by Nelson HerasIn our lives, we all have come across that book that has touched our hearts and that have changed our lives forever. Books that stay with us for years to come. Thankfully I have three amazing books that have taught me things and have changed my life. The first being The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, although a children's book, holds a great message. By that I mean that an adult reading this book will gain a great message from the plot and understand the book in perhaps a more complex manner. As a child I read many books, both for school and for pleasure, however, no book has engraved itself in my mind as this one has. When reading this book, you witness the love between the character of the tree and the "Boy" as the tree likes to call him despite him changing in age. The tree does whatever is in her control to make the Boy happy at all stages of his life even if it means taking a piece of her, literally and figuratively. You can see the love of a mother and child and how a mother, in this case a tree can love her child unconditionally and always do what she can to see her child happy. A mother will live her entire life to please their children, a happy child is a happy mother. This book changed my life because it taught me such a meaningful lesson at such an early age. I learned from reading this book that love can be so pure and unconditional and when we receive that love from anyone we should appreciate it and never take advantage of it. I've mentioned in many of my writings that I have never considered myself to be a religious person. Being religious for me (you may think otherwise) is pertaining to a specific religion, finding the need to attend church in order to feel God’s presence, and rehearsing specific prayers time after time. I do not believe in such things because I am a firm believer of God and know that He is where I am, despite the location. I don’t think that God’s presence is only felt in church and also, I don’t believe in praying the Hail Mary, but instead believe that talking to God is a much better feeling. That being said, the second book that has drastically changed my life is the Bible, in which has managed to get me out of many difficult situations in my life. Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 is one of my favorite verses, it tells you that there is a time for everything, to be patient because the perfect time will come. "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance." Whether you are religious or not these are very wise words anyone can learn from. What I have learned is that everything happens for a reason and that everything that occurs in our lives, all our experiences, have a meaning. Sometimes we are not aware of that meaning, but it's there and sooner or later we will notice it. Again, I do not think I am a religious person, however, I am a believer of God and his miracles. I love God the way I feel I should, not how anyone or any religion tells me I should. My intention is not to offend anyone with my words, I respect every individual’s beliefs. The Bible is beautifully written and can be read and enjoyed by anyone. Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar is a book that has recently changed my life. The actual content of the book is not what changed my life, but because I read Memoirs of Hadrian the love I had for reading flourished once again. The book has a great message and I recommend it, but the gift it gave me was opening the doors for other books to have a greater impact in my life. The reason why I chose Memoirs of Hadrian as a book that changed my life was because it was the beginning of something beautiful. Memoirs of Hadrian is one of those books which you can read over and over again and each reading will always be different. As our life transitions and as we go through new experiences it’ll be a whole new book, however, it will always remain with the same essence. By reading this book I gained some life hacks, those being to live your life in the way that makes you happy, accept everything that enters your life because nothing in life is meaningless. Although Memoirs of Hadrian and the other books were a requirement to read in Professor Rougier's Death and Dying class, they all changed my life because they introduced other styles of writing and other genres that if it weren't for the class, I would walk by them in a book store. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed them all. Not only did these books make me start reading other genres, but it also changed my writing style for the better, which I am thankful for. All three books, although different in content all put in its grain of sand to help me become a self I am happy of, a different person I was before coming across these beautiful texts.
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by Amerra Bukhari"I had turned a monster into art." “GRAB HER BY THE P***Y!” is what you probably heard on the radio and watched on the television, spoken by our president, Donald Trump. He uttered those words in a trailer with an entertainment news reporter, Billy Bush. The recording of what he said was leaked during Trump is campaigning though few months later he was elected as our 45th president. Now my question is how could we vote for someone who holds such disrespect toward women? I question the women who voted for him, how could they bring themselves to the voting booth and color in the circle next to his name? Maybe they didn’t see that it was a big deal or they chose to ignore that he is promoting a rape culture. Emilie Buchwald, author of Transforming a Rape Culture described rape culture as “a complex set of beliefs that encourage male sexual aggression and supports violence against women… condones physical and emotional terrorism against women as the norm.” Rape culture stems from rape, where aggression and violence toward women and has become the standard. It is the society’s beliefs that also encourage the furthering of rape culture. Trump is an influential person, whatever he says and/or does is picked up by people, who think it is ok to say such things and later act on it. The recording of what Trump said in the trailer was played during a performance called Seeing Rape, held in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay – College of Criminal Justice. The performance was broken down into ten plays written by 16 John Jay students and acted out by New York City actors. The plays were written as part of a course called Seeing Rape taught by Professors Shonna Trinch and Barbra Cassidy, where students studied how rape is viewed in