Recently, I have been very interested in haircuts, personally, I’ve been doing research on how to pick hairstyles, which ones best match my face, what type of hair I have, learning the names of popular haircuts, and much more. I’ve even tried curling my hair at night with foam sponge hair rollers, it would come out nice in the morning, but when I leave my house my hair would go back to normal. I’m still in the process of finding a haircut that fits me, so when I saw an article like this, it attracted my attention immediately.

This article asked students questions about their own hairstyles and what their hair means to them, the few responses I read acknowledged that hairstyles do indeed play a big role in a person’s personality but it also defines them, and I would have to say that I agree. Hair is an outlet where you can express yourself, you can color it, design it, style it, cut it, or even shave it all off. For example, recently I thought about cutting off my hair, I wanted to have a buzzcut, but when I brought it up to my parents, they told me a buzzcut could look good, but believed that my hair defined me. When I asked them what they meant, they told me that for years I had been growing my hair to have a middle part, and a middle part with glasses looks very intelligent but can also be styled to look lazy. That’s the way I am, they told me, some days I can be intelligent, and other days I’m a lazy person who can’t get out of bed. The more I see myself in the mirror every day, the more I see what they mean, and it kinda bothers me that they might be right.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/19/learning/what-does-your-hairstyle-say-about-you.html

^ This is a link to the article 🙂

My favorite actor is YiFei Liu. Her English name is called Crystal Liu. She is the actor for the main character in the Disney movie Mulan. She was born in August 25, 1987 in Hubei, China. She started this career at the age of 15. Unlike other actors who won’t really want to miss any opportunity in participate in a tv show, drama or movies. She is more into looking at what she think is suitable for her, what is challenging and what she had not tried out before. She don’t really go on tv shows and most of her work is movies.

I really like how she knows what she wants. Also she is really hard working and very self-discipline person. For example, in todays society many people spend most of their time in social media and technology. However, according to yifei’s partner during break time instead of checking her phone she would read books and she don’t really take her phone with her. This is what I really like about her and it’s also what I wanted to be like.

There are a lot of songs that represent who I am as a person. At the moment I’ll have to pick the song “On One” by Is0kenny. Is0kenny is an upcoming artist whose lyricism is his strongest attribute. The lyrics in IsoKenny’s “On One” express a sense of confidence and self-assurance that many people can relate to.

In the chorus of the song he raps, ” they gon remember my name that’s for sure”. This particular statement applies to me since I strive to make a positive impression on everyone I meet, whether we become friends or not. The song’s upbeat tempo and catchy chorus exhibits the outgoing and carefree attitude that I have for every situation.

When I first read the question I felt like it was perfect to write about given the fact that I am finding out what makes me happy. This question has answers that one can write about forever but I have narrowed it down to two things. The first one being choosing yourself. This is significantly important to me and it took a while for me to work on and I still am. I know it may sound selfish but through life I have learned that sometimes its okay to be a little selfish. When I say choose yourself I mean to choose whatever makes you happy or gives you interest. In life you might get in situations you may not totally agree with just for others approval or satisfaction. For example college. Many of us know fellow classmates or even ourselves that are perusing something they aren’t interested in for the approval of parents or loved ones. This isn’t the only example that it applies to, there are many other cases where you have to choose yourself and do what make you happy despite others opinions. Everyone has their own path in life and the beautiful thing is that no one knows where they’ll end up so choose yourself, your future and happiness until you get to that point.

The second secrete to a happy life is to surround yourself with people who make you feel good. It doesn’t matter if you are in the middle of a large crowd, the people you surround yourself with can make it feel at home. The people you surround yourself with can tell a lot about you and can have big affects on your life. If you are constantly around someone who makes you feel bad or uncomfortable this may decrease your overall mood and perspective in life. My advise is to surround yourself with optimistic and problem solving people. This will have a positive affect of your character and soon you will also practice these healthy habits yourself. I believe that people are a product of their environment but I also believe that we can alter our environment based on what we implement into our life. The people around you can sometimes make you or break you. It’s up to you to choose what’s best!

How Can Schools Engage Students Who Are at Risk of Dropping Out?

