Yes, I’m Changing//Tame Impala

This track is about leaving an old lover and turning a new leaf. I relate to this not because I broke up with my boyfriend, but because when I first came to school here at OSU, I removed a lot of negative relationships to make room for better ones. I’m changing as a person and this year has been the start of a new era for me.

Blinding//Jackwob

This song means a lot to me. It helped me to get through the beginning of the school year being away from my loved ones. All my life, my big goal had been to go to college but, once I got here, I hated it. I was where I wanted to be but it didn’t feel right at all. Being away from the one I loved was very difficult but I pushed through it because I knew better days were ahead. This song talks a lot about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Icky Thump//The White Stripes

This track is one of the very few political songs by The White Stripes. It focuses on the flaws of the Mexican border. I think this song is very relevant because immigration is a huge issue that is being brought up in today’s politics. I completely agree with the message The White Stripes put in this song. I even listened to it on my way to vote in the caucuses this year.

Wolves//Old Gray

This song talks a lot about depression. This speaker struggles to feel how he once felt and begs for help. This is a lot of what depression feels like. I think its very important for everyone to be aware that depression is a mental disorder and cannot just be fixed with the snap of a finger.

Peaches//In the Valley Below

I don’t know exactly what this song is about but I interpret the lyrics as a message of forgiveness. There’s always that person in our lives that we care for very much but we let them run over us or destroy themselves. This song is just basically saying “I know you have your flaws but I’m not gonna hate you for it. Let’s just love each other and chill out.” I love that attitude on life. There’s no point in hating people.

Interlude 2//Alt J

This track actually has no lyrics. Its just a light, relaxing tune on guitar with the sounds of a city in the background. I love this song because its like a calm in the chaos. It also made me really excited to be living in a bigger city before I came to live in Columbus. This song is so relaxing, it makes me think about life and has even made me cry a few times.

You Only Live Once// The Strokes

This song is significant to me because The Strokes was a band I listened to in middle school that I had discovered on my own when I first started finding my own music to listen to. It’s also that go-to life-is-short song for me because everyone has that song they love that makes them want to live free. The music video to this song also replicated a Rolling Stones music video which I believe is pretty significant.

Otherside//Red Hot Chili Peppers

This song was written by the Chili Peppers in honor of one of their band members who had been addicted to heroine and ended up taking his own life. Anthony Kiedis sings as the addict wanting to end his life for himself and for the people around him because of his addiction. The “Otherside” represents the afterlife he will be in. Addiction isn’t a choice and those who have any kind of addiction need help and security, not punishment. The Red Hot Chili Peppers say this in a very artistic way and its one of the reasons they are my favorite band.

My second strength is discipline. I identify with this strength very strongly because I am a very neat and organized person when it comes to every aspect of my life. I use a planner an a to-do list which I update every Sunday night. I am always the planner of the parties or events. Even my shower routine is very specific. If something in my life changes abruptly, I am very quick to reorganize and move on.

My fourth strength is consistency. This goes hand-in-hand with discipline. My need for order and balance also plays out in the way I treat people. I am not one to judge anyone by their looks whatsoever. I believe that everyone should be treated fairly and every person’s actions should be looked at objectively. Every person has something to bring to the table and every person deserves the chance to do that.

My fifth strength is relator. I am one to value deep relationships. I make friends easily and when I do, I can get very close with them if they let me. I love being the person everyone can trust so that makes it easy for me to get along with people. Any relationship I develop is with the intention of that relationship being long-term, whether it is intimate or platonic.

Surprisingly, this project was a bit more difficult than I had predicted. I thought that this would be such a simple task because Alex and I have been the best of friends since the 8th grade. But, when I started thinking of what I wanted to do for the photo, I realized I knew so much about her that I couldn’t fit all of my favorite things into one simple photo. And apparently, she had the same feelings about me. But, sure enough, after a couple of days full of hard, creative-thinking, we were both able to come up with photos that did each of our personalities justice.

The collaboration started when we went out for milk-shakes. We were walking and sipping while spitting ideas at each other, eventually forming what would be the perfect drafts for our pictures. We then went to Alex’s room to set up for her picture. I wanted her to just take some random art and school supplies and scatter them on her desk with some other things like her laptop, phone, and camera. To anyone else, this would have been a fast and simple task but this took Alex around 15 minutes and I have to say I am not surprised. Alex is such a perfectionist.

I made sure she was wearing a cardigan because comfy clothing is Alex clothing because she is a comfy person. The combination of the camera, art supplies and work, Garage Band, and the book scattered all over the desk goes to represent her artistic ability along with her lack of organization. She is also wearing headphones because listening to music is a crucial part of her life. One last thing to point out is that she is lying on her mess with comfort because she is all-around comfortable with who she is.

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]