1. Axolotls 2023

     Language is a powerful tool that demonstrates our values as well as shapes and preserves them. It is through our words and the way we express them, that gender stereotypes continue to grow. We often do not think about how much language has an impact on us and our subconscious. Language is more than a mere form of communication—but also shapes our identity and how we present ourselves to the world. The indistinct influence of language in our everyday lives ingrains societal expectations and norms in us whether we realize it or not. It is crucial to recognize and be aware of the role that language plays in maintaining these stereotypes.      Language has great ability to reinforce gender stereotypes through its vocabulary.  A common example of this is the use of "he" and "she" and titles such as "Mr." and Mrs." This maintains the notion that gender identity is based on physical characteristics or social norms and suggests a binar...

Your Passion, Your Identity, Your Future    In a world of computers, AI, and the technological revolution, we as humans may seem pretty insignificant. As a human being we are meant to control AI and make a difference between each other (from human to human) and use technology to benefit ourselves (from technology to human). As an example of the technology to human aspect, scientists have worked on devices to help with hearing and in terms of saving lives, developed medicines which would be near impossible without the benefit of technology. From human to human, we are focused on making relationships that may help one or multiple of the people in the inert bond. Companies and large technological companies are trying to control our human traits and characteristics through ads and other types of media, though what actually makes a difference?     One way of framing this question is as follows: what should we listen to when making our crucial decision on wh...

       When I scroll through social media, I think these profiles look kind of fake and I doubt anyone on my explore pages is really honest about who they are. There is no doubt that social media has an impact on our identities. I would describe myself as honest on my social media as I am in real life.       In a TED talk about the impact of social media on youth, Katanu highlights the fact that we edit our social media page to reflect the best of us and never the darkest parts of us. This is what she calls our “highlight reel”; this ends up being our way of filtering and forming our identity to form and mold ourselves to fit along with trends.       With the advanced algorithms that curate videos targeted toward your interests, that creates a sense of low self-esteem as we are surrounded by the fact that there are better people than us in our interests; it makes it seem as if all the accounts on social media are the emb...

          Sara goes to Sephora and purchases a brand new lipgloss. The next day, she applies her new product, feeling cute and confident. Sara arrives at class and the girl sitting next to her notices her lip gloss and immediately decides to comment, "What are you wearing on your lips? Just so you know, that shade does not compliment your skin tone at all. You should wear something darker". After coming home from school, Sara immediately heads back to Sephora and buys a darker lip gloss. She reaches class, the following day, and walks in feeling a sense of discomfort. The same girl approaches her with a new remark: "Why are you being such an attention seeker with the lip gloss? We are only at school, you do not need to try so hard". After reading and analysing this scenario, what do you think Sara did wrong? What would you have done differently? Trick question: nothing. No matter what you do, you will always be wrong.        ...

  The Progression of Identity in Anakin Skywalker      Star Wars is one of the greatest movie franchises of all time for a multitude of reasons. People accredit the superiority of George Lucas’s creation to things like elite fight scenes and incredible plot lines, but we often overlook one crucial thing. That one thing is the transition and development of the identity of the main characters. This development arguably makes the story what it is, and deeply contributes to the powerful messages of Star Wars . SPOILERS AHEAD.      The most obvious—and most powerful—display of this type of character progression is found in the main character of the entire franchise, Anakin Skywalker, otherwise known as Darth Vader. The first movie depicts him as an extremely innocent boy who had been born into slavery with his mother, before being rescued by the Jedi. He meets Padme, his love interest, and the fear of Padme’s supposed impending death forces Anakin to ques...

               Music is known to be a universal language of communication and has the ability to bring people together. It can spark a conversation, and help you meet new people, especially due to its diversity. You can powerfully express yourself through music, and generally, somebody’s music taste can capture their true unique personality. Additionally, it can encapsulate the essence of a country, such as the sweet melodies of classical Indian music, the quick energetic beats of  Latin salsa, or the rhythms of African drumming. This can also allow musicians from different backgrounds to collaborate together in order to fuse different genres of music; one example being Hindi songs combined with English songs. These collaborations can promote unity and bring different cultures together, as they appreciate the genuine melodies of music.  Furthermore, music is a way for many artists to express themselves. They utilize lyrics to refl...

Mahesh - Week 3: A Crucial Component Everyone should have some hobby to fall back on when feeling exhausted. In my case, that hobby has always been the game of chess; I play with some friends online or with my brother at home. Chess influences me significantly, shaping many personal connections that I have built. My grandfather taught me the game’s rules and explained some of the basic strategies I use to win. I learned this game at a young age, but my dad was not often available to play with at home. Unfortunately, I lost my interest in the game for a long while. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, my brother was suddenly interested in the game of chess and invited me to dust off my old chessboard and play with him frequently. My dad had played with my brother and easily defeated him—my brother could not rest until he could get revenge. We created online chess accounts and played online; until our ratings began improving. Ever since we started playing, my brother expressed great en...

  Photo by Martin Bernneti via  BBC .        Native Americans  have lived in America for more than 1,000 years. During those years, they have shaped America’s history. Their lifestyles in history were different from the sedentary life; they had their ways of surviving by relying on the dangerous coastal waterways for food with a lack of suitable clothing against the changing climates. But, what was distinguishing about their culture was their way of communication: a language of melody.      In America, I find it unique that the English language is not only spoken but it can also be written in words. Almost everyone knows this language and that contributes to shaping our American identity. However, this is the present day. What if, in the future, our language disappears and the only remains would be a few dictionaries of words that could be unknown to the coming generations, or what if during the generations that come, people stopped...

