oochaycheesstuff

[oochaycheesstuff]

Alexa Oakley (aka Whisperer)

Past History

Alexa Oakley was born on January 27, 1987 in New York City, to her parents: scientist Susan Oakley and college physics teacher Peter Oakley. She has two younger siblings, Robin and Nicholas. In the summer of 1993, when Alexa was 6 years old, she attended her first time at summer camp. There, she was introduced to all different types of people and experienced many different and new activities, specifically gymnastics. Alexa fell in love with the sport and insisted that her parents sign her up for lessons once the summer was over. Eventually, she was able to convince them to sign up, and she spent the next 10 years perfecting her skills as a gymnast. She competed in multiple competitions over the years and was able to accomplish coming in second place during the 2001 New York Gymnastics Meet. One thing she loved the most about gymnastics was how strong it made her, both physically and mentally. Although thriving in the sport, she ultimately decided to quit gymnastics when she experienced a terrible fall that caused her to tear her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). She went through surgery to have it reconstructed, but unfortunately the injury never healed properly, thus bringing an end to her gymnastics career in 2003, at the age of 16. Although the big injury led to her closing the chapter on her gymnastics career, it opened the door for her in other ways. In the midst of her injury, Alexa spent a lot of her newfound free time at the Central Park Zoo, her second love after gymnastics. There, she fell in love with the idea of being a zoo keeper once she got older. Alexa went to college, majoring in Zoology and eventually graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in the subject.

Current History

One day when visiting the Central Park Zoo, the injury to her ACL that ended her gymnastics career caused her knee to buckle, making her lose her balance and fall head first into the glass of the penguin exhibit. She passed out for two minutes, with a crowd of eight individuals who witnessed the mishap. When she eventually came to, she was laying down on the floor, seeing the eight people surrounding her, one in particular asking her if she was okay. Once people could see she was alright, they started to disperse, with the one individual staying with her to make sure she was alright. As she was regaining her strength to get up and starting to process what was being asked of her, she also realized she could hear more than the voice of the person that was speaking to her. She looked around, confused about what was happening to her and why she was all of a sudden hearing so many voices when she could see that there was only one person talking to her. Then she looked up at the penguin enclosure and realized that the many voices she was hearing were coming from behind the class where the penguins were waddling around and diving into the water. She heard voices talking about how delicious fish were, how tiny the space was that all of them were stuck in, and other different conversations that the penguins were having amongst themselves. At first, she thought it was all in her head, and that she was just imagining what was happening. The kind stranger that was taking care of her after her fall eventually called for paramedics to make sure she was truly okay.

A few days later, once she was cleared by her doctors that she was fine, Alexa made her way back to the zoo to see if what she thought she heard at the penguin exhibit actually happened. However, on her way to the zoo, she couldn’t help but notice all of the different animals that she found herself being around. She saw a flock of pigeons picking at some bread that was dropped on the street, and as she walked by them, the noise became louder, as if there was a huge crowd of people talking all at once about how excited and good the bread they were all eating was. Not sure whether to feel frightened or excited, Alexa hurried her way to the train station to continue her way to the zoo. Once she made it to Central Park, she couldn’t differentiate what was the voices of the humans walking around her or the multiple animals that surrounded her. She heard voices coming from the ground beside her and from up in the trees. As she got closer to the zoo entrance, the voices became louder and louder. Once she reached the zoo, she tried to find any enclosure that had little to no people standing in front. Eventually, she found herself alone at the Red Panda enclosure, where no one else was around except for the animal inside the restricted area. She listened closely to see if she could hear anything, and after a few seconds of silence, she began to hear faint whispers coming from inside the enclosure. It was at that moment that Alexa only felt excitement towards this new power she found herself having.

She looked the same and felt the same, but had this brand new ability that allowed her to hear and understand animals. She eventually wondered if they could understand her too. When she was sitting by herself at a bench in the park, she soon found herself accompanied by a squirrel. She looked around her to make sure no one was around to hear her, and began speaking to the squirrel. Next thing she knew, she was having a full conversation with this squirrel, who had joined her by sitting on the arm rest of the bench. They discussed the weather, looking for acorns, and anything she could think of. It was in that moment that Alexa knew what she wanted to do with this power that she found herself with. She would use it for good and for the benefit of animals. She would use it to advocate for them, help calm them down if they felt they were in danger, or seemed to be a danger to each other or a zoo employee.

