Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Extra credit assignment by Mohammed!

Here is my video for the extra credit assignment! I used my laptop for recording this video and probably my only mistake is I didn't looked in the camera directly. Unfortunately I ended up spending more time in compressing, which actually ruined the quality of the video, I hope it will look good if you watch in a small screen.  But altogether I enjoyed a lot making this video.
Thanks!!!





                                                             

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Extra Credit Assignment - Andy

Here is my video for the extra credit assignment! I used the front camera on my phone and it was a bit awkward at first, as you will see.  If you have any questions, feel free to let me know!


Monday, April 25, 2016

Interveiw Gabrial Alexander Breidenbach

       


Gabrial A breidenbach
English 1109.1, 1:30-3:30 Monday/Wednesday
Mike Lohre
4/20/2016
I interviewed a buddy of mine called Jaylen. I met Jaylen in my art class at the start of this semester. Jaylen is a tall fellow with dark skin color and black hair and often times is in some kind of superhero themed shirt with a goofy smile sprawled across his face. We became friends quickly after the semester started resulting in occasionally getting in trouble for talking. So after a bit of thinking I decided that due to his behavior he would be a good person for the interview. What I found throughout the interview was that he was rather knowledgeable about his goal. So I Originally met up with him in the art room on the 18th of April in 2016(understandably unwise on my part but I had more than enough time) and interviewed him after art ended. This is how it went even if it were unconventional.
Image
this is the knucklehead i interviewed
I started by asking what is your dream that you wish to achieve? Just to get a rather quick and precise reply from Jaylen stating I want to be a game designer. I admittedly wanted to know more so I dug a little deeper asking “How long have you wanted to be a game designer?” Jaylen just started to laugh as he quickly responded with “Since I was three years old”. Admittedly I found that odd but that got me thinking so I wondered and asked “How far are you willing to go to achieve your dream?” Jaylen paused for a moment and you could see just how he struggled to describe it . “I’d say pretty far since I’m taking classes to further my skills and already have a slight idea on how to code by messing with games that already exist”. After that I have to admit I was going to be very blunt because it really struck my curiosity and it just slipped “Would you call yourself eccentric?” Jaylen just looked confused at me and asked “Eccentric, Isn’t that the good kind of crazy and unpredictable?” I sat there wondering because he wasn’t wrong sometimes it was good and I saw it as such so I responded with “yes”. Jaylen just sat there quiet then started looking at the ceiling for a few seconds until he finally spoke” hm, yeah I’d say so, so yes I do believe I’m eccentric”.
After a few apologies for flat out asking if he was crazy I wandered back into the big topic and asked “How long do you think or at least wish to be able to achieve your goal?”. Jaylen just put went into a thinking pose with his chin resting in between his pointer finger and his thumb and after a few seconds passed “at this rate hopefully 3-4 years”. Suddenly it struck me to ask, “Any major reasons that being a game designer is your dream?” Without any hesitation he grew a big smile and Said “I grew up around videogames because there were very little options other than videogames or to, reason being there were very little we could do outside because of housing and often times just didn’t feel like going outside so I just played videogames feeling that it was more productive”. Letting that sink in though it took a bit I inquired (rather badly) “Any major influences”. Jaylen just looked confused as he asked “in the past?”. If I weren’t in an interview I would have face palmed at my failure to ask a question “No I meant in the present sorry”. He just said ok and went on with informing me “Then the yearly salary has to be the major influence because holy cow that’s a lot. I mean the lowest amount I found while researching was 700.00$ yearly salary”. Admittedly I was surprised by this responding with rather loud and unexplainable noise that made Jaylen lose it. After I collected my thoughts the game of 2o questions began again with “What is your opinion on the videogame industry?”. Jaylen just shrugged and said nonchalantly “ok I guess, I mean I feel it is doing well but commonly has publicity issues unless it’s a big title”.
Understanding the time restraints I said “okay last question any media tv, games that influenced you”. Jaylen responded with “the big popular games that everyone knows”. I kind of just mentally stopped than asked “Any particular examples?”. And Jaylen excitedly stated “Pokémon definitely Pokémon, if there’s anything bigger I haven’t heard of it”. All I could chuckle and thank him for his time resulting in him not paying attention and almost running into the door as he walked out which admittedly made me laugh even harder seriously I did not think I could laugh hard enough to struggle breathing just to see his goofy grin walk away.