          What does it mean when someone says they are an “irl” on the internet? “Irl” stands for “in real life,” and, although this often refers to things that people do in their lives outside of social media, it is also a term that I’ve seen people with delusional attachments to fictional characters use. Turns out, this is part of the dissociative identity disorder, also known as DID. Last year in June, I was a moderator on a Discord server for a video game I enjoyed. This meant I was in charge of keeping peace in the server and dealing with troublemakers. In the server, there were a few people who called themselves “irls.” Initially, I was rather confused. What did they mean by this? I learned that these people declared that they were the fictional characters themselves; sometimes, they were even multiple characters at once. The video game has a multiplayer mode involving player-versus-player combat, and one of the members in the server referenced this...

Social Implications      In the article written about by Micheal Bass describing five intricately described passages detailing the ideas on the urge to share our true identity in social platforms. Micheal Bass makes claims people confess to structure their identity in a light they find, the disadvantages of posting the truth about oneself, and to assert their influence upon other people as a means of presenting themselves in a different way. Bass writes about the influences such as peer pressure or from relatives in competition to gain popularity. These ideas are present in the ways in which today’s society functions. A classic example of a cyber bully exists when they try to assert their dominance over another individual over a source of online communication methods. The identities of the two people are mixed up and one person tends to be hurt. These stereotypical “bullies” are shown to be quite sensitive on the inside and extend their influence on other people to cover ...

       Throughout our process of practicing annotations and SOAPS, a particular article stuck out to me. "I'm Done Being Your Model Minority" by Patricia Park was extremely insightful and an interesting read. Park speaks up due to the rising Asian hate crimes and discrimination and includes her personal experiences as well. I found the topic of "model minority" to be very interesting as it sheds light on the intricate connection and relationship between stereotypes and identity. I was inclined to delve deeper into the topic and do additional research on my own to see how stereotypes can affect one's self-identity and perception.      Model minority perpetuates the stereotype that Asian Americans excel academically which additionally  implements high expectations for that group of people. This expectation puts pressure on Asian Americans to perform well in school. This reinforces the idea that academic success is an obligation or the bare minimum r...

   The Clash of the Tech Titans      We have all experienced those pesky pop ups that seem way too personal as if someone was watching what website you are browsing. Creepy right?, in this digital era, when we go from website to website, we leave a trail of our digital information. This footprint includes data about what we like, where we live and what language we speak. But these ads are how the internet pays for itself, by marketing and selling the information of the identities of the users. But there is now a change to this norm of selling online identities. The big tech companies have teamed up to stop these trackers and pop up ads.   In a New York Times article “ The Battle for Digital Privacy Is Reshaping the Internet ”, Brian Chen, a technology writer, states that “ Apple and Google have started revamping the rules around online data collection.” This essentially means that as Apple and Google tighten the constraints on the way apps can coll...

Cricket season is here, and with it, I am blasted by a collection of memories. There was an India vs. Pakistan match last Sunday, and my grandma, along with the rest of my family, awoke at 2:00 a.m. ,despite her sixteen hour flight on the same day, to watch the match. But, cheering for India's victory mitigated the intense sleep deprivation coalesced with waking up in the early hours of dawn. This exhilaration was not primarily due to India's triumph. The euphoria associated with waking up in the middle of the night, going ballistic when Kohli hits a sixer, while hearing my family members play makeshift drums when India wins, and watching the sun rise afterwards makes the actual result of the game a diminutive portion of the entire experience. In fact, my most significant recollections consist of small details I considered unimportant at the time. I learned that these minor memories are what shape our experiences, creating an important component of our identities. This revelati...

          Is it even possible to answer this question? Determining the best language is almost entirely up to the interpretation of the individual you are asking. Pretty much any statement that incorporates the word “best” is bound to be submerged in subjectivity. However, there are some ways we can at least begin the discussion. One way we can possibly find an answer is determining how widely spoken a given language is. It’s common knowledge that more people speak English than any other language in the world, accumulating nearly 1.5 billion speakers worldwide. English has established itself as arguably the universal language. Regardless of which country you go to or which people you meet, English often serves as a pathway of communication between different cultures. However, just because a lot of people speak it doesn’t mean it’s the best. It just means it's the most popular, and popularity doesn’t necessarily have a direct correlation with quality. An...

Photo by  Hans News Service .      When I was video chatting with my relatives in India, I was overcome with a sense of excitement. After 7 years, I was finally able to reconnect with them while yearning for the moments of the memorable trips to the salon with my cousin and the mesmerizing aroma of my aunt’s potato-filled dosa every Tuesday. During those 7 years, I was eager to share with my relatives the many experiences that had colored my life during that time. But, when I started to talk on the phone, their faces grew blank, and everything felt like I was speaking a foreign language to them, as though my vibrant stories were vanishing into the vast silence of disconnectedness. For one thing, I do not know how to speak my cultural language, Kannada. Since I grew up in California, I could not learn my native language, making it difficult for me to communicate with my relatives; even worse, I felt like I had lost a part of my identity.      When I e...

          Mahesh - Week 2: A Creative Outlook      When I was younger than I could remember, in my first days of learning languages, my parents often repeated that childhood is the best time to learn languages; memory retention surrounding language becomes difficult otherwise. I took this advice to heart, and with my parents' encouragement, I chose to take French as a language in junior high school. This decision helped to shape my identity and cultural understanding of the world.      I remember the first time I walked into my French classroom in junior high; as a timid and nervous kid who did not know what to expect. Many can relate to feeling not ready for the challenges of the next step in the educational ladder. I did not fully understand the system of switching classes by subject every hour; I was intimidated by the French course. I felt I was in an uncharted land, territory I alone had to explore. Unlike my French class,...