts in this time period were open, painted frames that can be stand alone or combined in different configurations. To me, they looked really cool because Scott made these works simple but stand out, and have these works to be able to stand alone and not just on the wall. The other part of the 1990s through 2000s section that caught my eyes was the three dimensional arts. In these works, Scott created physical layers in the art and used color difference with patterns and shapes to make the three dimension show and standout, which I found amazing creativity. 

Word: 289

Outside Cultural Event- We Can Make The Change

            I attended the event Civil Rights, Asian American, and Marriage Equality: 50 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 last Wednesday. I thought it would be just some boring talk that I had to go for a class assignment, however, I found out it was an interesting talk as I listen to Helen Zia’s stories. Helen Zia is an Asian American feminist and a LGBT activist; her talk was about issues that involve the civil rights, Asian Americans’ rights and equalities, and marriage equalities where Helen made them interesting and informative by relating her personal experiences to each topic in the way which she tells them as stories.

            The story that really stuck in my mind and got me thinking was when Helen talks about the case where a few Americans killed a Chinese American that was thought to be Japanese and were plead not guilty at the end. When the lawyers and the family members couldn't think of what else to do for the innocent Chinese American, Helen, a teenager at the time, spoke up and insisted that they must do something about it. This led to the National Civil Rights Movement for Asian Americans because the Civil Rights at the time didn't protect Asian Americans’ equal rights; the movement fought and got rights that protected immigrants, other race and classes; Helen’s courageous action created a society more just than the past. Through the story, she was telling us that we can make the changes that are better for our world; I learned from her that our actions now can create a better society for future generations.

Word Count: 269

The Only Memories

            It was a late afternoon where I got tired after an ordinary school day. The computer screen starts to dim after fifteen minutes of inactivity and I was about to fall asleep as I lean back on the computer chair. Suddenly, some images from my childhood pop up in my mind and woke me up. “Why do these images show up so suddenly?” I wondered. I saw my grandma and me eating snacks on a Saturday while my parents are at work because my mom didn't allow junk food back then. I saw my grandma sitting in her old rocking chair with her tan hand-held fan while watching me play jump rope in front of our house. These images were the days when we were still in China. Then I remembered that day was a few months after my grandma’s death; she passed away in China and my family was not able to go see her before she leaves because of work and school in the U.S.

            From that moment on, I realize how much I love and miss my grandma. She took care of me the day I was born because my parents had to work. My grandma cook for me, she clean after my messes, she watch my every move and action to make sure I was fine; but all I did to her at the time was ignore her words and dislike her annoyance and worries, which I later realize her actions showed her love and caring for me. When I finally realize I should have done something for her, but it was too late to do anything and all there was left between us were the memories from the past.

Word Count: 284

Point: Appreciate and treasure your love ones while they’re still with you because it will be too late to do anything when they're gone.

Not Just Food

I always take a quick glance around the food court of Arundel Mills Mall as I pass by for work each time. From my observations, the food court is not even half full most of the time on weekdays because everyone has to either work or go to school. However, the food court is always full on Saturday noon to night and more than half full on Sundays; many eat while gathering with friends and families, some just sit to wait for friends and families to come join them. The food court is a great public place because people can gather and hang out while surrounded by food. 

Word Count: 108

This I Believe Draft- If I Can, You Can

            When difficult issues occur in life, some people will just give up in the process or not even try to solve the problem; others will try hard to get through the difficulty. I faced a major problem when I first come to the United States, but I choose to work hard and try my best to overcome the obstacle. At the age of ten, my family immigrated to the America. Being a child born in China, moving to the other side of the world was like starting a new life because everything is different. I had to adapt to the culture, living style, and the environment, however, the biggest problem I have is speaking English. I have been speaking Chinese even since I was born, and never learned English; so I had to learn a whole new language that has nothing in common with Chinese at all, which is very hard.

            In my first year of school in the U.S., English is a major issue for me. I cannot understand stand anything that’s taught in class and I didn't know how to do any of the homework just because I didn't know any English. For this reason, I was the only student in my class that’s allowed to openly copy answers from other classmates. The only subject I was confident in was math because it didn't require much English. Due to my situation, I was put into ESOL for two years; I start from learning the basic rules and structures of English, then move onto harder English skills as I go longer in ESOL. After a year of ESOL, I was able to adapt to the living style and the educational system of U.S., but I still had to work on more elevated English and the fluency of it, so I practice and practice as I’m in the program. After my second year of ESOL, I was able to speak fluent English, so I graduated from the program and was able to take the same classes as everyone else. Taking two years to learn a language fluently could seem long or short, but I put in a lot of work and practiced a lot to come to where I am now, so I believe that there’s nothing you cannot overcome as long as you work hard and try your best.

Belief: I believe that working hard and trying the best can help one achieve his or her goal and overcome obstacles in life.

Word Count: 390

Outside Cultural Event- Human Interaction with the Landscape

                Taxonomy of a Landscape is an exhibition held in the UMBC library; it shows photos from Victoria Sambunaris’ traveling across the landscapes of America over the years. The photos show the unique landscapes of America and the human interactions with the landscapes. The exhibition is very meaningful because the photos demonstrate human actions on the landscapes; we modify and change the landscape for our industrial needs and personal wants, and neglect it when we no longer use the landscape. Sambunaris wants to bring out the point that we have beautiful landscapes all around us, and yet, we are not preserving these nice places, but instead we use them and change them to accommodate our wants and needs, which could possibly ruin the natural beauty of our landscapes.
                I feel that this exhibition can really make us reflect on what we have done to our landscape. Humans are using the landscapes for their own benefits when possibly bringing negative effects to the environment. One example I remember is that because of the insufficient spaces in Hong Kong, they do land reclamation, which is to create new land from oceans or lakes. Land reclamation creates more land for human use; therefore, many other countries have also done land reclamation to expand spaces. However, these human activities to the landscape bring negative impacts to our environment and other living organisms. For example, when constructions are in progress, the chemicals can contaminate the surrounding water, which affects the living condition of water dependent species. Also, when reclamation is occurring, the living space and living environment will be affected, which can cause extinction of certain species. We should appreciate our unique landscapes and preserve the natural beauty of them to reserve a natural living environment for all organisms.

Word Count: 293

Love the Comfy

Fashion is what our generation is all about, but I rather go with what makes me feel comfortable. Hollister Co. is an American lifestyle brand by Abercrombie & Fitch Co. It was to target teens at the age of 14-18 but ends up having a market in the age group of 12-30. Hollister is my number one choice for casual summer appeals because their summer clothes make me feel younger since it was design to target young teens, and more importantly, the smooth texture and the soft material of the clothes make me feel comfortable. 

word count: 95

More Than One Home

My two homes are on the opposite side of the Earth. My first home is the place of my birth and childhood; it’s a small town in Southern China called TaiShan. TaiShan has its own dialect that is only spoken there and is the only language we speak at my house, so whenever I go back to TaiShan, I feel very comfortable and free. My second home is the house I’m living with my family right now in Baltimore because we lived here for the nine years that we've been in America, so home is where I feel I belong.

Word count: 100