Interview by Lali Lakatos

" I came to this country with only five dollars in my pocket a wife and three daughters and one of them is disabled, life was not easy moving from one country to another." This is what my grandpa said, he was born 1961 in Budapest Hungary and lived there for most of his years till he and his family moved to America in 2000. Life in Hungary was very hard, the economy there was very bad  it was hard to find a good job their and also one that pays well. One of his dreams when he was young is that he would love to move to America to be someone and start his life there.  
Once he moved with his family he said "I will do anything to make money and put food on the table for my wife and daughters." He started at a hotel where he basically was like a maid when a customer checked it was his job to go the that room and make it spotless. One of the challenges he had was that he spoke zero English and the only way he could learn was just hearing how people speak everyday and learning sentences or different type of words each day till he could have a full conversation with someone. He was not only teaching himself but he also taught his wife how to speak English, he didn’t have to teach his two daughters a lot because they were going to school and they were learning most of their English there by  teachers or either by students. One thing that he does regret is that before he moved to the United States he wished that he took an English class because it would've been easier to communicate with people,  could've found a better job, and also it wouldn’t taken a over a year to learn a language. 
His English got better and better over the years and he could now go out and go look for a better job. The job he found was being a cop, they mostly put him on security guarding places but he didn’t mind it he as just happy that he was getting paid better. He says " the only thing that makes me get up every morning and go to work is my disabled daughter, she is the world to me if I fail her then I don’t know what life is anymore." 
What I think my grandpa is holding on to is his disabled daughter. The reason I think this is he always thinks about her and making sure that she gets the best life that she could have and making sure that she is healthy. This is basically his motivation for everything he does in his life ever since he had her and if he loses that he would not know what to do. In my opinion this is the best thing about my grandpa and his story was worth the telling.  
 
Joseph Pinter's Profile Photo

Essay Three by Chad Devore

     The person that I interviewed was my very own mother, who has a dream of opening up a restaurant one day. She said that she would like for it to be mainly pink and white in color, along with having a main display case for the desserts and different types of coffees available. Essentially, she said that she did this because she enjoys making people feel comfortable and feeling loved, and that she would be successful in doing so by cooking and baking.
     However, she's had some struggles that involved trying to find a proper place for the restaurant. Where she lives, it's very hard to make a profit, and moving to a new location would be very expensive in the long run. Hopefully one day, she plans on actually opening up this restaurant and is a part of it. Paraphrased and re-worded, the interview was something like this.
     "Was there a life long dream that you've wanted to pursue?" I asked her. She replied, "Well, I've always wanted to open up my own restaurant." I follow with, "What kind of a restaurant?" She answers with, "I'd like for it to be a pink restaurant that's mainly a place for people to be at and for people to feel welcome with my cooking." I ask, "Is that what you're doing it for?" She answers, "Well, I enjoy cooking and baking, and I figured that I could also comfort people with my cooking, and basically create a place for both my children and anyone else."
     "I see," I respond. "Well, how come you haven't opened up the restaurant yet?" She replies, "Right now, I don't really have a whole lot of money to move to a big place and try to begin this business. I would do it here, but places here usually don't get much business. However, I'm still holding on and believing that I will open up the restaurant." Finally, I ask, "So with all of this, where do you see it in ten years?" She replies with, "I hope that it's open, and that I'm a part of it," she says with a sort of laughter.

Obviously this isn't her, but it gives the general idea.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Link to "Being 13" from Mike Lohre

If any of you want to watch parts of the documentary again, or share it with friends or family, here is the link.

https://youtu.be/t-9LtTtkg04?list=PL-WnhqkddCM01-Fcn0qbyWP7hkilqi00h

This film really made me think about our cultural habits and some of the challenges and pressures our young people are faced with.  I think it's a good resource and starting place for a conversation about technology and social media use.

All my best,

Mike



Anderson Cooper.

Monday, April 18, 2016

Adding Research to Active Reading Exercise. From Mike

We will create and brainstorm a list of good research questions for today's profiles.