society, law, politics, literature, poetry, war, religion and education. The plays were called: The Movement, A Modern Romance, The Girl, Cycles End, The Blind Reflection, An Ordinary Day, La familia de Papa, Unintended, Colorful Markers and Jubilee. The mini plays performed showed the ugly side of our society; how screwed up their mentality toward rape/sexual assault can be. Along with the fabulous performances, I want to point out the language used in the plays, which I observed was a bit too vulgar for the crowd. There was a lot of cursing and sexual innuendos made. For instance, in one of the plays called The Modern Romance, four girls were talking about their Tinder dates gone wrong and a topic of men on Tinder. One girl said “salty corn flakes”, after her friend said that men like to make anything sexual. Which was supposed to mean the “men’s fluid” being used in the cereal. I heard people sitting next to me gasp and laugh at the same time. Majority of the attendees were college students but there were aged people and young children. I heard a little girl in the theater and I was pretty shocked because why would someone bring their young children to a play that has such vulgar language and knew it was inappropriate event for children? What I am saying is, the parents knew about the topic of this performance and expected some sort of vulgarity, it would have been sensible to not bring a young child. I am not going to tell parents where to and not to bring their young children but if that little girl was a child of mine, she would not be sitting there. I personally did not find the language to be appalling because I hear it being used around me; was not fazed at all. Another example of vulgar language used was during the play Colorful Markers, where two male friends meet up and one of them describes the high school party he attended. In short, it was about a gang rape of a drunk girl; where several boys wrote, and drew all over her body using markers. For instance, they drew penises all over, wrote “slut, bitch, whore” and other “colorful” words. The part that got to me was when one of the boy started inserting the marker inside her vagina. Now for the older and young people sitting in the theater, it must have been very uncomfortable because a friend of mine told me that he saw someone walk out when the two men on stage started describing the rape of the vulnerable girl. Lastly, my point in bring up the language used in the plays was because there were people from different generations in attendance, maybe they are not used to hearing this sort of language in their home, people they associate with, work place, and most importantly they do not use this type of language. Aside from the vulgar language, I want to add a few comments. First of all, I want to applaud the actors and playwrights for their hard work. They took a sensitive issue and showed it to the audience through real life instances, it felt very real and personal to me. The idea of seeing and not seeing rape in our society is a big problem because some people do not fully know what counts as rape, maybe they know and choose to ignore and do what they want and some keep quiet about it they fear retaliation. I personally feel that media plays a big part in spreading rape and promoting a rape culture, they might show something in a humorous way but this is not something that should be joked about. Preventing rape is what everyone should talk about, for example this performance was a way of showing and telling and getting the message of knowing what rape is, to people of all ages. by Erick GarciaI sit down in my room, pick up my guitar, place it on my lap, and begin to play. Not sure where I’m going with the ideas in my head, I play and play. And then, I just stop. For some reason, I just can’t bring myself to continue to play. The desire is there, and it is very strong, but I don’t continue. I feel like a ship just stalling at sea on a very calm day. Is it because I have writer’s block? Is it because I have to think for a bit in order to continue? Or is it simply because I feel discouraged? Whatever the reason, something in me is missing, and it bothers me. I have found that for some reason, even though someone does something that he or she loves passionately, sometimes he or she loses his or her way and that thing that usually brings him or her joy doesn’t seem to do so anymore. If you have ever felt this way and are someone who is artistically inclined, let me be the first to say that you aren’t alone. We can’t explain it, but sometimes we become disenchanted with the specific art form that we choose to express ourselves with, whether it’s writing, painting, drawing, or in my case, playing an instrument. However, there is one thing that I find is the only thing that matters above anything else, and what really matters is that you have fun with what you’re doing. It sounds very bland, but allow me to explain. Whenever we enjoy doing something, particularly if it’s a hobby, we do it because we feel good and fulfilled when we do it right? If your hobby is an artistic form of expression, you don’t just do it because you love it, you do it because to a certain degree it’s an extension of you. You paint, draw, write, play an instrument or what have you, not just because you enjoy it, but also because it’s how you express yourself best when regular words fail to say how you feel about something. And when you really want to express yourself, sometimes you even create something beautiful out of nothing with those artistic talents that you have, which is probably an artist’s greatest dream. Unfortunately, sometimes you hit a roadblock, and all of a sudden you feel discouraged and no longer want to engage in that artistic form of expression that made you feel so happy. Why is this? In my case, I play the guitar, or at least try to as much as I can. As I mentioned in my previous article on career choices, one of my dreams is to play in a band and to write music. However, sometimes I will completely abandon the guitar for prolonged periods of time, even if the desire to actually play is there. This is something that I feel happens from time to time to people who artistically inclined. Even though they love to express themselves in a certain artistic way, sometimes that form of expression can become joyless and even tedious, and in the worst cases, can feel like work instead of something that makes you feel happy, which in my opinion is the absolute worst thing that can happen, because anything that makes you feel happy shouldn’t feel like a chore. Speaking about myself and my flaws, I guess one of the reasons why I can