For my creative remix, I will create a digital artwork demonstrating the relationship between India and Pakistan.

Musical instruments baffle me. I personally don’t excel in playing any of them. However, that itself attracts more of my attention towards them. Before the Art-A-Thon event, I never knew that an instrument like Marimba existed. It looks like a vibraphone but made completely out of, what seemed like bamboo. It sounded similar as well, but distinct. Last time I saw a vibraphone was during my high school’s spring show. I was the second in charge of the event. A guest artist came to play vibraphone and he was letting me help him set it up. That was the first time I saw such an instrument in person, and I wanted to learn the mechanics and how to play it. I had similar experience during Art-A-Thon’s music event.

In the event, Professor Peter Wellington demonstrated how to play the Marimba. He was very energetic and enthusiastic. He explained the historical significance of Marimba and how he learned to play this instrument. Some of the students present at the event played Marimba with the professor. I later found out that they were all students of Professor Wellington’s class. Well, for a logical reason. The room was way too small for outside students to join the event. I wanted to try the marimba too. But I didn’t want to spoil the exclusive vibe in the room. There was only one person in the room who I knew. That was a little bit of relief while I stood for an hour among the crowd. It was becoming unbearable to stay in such a tiny room but did not want to leave. I wished to know more about marimba—how to play the instrument and its mechanics. From what I understood from watching and listening, Marimba is not a primary instrument in any music, rather can be a complementary to the melody of a song. After observing for several minutes, I figured out how the instrument work. When the top pads are hit with the sticks, it vibrates the string underneath them. Sound waves then travels through the empty bamboo shells and gets amplified when they come out from the bottom. It was a great experience for me to see Marimba being played. Although I could not learn to play it that day, it did inspire me pursue to learn it. I hope college hosts such event throughout the year.

In mid-2018, under President Trump’s Zero Tolerance Policy, thousands of children of migrants entering the country to seek asylum were separated from their parents. This measure was taken in the name of boarder security and prevent outside threat. However, after glancing at the issue objectively, it was clear that this inhuman step taken by Trump administration was for nothing but pursuing political gains.

When asylum seekers entered through the boarder security, their children were detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement—a division of Department of Homeland Security, to leverage the parents to show up for their immigration hearings. The facility that was used as detention center, was not adequate for children detainees. There were infants as young as 6 months old. The facility lost track of many the children and caused chaos when the parents came to claim their children back. These children didn’t only suffer physical displacement, but also suffered and are still suffering long term mental trauma. As shown in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s segment on Family Separation, a child that has been released after being detained goes through emotional and mental break-down and say to his mother, “you don’t love me”. Watching that child cry was uncomfortable in the sense that how low could we have gone to be able to cause such impact in lives on innocent children. Taring families apart had achieved exactly nothing but displacing those children. As a country that promotes liberty and pursuit of happiness, it is utterly contradictory to displace families in the name of sense of security and political gains.

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In Marvel Studio’s movie Thor, protagonist Thor gets banished from his home realm for disobeying his father’s command. He is sent to Earth without his powers and faces hardship to adapt with the people of Earth.

My Hero Academia has been one of the most anticipated manga series. The show features a universe where eighty percent of the population possess metahuman powers and abilities or as the show calls it, Quirk. Everyone have their own unique powers which they are born with and discover as they grow up. Since the majority of the population have these powers, instead of suppressing them, the government allows people to obtain licenses to use their quirks to do acts of heroism and be what is known as a Pro Hero.

The protagonist of the story is a middle schooler named, Izuku Midoriya. Since his early childhood, he is obsessed to become a pro hero, just like his idol, symbol of peace and tritagonist, Toshinori Yagi (aka his hero name, All Might). As Midoriya grows up, he finds out that he was born without any quirk. He gets devastated. His only ambition in life is to become a hero and he lacks the very first requirement to become one. He planned what high school he would go to be trained, he designed his hero suit, he took notes for years on other heroes and made an encyclopedia. His dream of becoming a hero hits the iceberg. He gets excited seeing his friends use their powers for playfulness while suppressing sadness. He feels isolated despite being surrounded by his friends and family. However, as the show progresses, he embraces the reality. Lack of power does not stop him from doing acts of heroism and showing unconditional hospitality.

~ Gentrification is one of the results of urbanization. Development is welcoming, but what’s not welcoming is when people of a community are displaced in that process. When a neighborhood is on the brink of gentrification, what are some legal steps people of that community could take as a preventative measures?

~Most social and economic issues are interconnected with each other. How does race play a role in gentrification? How does it relate to Redlining?

While reading the text, Interpreter of Maladies, the character Mr. Kapasi made me realize that I too often refuse to acknowledge the importance of an aspect of my life until someone else does it. In the text, Mr. Kapasi claims that he never considers his job of interpreter for the doctor’s office as a noble or influential position. But his ideas changes when Mrs. Das pointes out how crucial he is to the treatment of the patients who visit that doctor’s office. I find this feature of the story relevant to my own experience. In one instance, I was complaining to my mom of how unlucky I am for having to do so much school work. She then reminded me about the cousins who can’t even afford to go to school.

However, throughout the text, I was wondering why Mrs. Das considers Mr. Kapasi’s position as “romantic”. One of my assumptions is that author wants the character of Mr. Kapasi to like Mrs. Das in a sexual way. It allowed the author to craft Mr. Kapasi’s character who then goes onto fantasizing about having a relationship with Mrs. Das. But when Mrs. Das reveals her secret about her relationship, Kapasi becomes less interest in her. She seems to be in pain and guild about that secret. Which prompts Kapasi to leave her alone and stop fantasizing about her.

1. My family and I moved to the United States in the hope of a better life while being displaced from my homeland and the nurture of my own culture.
2. A place of great significance for me is where I was born in.
3. Having to learn a language is a barrier to me. After coming to the USA, I faced difficulties communicating with others and I still do.

1. Is it safe to claim that displacement has given Andre Aciman experience and memories that he cherishes? How so?
2. What is causing the author to be unwilling to accept change?
3. What is the significance of the tittle “Shadow Cities”?