Do your work on the profile question that you take, and post your research findings in the Comments section here.  What did you discover?  Where did you find your best source? How does this help us understand the profile better?

See you in the Comments section below. . .

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Brainstorming Post for collective good Interview Questions. From Mike

Students, using the Comments section below, please post your the five best interview questions you have based on the themes of ECCENTRICITY or DREAMS.

This way we have a multitude of questions to pick from, rewrite, and use for our interviews for the last Creative Profile essay.


Monday, April 11, 2016

Snapshot 6 on Holding On by Mohammed Baseer


I think no one likes to remember the times when they experienced failure to accomplish their objectives and their struggle to hold on in the life. But it is my own painful memories that give me the courage to rise above and dream beyond what is common.

I had always tried to work hard as much as possible to achieve better grades but when my world turned upside down in my most crucial high school years I found it so difficult to focus on studies and so easy to divert away. Eventually I got a D in my ninth grade and I was almost losing hope in my studies.

One day I came back from school to find out that my grandma was in the ER. She was complaining about chest pain and she was been taken to the hospital immediately. Later as I patiently waited for her test results to come back I realized how unpredictable life is. I can perfectly remember those times as I went to the hospital to see my grandma, there was this disinfectant used all over the hospital whose smell made me more sad. As I was about to enter the ER, a doctor came and said, “You must be at least 18 years old to enter this place,” and I had to go back and sit on the chairs, after a few minutes my sister came out and said, “She is doing really good, don’t worry, the doctor said we can take her back home in three days,” I was happy but couldn’t meet her until the next day and then my sister asked me, “Are you on track with your homework because I have not seen you doing it for a while,” and I replied “We can think about it later,” Those moments of helplessness taught me the importance of time.

I looked in awe at the doctors and nurses and was thankful to god for having someone to help us in times of distress. They were super heroes, their selflessness and dedication inspired me to be someone like them so I can be there to help everyone in times of their distress.

This time, out of my fears and pain, rose an inspiration that gave me the courage to dream. I know now not to sulk in my grief or despair with every hardship. I now have a dream to be a health professional and I am pursuing my goals with a lot of perseverance.  I have consistently grown better and better with my studies. With an aggregate of 67% in 10th grade, 88% in 11th and 92% in 12th grade (that is a rough estimate) I have understood that sky is the limit for a hard working.

Although I am very focused on my goal yet I have kept my possibilities open so as to overcome any hurdles. I have faith in my capabilities and my family is always there to help, I will keep working towards success.
(Word Count-500)

Snap Shot 6 Chase

The game I love. The game I need. What am I holding on to? I'm gripping tightly to my love for hockey. I carry every tradition no matter what. I keep a stick and puck in the back of my car 24/7. I've seen all 3 Mighty Ducks Movie's maybe a hundred times. Miracle still gives me goosebumps when I watch USA finally beat the Soviets. I watched Slapshot too young but man I loved it. If we make the playoffs you can bet on me sporting a mullet. Diving to block shots is a sport in itself for me. I love every part of this beautiful game. Horsing around the airports and hotels, the long and cold bus rides, the suits, the bone crushing hits, the goal horn blaring, and the fans going wild are why I love this game. There is no feeling better in the world than making the move, taking the shot, and watching the puck cross that line. Because that moment of adrenaline is only paired by the uproar of fans that could die happy tonight, because you just scored that game winning goal.

People have bad days, months, and years. It doesn't matter what is going on in my life, I have never played hockey sad. My mind erases. Its like pressing pause in life. One of my favorite things to do in the world is play pond hockey. Back to basics type hockey. My favorite memory ever took place two years ago when I was living in Boston. The family I was placed to stay with, had two kids that loved hockey. They were extremely good and were only 12 and 14 at the time. We would stay up and check the weather for the next day almost every night in the winter. We were waiting for the temperature to drop low enough for long enough so we could play on the lake by the house. It was a friday in mid January and the lake finally froze. I took a snowblower out and cleaned a decent portion to play on. The boys were in school and it didn't feel right if I played by myself so I brought the boys out of the school. We played for hours. The lake was beautiful frozen. It was surrounded by hundreds maybe thousands of trees. I could not have pictured anything better.

