ENG1101 Project #5 – Ways of Seeing

Project 5 (Final)

As This semester finally comes to an end; it started off easy and smooth but on the long run it started to get challenging with the assignments and exams every class threw at me. I overcame , doing better on some things than others but at the end you learn what you did wrong and how to work on it. For an example I did poorly in some exams because of the lack of study based off putting my time into assignments that were due the same day as the exam. Therefore this was time management I was struggling with and to be honest this semester has taught me to be more wise and organized with my time and how I should apply it to getting assignments done before getting them piled up. Secondly after getting the assignments or exams I did poorly on I would notice what was wrong by the professors guiding me through it and it honestly helped , I would either fix the issue on the next project or if it was an exam , I would go to tutoring to receive help , at the end you must apply yourself to things that will benefit you, if not then you’ll become lost and hopeless.

Me as a writer this semester I’ve learned that things don’t always have to be strictly written as a format, it can be creative as long as you do get the points out there for the reader to understand unless following a format is strictly demanded. For an example in English 1101 where we had to explain what our avatar from the openlab website meant. I felt like I pushed my self to write more and things I normally didn’t write that were deep , as in meaning and feelings. I explained my point of how my avatar describes me as a person adding on to what emotion and vibe It gives off. Also describing how the image looks itself. And from that I felt like whenever something its written by your ideas and thoughts , you will explain thoroughly and deeply because it’s only your perception and nobody can change that , and I’ve learned that.

What I’ve learned as a designer is that there’s many ways to create something digitally, whether it be photoshop or illustrator, even though I had issues because I wasn’t experienced enough, I still learned new skills. An example was in ComD 1100 , where we had to add the painting , picture, and the posterized edit on photoshop. After having all three images together, I learned how to mess around into making it as an animation , playing around with the swatches and effects , I finally got an outcome and it looked interesting.

With this information I can use it to my future in finishing my college based on not being stuck on a paragraph but just letting me ideas flow and making it creative but yet organized and getting the points across. And for my future career I can learn to practice these digital art skills so therefore I can expand my skillset and apply it to new projects . Finally with having to work on my time management to have things run smoother and not so cramped up.

Project #5

Entering City Tech has certainly been a whole new world to me. Going from being in a private school, where there are plenty of restrictions and requirements, to finally being solely on my own without much advisement, has most definitely taken a toll on me, but it has also taught me a lot. My school didn’t offer any courses which would’ve benefited me in my preferred career path, so I pretty much walked into college with zero experience in anything, which also caused me to feel as though I didn’t fit in. I’ve had to get used to doing things on my own, figuring things out on my own, and overall just becoming a more independent individual.

I’ve had a hard time adjusting, mainly because of my shyness. Public speaking, interaction with others, and basically anything that has to do with attention being solely on me, has never been my cup of tea, which is why writing has always been my preferred way of expressing myself. My anxiety doesn’t get in the way which allows me to freely and thoroughly communicate my thoughts and ideas without becoming overwhelmed with nervousness. I’ve always enjoyed writing/typing essays and I’ve always been pretty good at it. Although English 1101 hasn’t helped me much in regards to improving my skills, it has helped me gain more insight on myself as a person and opened up my eyes to new styles of writing besides just formal pieces, which is mainly what I’m used to. Looking back, COMD 1100 hasn’t benefited me significantly either, besides help bring out a few skills in me that I didn’t know I was capable of. Both classes do, however, encourage students to bring forth their own opinions and perspectives which is useful, especially when it comes to critiquing. I’m a perfectionist, but that doesn’t mean that everything I produce is going to be up to par, at least not to my standards, which is why I’m always open to hear feedback. My Raster & Vector class has probably been the most beneficial in terms of introducing me to new and useful programs/material that I might possibly use in the future. It has also been the most intriguing in my opinion.

As a design student, I’m still on the path of figuring out the best route for myself. My interests still lie within the realm of fashion and the world of design, however, so far my first semester hasn’t quite helped me figure out whether this is the best path for me or not. I’m still confused myself as to what best suits me and my skill set, but I’m slowly figuring it out. Being that I had a late start, things were a bit rocky at first and I’ve struggled immensely with handling my habit of procrastination (which I don’t think I’ll ever resolve) but, I’ve met some amazing people and amazing professors along the way. Although my first semester of college has helped me break out of my shell just the tiniest bit, I still have a far way to go and a lot more self discovering to do.

