Art Reflection Paper

On September 6, 2017, I were documented for an incident that involved a University Housing policy violation. I was charged with violating the University Housing Alcohol 1.2 policy. With my violation, came consequences. I met with The Residence Conduct Coordinator to discuss my actions and came to the conclusion that I would have to schedule a meeting with The Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC) and with that, a reflection paper.

Art, I was planning on discussing this with you this week. With you out tending to far more important issues, I am going to include Janene in the discussion right away as this is an issue that will likely need to be discussed at her level or above and we should get the discussion started sooner rather than later.

The timing could not have been worse. Everything had to go off without error or I would be devastated. The other committee members and I had been working for months and it all came down to that evening. I had to make it from the house to LAX without running into traffic, get through security, and pray with everything I had that my flight would not be delayed or cancelled. Then rush home, get dressed, and make it to the event all by six o’clock. It was going to be tight.

As a photography major, it was never clear to me on why I had to take a drawing class. I dreaded each class because of the known fact that I didn’t possess the skills to be a good drawer. When speaking to friends and family, I would always complain to them saying, “I’m going to fail this class. I have no idea why I have to take these drawing classes.” As the quarter went on and the more I learned about the different drawing techniques such as the use of lighting to create interesting shadows or the use of color to create a sense mood and emotion, I began to realize the parallels that drawing and photography have.

In my previous reflection, I elaborated on the concept of daydreams and how the subconscious mind feeds into our conscious ambitions. Art is meant to be an expression of emotions rather than the intellect. Therefore, art should be autonomous from restriction since the subconscious mind is also autonomous from the strain of restrictions. However, certain philosophers believed that specific criteria should be involved in the process of creating and viewing art. While I agree with Plato’s theory that responses to beauty are expressed through emotions rather than intellectuality, I disagree with his stance on the role of the artist within society and the negative influences on those who indulge in the experience of aesthetical pleasure. While Schopenhauer also contributed agreeable statements about art, his primary theories are distasteful and pessimistic. He views art from a gloomy point of view and claims that life itself is a “pointless game”. I believe that the expression and indulgence of art promotes a positive and therapeutic reaction within the soul which provides spiritual nourishment and encouragement. If we approach art without openness, we are bound to agree with the controversial opinions of Plato and Schopenhauer.

During my previous English courses, I learned to recognize and rectify my largest problem area. While understanding what I have read has never been a struggle of mine, writing was a different story. Structural organization is crucial for any good writing, and was an issue I struggled with immensely, that is until I learned that the more detailed I was the better I wrote. Learning to effectively organize, such as creating detailed outlines, has improved my ability to read and write, which is a skill I know I will need in my future career as a funeral worker.

"All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust." The first play I saw was about a boy who never wanted to grow up, he lived in Neverland with lost boys, Pirates, and Mermaids. It was in the fourth grade my teacher started to pass out permission slips to the class for a field trip we were supposed to go on the following week. It was to a play called "Peter Pan" I looked at the paper and I thought to myself, "I don’t care where it's to as long as I get a day out of this place." The day of the field trip comes and everyone is excited because we don’t have to be at school for the day.

“If you wait for inspiration to write you're not a writer you're a waiter.” - Dan Poynter. I have felt like writing was not my greatest strength. I feel like I didn't have anything important to say. Looking back to my journal or diary call it whatever I would always write about how my life, the drama middle school me was in, my love life and the fights that would happen between me and my family. I wanted to reflect back on to my work and find out what my strength and my weakness. There have been times where I have been asked to read somebody else's writing. I would think it was so great that I felt discouraged that my work of writing wouldn’t be as great as theirs. My form of writing I feel is more characterized negatively because I don't share my success and triumph often as I would like to.I talk about my failures more. I feel like I do this because I don't want to share about my failures with another human. I know that I would like to write them down so then I can reflect back onto my failures and know how I could better myself and have a better chance of succeeding. I would disagree that my past life as a writer has given me a voice in the world mainly because of the topics I would write about. They weren’t important to others, they were only important to me. Writing in the past was more what was happening day to day and my relationship life, if anything exciting or upsetting happened, my honest opinions of people. Also the secret that I didn't want my mom to find out.

