Madelaine Schmidt

September 5 2019

1. If you could interview any one person in the world, who would it be and why? If i could interview anybody, it would have been Bob Ross. He was such a happy person, that he made it reflect onto others, and it is very calming to watch him paint. The way he shows and describes the way he does his art has made me grown more passionate about art (painting specifically) as well as his overall personality shows you a different, more positive way to interpret things not only with art but life as well. For example, in his painting videos he tells you not to worry about the small details, or making mistakes because mistakes are only “happy accidents”. My favourite part about his whole series is how he is not trying to show you how well he can paint, he is trying to show you how well you can paint.

 2. What are you passionate about? What do you ‘stand for’? How do you express your passion? Does your online activity support your passion, values, and interests? How so? There are a few things i am passionate about, the main things being: self expression, individuality and art. I find these things would go into the same category, being they are branches off of being who you are, and accepting yourself as that. I feel as though this has been a pretty big topic in the media recently; how brands and companies are trying to involve more diversity, but that does not necessarily make people feel more accepting of themselves. There are a lot of people with low self esteem, or people who are unwilling to accept who they know they truly are (Example, their sexuality, a career they may want that their parents do not agree with, etc.) mainly due to fear of judgement, ridicule, or the unnacceptance of others. For me, my onling activity does not show much of this. I do post what i want, and i am not concerned without the amount of ‘likes’ or followers i have, but i would not say necessarily that i am promoting self acceptance.

3. Do you believe you should have a say in how society works? Yes i do believe i (as well as other people my age) should have a say in how society works. Realistically, although kids and teenagers are not usually thought to be considered in most decisions like this, they should be. Because we will not be young forever and we are the future of our society. Every generation of people has grown up in different circumstances, which could contribute to the way society is evolved in the future as well. Things change quickly, technology is becoming more and more relevant, and things will continue to change as time goes on. As of right now we are not able to vote or have any say in things that we could end up needing to deal with during our adult lives, because the choices were made by the adults made before us.

4. What does knowledge mean to you?  Some people think having a lot of knowledge is the equivalent to being smart. This is not necessarily true, as knowledge typically comes with experience. You learn mew things every day whether you realize it or not, and it’s not just at school. Having constant interaction with different types of people can give you lots of knowledge over time. Your friends, for example, help you learn what qualities you like in other people whether it’s someone who can make you laugh or someone to help you stay focused on your goals. There are many positive things in your day to day life that help you learn. Even negative things that happen in your life end up being positive because you learn from them. For example, maybe you ended up taking the wrong bus to school and you were 20 minutes late, now you know not to take that bus to school. Or, maybe you have an interaction with a very difficult person (speaking from experience), this can actually teach you how to better your communication skills, or look at things from another person’s point of view to help you better understand the situation, and even find a solution or compromise.

5. What are your expectations for this course? I would like to learn better ways to write, like how to draw people into your writing or want to read it. Currently, i am not very strongly-skilled with media or computer programs, so i would like to get better with that as well.