Ways Of Reflecting Final

This semester, I have made a lot of improvements in my writing. I learned that not all the writings I do have to follow the same format. There are other creative styles that I can follow when I’m writing, such as interviews, letters, personal essays, descriptive essays, and persuasive essays. I had a lot of experience with formal writings such as research and persuasive essays but I’m glad I got to experience different formats this semester. The glossary was an important part of this English class. It really helped me a lot to have a place where I can write the definition of words that I didn’t know. The glossary was a good way for me to expand my vocabulary with new words that I now understand and feel comfortable using. There were many instances in a lot of our readings where I did not understand part of the reading just because I did not know what a word meant; having the glossary helped me further understand the readings and made the readings more clear because it was like a mini-dictionary but based on words that the whole class came across.

As a college student, this semester, I learned how to perform better under pressure and how to deal with pressure. I learned how to work faster and come up with things faster. Unlike high school, where I got weeks to do a 2-5 page project, I always had enough time to do multiple drafts when It came to writing projects whereas in college, I a project due each week if not multiple projects due in one week. I also learned that friendships are also a very valuable part of college. Having friends that I can rely on whenever I need something and that can help me stay motivated throughout the year was a big part of a successful first semester as a college student. Another thing that I learned was to be a more organized student. I learned how to deal with a more diverse schedule. In High school, I had the same schedule in terms of hours, compared to college, where I have classes throughout the day, including at night time.

This semester, as a design student in COMD, I got the chance to explore different forms of design. When I made my decision to do Communication Design at City Tech, I joined because I wanted to be a graphic designer and I thought I would only have classes related to raster and vector only. Not only did I have the chance to do raster and vector this term, but I also got to explore other styles of design such as illustration and painting which I never thought I would do. As a design student, I learned to write down ideas and I explored other methods to brainstorming such as using a mind map to put my ideas and thoughts together. In the essay, “Why Collaborate” By Ellen Lupton, she states, “Students create social networks in school that can last a lifetime. The people you hang out with are a source of artistic inspiration, healthy competition, and informal education that could be more important than what you officially learn in class.” I agree with this statement because having close friends is really an important part of being a COMD major. This program requires a lot of communication and a lot of teamwork. Critiquing is also a big part of this program that is why having friends that will give you positive and negative feedback is important.

Project #5 (FINAL)

This is my first year here at City Tech. I am an Asian-American who is majored in Communication Design in pursuing my career to become a designer in advertising. As a child growing up, I don’t know what to do in life or what I am really good at other than photography. I’ve thought to myself before “Is photography is all I can do? Is there anything else I’m good at other than taking pictures”? Of course, there are, I answered to myself. Everything changed ever since then. I’ve realized designing is something I want to do for the rest of my life other than photography only.

This semester I’ve definitely learned many things. As a writer, a college student, or even a design student there is still more to improve on. “No one and nothing is perfect, or we wouldn’t have uniqueness” ― Jasmin Morin. I strongly agree with this quote because no one will ever consider themselves the “best”. You as a person is constantly improving and making changes to yourself in becoming the best version of what’s best for you. As a college student, I’ve noticed it’s difficult to stay on task and maintaining whether it is school, work or at home. I found it difficult to work at home since I help babysit my niece and nephew. I try to do most of my work in school whenever I have breaks in between classes, however, it’s still not enough time to finish the work I need since most of my work is on the Adobe software. Working on projects whether or not it’s in Photoshop, InDesign, Adobe Illustrator it takes a lot of time to accomplish most of it.

One thing I’ve always struggled with is English. Since it’s not my first language so it’s difficult for me still. I think when attending English 1101 I’ve definitely improved a lot in writing. The projects I’ve previously done had helped with my grammar and punctuation. although there is still more to improve on. Doing the glossary does help me a lot with the words I don’t know at all. I’ve learned a lot more words I don’t know before but now I know. Words such as zines, juxtaposition, adornment, contrast, hierarchy and etc. The readings we did in class also helps me understand somewhat, even though I don’t quite understand at all and don’t know how to rephrase it in some ways.

“Creativity is nothing but a mindset free.” –Torrie T. Asai. I really like this quote because as designers you’re using your creativity to express your work. In this major, I get to see the different art styles people have. I was fascinated by seeing how other designers approach the same project I did and make it into their own style. For example the value portraits. We all have different ways to approach this project. Some students really get into the details and some just go straight painting the shades and I was proud to say I one of the students who went straight to just painting the different shades of grey. Something I love is about this semester was I get to see the grace gallery up on the eleventh floor. Overall, I’m proud of myself because one of my works which is the self valued-portraits were in the gallery. I never expected my self valued-portrait would even be in the gallery since I messed up mine due to some issues.

