My name is Aneita L. Torres, I am a student of City Tech.  My major is Mechanical Engineering, and I hope to specialize or at learn learn about robotics and build some cool machines.  I have already earned my associates degree, so I’m working now for my bachelors.  Once then, I then plan to transfer to City College to further my education as well as expand my horizons into things City Tech doesn’t offer.  The reason I choose Mechanical Engineering as my major is because of several reasons.  One of them being that I was inspired by video games and all the neat machines and robots that could be useful in the future.  Another is because, as I understand it, science is marching forward and the future is in machines, so if I take a job in that field, I can grantee having a stable well-paying job while helping people at the same time.  Though, my main interest, despite choosing this major, isn’t machines and robots, but in art, atmosphere, and drawing.

I love drawing.  I drew ever since I was 3 I believe, and I find it both fun and relaxing.  I later joined an art website called Deviantart, under the username “Minidragonfly”, which both exposed me to various artwork of various levels of media and skill and allowed me to share my art in hopes to show off my art and to improve myself.  Despite my interests in drawing, I did not take a major in anything relating to art due to my parents worrying about me not being able to support myself by simply drawing.  I respected their wishes in the end, and chose a field that I was sure I would have a successful life in that was somewhat interesting to me.  I wanted to go into Mechanical Engineering, specifically robotics, because I not only like drawing things on paper, but I also like making art in a sense; this includes sewing, paper crafts, storytelling, and building things.

I like reading and telling stories more than writing them.  While I enjoy creating stories in my head, fleshing out the characters, setting, and plot, I have difficulties capturing them and putting them on paper.  That being said, I hate writing my stories; I hate writing in general.  This is because, despite my love for telling stories verbally,  I have been made to write so many reports and essays, that it has put writing in general a bad taste in my mouth.  Even with the stories I share online, it’s in comic format out of spite of writing.  When it comes to reading, my interests tends to revolve around fantasy, with various other aspects like horror, humor, and world building.  When it comes to something like science fiction, it’s building a fantastical world close to ours with technology that we yet to have.  It’s an interesting setting that may video games and cartoons capitalized on for telling their stories.  This is why I chose Science Fiction to take as a course, as it’s easier for me to read books I am interested in.

My experiences in Science Fiction is mostly through video games and cartoons.  Many of the cartoons either have advance or futuristic technology or takes place in the future.  One of which I enjoyed that best fits the genre is Futurama, where it takes place in the year 3000 and, despite technology being so advanced, everything is treated mundanely and many of the issues we experience now they still experience too.  I just hope this class will go over things that are not just dystopian, horrible, or negative futures or settings.

The main thing I guess I can see between science fiction and my major is that they both deal with technology that will affect society, so it would be good to be mindful of the how technology could be negative so that we could either negate it or avoid it.  I’m expecting to read classic science fiction novels as well as hoping to avoid reading anything Star Wars related as I do not like it and hopefully read or talk about a book that isn’t dystopian.  Part of my hopes was already dashed when the 3 required books were all dystopian and I’m hoping not all science fiction books are dystopian books that says either technology is bad, all people on the top are evil and abusive, or that our leaders are out to make us their slaves.  I can not handle depressing topics very well without becoming depressed and moody, and to have this class to be that negative throughout sounds like hell to me.  I do not look forward to a class about a dystopian hell.