She would visit the zoo everyday, making sure to be there when they opened and leave only when they forced all visitors out for the night. After some time, zoo workers noticed how often she visited, how she would interact with the animals and how they would interact back. No one understood what was going on, but they could see that there was something happening and she had a connection to all the animals that she encountered. Soon after, the zoo offered her a position and she would be hands-on with the animals, taking care of them and knowing exactly what they needed. As time passed, the power stayed, and she was able to understand animals in a way that the other employees weren’t able to comprehend. Everyone was so impressed with her ability to connect with these animals, that even if they didn’t understand how, it was something incredible. They would speak about her all the time and the bond she had with each of these animals. She always knew what they needed, could sense when things weren’t right with the animals either emotionally or physically. News about her eventually reached a national level with how amazing she was with the animals and garnered the name “The Whisperer”. Those around her started calling her the good version of Poison Ivy, but with animals and didn’t cause any destruction. Alexa continues to work with animals, but now on a global scale. She advocates for the rights of animals and is the face behind the majority of the wildlife conservation programs and movements held all across the world.

[oochaycheesstuff]

LGBTQ & BIPOC Representation In Media

Queer stories have changed and evolved throughout the time of cinema. Over the past couple decades queer cinema has become more prevalent and well known, to the point that they are now able to have bigger budgets and reach a wider audience. Because of this newfound popularity and growth, more and more directors of queer movies are able to create the vision they feel best suits the story being told. Visually, a lot of these stories are shown in somewhat different ways in the cinematography, mise-en-scene, and editing. Though there are many differences in the way some of these movies look aesthetically, there are commonalities between the stories they tell and how they’re presented. Themes that are often seen in LGBTQ+ movies are hardship in being comfortable in oneself and your own identity, navigating love for the first time, dealing with bigotry and hate, and a few others. Something that I have also noticed within LGBTQ+ cinema is the character(s) having a space away from a judgemental society where they are able to either be with their love interest, or generally have a moment to be their genuine self without fear of judgement from others. An aspect of queer cinema that is prevalent in Moonlight, Boys Don’t Cry (1999), Call Me By Your Name (2017) is nature being a big part of the love story between the main character and their love interest, especially when it comes to their first physically intimate moments. In Moonlight, Chiron and Kevin share this moment on the beach (54m:13-55m:50s).

We see it happen with Elio and Oliver in Call Me By Your Name when they’re alone in the spring (56m:00s-57m:21s).

In Boys Don’t Cry at 54m:45s-56m:21s when Brandon and Lana are in the field.

Another stylistic choice I’ve noticed in multiple queer movies, especially movies made more recently, is colorful lighting. Colorful lighting can be seen a few times in Moonlight (2016). One moment in particular that sticks out to me is at 1h:06m:48s-1h:06m:58s, where we see Chiron as a grown man during the Black stage of his life. Although subtle, the lighting is blue, which I believe helps indicate how cold to people he has gotten over the years. This is also symbolized by the fact that he is literally dipping his face into a sink of ice water. This also plays back into my point of hardship in the life of the queer character. He has had to make himself this big, intimidating looking guy due to his past experiences being abused and ridiculed as a kid.

There is a certain colorful lighting combination that I see being used a lot: bisexual lighting. The colors of the bisexual flag (purple, blue, and pink) used as lighting is something that seems to be more and more common, especially amongst movies, TV shows, as well as music videos that include bisexual or other queer identified characters.

One aspect of queer media that is slowly becoming more apparent is the intersection of identities. In movies like Moonlight and Pariah (2011), we can see the stories of characters that are both black and queer. With Moonlight, Chiron has to deal with being black, queer, and a drug addicted mother who takes whatever money he has away from him. In Pariah, Alike is a masculine presenting black lesbian who has to deal with her religious family as well as the judgmental people in her neighborhood and experiencing love for the first time. We can also see this intersection seen in Rafiki (2018), a movie about two Kenyan girls falling in love and having to deal with the violent homophobia rampant in many African countries. In both of the latter two movies, the colorful lighting is used, each in scenes where we see the characters falling in love and being comfortable with each other, even while in a public space.

