Service Project Idea.

Five Faces is a course that teaches my classmates and I about the different variations of Five Faces. The course explores the beauty and challenges of life through the examination of personal creativity and how it can impact my life and communities. In this unit which is called Understanding of Five Faces, we learned about the strengths and challenges with each face. There are 16 parts to this unit which was really interesting because I never had a course that had so many units in one. I think with many units it was helpful because this prepared us for our service project planning, that comes along with this course. The purpose of this action project is to reflect on all of the five faces, myself, and my service project. I am most proud of all the work that I did throughout this unit because there was so much information that went along with this unit, I loved learning about all faces it was very interesting.

Created by JV, 2014*

Here is the five definitions to each face.

A Seer is a person who visualizes what is on their minds eye to identify or create an entirely new idea. An Observer is can collect things into a mental basket and create an idea by transforming what they noticed. An Alchemist brings an apparently disparate ideas into a new one. A Fool demonstrates the power to celebrate weakness. A Sage is a person who can simplify complex situations.

The Five Faces survey results said that I was a Seer 23%, an Alchemist 23%, Sage 23%, Fool 19% and Observer 12%. In a way I do agree that I’m an Alchemist because I like to bring different ideas together like when I’m working out, I love combining different cardio moves to make the workout harder. I’m also a Seer because I visualize things a lot, like putting an outfit together. But I do not agree that I’m a Sage because I don’t make complex things easier for myself. The survey also said that I was a Fool to celebrate weakness, I like to make bad situations funny and more happy because I hate when people are sad or upset. I think its interesting that I'm equal in all three faces.

I interviewed my friend RD to see what face she fit in and she is an Observer because she like observing situations rather than talking in them. Here is a quote from our interview , “I think I am a Observer, I’m quiet so I can focus on many things, I can notice things that other people wouldn't pay attention too." The two faces that I think RD is would be an Observer, and a Seer. She belongs in these two faces because in observer she likes to sit back and pay attention to what is around her, and a seer because she comes up with great ideas that she envisioned in her head.

One person that we studied my class that inspired me was Georgia O’Keeffe, because she is an artist and I love art. She is an Observer. Seer by being these two faces she created beautiful art. She is a Seer because she would have really bad migraines and would visualize images in her mind, that is how she created art. She is also an observer because she would pay attention to her surroundings of nature and would also create that into art. Here is a quote that inspires me. “I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.” (O’Keeffe.)

Another famous person that inspires me is Beyonce, she is such an incredible person and does so much like giving back to homeless people. Helping children around the world that is suffer from lack of education. She helps out a lot and made her own foundation, which is called the Survivor Foundation. This foundation helps with social, economic and catastrophic hardships by providing assistance, education and support."I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run the world." (Beyonce.) This quote is so strong and is so close to me because I feel like Beyonce is so true to herself and doesn't let anything get in her way of life. I love that so much because I think that is so important to have in life, just to be yourself and stay true to what you believe in and want. I think the face that Beyonce is would be a Seer, and Alchemist I say these two because she comes up with such good ideas, she is an incredible artist she combines different music styles to make it her own that would be a Alchemist technique, and she envisions how she wants her music videos to be or how she wants her concerts set up that would be a Seer technique. Beyonce does so much work and is such a role model to me. 

The issue that I'm addressing for my service project is poverty and education, I want to do these two problems because they concern me very much. I would love to work with Oxfam which is an organization that workers with these two topics. I think by doing this service project will help me and others because we are helping the people that actually need it, we aren't just sitting back and watch all the problems happen. The strengths and techniques I will use for my service project is my seer face to map out what the success would look like. I will use the Observer to see how people react to the problem that I’m addressing. I will use Fool to make bad situations more happy and not sad because of the situations that are happening in the world. After I find what the similarities are for both problems I will use Alchemist try to place them together to come up with a new situation. After I found out about all the problems I will try to simplify them by using the Sage face so it becomes easier to work with. Lastly I will use my Seer face to envision the world being a better place, because I did something that is important and helped.

Citations:

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.okeeffemuseum.org. Robert A. Kret. Web. 2011. Dec 13, 2014. 

Beyonce. beyonce.com. Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter. Web. 2013. Dec 13, 2014.

What Can Be Genius?

