2022
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Our task as a group was to figure out and debunk a missile crisis, and find a diplomatic solution to the issue. Our information came from a classified folder and our job once we had our solution was to write a debriefing to president John F Kenedy on what we can do to safely deescalate the situation. I believe that the 21st century skill that was used most throughout this project would have to be global awareness. Know what is going on in the world and what has happened in the past(The Cuban Missile Crisis) and how we could safely resolve it. As a group we decided that The United States would remove their weapons in exchange for the USSR’s removal of weapons from Cuba. I believe that our decision was influenced since we already knew what the real world resolution was. A lot of times when working in groups I struggle to click with my group members. But throughout this project I found myself really working well with my fellow comrades. If we were to redo our project, it would be nice to get a chance to have our letter to the president be more formal considering it will be sent to the president.
2021
Splash Mountain
I am on a trip to a beautiful record store filled with stacks and walls of records. Whilst browsing I noticed a stairway leading down to a lower level. “I can't find anything up here, why don't I have a look down stairs' '. I begin my trek down the steep stairs. “It feels like it's going on forever”. As I walk down the stairs I start to catch a whiff of a certain smell, a smell that feels foreign yet familiar at the same time. I began to see the light at the end of the stairs when I was blasted in the face by a current of cold air. The air carried the smell like it does to pollen. As soon as the smell reached my nostril I knew exactly what it was.
My mind goes black. Brushed by the sense of nostalgia my mind sends me back, back to Disneyland California. Splash Mountain that's what the smell is. The chlorine which pollutes the waters of every Disneyland ride is what people immediately think of when the name Splash Mountain comes up. The wait for Splash Mountain is always out the door. People line up to be splashed by water filled with chlorine, it's an interesting concept to say the least. But I do have to admit that I am one of those devoted Disney fans who lines up to get soaked with the water which many may even consider to be sacred.
Splash Mountain is a tall, orange cartoony looking mountain which takes you on an adventure through the dark caverns and its rapidly flowing waters. Once you have trekked through the rocky, windy and oddly tight line que you are brought to the rides launch site. The look on the workers' faces tells you what lies ahead. Avid fans would already know what waits ahead, but to the untrained this may just seem like an ordinary water raft ride.
I thought this was just an ordinary memory expecting to just wake up after that brief happy thought, but now this smell is putting me into a trance falling deeper into the rabbit hole. I embrace it ”at least this is a good memory”. I hope to find one of the quote on quote wooden rafts which take you on your journey. Each raft is made of plastic that looks as if you pulled a piece of wood out of a cartoon. The raft beneath me begins to rumble as anticipation and anxiety flows through me for the ride ahead. The raft is let off the tracks into the flowing rapids. Water splashes up the sides and gets on my pants.”DARN! Oh wait this is just a memory”.
The ride starts off calm as one would expect. After the first turn the raft comes up to a tall conveyer belt which is used to pull us up to a higher level. It hooks my raft, shaking it excessively.”Jesus, you'd think with all the money Disney has they'd be able to make this ride smoother.” as the conveyor belt pulls us up the ride instills a false sense of fear in you, making you think that there will be a large drop at the top. Approaching the top of the belt the raft teters as it slides onto the water on the next level. The reason we were brought up this high is to set us up for the inevitable terrifying drops to come. Through the ride there are many animatronics on your left and right. Cute and creepy at the same time. But there becomes a point in the ride where it takes a creepy turn. The caws of crows surround you as you come up to another conveyer belt. This time it goes up even higher. The drop at the end is the big one, the real one. The one which everyone should fear! It soaks your clothes in water when you reach the bottom. Climbing up the huge conveyor belt there are animatronics on all sides telling you to turn back, and that you aren't ready for what is ahead. When I reach the top, there is a moment of calm and happiness as you have a view of the beautiful park lights shining at night. But this moment doesn't last for long
A flash of bright light hits my eye as the drop begins, it's the flash of the camera which takes a picture of your terrified face as you reach the drop. That flash fades out. Now waking up, the light which I assumed was the flash of a camera turned out to be the light at the end of the stairway I was walking on before I went into a trance. “Now that I've reached the bottom I must find out what was producing that precious smell” I quickly rounded the corner turning to see this beautiful replica water fountain based off of splash mountain. The fountain flowing with the water which previously put me into a trance. “It's a shame that the ride is going to be rebuilt as something new due to the recent controversy” I shed a tear as I walked away and thought of all the good memories that I had on that ride, and the memories which will never happen again.