That visual aspect, especially the lighting being pink, is something that indicates intimacy and love, which is something presented in queer movies with the lack of the male gaze. It focuses on this particular love between women, who also happen to be Black.

I think the aesthetics and techniques used to create the imagery to evoke emotions from the audience in queer movies is powerful enough to bring an audience into the experiences and feelings that queer people experience. Because of this, I think it is somewhat fair to say that a queer film can “queer an audience”, at least to some extent. Being able to see the perspective of characters and what they experience and feel, it allows the audience to experience those things as well. They might not necessarily be queer themselves, but they are able to get a peak into what at least one queer experience can be.

One movie that is patriarchal in nature with heterosexual characters that can be reworked into a queer movie is Grease (1978). Being a movie of its time, it is very cis, straight, and white. There are a few elements that can be changed and reworked in that movie to give it a queer cinema type of feel. The first element that could change would be the biggest aspect of the movie: a heterosexual romance. I think to keep away from the patriarchal and sexist aspects of the original movie, it would be beneficial to change Sandy from being a girl to being a boy named Sammy. Having two guys pine after each other is the first step in erasing the heterosexist elements of the original Grease. Another element to flip in order to have BIPOC representation would be to have both characters of Sammy and Danny would be to have them both be people of color. Having a diverse background allows for more complex storylines, especially when it comes to the intersection of sexuality, race, and cultural upbringing. I would also change the year that this takes place. Rather than being in 1958, I decided to make it 1969, right after the Stonewall Riots. Finally, I would have it so that in the end Sandy wouldn’t dress up as a greaser to impress Danny. The message of changing yourself to receive the attention and affection you want from a guy is drenched in patriarchal standards and expectations. Here is the plot summary:

“In the summer of 1969, Danny and Sammy meet and fall in love over spending time with each other having fun on the beach and connecting through their similar life experiences. Danny being the son of Jamaican immigrants and Sammy being from Jamaica, they bond through their understanding of each other’s familial drama and how they deal with being closeted gay boys. When Sammy’s family decides to stay in the U.S., he enrolls into Rydell and befriends The Pink Ladies, a group who actively participated in the Stonewall Riots. They tell him stories of the event and what they witnessed, eventually leading Sammy into feeling comfortable telling them his secret, accidentally outing him and Danny. When The Pink Ladies hear this information, they try to link them back up, but Danny, being a popular jock, acts as if he doesn’t know Sammy at all and starts harassing him for being different. Sammy is visibly hurt and upset about the way Danny is acting towards him. Feeling bad about how he acted, Danny goes to find Sammy and once they’re alone, it feels like they’re back to the summertime when they were in love. They start secretly hanging out together, but Sammy tells The Pink Ladies everything that happens between the two of them and how they’re still in love with each other. The Pink Ladies confront Danny, which gets him angry because he becomes aware that people know his big secret. The two get into a big argument and Danny breaks off the relationship. Sammy feels terrible and decides to make things right by reminding Danny of all their good times together and how they have a connection that none of them have ever felt with another person, and promising to never overstep the boundaries of their relationship again. Danny accepts the apology and the two continue being together, only this time Danny sticks up for Sammy whenever people pick on him and they continue to experience life together.”

[oochaycheesstuff]

An Interview with Samantha Baker

Samantha Baker was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago in 1968. She was the second oldest of four children - two sisters and a brother. In her family home, she lived with her mom, dad, and siblings. She experienced the classic stuff a teen went through in the 80s: embarrassment, disgust, first love, as well as boys being very forward and not being able to take a hint. Today, Baker lives her life as a loving mother, wife, and health teacher at her local high school. We sat down with her recently to catch up with her and see where she is now in 2021, as well as have her speak on some of her experiences growing up as a teenage girl in the 80s when it came to boys and how she feels about those experiences now.

Hello, Ms. Baker. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule and doing this interview with me.

SB: It’s no problem at all. Thank you for having me.

So, it has been almost 40 years since you graduated high school. That’s a pretty significant anniversary. Is there any time during your high school years that sticks out to you the most or that you remember the most fondly?