My winter class that I am taking is called Five Faces Genius, which is about the beauty and challenges of life, through personal creativity and genius. In the first unit called Life of Genius I learned about how people are geniuses no matter what background, country they're from, or race. Every person has their own unique way to be creative and be a genius. For our first action project we had to pick four people that we think are creative, research their backgrounds and see what made them genius not including what they do for a living. I picked four famous people because I felt like it would be much easier because I can do a lot of research to find out more about their personal lives. What I found most challenging about this action project was doing the research because I had to find things I think made them geniuses. What I enjoyed most about this project is how it all came together because I worked very hard on it!

Created by JV, 2014*

My class created a Genius Gallery, showcasing who we think are geniuses. From our gallery I had to pick four people I think are geniuses. The four that I picked are Kanye West, Jay-Z, Michael Jackson, and Dr Seuss. I picked these artists because as a child I grew up on all three of them so it made this project go more smoothly. What I have noticed that all geniuses have in common is several things one being all dropped out of school at a very young age. Kanye West went to Chicago’s American Academy of Art in 1997 and began taking painting classes. But later transferred to Chicago’s State University to major in English. At the age of twenty Kanye dropped out of college to pursue his musical dreams. Jay-Z went to high school but did not graduate. At the age of fifteen he was a drug dealer, but started getting interested in music industry. Michael Jackson did not finish elementary school, he joined his older brothers group at the age of five, they later became the Jackson Five. By them dropping out of school gave them time to focus on what they were really chasing for, and gave them more courage to become what they all wanted be. I think by them not having a father figure made them all creative because they had to grow up really fast, and be their own man figure in their lives. That taught them to be independent at a very young age because, they didn't have both parents to look after them, so they had to look after themselves.

Another thing that I noticed that all three artists have in common is they all grew up with no father figure. Kanye West is an only child and his parents divorced when he was only three years old. He moved to Chicago with his mother, Kanye's father wasn't really in Kanye's life. Jay-Z grew up with three siblings were raised by their mother, after their father abandoned the family. He never had a father figure in his life. Michael Jackson did have his father in his life, but had a troubled relationship with him. He would physically and emotionally abuse his kids. Even though Michael had his father in his life he never saw him as a father. 

All artists were really young when they first got interested in music Kanye starting rapping when he was in third grade, Jay-Z started making beats when he was only three years old by banging on pots and pans, and Michael Jackson grew up on music because of his father but started singing when he was five years old. They all knew what they loved and wanted to pursue their dreams. No matter what issue they were in they still loved and enjoyed making and listening to music. I consider all these musical artists genius because of their path that they took. They sacrificed a lot throughout their life to be as successful and they are today!

The other genius that I selected from our genius gallery is Dr Seuss, because he is an amazing person! He went through so much throughout his long life and he showed gratitude, success, and passion and to me those are his 3 strengths that got him to what he is known for today (First). He lived through many historical events including the Great Depression, World War 1, and World War 2 (second). During these events he would write many of his children books that are well known today so he can get his mind off all the terrible things that were going on. He would also draw, and collaborate with other authors and during this time he also met his first wife.

Three of my own key strengths that I have is working very hard, caring about people, and appreciating what I have in my life. I find these strengths creative because many people can't have all at once, and I feel very special that I do. These strengths help me so much, and can continue helping me throughout my career that I choose and my future. One challenge that I have faced is believing in myself, and not working hard enough. I would always doubt myself in elementary school and not really care about work, but as I got older and attended GCE my whole life changed because I realized I am a great worker! I feel like many students experience this throughout the world but can't find their spark. I found mine by going to my high school, I think if many other states and countries had high schools like GCE many students would succeed. I got inspiration from my older cousin who went to school and became a Optometrist, she is an amazing worker! I interviewed her because in my eyes she is also a genius. Here is a quote I got from her, “Helping people every day, makes me feel amazing!” My outcome that I would like to see is people finding and realizing that they are genius and the people around are as well. I think many of us don’t realize how smart and creative we are, so it would be nice if the world can all come together and see how awesome each of us are!

Citations:

"All About Dr. Seuss".catinthehat.org. N.P. Web. 2002. Nov 16, 2014. (1) and (2).

"Jay-Z". rollingstone.com N.P. Web. 2014. Nov 14, 2014.

"Kanye West Biography". biography.com. N.P. Web. 2014. Nov 14, 2014.

Vargas, Arielle personal interview Optometrists. 10 November, 2014.

Pictures:

Dr. Seuss. wikipics.com

Jay-z putdollard.com

Kanye West flavorwine.com

Michael Jackson huffingtonpost.com