"When Hell freezes over, I'll be playing hockey there too."
-Unknown

snapshot 6 by lali lakatos

Ever since I was six years old I always loved to draw, drawing for me helped me escape this world and jump into an whole new world in which I created. At the beginning I just drew for fun and my teachers always said my drawings were unique and especially my coloring because I am colorblind. The day I found out that I was colorblind I was sitting at the kitchen table at my house coloring in a picture and my brother was sitting next to me coloring also and I wanted to paint the ground green in my picture so I looked so hard for a green marker on the table but I couldn't find one so I asked my brother "hey can you give me a green marker" and my brother said "it is right in front of you" so he reached over and picked it up right in front of me. From then on I always asked my brother to pick out the color marker for me, then my parents saw me doing this and they thought their was something wrong with me so they took me to the eye doctor and the test back positive that I am colorblind.  This one time I was coloring the sky purple and I thought it was blue and when I showed my teacher and she said "wow I never thought a sky could be purple" and after that she would always expect something cool in my drawings because she likes seeing how I saw the world. As I grew up my drawings got better and better, in high school my art was hung every time. Between my high school years my drawings started to tell stories and those stories are mostly what is going on in my life. Some stories told happy things like everything was colorful and showed a happy image, but times if I was under stress the colors faded a little and a it showed a image that looked like it was struggling, and in times I was mad there would be no colors mostly just black and showed a dark image. As I continue to draw today I continue to learn new techniques to make whatever I'm drawing become more real and also my color judging got a little better but I think the best drawings of mine are always the unique ones because the color choices I made are different to what other people would have chosen. what I hold onto is my drawings and my drawing techniques if I don't have those I don't know what I would do, I always said to myself  "if I ever lost my right hand I would learn to draw with my left."

Count:456

Snapsot 6: Holding on By: Addison

Having a family at 18 while working two jobs and going to school is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. It becomes overwhelming and I want to give up at times but I have to remember why I am doing it. Trying to keep my relationship together when we have very little time together. I just have to believe that in four years everything will be different. I get discouraged a lot when I get behind in a class or do not have time to do a paper. I do all of this so my son will never go without and my family will stay together. Time is everything, I have to have my whole day planned and have two babysitters in one day a lot since I have school and work. Even on the days I want to give up, I will never give up. If I give up on myself, I will be giving up on my family and not giving them what they deserve. Writing this has been a struggle of keeping an infant happy and not crying. Being a mom is the best thing in my life and the hardest thing in my life but the most rewarding thing in my life. He comes first before anything else. My family is my motivation for everything I am doing. I will never let anyone or anything stop me from failing at what I believe I can accomplish. I have a dream that one day I will not be working two jobs and I will be graduated from college so that way I can see my son way more than what I do now. My son will only be little for a short amount of time and I know I am there as much as possible but I do not want to miss anything. Every second I have I spend it with him so that way I am there for his milestones. With my next child I don’t want to worry about missing their milestones because I had school and work all day. My son has everything he could possibly want and need plus more but I have to struggle to get him everything extra, one day I will not struggle to do that for him and that is what he deserves. I cherish every moment I have with my family and one day I will be able to have another baby and have everything we have ever wanted as a family. I will be able to say one day soon “I made it.”