SB: A time during high school that I remember the most? Hmm… the number one thing that comes to mind is my sixteenth birthday. My sixteenth birthday was something I had been looking forward to since I was twelve years old. I had it all planned out: a big party with tons of people, a boyfriend, a brand new black Trans Am waiting for me in the driveway. That birthday is one I will never be able to forget, which is funny because all of my family actually forgot it was my birthday on the day of my birthday. I couldn’t believe it. I spent that entire day waiting for any of them to acknowledge me and wish me well, sing to me, anything! But I didn’t get a single thing! It was right around the time my older sister was getting married and everyone was so focused on her that they completely forgot about me. In fact, the only surprises I got that day were my grandparents asking me invasive questions and their Chinese exchange student that I didn’t know about popping up in my room. It completely freaked me out! There was a school dance that night at the school gym and they actually made me bring him along with me. During that time I had a huge crush on this senior named Jake Ryan. He was the main thing that I wanted, but he was already dating this other popular girl, Caroline, who was gorgeous, and blonde, and perfect. I thought I didn’t stand a chance. Well anyway, fast forward to the school dance, I’m watching Jake and Caroline slow dancing. I felt horrible. But then all of a sudden he looks at me, looks away, and then looks back again. It completely took me by surprise and I had to turn away. When I turned around this nerdy kid was right in my face and started making moves on me. It terrified me. He grabbed me and started dancing with me… well… more like dancing around me. He kept touching me and speaking really creepily in my ear. I was not having a good time.

Oh God, that does not sound pleasant at all.

SB: It was embarrassing! When he was too preoccupied with his dancing and wasn’t paying attention to me, I ran out of the gym as fast as I could. Once I got into the hallway, I remember sliding down the wall and crying. I was pretty dramatic back then, but I mean, what teenager isn’t? I saw the guy I had a huge crush on dancing with his girlfriend that I felt completely inferior to and this nerdy kid wouldn’t leave me alone. Anyway, I cleaned myself up and made my way back into the gym to where my friends were and this kid came up to me again! My friends kinda messed with him to the point where he started looking away and rambling, which I took as a time to escape from him… again. I made my way to the auto shop so I could be by myself and he somehow found me AGAIN! He was really relentless.

That sounds like a nightmare. Did you ever figure out a way that made him leave you alone?

SB: Kind of. I was sitting in this car that was missing it’s entire back half when he found me. For whatever reason, which I’m still not sure the reason behind, I unlocked the door for him and let him sit next to me. He makes a comment on how great the night is and I explain to him that it’s my birthday, and eventually find myself going on a rant about how the day did not live up to my expectations whatsoever. I think he started to feel bad and decided to cheer me up by telling me a secret of his. He told me that he had never actually been able to get a girl. Shocking isn’t it? Anyway, he made a comment I can’t quite remember but whatever it was it made me burst out laughing. I guess I made him feel bad and apologized. I guess he took that as a sign to make another move on me. He started to climb on top of me, bumping the car horn, and I had to yell at him and push him off of me. He sat back down and looked upset. I told him not to worry about it, and he took that as a sign AGAIN to get on top of me, which resulted in me reacting the same way as before. I pushed him off and scolded him again. Somehow we were able to get to having a normal conversation about my own nonexistent love life and I told him how I was saving myself for someone in particular, Jake. To my surprise he told me that Jake had asked him about me! I’m sure you can imagine how excited I was about that. He kind of hypes me up and convinces me to find Jake and talk to him. I don’t know how I was able to turn my night around with this kid but somehow it ended up working in my favor. I’ve been going on and on about this night, so to make a long story a bit shorter, I’ll just say that on my sixteenth birthday my family forgot my birthday, but I ended up knowing my crush might like me back and ended up giving my underwear to the creepy kid so that he could prove a point to his friends. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

Woah. That’s a big turn around from where the night started with you two. When telling that story, you mentioned multiple times how the kid kept making advances towards you when you repeatedly would reject him. That is something that a lot of people, especially young girls and women, experience many times throughout life. What do you think is the reason behind why he wouldn’t stop making those advances on you when you repeatedly showed no interest?

SB: Obviously I cannot speak for him specifically, but I think there were a few factors that played into why he and other boys and men that act this way do what they do. I believe that the movies and shows kids are exposed to play a major part in what they deem right or wrong. You know, this was the ‘80s. There were so many movies being made at that time that had so many questionable and distasteful messages that downplayed or completely disregarded how unacceptable behavior like that is. I turned sixteen in 1984, which is the same year movies like Revenge Of The Nerds came out. At the time, movies were being created that didn’t reprimand the behavior of men and boys that behaved in the manner of the characters in those movies. The characters were always seen as the hero of the movie, despite them doing horrible things. I think because of that, a lot of boys and men believed that it was acceptable to act like that, when it’s most certainly not okay.

