Connection: Once and protest in Egypt

A few weeks ago we watched the movie Once. At first I thought it was terrible because the main characters do not end up getting together and I thought the story was left hanging in the end. But upon further discussion I found out they did that on purpose and that is why I did not like it at first, it was not as predictable as the other love stories. They challenged the Status Quo and they made the characters go their separate ways and that is what changed my mind about my the movie. It is a better movie knowing that now that they did that on purpose and the two characters just stay in love and live happily ever after.

This reminded me of a rather recent event that occurred in Egypt. The same situation occurred here too. If the people were going to take the predictable route, they would have been quiet and lived with their government the way it is and seemed to live happily ever after, because it would have been quiet. But no, due to the protest in Tanzania the Egyptian decided their government needed changed too and used the adjacent possible to protest all over Egypt. They challenged the Status Quo and took the unpredictable route and are rioting to get a better government. They are out on the streets lighting government building on fire and throwing things at military vehicles etc.

Even though Once is a much less violent these story than the Protest going on in Egypt, they are very similar. Both challenge the Status Quo and use their adjacent possible to either make a better film or get a better government. The insight on challenging the Status Quo gave me a better understanding and appreciation for the movie Once. Also gave me more insight on the protest in Egypt and Tanzania, which I saw on the news but did not care but now I realize it is rather important. Now I am more aware watching the news and appreciate the film Once more.

Metacognition: First Semester

Starting off in Humanities I thought it would be less reading and more about art. You warned us if we were in the class for that then we should leave because it is not all about art, and that is definitely true. I feel like I have learned more than can come to my head right now about analyzing essays, words and finding helpers such as organizing principles. We got taught the importance of creativity and learned how to go about interpreting it. We got taught vertical listening and dot connecting/creating. We pointed out key skills in other we could use for our own success such as in the movies; Falling Down Stairs and Born into Brothels. We got to learn deeper meanings that come from philosophy and also got to find the beauty in many different things from writing to art. We got to challenge our selves and keep creative journals by our Mindbook and kept tabs on our thoughts with our blogs.

I am really glad I took this class. It is not at all what I expected out of a creative English class, I actually learned a lot broader topics than just art and I am thankful for that. This class will help in the future when I have tons to read and won't think I'll finish or when I think I have no purpose here. This class gave me the skills to break down a big reading task or organize the impossible. This class so far has been an unexpected help with other life situations. It has opened my yes to other places around the world and I am very glad I took this class this year and am excited for what is to come.