As soon as I saw the grace gallery, I told my mom that self valued-portrait was up in our school gallery for other people to see. She was shocked at first then said “你做得很好” meaning you did great in Chinese. When she said those words I was proud of myself honestly. I never would thought she’d be proud of me ever. My mom wanted me to take a different path other than being a designer. She wanted me to be either a nurse, lawyer, doctor, teacher, radiology technician…etc. Growing in an Asian household I am often compared to my brother. His grades are all straight A’s, he received many invitations to attend ceremonies since he’s in honors, he received scholarships from high school and college. I know for a fact this will not change the way how my mom looks at me. Up to this day, I am still being compared to my brother no matter what. Nevertheless, none of these will prevent me from doing what I want to become a good designer. I’m proud to say my mom thinks the same way, I have proven to her that design is the right path for me.

Ways of Reflecting

My prior experience of writing was always analysis papers about novels that my high school English classes covered. I wasn’t interested in most of the novels that were part of the curriculum, so I didn’t feel like putting in an effort for my writing. It wasn’t until I started this semester that I was given more creative freedom in my writings. Having time to do some free writing helped me to visualize my ideas better. Most times I would get this random stroke of inspiration for an idea, but I wouldn’t knowhow to start bringing that idea to life. With freewriting, I would jot down very descriptive bullet points so I can have the best approach for my idea.

Throughout the semester, learning and experiencing being a college student really opened my eyes to how far I’ve come from being a high school graduate. The longer classes meant that I needed to put more effort in than the amount of effort I put into High School. It also meant that I should stop procrastinating and waiting until the last minute to do certain assignments since it would only look rushed and not be a representation of my full effort. The long breaks and days off gave me time to readjust and allowed me to catch up on assignments as well as start the next assignments. I also realized that sometimes I just need time away from my work and assignments to have fun and relax a bit. The workload is manageable but taking a step back helps me when I get back to work to put in my full effort.

In this major, there is often peer review and critiques which helps everyone involved to see where they need to improve on. Being able to have instant critiques from peers helped me solidify where my work needs help. Having someone review your work and you reviewing theirs creates a sort of support system for one another for improvement. Even if a peer isn’t in the same field as me, their critique gives me a whole new perspective to try and be better. I have a friend who is an aspiring writer that comes to me asking for help with a story he’s working on, to come up with creative ideas to captivate readers. We have a back and forth of him giving me ideas for my art and me giving him ideas for his stories. Doing this helped both of us with our respective projects and improve our skills.

With the semester coming to the end, I can confidently say it was a worthwhile experience to have for my first semester of college. The best part of this semester was feeling welcomed into this new chapter of my life. The first month had well adjusted me to being a college student which high school me was kind of nervous about. Now I continue to strive to better my skills within my major, in hopes of being closer to reaching my goals.

Project 5 Final Draft

To me writing is a form of communication that far exceeds what my mouth can verbalize. If I can get a thought out of my brain, it will come out extremely detailed if I type or write it out. I do my best writing when it is “stream of consciousness” because I can really just say what’s on my mind, which for me is a lot. Also, if I have an interesting story, I can tell it better if type or write it out. However, if it’s something particularly boring to me I struggle to get out, or even find details about the topic.

As I mentioned before, I can tell a good story by writing it down. When I tell it to you out loud, it usually doesn’t sound as good, unless the story is just funny no matter how you tell it, but when I put it on paper, or type it on a computer screen, I can describe the details better and thus tell the story more efficiently. Here’s one example: In high school, I was on track team and because I was on the track team I, obviously, went to track meets. So at one of these meets, some of my teammates were competing in a relay race. The first 3 runners ran their laps and passed the baton to the next runner, but by the last runner, he ran up to my coach in the middle of the race to ask where lane one was, of course no one on the team answered this question because we were all too busy either laughing at him or telling him to run. Eventually, he kept running, but when he came to the finish line, he slowed down and walked through it. Everyone on the team was either pissed off or hysterically laughing at what just happened. A decent amount of details right? Now see if I had described that to you verbally you probably wouldn’t have gotten as much information as you just did. The reason for this may stem from my early childhood.

When I was younger (and even to this day), I was a very quiet person very rarely talking unless it was to my friends. Sometimes, if someone made a joke about me, I would take it personally and automatically accuse them of bullying me. Over the years, I did get more and more talkative and eventually a harder shell for smack talk, but I still had a few communication flaws. For instance, if I got into an argument, I would more often than not lose said argument due to me not being able to formulate a good convincing argument(the other reason being the opponent knew better), so because of that I avoided arguments and confrontation altogether. But little did I know that was also not a good thing because I was holding it in. On top of that, I would get into situations that were emotionally taxing sometimes and take my mind off of it by either playing video games, watching anime, or listening to music(none of which were a permanent solution). Then one day, I had gotten into a disagreement with both of my parents and was extremely angry and irritated as a result of it. I remember for a good hour I could not think about anything else other than the events that had just taken place. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore and I decided to write it out, and when I did, it was like the anger was leaving my body and I felt so much better and was able to think straight again. So now sometimes I write what goes on in my mind, primarily if something is contributing to a “negative” emotion like anger, irritation, concern, genuine confusion, and/or uncertainty.