Being in a high school setting in today’s world must be very different to how it used to be when you were in high school. More people are being vocal about social issues and movements like #MeToo are making themselves more prevalent. Do you actively talk about those topics in your classes and if so, how are the topics handled?

SB: We absolutely talk about current events in my classes. Being a health teacher, it would be irresponsible to not cover issues like sexual assault and harassment along with the rest of my curriculum. Typically in my classes I will bring up a topic one day, ask my students what they know about the topic, sometimes watch a clip from a show or movie that touches on the subject and always have a discussion afterwards. I might show clips from movies like Animal House (1978), for example, that show acts that are inexcusable and should never be done. It allows for there to be a visual example of the issue at hand and makes it easier to ease into the topic for my students. I will sometimes also show clips from shows like I May Destroy You (2020), to show how different victims might handle or cope with these situations. I try to allow my kids to have access to all the information they need when it comes to serious and sensitive topics such as this.

You mentioned Revenge Of The Nerds and Animal House, two movies that are now looked down upon for some of their questionable plot lines and scenes. Nowadays these movies would be what some might consider “canceled”. What are your thoughts on Cancel Culture and do you also discuss it with your students?

SB: Cancel Culture is a big topic these days. As someone who grew up when the movies mentioned were coming out, there were a lot of things that society was okay with then that are now seen as offensive or insensitive. I think Cancel Culture is a difficult subject, especially when it comes to things that were created or stated during a time when certain topics and actions were deemed acceptable. I believe we should acknowledge the bad and harmful elements of the past and use them as examples of what not to do in the future. There are certain things I have said or acted on that I now know are not correct, and I feel that we should treat the media the same. No one’s perfect, that’s a fact, but it’s important to speak on issues that can cause other people emotional and/or physical pain. These issues should not be taken lightly.

[oochaycheesstuff]

Examining Youth Culture

In modern day western media, there are tons of movies and shows being created touching on different adolescent experiences. Although there were movies about teenagers being created all throughout the past few decades, it wasn’t until the 1980s when coming of age films really started to gain recognition and popularity. Touching on subjects such as sex, love, drugs, school, peer pressure, pressure from parents, and a bunch of other relatable and important topics, media made for and about young people has garnered a loyal fanbase over the decades. People enjoy watching characters experience things for the first time, or share feelings or thoughts that an audience member might also be feeling or thinking. Escaping your own reality and seeing human experiences be played out in front of you is one of the most prominent feelings of connection that film can bring to people.

In The Breakfast Club (1985), the kids connect with each other through sharing their experiences. Bad boy John Bender describes his abusive home life, popular good girl Claire Standish expresses the hardships of trying to keep up an image and living up to the expectations others have for you. We see Brian Johnson portray the nerdy kid who feels the pressures of living up to his parent’s standards when it comes to grades and feeling like he can’t mess up. Andrew Clark is the jock who thinks he needs to impress his father and teammates by doing things he feels wrong doing, and Allison Reynolds plays the quiet loner who compulsively lies to seek the attention that she’s lacking from her parents. When the audience is first introduced to these characters, it’s hard to see the typically good or relatable qualities in most of them. As the movie progresses and they, as well as the audience, get to know each other more, the more sympathy and understanding is felt for them. The Breakfast Club touches on serious issues like abuse, negligence, and suicide, as well as the feeling of not being understood by the adults in your life, your peers, or even yourself. It’s because of movie’s like this, the ones that really started to delve deep into the minds of teenagers and what they were experiencing and feeling, that led to the creations of other movies and TV shows that were allowed to go even further.

