Blog #5

The Researcher Within Me

As I think to myself of what I did before coming to college, I truly realize that for the majority of the time, my only focus was what I needed to do for college. Senior year consisted of studying and making sure I could get into the school of my choice (obviously FSU) and the summer after high school was spent working 2 jobs and taking classes so I could be prepared for the what the future held for me while I was at FSU. I specifically remember spending any spare moment I had while at my job working the typical 12 hour shift, I would go on the computer and look at what classes I should take and get football tickets and research what college life would be for me in the near future. The madness of preparation for college is now (kinda) passed, with a sigh of relief. FSU has been so worth the madness thankfully.

Blog #5

Prior to this year, my interests have always been related to colleges.  I always spent my free time searching for which school would be right for me.  I'd ask questions of my elders around me and my fellow peers that had already chosen.  Where had they gone?  What qualities did they look for?  I asked so much.  I read up on magazines and different blogs and such that others had posted about their college experiences at various campuses.  It interested me so much because my future was on the edge of every word I read about my research.  Now that I have chosen Florida State, I no longer have to invest my time into research about different colleges.  I no longer have interests in this topic mainly because I know I've made the correct decision.

Blog #5

If I had to pick out one interest that has stuck out over the past few years it would no doubt be art. I discovered this new passion of mine the first semester of freshman year in high school. I soon realized my love for different types of art and from then on I made sure that an art class was a part of my schedule every semester. The names and styles of famous artists intrigued me so I turned to Google and different books in the classroom. I turned to this research to learn techniques and to gain inspiration for new pieces. I give a majority of the credit for how much I learned over the past four years as an artist to my personal research.

blog post #5

This year my curiosity was on what my daughter would look like before she came into this world each and every day I wonder day in and day out. I asked all types of questions about babies I wonder what being a father would be like. I would read books about babies so that I could prepare myself to become a father. I was ready to meet my baby girl so that I could hold her and spoil her every day. 

Blog #5

A few years back I began to start becoming very serious about working out and getting into shape. To help me with this I knew there was more to just working out if i wanted to be in better shape, I learned the other side to it was the nutrition side which plays a big role. I grew interest and began researching a lot on the subject. In order to help me I began reading many blogs, websites, books, magazines, etc. I even wrote a research paper on the topic during my senior year of high school. I believe this is something that I will always hold an interest in as I would like to stay healthy and maximize my ability to stay fit and work out. 

blog #5

Blog #5: Share a story (or two) of you as a researcher (defined broadly). Prior to this year, where did your curiosities lie? What did you ask about? Did you research informally or formally? What types of books did you tend to read? What types of TV shows did you watch? What sort of questions did you ask about the world? Consider the research you actually have wanted to (or have) undertaken at previous ages. Do any of those subjects still hold your interest? Don’t try to answer all of these questions, but rather use them as a prompt to help you remember a story or two of yourself as a researcher that you would like to post on the blog.

Growing up as an only child I never really had many people to play with.  I had my dog, Shannon, who I would almost always use as my source of entertainment.  I would pretend to be a vet and fix her "broken" leg by taping a piece of paper around her leg as a "cast".  I would also play with toy horses and pretend to take care of them in their toy barn.  Sometimes when it looked like it was about to rain outside I would get cardboard boxes and put blankets in them and leave it outside.  I thought that any stray dogs or cats would use the boxes as shelter and a home.  When I wasn't playing or trying to save animals, I would watch Steve Irwin on TV on that show "crocodile hunter".  I always had a deep interest in animals and helping them.  Today, I really like to ride horses and go scuba diving.  I also have a dog who is probably my best friend.  I have learned more about myself as I got older, such as I am kind of quiet and prefer to keep to myself and do my own thing.  I like horse back riding and scuba diving because they are very independent activities and also involve animals.  Over the past few years I have gotten very into scuba diving and I have many certifications and I hope to get my professional certification within the next year.  I have researched many species of fish and the environment they live in.  Someday I hope to help with coral reef conservation or conservation of any environment.  I have a deep interest in helping animals and although I don't think I have what it takes to be a vet I think I can make a difference somehow with animals. 