Reading about the school in Japan, I feel like it is good the way they are focused on their students’ interests. I like the way they think about the students’ mental health, giving them breaks to get their minds off of the stress by incorporating video games into their studies. This can be seen as a reward to the students, making them want to finish their work quicker in order to get their own time. At this moment I feel like Wataru, where I have no motivation when it comes to school, from being a 4.0, to where I am at now, I am not proud of myself. I want to be able to feel motivated again. I wasn;t surprised by his reasoning behind not wanting to go back to school, because this is how a lot of us feel especially because of the pandemic. It feels as if everything is not the same anymore.

Schools should be more willing to incorporate ways for students to destress. Making the work more fun, or engaging with the real world in a way, may help those who aren’t motivated to get back on track. Another thing that may help is professors being more considerate of students, sometimes we got stuff going on and we may need more time for an assignment or just need a second chance to get a better grade. The way this private school was able to incorporate video games into their studies, students should be given their free time in order to help with their mental health. Things like this assignment itself, can be of help since we get to think about our lives and step away from our usual work. If I were to create a school around one of my interests, it would probably consist of music and fashion, two things that I turn to when I’m not in the mood for school.

Have You Ever Written Fan Mail? If Not, Would You?

As I was scrolling though the student opinions, this one caught my eye and as I was reading, I definitely knew where the author was coming from.

Have you ever written fan mail — whether an email, a letter or a direct message — to an artist whose work you loved? Why did you want to tell the person what the work meant to you?

I have always wanted to write fan mail, whether that be commenting on a YouTube video or sending a P.O package. However, the one time I ever wrote fan mail was about 7-8 years ago, when I was about 11 and I was introduced to the world of fanfiction. I had stumbled across a certain story and became deeply captured by it. After reading the whole day, I finished the story only to be taught what the word angst was. It was so impactful that I hurriedly made an account with my mom’s email, and commented on the piece. I was so nervous and I kept rereading it to make sure it didn’t look like it came from an 11-year-old. The next day, I got a response back and although it wasn’t the answer I was hoping (I wrote about the possibility of a character coming back to life after a fatal gun shot, I know, I was asking for a lot), the author was so kind about it, I’ve never regretted commenting on her piece.

If you’ve never written fan mail, what do you think has held you back from doing so? Has Dr. Bedard’s essay persuaded you to reach out more often to the artists and creators whose work you consume — even knowing you might not get a response back? Why or why not?

It’s definitely scary to reach out, especially towards big creators. Despite not me being active in writing fan mails, I do my best in supporting the author the best way I know, such as liking a piece, sharing it, or giving it 5 stars. But seeing that someone else has felt the same way as I do and has sent fan mail despite knowing they won’t get a response, I feel more motivated to do my part, because I really have been moved by some works and it’s still a nice feeling to say it out loud than keeping it to yourself.

Dr. Bedard says that writing fan mail is a cathartic way for her to build intimacy and connection, and “an opportunity to take pleasure” in her passions. What does writing fan mail do for you? Or, if you’ve never written it, what do you imagine it might do for you?

It’s so nerve wracking! I don’t think there’s a possible way to explain it. It’s like hoping, praying, and just wishing that this person, who you suddenly consider to be the greatest person alive, that they are this genius, to notice you. But also not notice you because you don’t feel like you deserve it. And you want to relay your emotions but you don’t want to seem super obsessed or like a creep because fan mail does have its bad rep. But you don’t want to restrict yourself in fear of them not fully understanding how they have impacted you.

What is a book, movie, show, poem, photograph, podcast, song or other piece of art that has had an effect on you? If you were to write fan mail to the creator of that work, what would you say?

I always tell myself to remember the pieces that inspire me for this exact moment but then I just blank out. But recently I’ve come across this author who writes their own version of a tv show called Merlin. And the way they just write is simple utterly and beautifully perfect, and their upload schedule is amazing! Because of their work, I’ve appreciated more life in a sense (I know, it’s crazy). But it does just make me happy thinking of it and it’s something good to pass the time. I haven’t written them a fan mail yet, but I am planning to write on one of their next chapters about how simply wonderful they are for creating those pieces. I could write more here but still kind of want to save face here!