word count:429

Snapshot 6: Holding On By Josh

Like most people family is my number one priority. My family is my everything. Through my highs and lows in my life it is always my family that support me no matter what and inspire me to be the best I can be. My grandparents are probably the ones that inspire me the most. They’re 80 years old and are both still sharp as a tack. I always love going to their house to see them and talk with them. It’s probably the only thing that can keep me off my phone or any of the other screens I have. Whenever I go up there we all sit around at the dinner table for hours and just talk. Probably the main reason I treasure them the most is because my parents and I aren’t very close to my dad’s side of the family. My dad’s dad died of a heart attack before I was born so I never got to know him. I only see my grandma once a year even though we live 15 minutes from each other. There is some bad blood between my dad and his sister so we never see her and her family. I actually saw them this weekend for the first time in thirteen years and it was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life because I hardly know them. It’s not that way with my other grandparents and the rest of my mom’s side of the family. we always keep in touch with each other and always know what’s going on with everybody. I dream of one day having a family just like that.
                After graduation a lot was going on. I was finishing up the rest of my track season, hanging out with my friends before we all went our separate ways, and I would eventually start my first semester of college in the fall. Once I college started along I lost touch with my grandparents. I use to try and call them at least once a week or so and it was already the beginning of December and I haven’t talked to them in over two months. While I was hanging out with my friends one night I got a call from my mom. She told me that my grandpa was in the hospital. My heart stopped. I felt terrible because hadn’t heard from him in forever it felt like. I immediately left hanging out with my friends and my mom and I drove up to see him and my grandma. He was admitted into The ProMedica Toledo Hospital. When we got there the doctors told us that everything would be fine. He just had some internal bleeding that was being fixed with antibiotics. We are relieved to hear that he was going to be okay.
My grandparents just turned 80 recently and even though they doing good for their age I know they won’t be around forever. I lost sight of what meant the most to me because I was so caught up in my own life. My grandparents mean a lot to me and I want to be there for them when they get too old and can’t go anymore because that is when they will need their family the most. I owe it to them because they’ve always been there for me. I want to hold on to them for as long as they are still here. I also want to try to clear the bitterness and hatred between my dad and my aunt. After all they’re my family too and I would like to get to know my younger cousin. I know it will be hard to keep up with everything now that my own life is starting but I’m going to do my best for my family.
Word count: 633        

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Snapshot 6: Holding On - My Hockey Past and Detroit Red Wings Pride

(792 words)      

        As far as my personal identity and character relating to something I hold onto, it would primarily be my love for the game of ice hockey as well as my pride for the Detroit Red Wings.  It was unfortunately all downhill once I moved to Ohio in May 1997 and later on came to an end when I was 17-18 with my health issues and lack of opportunities in Ohio for ice hockey at the time.

        Growing up in Troy, Michigan, which is about 20 minutes outside of Detroit, the main sport was ice hockey.  I suppose you could compare it to how serious people take Ohio State football here.  I was introduced to hockey through my neighborhood friends, primarily brothers Scott and Eric G., and along with this came my pride, as well as loyalty, for the hometown Detroit Red Wings of the NHL (National Hockey League), which is the professional ice hockey league composed of the world’s best players.

        I would play hockey with my friends whenever I had the chance.  Most of the time it was outside in the driveway on roller-blades and when we had a larger group of people, we would play in the street.  Scott and Eric were always willing to lace up and play hockey until the sun set concluding the day.  Scott and Eric, along with their mother Mrs. G, were absolutely die-hard Detroit Red Wings fans and I thank them for passing on their passion to me.

       When I moved to Ohio, literally almost no one knew what hockey was.  It was terrible. I went from enjoying a sport that was a passion of the entire state of Michigan to a state who thrives on football, which isn’t a bad thing, it just isn’t for me.  Luckily, by the smallest chance, my two friends Brendan and Bobby, who lived down the road, were hockey enthusiasts as well as die-hard Red Wings fans!  Obviously this was completely unexpected, but it was great to find people who shared the same passions as myself.

        As far as my “career” playing ice hockey, that first started in Michigan as well.  I’ll never forget when my parents had to purchase all of the gear. They weren’t too thrilled with the price tag and I wasn’t too thrilled with the used equipment from “Play-It-Again Sports”.  This purchase included used pants, that were in OK shape besides a few tears on the inside, a chest protector that looked like it was from the late 1980’s, along with the shin pads that were pretty musty.  The elbow pads were pretty beat up too.  I wasn’t necessarily disappointed, but it was just a bit strange to be wearing old gear that someone wore out and it was a bit outdated.  I think the only pieces of equipment I had that were new were the ice skates, helmet and gloves.  As I stuck with the sport and sharpened my skills, I obviously earned new and better gear as time went on.  I still have all of my gear at the moment; my hockey bag is in the basement and my three hockey sticks are in my bedroom.

