I must admit that the New York Times project was an interesting and fun project to work on. I am actually a daily reader of the New York Times and any free time, whether it be on the subway or waiting in between classes, I read the Sports and Business sections mainly. I sometimes glance at Front Page stories, as well as The Arts and Sciences sections when they are available and contain something interesting. So I had no problem finding an article that was related to our topic: food. I also must admit that I am not a fan of group work. When I was in high school, what would usually happen when a group project was assigned, a member of the group would do little to no work. This is why when any group project is assigned I tend to take most of the burden and sometimes finish the project myself in advanced because I know I am satisfied with the work I can produce. However, this project was not like all my other group projects. I could get a sense that my group members were not those kinds of people (the procrastinators). They were of course my friends and I knew that they, as much as I, wanted to get this project done as quickly and efficiently as possible. This reason alone is why we were able to come up with a topic very quickly. We also knew that having one another’s contacts would be essentially to stay on task and being productive, which is why one of the first things we did after choosing a topic was give each other contact information. Knowing that my group members were determined individuals, I knew right from the beginning that I could focus solely on my responsibility to the project. It wasn’t difficult at all finding an article that I wanted to write about because as I mention before, being a daily reader was part of my routine already. When I found an article on both food and technology (two of my favorite categories of things in the world I might add), it was a no brainer that I would write my summary and report on this piece. That writing process was not at all difficult as I found my interest in the piece made me want to write for the sake of writing, rather than writing for the sake of completing the project. In the end, being able to present our work to the rest of our Freshman Orientation class was fun and it was quite interesting to see the other topics that other groups selected.

Predrag Vulicevic

Predrag’s 10 Songs

1. What a Wonderful World-Louis Armstrong (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5TwT69i1lU)
2. Live Like We’re Dying-Kris Allen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbfeSImDntw)
3. Celebration-Kool & the Gang (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M)
4. If Everyone Cared-Nickelback (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IUSZyjiYuY)
5. Imagine-John Lennon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRhq-yO1KN8)
6. Stronger-Kelly Clarkson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn676-fLq7I)
7. Wavin’ Flag-K’naan (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETJuv-FHQm0)
8. The World’s Greatest-R. Kelly (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgcovIu3k9o)
9. Amazing-Kanye West (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH4JPgVD2SM)
10. I am the Champion-B.o.B (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egOejoeZ2Ro)

It was difficult finding songs to best describe myself to my classmates, but I felt the best way to do this was to categorize a few songs together and then expand on their meaning, what it means to me, and what I hope it represents about me and my values. I begin with the “Enjoying Life” category, with “What a Wonderful World”, “Live Like We’re Dying” and “Celebration”. All three songs show an appreciation for this opportunity we are giving every day to interact with one another, build relationships, have a place like Earth to call our own, create memories and just be happy. The next category is quite the opposite of the previous one but not in a bad way. I do appreciate life greatly, but I always feel like we as a society can improve the world because as much as we would like to ignore it, terrible things happen all the time around the world. “If Everyone Cared” and “Imagine” are two songs that express wanting to build a better world, so that is my “Wanting Change” category. The next three songs are part of my “Never Stop Improving” category. People are always going to try and put you down; obstacles are always going to stand in your way; we are always going to make mistake; life is difficult sometimes but that doesn’t mean we stop moving forward. Like Kelly Clarkson says in her song, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” and what K’naan song reminds us, is that no matter the challenge, everything is beatable even from the terrible situation K’naan grew up in Somalia, Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War. Finally R. Kelly’s classic reminds us that when you work towards your goals, never give up, and keep improving you can become the best you. I love to think that I’m very appreciative of the life I have, and I always want to make the world better wherever I go while at the same time accepting its challenges and better improving myself BUT for the final two songs I decided to show the competitive side of myself (hey, there should be some selfishness to this). I wouldn’t want you all to take the two songs so literally when applying it to me and my character but what I want you to pull from the songs “Amazing” and “I am the Champion” is that we all need to believe in ourselves. I know when I step out on a basketball court (my favorite sport by the way), that I am going to give it my all and do the best that I can do while at the same time believing that I am the best player on the court. Yes, sounds quite selfish, but you always need to believe in yourself. Therefore this category will be called “Believe”. Thank you for reading, look forward to reading everybody else’s blog.