In the 1990s, the United States was already lunged into the HIV/AIDS epidemic that started making it’s traumatic and disastrous way through the country and the rest of the world. KIDS (1995) is a film that allows the audience to take a peak at a day in the life of a group of teenagers in 1990s New York City. We follow Telly and Casper, best friends who are looking for drugs and the goal to take the virginities of as many girls as they can, as well as Jennie, a girl who lost her virginity to Telly a year prior, as she tries to track him down after being diagnosed as HIV positive. This film, through some controversial and arguably questionable storytelling, gives the audience a look into how young people might view sex, their peers, sexually transmitted infections and diseases, as well as touching on the emotional aspect that comes with all of those. Something that I find particularly significant about this movie is how distinct the differences in the topics of love and sex are expressed between the boys and the girls. There’s a scene in the movie where we see a stark back and forth in how the boys see and talk about sex versus how the girls see and talk about it. The boys make comments on sex and girls that are, in my opinion, quite alarming and worrisome. They explain sex in a way that I would deem from the male-gaze, but turned up extra high on the misogyny scale. The girls on the other hand, though using vulgar language like the boys, also speak on the emotional and romantic elements that can come along with sex. This movie helped express what some teens of the time thought of sex and love, how they went about participating in the acts, and their means to obtain it.

Along with KIDS, another movie made more recently that takes place in the 1990s is Jonah Hill’s Mid-90s (2018). It follows 12 year old boy Stevie as he meets some older boys who introduce him into the world of skateboarding and teen life in 1990s Los Angeles. Stevie experiences so much throughout the run of the movie. We see him have his first interactions with drugs, drinking and girls, his relationship with his older brother, and how he as a young boy tries to learn about the world around him and how to fit into it. We see him go from this little quiet and sweet kid to a kid who has experienced so much in such a short time that eventually leads him to act out and get into arguments and physical fights with the people in his life. This film allows the audience to see how the effects of drugs, alcohol, questionable influences and experiences can lead to scary and life threatening outcomes.

As time progressed and more and more media started to be made that portrayed these heavy topics and the relationship youth had with them, it was typically only expressed in their most nitty-gritty ways through film. When it came to television these topics were usually spoken about in a sort of after school special sort of way (the Degrassi shows being a great example of this). I think it wasn’t until relatively recently with shows like Skins UK (2007-2013) and Euphoria (2019) that we started to get shows that really delved deep into the lives of teenagers and the choices they made that were shown in a way that didn’t feel like it was teaching the viewers a lesson in the topic. In Euphoria, we follow the lives of teenagers ages 16-18 and how they’re dealing with things like sex, sexuality, love, drugs, pregnancy, abortion, addiction, loss, gender expression and other intense and complex experiences. The main character and self proclaimed “unreliable” narrator Rue Bennet is a drug addict and is trying to figure out how she’s going to go about her life after getting out of rehab. One thing that sticks out about Euphoria that I think brings an interesting and personal element to the show is how a lot of Rue’s experiences are based on the life and experiences of the creator of the show Sam Levinson. Since a lot of Rue’s experiences are things that Levinson himself has experienced, it brings a certain aspect to the show that I think a lot of these other movies and shows might be lacking in. Along with Levinson, actors on the show, such as Hunter Schafer who plays Jules Vaughn, also bring their experiences to the writing of the show and into the expressions and experiences of their characters. Jules might be the character I relate to the most out of all the characters in each of the works I’ve talked about in this post. She’s a young person trying to figure out where she belongs in the world, dealing with an evolving sense of who she may be. Her viewpoint of who she is as a person gets flipped on its head and we see her trying to navigate through the thoughts and feelings that come along with that. This can be seen especially well in the special episode “Fuck Anyone Who’s Not A Seablob; Part 2: Jules”, in which we get to finally see what she’s been thinking and what she experienced via a therapy session.

An aspect of Euphoria that is unique to how it makes an impact on it’s audience is that it’s being broadcasted during the current time when people are able to talk about it on social media as it’s being aired. It’s allowed for a lot of different conversations to be held, from toxic relationships to toxic characters. People are able to express how situations on the show, like Jules’ therapy session, make them feel and if they’ve had similar experiences. It is able to resonate more with its audience because of the added element of social media.

Along with social media, another significant aspect of Euphoria that sticks out is its use of music throughout the show. In fact, music plays a big factor in almost all forms of film. It can add an immense amount of significance into a scene, it can reflect how a character is feeling or the energy of a situation the character(s) find themselves in. A soundtrack can set the mood of the entire body of work. Along with helping tell the story of the body of work, a soundtrack of a movie or television show can help leave a greater impact on the audience than a body of work that doesn’t pay as close attention or put as much care and thought into their music choices.