If I was born a boy, my moms wanted to name me Anders. When my German dad heard that name, he laughed, explaining that I was going to be different enough; I didn’t have to have a name that translated to “different” in German.

My experience in Washington, D.C. was tremendous, memorable, and exhausting. Over the three days we were visiting D.C. I made quick friendships, visited several monuments, and walked eight miles in one day! One of my favorite locations to visit every time I am in D.C. is the Holocaust Museum. I have always enjoyed learning about World War II. The Holocaust Museum is a quiet place where you usually explore the exhibit by yourself and reflect on this historical event. When I entered one of the rooms it was two walls on each side, that went from the ceiling to the floor, that included pictures of Jewish children, husband and wife, and families. I could stay in this room all day and look at each individual picture and wonder if they survived the holocaust, or if they weren’t so lucky. This room makes me reflect my life and question how I was blessed with this one life, and others must suffer. Another room that makes me upset is the room filled with all the Jewish people shoes. To imagine that a person, in such pain, wore those shoes in hopes of one day being free makes your heart sink. I believe this museum makes me reflect deeply on my life choices and value the life I was given; I am thankful for this museum to keep educating me and others.

Going into the sixth grade was an immense deal for me. I was going from being the oldest in the Piedmont Community Charter Elementary building to becoming one of the youngest in the secondary building. This was an adjustment, I felt like would take some time getting used to. I went from feeling like I was the coolest and biggest to being a tiny little kid. So, of course, I needed to make this transition less difficult for myself. “How should I do this exactly?” I thought, “By wearing the fashionable clothes these middle and high schoolers had ever seen.”

The TSA agent at the airport asked me, while I silently stood in front of her, handing her the paperwork I had with me and hoping it would answer her question because I did not know how to speak English at that time. I moved to the United States by myself as a refugee when I was 17. I had to flee Iran with only one backpack and was detained for 3 hours after landing, which in retrospect I understand why they were so surprised. If I have to split my life into different chapters, the day I landed at the LAX airport would mark the third chapter.

During my eight grade in highschool, I was the archetype of a school nerd. My only focus was to study and exceed my teachers’ expectations at the expense of any other extracurricular activities. As many common top students, I thought I had to conform to the school rules; that is, excellence can only be achieved through maintaining good grades. I believed I did not have the power to challenge this common conception. Power can be observed in a large scale such as a whole nation, but it can also be seen in a more narrow scale as within each individual. I did not realize how much power I had until I challenged my own beliefs and went out of my comfort zone by joining my school soccer team.

When Jesus was sent to be an example of how we are supposed to live, we were shown how to live out our faith in our daily lives. Jesus was faced with persecution, naysayers and even prosecution for His teachings. He was the very son of God himself, yet he still humbled himself to God and man. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus was witnessed washing the feet of the disciples. He was baptized by John and he taught the disciples how to spread the news about God’s love. He showed them how to bring hope to a hurting world. In some cases, people were killed for their faith, yet they believed so deeply in their relationship with God, that they continued to spread the gospel as Jesus had taught them. He developed relationships with people that were known to be thieves, liars and criminals. He taught us how to work among non-believers and that our life should be a reflection of our relationship with God. We think that it is hard for us to integrate our faith into our careers today, but we do not have to give our life for the freedom of our faith. When compared to the stories in the Bible, we have a great deal of advantages over people back then. King Harrod was willing to do whatever it took to protect his throne. He was threatened by the very birth of Jesus and ordered that every male child under two years old, be slaughtered. This was just the first that wanted to kill Jesus. His life was filled with people who wanted to kill him because they believed that his claim to be

I have also seen the courage of those who have dedicated their lives to promoting justice and equality and would like to work alongside them. I have helped in various situations ranging from lobbying for the BRIDGE act last year at Senator Wyden’s office to prolong the protection of DACA to showing documentaries for Fields Hall on mass incarceration to raise awareness to simply having a dialogue about human rights. Each of these actions is a step towards justice.