blog #5

Reflecting over the past few years, it is tough to pick and choose where my curiosities lie.  One interest I have is photography.  Over this past year, I spent most of my time putting a portfolio together and shooting for my concentration.  One significant part of this was I researched influential photographers and attempted to imitate their work.  Choosing narcissism as my topic, I had to research not only the mere facts about narcissism, but I had to research in a way where I could express this attitude in my photos.  I spent about two years developing this idea and shooting the images.  It was tough work, but I learned so much about photography and the history of narcissism and great photographers.  One of the main reasons as to why I chose this topic to research and explore was because of my photography trip to New York City.  The lights, fashion, constant movement, and self-absorbed lives most people lived, was amazing and breathtaking to me.  The images I was able to capture was what essentially influenced me into my research of narcissism.   Another interest I had, mainly my senior year, was the American dream.  I was intrigued by what people believed the American dream meant to them in today’s society.  If the dream had changed?  Or if people are growing more pessimistic about achieving this dream.  I have done a lot of research with this idea and I have learned a lot.      

Blog #5

In the past few years I have done quite a bit of research on cameras and camera lens. I have recently started to enjoy photography and needed to purchase a camera body and some starter lenses. At first I didn't know much about the topic so I had to figure out what would be best for me and still fit in my budget. I started off with a basic lens that could be used for every day pictures, but a better camera body that was the most recent Canon model. This proved to be a good balance of quality but also wasn't too expensive. Later on, however, I looked into a better lens that would work well for high quality shots. I had to do a lot of research because I would have to spend quite a bit of money on a good lens. I compared different lens types to figure out what would work best for what I wanted. Then when I found the lens I wanted I looked on a few different sites to see who offered the best price. By doing this research I found the highest quality product that suited my needs.

Blog #5

Well growing up I know I wasn't that talkative because I was one of the quiet kids, unless I was around my family then I will act like I'm just the smartest kid ever or I will act like I'm the dumbest kid ever and I will just sit there in ask every question in the book . But I remember this year well my senior year in high school when I had met a freshman name jake , he walked up to me in it felt like I was during full interview. He was asking me questions like what made me get in to football so I answered then again, after that he started asking how did I get as good as I am , then he asked what do you think of my questions ? I said ," I know you curious but please calm down I will answer your questions just give me some time. Then I remember my first time asking my academic advisor why we need tutoring if we having started school yet ? The I asked when did you find out where babies came from ? Like what grade was you in in when you found out?  Not knowing that I was really giving her a bit more than she can handle she said " javon wait" as she laughed just let me answer please I'm going to answer the questions just give me time thanks. 

I said "Oh my god I'm sorry I was getting a little over myself. She said "I figured you just had the little kid moment and drowned me with questions that's all it was . 

Blog #5

Since I am able to speak, I have been asking questions. Toddlers usually ask a lot of questions about everything, but I was worse, I was asking questions ALL the time without even stopping. Every time I talk about it with my parents, they tell me that I was exhausting with my questions. I remember that I wanted to know everything. When I was 11, I started what is called “7^th, 8^th and 9^th year” of school in Switzerland, which means that I stayed with the same teachers for these three years. At the beginning, I was trying to understand why and how everything we were doing worked, especially in mathematics and physics. But while the time was going on, I was forced to see that I couldn’t “control” everything and know everything. I actually didn’t really realize that I began to “let it go” at some point, but what made me realize the most of that evolution is when my teacher at the end of the three years told me that I had had this evolution. Now, I am still very curious, and for everything that I can understand I’ll definitely do everything that I can to understand it. I hate giving up and having to leave the subject without having been able to understand it.

Otherwise, I never read books for myself, probably because I don’t have the time for it as all of my free time goes for my sport, but when I read a magazine, which is 90% of the time a golf magazine, I try to read only what I am really interested in. But very soon, I can’t stop myself from going through all of the articles because, again, I want to know the most possible I can. I guess I am just a very curious person that wants to learn a lot!