For myself, when I think about a playlist or soundtrack to my adolescence, I have to include the songs that I loved at the time. I don’t think I ever really resonated personally with things that were being said in the songs, at least not on a level that some people have with music. However, these songs made an impact on me in some way or another. They are listed in this specific order, starting from 2009 and ending in 2016, which are the years from my early to late teen years. The first song on the list is “Favorite Girl” by Justin Bieber, which I chose because it was a song I had on repeat in 7th grade when I think would be the starting age for me personally where I started mentally maturing and transitioning into the complicated teen years. The next songs are “Down” by Jay Sean ft. Lil’ Wayne and “Shots” by LMFAO. These songs were played a lot during the parties I went to at the time (for bar and bat mitzvahs) and represent that time in my life. After those songs is “TiK ToK” by Kesha because it was also a big song at the time, and it reminds me of the time in my life where I wasn’t concerned with much and didn’t have very many negative feelings. It’s a song that reminds me of fun times. The next two songs I chose were “Novacane” by Frank Ocean and “The Party & The After Party” by The Weeknd. These songs, especially the one by The Weeknd, represent that part in my life during puberty when my confidence and happiness went on a decline. I wasn’t doing any of the questionable or alarming things that are being sung about in the song, but the “vibes” of the songs were what I was feeling at the time. There was a point in time where the “Trilogy” album by The Weeknd was the only music I would listen to. Up next is “Good Ass Intro” by Chance the Rapper where things are starting to look up. I’m finally back on an incline even though it’s not a smooth journey. Next up are “9” by Willow Smith ft. SZA and “Girl” by The Internet ft. KAYTRANADA. These represent the time in my life where I’m starting to be more comfortable with myself and who I’m becoming as a person. And finally, I’m putting “Come Get Her” by Rae Sremmerd because it’s a song that I listened to a lot right when I finished high school. It always puts me in a good mood and represents how I always wanted to feel happy and in a good mood at the time.

[oochaycheesstuff]

Introduction

I’m Uchechi Anuforoh. I went to The Dalton School in Manhattan from kindergarten up through 12th grade, and graduated in 2015. I’m 24 years old and Nigerian-American. 

I’m majoring in New Media, however I’m still not sure what exactly I want to do for a job or a career. I’m still trying to figure it out. I think it would be really cool to have a job that requires being on a set of a TV show or movie, but somewhere in the background. I’ve loved engaging with media, specifically TV, since I was really young. My favorite channels to watch when I was younger were the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Animal Planet. As I grew up, I moved onto the teen dramas of the time like Pretty Little Liars and Degrassi. All that being said, I have no interest in being in front of the camera. I tried it once when I was around the age of 7 or 8 and completely froze once it was time to speak. It’s definitely not for me.

I did go to college before coming to SUNY Orange. In 2016, right after high school, I did one year at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I originally thought I wanted to go into the super old school Fine Arts. Throughout all of my childhood I was always drawing or painting, and I really enjoyed watercoloring in high school. I applied there, got in, and decided to go. Once I was there I realized that sort of art wasn’t really the type that I had interest in in terms of a career. I liked doing it to destress, but being graded for it on a more intense level than back in high school felt really weird and foreign to me. I found myself enjoying my English class way more than any of the other classes I was taking there. 

The last movies I watched (outside of the ones for this class) was the Fear Street trilogy series on Netflix. I’m constantly watching or streaming TV shows but the very last thing I watched was the newest episode of The L Word Generation Q. The last TV shows that I watched in full were Living Single and Little Fires Everywhere.

I don’t play video games and I don’t read much but the last book I read was “The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou” and before that was “The Miseducation of Cameron Post”. 

The last thing I really created was a final project for one of my classes last school year. I had to make a music video to a song of my choice (”All Our Time” by Xavier Omar ft. Jae Stephens). That was probably the last time I felt like I really created something.

For my last meal on earth I’m making it a feast. To start out I would have these garlic and parmesan escargot I had once on the one and only cruise I’ve been on. I think for the main meal I’d have what my family usually has for the holidays which is mac & cheese, baked chicken, yams, collard greens, mashed potatoes, baked salmon, ribs. I’d probably finish it all with warm apple crumble with vanilla ice cream. I think that would be my ideal last meal.