       The feeling of stepping on the ice with razor sharp blades and pressing off, digging the blade into the smooth surface, creating a sound that the only way I can describe would be scraping your windshield clean, but that hardly does anything in comparison to how it actually sounds.  Your feet mold to your ice skates making it feel like your feet are one with the blade.  You feel the cool chill of the air rushing over your face and it intensifies as you pick up speed down the ice.  The feeling of skating backwards as well as crossing-over your skates to cut the angle are both wild sensations as you propel yourself.  All of these sensations are amplified when you are playing opponents and you are performing at your very best, but nothing beats the thrill of scoring a goal and earning a win with your teammates.
   
       My personal pride for the Detroit Red Wings, as well as Detroit, stems back to my time in Michigan, as I stated. The easiest way to spot my pride is when I am wearing a hat; which is frequently, and almost always, one of my Red Wings hats.  I'd say I also have pride form living close to Detroit since it was once a great and powerful city that provided ground-breaking ideas as well as jobs and homes for 1.86 million people at its peak.  I'd love to see the city of Detroit rebuild itself to what it once was, but that is unfortunately a dream as time continues to tick on and the city continues to crumble.

Snapshot 6 Gabrial Alexander Breidenbach



My name is Gabrial Alexander Breidenbach and the time has come to disclose information about myself. Growing up life hasn’t been extremely hard but has had patches that made me want to scream and even want to give in. truthfully what I hold dear is also reflected in my goal and that is family as simple as that sounds. I am currently on the road to reach a higher education to be able to get the money to afford to start a family though admittedly with that comes the challenge to stay strong and muscle through it. A recent experience is when admitted I was at home and tired. I was sitting in a wooden chair glaring at a wall thinking and as I delved into my thoughts I started to feel really idiotic, insecure, broken even. I had been honestly over working myself with six days being unable to recover only allowing myself to heal one day a week before going back into the week trying to get through to the end. While I sat there all I could really do is wonder if I was doing the right thing, if my dream was even obtainable. The next thing to strike me was the knowledge that I knew I lacked. I wished I could learn more things but unlike when I was younger I am not home long enough to be able to learn what my parents know, I can’t afford to go somewhere else to learn because of a lack of funds, and I can’t even continue my serious martial arts training which built me from the ground up. Never had I felt so broken so pathetic because somehow I felt like where the frail child of my youth disappeared so did my intelligence and other I can’t learn anything that I don’t take at the university. To make things worse I had to endure the thought of work knowing fully well that I wish I could have called in but due to my car I can’t afford to. I was for once in my life so badly entrapped in my mind that I was so close to just giving up curling into a ball and crying and just hope that everything would get better without me because for once Gabrial Alexander Breidenbach the proud son of Kenneth Breidenbach was ready to stop fighting so prepared to be washed away in the tide of life and drown in sorrow. Right as I was on the edge bout to fall and just shatter leaving only fragments my father walked in. Admittedly normally my dad didn’t help in situations like this but this time he was exactly what was needed. I remember looking up to see my dad sit down and when he asked what was wrong all I could do was just break down explaining the issues I had. Starting with how I felt rather stupid, then how it hurt that I’m unable to learn a lot of things due to my lack of money or time, and how I felt that bout the only redeeming quality was the muscle that I’ve built. My dad just poked me in the arm and when I looked at him he said “Gabe how long did it take you to break?” Truthfully I hadn’t realized how long I had been able to endure it before breaking. He just smiled a little and said “you have muscle yes but you also have endured something that even worried your mother and I, but now you have learned that you have exceeded what you can handle”. All I could do is sit there and chuckle a little and realize that I had accidentally overworked myself again and then over a few hours me and my dad had managed to help me recover and within the time I needed to get ready to head out I was ready return to just enduring the rest of the weeks till summer break where I can learn whatever I can and release myself and lighten the load for my next semester rather than digging myself a hole to crawl in. Never had I felt like my goal was that close to slipping away but thanks to my own family I was able to begin fighting once more and move on forward and that is why no matter what or how hard life gets nothing and I mean nothing is going to get me to let go of my family related by blood like my sister, mother, father, or not Tommy, Danny. Life is to short so the best you got is to hold what you care for close and just push through because at least for me if I’m temporarily stuck I feel safe knowing that my family will pick me up and use me as a battering ram till I’m doing it on my own once more.
Word count: 822