Blog #5

I've always loved art, but I think it was around 9th grade that I became the most interested in it. I remember when I was little, I would bring little sketches of my "fashion designing" to show and tell, and clearly remember when one of my friends taught me how to draw landscapes, or grass in late day after school. I continued to go to art camps at my lower school art teacher's house, and throughout middle school, I also loved it. Once I got into high school though, I discovered my love for doodling. I researched all kinds of designs and cool drawings online, blogs, etc., and at first would draw them by looking at what others had done, but later discovered my own talents by creating my own pieces. Ever since then, I've loved to doodle, whether it's been at home when I'm bored, or at school during a class. It's also become an activity that I take part in, when I'm stressed out, or upset just because it takes my mind off of everything. As a senior, I attempted to take AP art, and I loved it, but it was extremely time consuming, and we were challenged to draw things that I didn't necessarily enjoy drawing. I love to draw any sort of design, or figures with lines or objects within it. For example, I painted an elephant on one of my friend's walls in her bedroom, and filled it in with all sorts of designs; it was a process, but I enjoyed it.

Blog #5

Right around the age of 15 I was very interested in cars - rightfully so. I was very excited to receive my license and wanted to make sure I was getting the best deal for the money I was allotted to spend from my parents. In order to understand which cars were right for me and which ones would run awhile, I had to do some research. My research mainly began on craigslist simply looking to see what was out there and near me. Once I was intrigued by a specific model, I would go into further research to find out more about the vehicle. Car blogs, YouTube videos, and even car magazines is where I would look for this information. This helped me find out all the vital information I needed to know about the car before approaching my dad with an option. My dad is a tough cookie. I mainly performed all this research only because I knew he would ask all the questions and I would not advance in the process of buying a car before he had all his questions answered. As I kept car shopping, I became very interested in the whole process and wanted to learn more. Television is where I looked next. Velocity is a television channel that I often watch even today. It features shows all about cars, every angle imaginable about them. Researching cars has showed me that I have an interest in that field. My summer job is involving working with all different types of cars. I believe that I will be interested in vehicles my whole life.

Blog # 5

I have always been very interested in the military, specifically the Navy. I participated in JROTC in high school which exposed me to a great deal of military life. The idea of becoming an officer in the Navy appealed to me very much so I began to ask what was required of me. I sat down with former SEAL's, Naval Academy graduates, and many active and former sailors  to ask what life was like for them. They all had incredible stories and experiences which really called to me. I asked what their favorite and worst memories of the Navy were. I received plenty of brutally honest answers which I appreciated. After being promoted to a position of leadership in my class, I was able to spend much more time with the commanding element of my unit. I requested plenty of formal and informal meetings to learn more about life as an officer in the Navy. Although I was not officially in the Navy, some of the command told me that they viewed me as a sailor already. I was overjoyed to hear that because it was a small sign that  I had, and still have, the will and grit to become a successful Naval officer. I spent a weekend at the United States Naval Academy shadowing one of the midshipman there. I got to see firsthand what life was like as a junior officer before one was able to enter the active fleet. I felt bad at one point because I continued to ask the midshipman questions as he was trying to finish his assignments; I was simply too fired up about being at the Naval Academy to notice that I was becoming a bit of a nuisance. Becoming a Naval Officer is still something that interests me very much; it is the reason I signed up for Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) here at FSU. I'm looking forward to graduating in four years as a commissioned Naval Officer.   

Blog #5: Share a Story

The leap from middle school to high school broadened my curiosities while also narrowing them at the same time. I was exposed to new experiences almost every single day, but with the workload I was handed my favorite past times seemed to disappear with my childhood. I could no longer read about the Magic School Bus or Harry Potter, but now was researching about foreign politics and genocide. As a child, I grew up in a household full of sports. Both my parents were collegiate athletes from a city that never slept when it came to sports either. I was hooked early. I read books dealing with any sport whenever I could get my hands on one; I watched games and other programs dealing with sports; I even started reading magazine articles on sports. Even now, years later, sports, especially baseball, still hold my interest, and I talk about them whenever possible. Knowing what truly goes on around the world, all the hate and crime and suffering, baseball brings me at ease, something I am comfortable with, something that can never go bad for me. Courses over the years have tried to pull me away from baseball, with the hours of reading and writing and studying, forcing me to miss games because of them. But I was just drawn closer, as I never took it for granted, even when I thought I couldn’t love it anymore. It wasn’t until my second year of high school, when things started to slow down, that I realized I could use my past curiosities and combine them with what I was working on now. I could take the books and TV shows I watched and examine them, write about them, and then connect them with a paper or discussion in my current classes.