become so disenchanted with the guitar and with playing music in general is because of my level of experience. I am by no means an expert, and I still consider myself a beginner in a lot of ways, partially because I’m so on and off with playing the guitar. I know that practice makes perfect and that no abilities worth possessing are developed overnight, but sometimes when I look at the multiple posters and album covers of my musical heroes that adorn my room, I can’t help but feel discouraged and even intimidated at how far behind I am in my journey to be like them. Any artist will tell you that he or she has heroes or idols, and more often than not, anything that he or she does will be inspired by his or her heroes. The thing about heroes is that sometimes their achievements seem so monumental to us that just the thought of trying to achieve a level of greatness similar to theirs all of a sudden becomes impossible and far away, and therefore we sometimes ask ourselves “why am I even trying” or “what’s the point of doing this if I’ll never be like them?” I know I’ve asked myself this question many more times that I cared to. If you are an aspiring artist reading this article, or if you’re someone who expresses yourself through an art form and is looking for a little bit of inspiration, I have some advice for you. First of all, you should always try to be yourself. Before you roll your eyes and say “oh great, another person telling me to be myself,” stop and think about it for a bit. Why is this so important? And what does this even mean? Well, in my experience, it means that however you end up expressing yourself artistically belongs to you and only you! No one has ever expressed themselves that way before you, and that alone is gratifying in itself. One of the most important things I learned from my music theory teacher in high school was that even though influence is great, technique never fails. To me, this means that there’s nothing wrong with trying to be like our heroes, but if we really want to be like them, we have to be unlike anyone else, because that’s how one creates a legacy worth respecting: by being bold enough to be different. Second, nothing worth having comes easy, and it certainly doesn’t come overnight, in a day, a week, a month, maybe not even a year. I say this not to discourage you, but to tell you that just like life is continuous, so is art! You can only get better at what you do if you keep on practicing, but that can only happen over time. Life in general is one huge learning experience: it never stops! So don’t put a time limit on something that’s always evolving and getting better. The more you develop your skills, the more powerful you become. And third, and perhaps the most important thing of all, even more important than being original or having experience: what really matters in all of this is to have fun!
Yes, there are artists who want to push the boundaries and create beauty out of nothing with their skills, but if you’re someone who draws, paints, writes, acts, plays an instrument (the list goes on), not so much to create, but to simply express yourself as a hobby, having fun is your driving force. If you ever find yourself in a situation like mine, do what I eventually did, and ask yourself this: why did I fall in love with this in the first place? This goes for anyone who is a writer, painter, photographer, sketch artist, musician, etc. What made you fall in love with what you do? If you ask yourself this and you’re still at a loss for words, try going back to the roots of why you express yourself in the way you do artistically, and if you find that what made it so much fun in the first place is still there, if that something still burns just as passionately as it did on the first day, then bring that with you into the present and get back into it! If you’re into art for the hedonistic value it can provide, have fun and enjoy it to the fullest. And if you’re in it to leave your mark on the world, don’t ever be afraid to fail and don’t let yourself be intimidated by your heroes, because just like you, they had these very same doubts at some point themselves. Being an artist isn’t hard. What is hard is convincing yourself that you can be one. Be yourself, work hard, love what you do, but most importantly, have fun while you do it! As long as you have fun, the rest will work itself out. by Michele BukhariI took this picture in an abandon hospital in Staten Island. I went on a trip in high school with my photography class. It was an amazing experience; all the walls were covered with graffiti and I couldn’t stop looking at them. I honestly didn’t know I would like this picture, I just took it, just to take it. But after going through the pictures I took that day I like the angle this picture was taken in. So I just edited it a little. This is another picture from the abandon seaview hospital trip. I loved how many colorful graffiti art there was. This one was the biggest piece I seen in the area I walked into. This picture is of a ceiling in the abandoned Seaview Hospital. I love this picture because no one knows what those little orbs are. When I entered the room and took the picture I didn’t see anything but the ceiling but when I pulled it up on a computer I saw these little orbs and everyone just assumed they were spirts or something of that sort. This picture was taken outside of the many Seaview Hospital buildings. This was under a bridge of some sort that you could walk straight into one of the buildings. I took this picture last summer when I was in Brownsville, BK. It was after a long day of surveying people on the streets of Brownsville for my Anthropology class. My friends and I were looking for someplace to go and eat since we weren’t familiar with the place we just kept walking. While we were on our little adventure to find a place to eat, we saw these murals of graffiti. This specific one just caught all of our eyes. It looked so perfectly made. This picture was taken at East River Park. I was there with my sister and the view just looked nice to me, so I took the picture. This was at East River Park. I did edit this picture through photoshop because when I did take the picture, it was too bright and I really couldn’t see the clouds or anything in the back. This picture was taken at Sunset Park, BK. During the summer of 2016, for my Anthropology class, we had to walk around and survey people on crime rates and police involvement in the community. I took this picture because that was the first time in 2 days I had seen any police cars in the neighborhood.
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