Hansei

Colin Kaepernick, a man so mediocre at football that he isn't even on a team, is somehow still the talk of the NFL. On September 1, 2016, he dropped to one knee during the National Anthem and the whole world noticed. Kaepernick, who sat down during the anthem the two weeks prior to the kneel, was attempting to bring attention to the growing problem of racial violence and police brutality in America. One year later, when the players continued to drop to their knees, this happened.  The response was deafening. NFL players from all teams took a knee, raised a fist, or stood arm in arm while the National Anthem was sung. Some teams stayed in the locker room all together. The Pittsburgh Steelers were the first team to choose this move. Head Coach Mike Tomlin's goal was to keep his team 100% united by not forcing anyone to choose a side and by not causing any political tension between those who chose to stand and those who chose to kneel. However, one man chose a dif...

The interesting thing about this composition is that it is often perceived as silence, when in fact the composer meant to draw attention to the impossibility of absolute silence. In the absence of outside sounds, there is always something we can perceive (such as our nervous system, or circulation, in a perfectly sound proof chamber). Silence allows us to listen to sounds we otherwise ignore--and the thoughts that would otherwise elude us. 

To me, the greatest outcome of reflection is self-improvement. As Dewey stated, reflection cannot exist without a purpose and self-improvement is the greatest purpose. This map is designed to show the path to self-improvement. It begins with the current, unideal self. The path to self-improvement is often a winding maze with many opportunities to get lost, turned around or distracted. An obstacle presented in this map is "entrenchment" which traps us in our ways and makes improvement difficult, until it is overcome. The photos that overlap the path show what must occur on the way to self-improvement. The first of which is thought, or an initial idea. Next is reading or searching for information, which is very important in my field of science. Before the research process can truly begin, information on the developments already made in the field must be acquired. Following research is cognition and metacognition, which are deeper levels of thought...

For the last few months, I have been considering applying to an internship in San Francisco. Lately, it feels as if my entire life is up in the air and this internship is no exception. So much is unknown that making any definitive choices seems out of the question. To make a long story short, the internship is available four times a year for three months at a time (i.e. January, February March and April, May, June). Initially, I wanted to apply to the first round so I would have a second chance to apply should I not be chosen for the position in January, but that leaves things in a tough and confusing place. Unfortunately, with my lease expiring, graduate school acceptance being undetermined, and finances complicating an unpaid internship, having such an unclear plan is incredibly difficult. After my loving boyfriend pointed out that my plan was "not very well thought out", I felt very overwhelmed, anxious, and upset. I'm the type of person that always needs to have a pla...

Most of the time I don't know what I'm doing here. I hardly know how I arrived here--life is funny that way. The best part is I definitely don't know where I'm going next. I've changed my mind so many times before and who knows when that'll happen again. The first thing I wanted to be when I grew up was a dolphin trainer. Typical, right? And then I wanted to be a veterinarian, until my mom told me I'd have to kill puppies to do that. It was ruined for me then. Next, I started watching Criminal Minds  and that's when I decided I was going to be an FBI agent, work for the BAU, and catch serial killers. Then I realized I'm anxious walking down the street in the dark alone so how could I ever be tough enough to capture the likes of Bundy and Dahmer. Cognitive neuroscience was the next closest thing. Maybe I wasn't cut out for chasing criminals but at least I could try to understand their brains. Neuroscience was actually why I came to DU in the first...