Blog #5

I am always talking about golf and it could be boring for some but it really is what interests me the most. Before coming to college I had a gap year where I completely focused myself on this sport and played a lot of tournaments throughout Europe. And as you can imagine I was reading a lot of golf magazines. And every time I was turning the TV on it was to watch golf; it still is. J

The magazines I like reading are GolfDigest and Golf Européen. GolfDigest is also published in French so depending on where I was buying them I read either in French or English. I always like to learn more about the professional players, how they reached their goals, how they think, how they behave, what made them so good and so on. I think this is my favorite part in these magazines. Another thing that I enjoy reading in it are the technical tips. Not all of them are useful for me as these magazines are written for a large public and most of them don’t play that much and at that level, so most of the time it is pretty basic but there are always some interesting tips or exercises to do while practicing.

The other thing I really liked was geopolitics. I used to study that in my geography class. I enjoyed a lot learning about the world and different conflicts that had just happened or happened during the Cold War as well as different leaders such as Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Amin Dada. It was very interesting to know more about the world we live in and I was following the news on these subjects. I was reading a lot of articles about these topics and conflicts. It was also developing a lot our critical thinking and we could make our own opinion on certain things that were happening in the world.

Blog #4

For me, writing me snapshots was easy.  It was, however, hard to decide which snapshots not to use.  I used the technique of writing all of my ideas out and then deciding which paragraphs worked best at getting the point of who I really was.  The paragraphs I took out I incorporated into my larger snapshots throughout my story.  I went through big chunks of my life and figured out who I was throughout these larger memories.

Blog #4

I came up with this topic because, one of the most inspiring person in my life is my mother. I knew exactly what I would be writing about, it came to me like it was yesterday. Every since day one she has always been here for me especially when I needed her the most. She knows what’s best for me and stays giving me advice on both good and bad things. I feel as if I can write a book about my mom if I chose to. So when it came down to choosing a good topic for my snapshot I thought, what other way would be better to let everyone know I have a awesome mom then this.

Blog # 4

This has been a very different type of assignment. Thinking of ways to write it was as different as the content of the actual paper. I decided to think back on the memories that had the greatest impacts on me. All of these memories taught me certain lessons and that is part of the reason why I knew they would be good for this paper. I could elaborate and go in to great detail for each of the memories and attempt to really convey what and how I felt during event. I still have a fair amount of detail to add, but the experiences tend to write themselves once I let go of any notions of not wanting to overdue things. My spear-fishing trip was one of many, but this was my first one in the open ocean. It was drastically different from anything else I had done before. I was so used to being able to see the bottom of the ocean except this time is was just one big blue abyss. I had gone diving on structures before, but never anything on the scale of an oil rig. I remember how humbled I felt to be such a small thing in what seemed like an over sized world. I knew this would be a good experience to write about because I enjoyed it and learned so much from it. My first hunt was another major point. It set the foundation for the way I look at a large majority of the world today. Most people seem to have become desensitized over the years, so a first hunt now may not have the same type of effect it would have years ago. I think it is because of how young I was that it had such a profound effect. I chose to write about this experience because of the gravity of the experience and I knew that would make for a good topic. There were a few experiences that I gave some thought to but ultimately decided not to write about. One of them was a long conversation between myself and a homeless man I met while volunteering. The conversation began with sports, changed a lot and finally ended in an almost prophetic philosophical debate. I found the conversation to be amazing but it did not seem like the kind of thing that would be enjoyable to write, much less read. Another experience that I left out was a hike through the Rocky Mountains. The views, sounds, smells and feel of everything became incredibly difficult to convey on paper. It would not have been difficult to describe them, but it would never have the intended effect. Also, my story about walking through mountains could only stay interesting to a certain degree. The way I decided on which experiences to write about was determined by a few questions. What did the experience mean to me? Could I include a lot of naturally flowing detail? Is the memory the best one to illustrate the point I am attempting to make? The experiences that could answer yes to all of those questions were the ones that I decided to use. Events that were only able to answer one or two of the questions, and seemed a bit forced, were the ones that I wanted to leave out of the paper.