Despite all of this, I actually don’t like to write often. For most of my life I never truly enjoyed writing an essay and viewed them as a pain overall. Once I got to this class and started to do stream of conscious writing my opinion of writing started to shift a little to a more positive outlook.

Class Notes 12/17: Final Exam and more

During class time: final exam

During lab time: ENG 1101 class survey; reviewing what’s left to do; final exam debrief

What’s left to do:

Project #5: complete your final version. Post it by Wednesday, 12/18, at 5:00pm using the category ENG1101 Project #5 and the tag Deliver, plus any other tags you want to use
Post all or as much as you think appropriate of Project #5 to the FYLC site, using the category 2019 Spevack & Rosen, plus any tags you want to use; also due Wednesday, 12/18, at 5:00pm.
Comment on at least 2 classmates’ posts on the FYLC site by Thursday, 12/19 at 9:00am.
Any glossary entries left to do? Make sure you have 14! By Thursday, 12/19 at 9:00am.
Any other missing materials? Make sure I see them by 12/19 by 11:30am.
Any revisions you need to do? Make sure I see them by 12/19 by 11:30am.
Class on 12/19: come talk to me about your grades, ask questions about your projects, talk about next semester, etc.

Project 5

This semester has been a blast it went by so fast, guess I’m not used to semesters yet. At the beginning college was scary and I was always second guessing myself and my ability or skills to keep up with my fellow classmates. But now that the semester is almost over I look back and see that I had nothing to worry about. Yes some people will be more advanced than me but we are all here to learn,grow, and hoan in on our craft. I have learned so many things that I thought I was never capable of doing, yet alone doing it well. Not just skills in school but I have developed skills in life, I know that I have gained more confidence in my work which then transfers over to my life. Since I have to talk and work with people more so it became normal to me, I’m a custom to it. Also leadership skills I have learned as well, I have a sense taking control of a situation and knowing what to do now. I know before this semester I could not be in that leader role. Have trust in your professors because they have helped me a lot, in the sense of being a critic and knowing what they are talking about of course. I have learned as a student the best advice I can give will be to never procrastinate on your work that is assigned to you. This goes with being responsible because nobody is going to make you pass your classes but yourself. Time maintenance is a big part when your a student because you have to know how much time to do work, study, relax, or working at your job. This is why making a schedule with help keep track on what you have to do and when to do it. Now a lot of students are stressed, but if you manage your work time right I believe you will have nothing to stress about. But if you are stressed, make sure you give yourself sometime to relax, you can listen to music draw, or be with friends and family. Don’t over work yourself.

As a design student I have learned that the thinking process of a project is sometimes longer then the action of the project. It’s pricey to be a design student but is it worth it? Yes it is. Practice is everything always practice your craft. Also as a design student it’s extremely important to get to know your classmates because if some people are doing to same things you are interested in, you can always give feedback on each other’s work so next time your work will be better and you will have a better understanding. But being a critic is not only good for your classmates but good for you because you will have to look carefully at the work and try to see it in a different way so when you start a new project you can implement these different chocies into your work. It’s almost like a give and take situation.

I have learned many things about me as a writer. I found out that my writing style is not formal, it’s more loose almost like an free write. Also many people write differently, some write formal, some do not, some write more poetic. I like to write in a way that is somewhat relatable or easy going vocabulary. But I have also learned that you shouldn’t always write one way, if you write using simple vocabulary then sometimes you should switch it up. It will make you more interesting of a writer. If vocabulary is not your strong suit, don’t worry me neither. But though out my first semester of English we had a glossary blog where you would write a word you do not know or wish to know more if you came across while reading. Then post the word sounded out with the definition and quote of which the word is taken from. Now this helped me with learning new vocabulary words that I never used before. Now knowing these words I can use them in my writing to take it where it hasn’t been before.

So now that my first semester ever in college is wrapping up, I will say I enjoyed it but can’t wait to move forward with my next semester. But I will never forget my first semester ever because I can only get one.

project #5

This is my first semester in to City Tech. I am a Mexican-American who decided to major in Communication Design. My first thoughts about the transitions from high school to college wasn’t so bad, I thought it won’t be any different since I was able to communication with others and rely on those who can help on something I needed that includes even the professors. But the semester did in fact go really fast and I can honestly say I did learn a variety of things in every single of my classes. College is a lot different from what I thought it would be even though it did remind me of high school but in a different environment that’s not the same. Classes were structure a lot different of course which made it a challenge to make some socializing since some were more advanced on what they have learned.