My mind goes black. Brushed by the sense of nostalgia my mind sends me back, back to Disneyland California. Splash Mountain that's what the smell is. The chlorine which pollutes the waters of every Disneyland ride is what people immediately think of when the name Splash Mountain comes up. The wait for Splash Mountain is always out the door. People line up to be splashed by water filled with chlorine, it's an interesting concept to say the least. But I do have to admit that I am one of those devoted Disney fans who lines up to get soaked with the water which many may even consider to be sacred.
Splash Mountain is a tall, orange cartoony looking mountain which takes you on an adventure through the dark caverns and its rapidly flowing waters. Once you have trekked through the rocky, windy and oddly tight line que you are brought to the rides launch site. The look on the workers' faces tells you what lies ahead. Avid fans would already know what waits ahead, but to the untrained this may just seem like an ordinary water raft ride.
I thought this was just an ordinary memory expecting to just wake up after that brief happy thought, but now this smell is putting me into a trance falling deeper into the rabbit hole. I embrace it ”at least this is a good memory”. I hope to find one of the quote on quote wooden rafts which take you on your journey. Each raft is made of plastic that looks as if you pulled a piece of wood out of a cartoon. The raft beneath me begins to rumble as anticipation and anxiety flows through me for the ride ahead. The raft is let off the tracks into the flowing rapids. Water splashes up the sides and gets on my pants.”DARN! Oh wait this is just a memory”.
The ride starts off calm as one would expect. After the first turn the raft comes up to a tall conveyer belt which is used to pull us up to a higher level. It hooks my raft, shaking it excessively.”Jesus, you'd think with all the money Disney has they'd be able to make this ride smoother.” as the conveyor belt pulls us up the ride instills a false sense of fear in you, making you think that there will be a large drop at the top. Approaching the top of the belt the raft teters as it slides onto the water on the next level. The reason we were brought up this high is to set us up for the inevitable terrifying drops to come. Through the ride there are many animatronics on your left and right. Cute and creepy at the same time. But there becomes a point in the ride where it takes a creepy turn. The caws of crows surround you as you come up to another conveyer belt. This time it goes up even higher. The drop at the end is the big one, the real one. The one which everyone should fear! It soaks your clothes in water when you reach the bottom. Climbing up the huge conveyor belt there are animatronics on all sides telling you to turn back, and that you aren't ready for what is ahead. When I reach the top, there is a moment of calm and happiness as you have a view of the beautiful park lights shining at night. But this moment doesn't last for long
A flash of bright light hits my eye as the drop begins, it's the flash of the camera which takes a picture of your terrified face as you reach the drop. That flash fades out. Now waking up, the light which I assumed was the flash of a camera turned out to be the light at the end of the stairway I was walking on before I went into a trance. “Now that I've reached the bottom I must find out what was producing that precious smell” I quickly rounded the corner turning to see this beautiful replica water fountain based off of splash mountain. The fountain flowing with the water which previously put me into a trance. “It's a shame that the ride is going to be rebuilt as something new due to the recent controversy” I shed a tear as I walked away and thought of all the good memories that I had on that ride, and the memories which will never happen again.
Reflection
Describing a place and time in such detail that you can almost see it is a skill that can work wonders. In the imagery transportation essay we were needed to tell a story about an important place to us somewhere meaningful. The story needed to transport the reader into it and I feel like I was successful based off of the feedback I received on it. There were a few roadblocks when it came to writing my essay, the biggest one was actually planning. Starting from just a single thought is very hard, and that is why I feel like critical thinking really came in handy here. Critical thinking is a skill that we talked a lot about in English-100 and to me it feels like that really came into play whilst writing this essay. After really learning about critical thinking I realized that I never really knew how to properly do it, but after this essay I can say that my ability to break down a thought in my head and transpose that to a paper has improved drastically. Critical thinking can be applied to so many situations but a common theme that I have found in many of my projects is that the skills I am developing can be applied to my junior project I am very proud of the emotional response that it has created in some of the people who have read it, it shows me that I took time making sure I truly was able to portray the feeling of nostalgia at disneyland. I would love to have added more detail but with the word constraints we were given there was a lot that I needed to take out. Maybe someday I will look back at the essay and properly revise it without the class's restraints.