In my English course I have thought that it wasn’t as a challenge but rather somewhat easy to me. Although we didn’t really write essays, I got to learn that a writer must always be really detailed with their piece because it would really help the reader to understand the format of what the piece is really about or what they are really trying to interpret. A writer must never leave important details out because it will leave their reader lost or even left with questions that they will never get to be answer by the publisher. Every small detail has it’s own purpose to support and back up the statement on the writer’s book, article, or a piece of their own creation. As for doing glossaries, I thought it was a good idea to keep a look out for words I didn’t know and go back and search them up on my free time to get a better understanding on what they really meant in details. But to keep up with a lot of new words it can be hard to remember for me since I learn a bit slower when it comes to learning new formats of including in my writings. When trying to use them myself I may forget how to really format it to make sense for others to read or understand what I’m trying to convey.

As a writer, I have become impressed with what I have been able to create and explain what I have explored on trips we have gone to or even with new topics like the juxtaposition. Although for project #3 I had to be switch the image and locations of what I wanted to talk about and which it would be explained to be my juxtaposition. I was more or less lost at the beginning but I managed to do it regardless of my hard struggle I was in. As a design student I learn a lot of how to start of with shapes and doodles instead of going ahead and do our own thing by just seeing a references. Because in my foundation drawing I learned that to make our work look really good you must start from mere scratch and make it a lot better as you go so, when coming to a finish it will be perfected the way you were instructed from what you intended previously thought of doing. As for my type and media class we had to learn to create grids and guidelines to have a starter on where are piece would be placed and what can we do to create a negative space on our work to make it stand out. Other than just using indesign, we explored with photoshop and even illustrator to make different creations of our own from scratch as well.

Overall, I think that my first semester in college has been really fun and a very new welcoming community where I been welcomed with a lot to know about. With everything I get to learn for the next 1 year and half I’ll want to be able to do advertising as my future career. I’ll continue to explore more to do the best of my ability to make my work stand out in companies or for my own creations.

Project #5 Final

A unique and eye-opening experience was the first semester of college in city tech. I didn’t realize that the way the classes were structured to socialize with friends would be so different from high school. I just wanted to go to college because you want someone like me to start their own life. The English community class has made it easier for us as students to make friends. Everything in life at the moment couldn’t be any easier and with everything I do, how I feel happier every day. I like the class in graphic design and concepts because it gives me new ideas and ways in which I can become more innovative. Honestly the one thing I didn’t like is that I had a morning class that starts at 8 in the morning which is really early and tiring.

I do feel that college is going to be good for the next 3 years and i believe that even do its going to be hard it also going to be easy. These reasons why I feel like this semester has really taught me what my future will become and how it will change everyday. The Glossaries was helpful to identify and learn the vocabulary throughout each reading. I didn’t at first contribute to the glossary but later on I got to understand why it’s so helpful. The addition of the glossary was different because not all classes have that in system. Through learning and understanding the words used in the glossary, I was able to adapt and use the vocabulary and gain a better understanding of the concepts through our readings. In addition to the meanings, glossaries was useful to provide words in context that we can reuse in other projects

I want to be hands-on with animal protection and save animals from extinction, so I have chosen this field. This ties in with my love for animals because I want to be and artist that helps make a cause more helpful and impacts society more. I see world issues today as an everyday new becomes something that happens that doesn’t affect us. As Picasso said, “I could draw like Raphael or Michelangelo when I was their age, but learning to draw like them took me a lifetime” is quite real. Picasso was a magnificent and talented artist and craftsman similar to old masters. Picasso says it’s going to take a lifetime to be like the greats and you should adapt it into your own style.

In this English class were able to start and write a statement about our art work. My creative work involves drawing, painting, graphic design, sculpture, and project design. I assume that these insights into art are being pursued in order to find one’s potential, and I hope that my work can affect others. These sketches are both symbolic and abstract, static and fluid at the same time. The sketches express important qualities found in my work’s eyes. This really helped me to be ready for the future and prepared to create one toward the finals years college. When my first day of the history class I wasn’t sure that I wanted to study about painting because I thought it was only about the history and background of the era. That is, until I got more into the idea of why the painter paint what he painted. Because a great painter like monet and Matisse like to paint expressionist style of art. This class left me with a good feeling and expression and would like to take another art history class. The english class helped me understand how to use different language in other projects.

Category: ENG1101 Project #5