Final Project

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It was a warm night in July.

The air was still and every star in the sky sparkled like glass shattered throughout the heavens.

I remember thinking that the leather of my steering wheel seemed strangely cold and smooth.  

I was alone—or at least I was when I left the party.

The house had been packed. It had been full of people I knew.

They had asked if I wanted a ride home.

I laughed—knowing that they had had more than me, or had they?

I wasn’t drunk. That’s what I told them.

So I left.

I climbed into my car, ignoring the seatbelt—believing if anyone could keep me safe it was I. 

And I drove.

The radio had to have been playing.

 It always was when I was driving, but when I think back that’s not the sound I hear. 

I was almost home.

I was rounding the corner onto the street that my house is on.

I was so close. If I had gone a mile further I would have been in view of my home. But in the end that made no difference—because in an instant, I was no longer alone on the street.  

The second car had been bigger than mine. A black suburban is what I was caught a glimpse of—it is what I later saw crumpled and broken.

But even that is hard to remember.

What is clear is simple and above the buzzed and blurred horror, in the end it was the glass that stuck—the glass that shattered and scared my memory, the glass that led my gaze across the pavement of which my head rested, the glass that brought my gaze to figure limp behind the wheel of that black suburban.

Video Project Outline

             For Eric and my video project, we are going to focus on graffiti and some of the controversy that goes along with it.
             Eric is going to focus on making the video while I will create the story that accompanies it.        
            While he is home over break he is going to spend some time with a friend of his who is a graffiti artist. He is going to record and experience his friend in his artistic action.
             I will focus my story on controversies behind graffiti as an artistic medium. I will explore some of the reasons society seems to shy away from this expression and why many others still feel the need to exude their creativity permanently onto the public.

Audio Slideshow

               
                To get another insight into how a musician comes do be, grows and excels, I interviewed the creator of this lovely slideshow and my partner for this project, Keith LaFountaine.

                Not being a musician myself, I was curious to understand how someone as talented and creative as Keith had first come into his own as a member of the musical community.
                He was born into a family that was musically inclined to say the least. With a Grandfather as a guitarist and vocalist, an uncle as the lead guitarist and vocalist to his own band, a father who played guitar and sang, a mother who sang, and a cousin who was trained in the art of opera singing, it is no wonder that Keith picked up some musical talent of his own.
               He informed me that it was at the age of twelve that he first got started. With his father’s acoustic guitar, a beginner’s book and an excitement to learn, he quickly began to pick up on some of the main chords, essential to all guitar players. Before he knew it he was strumming Highway to Hell by AC/DC and We Didn't Start the Fire by Billy Joel.
              While his biggest influences have always been his family, Keith says he was also greatly inspired by bands and artist such as Kurt Cobain, Pink Floyd, and Nirvana.
              As well as being a musician, Keith is also a dedicated student, so he says that his practice time comes when it can. “I try to practice for about an hour a day. While I'm at school I sometimes stretch that to an hour every other day, depending on my workload. I'm self-taught, so I don't really do vocal exercises or anything like that. I have songs that I play to warm up my voice, and I do a lot of messing around with the guitar. I'll play a chord, see what it sounds like when I play it with different amounts of strength, and then I'll see how it sounds when I switch from that chord to another. But otherwise I pretty much just pick up and play."
              His advice to beginners is to simply get started. “Just do it, and then persevere. Making music is not easy, by any stretch. It’s an extremely personal thing, to create music, and even if you’re just doing covers of other songs there’s still something innate you are exuding to make that song your own. Just remember that the music you make is for you, not anybody else.”

Slideshow Summery

For our slideshow, Keith and I are going to focus on music.


      The slideshow will consist of photos taken of guitars and the music being played behind will also be guitar.


      The voices that we will incorporate will be Keith and one of his friends. They are both musicians and will have a conversation regarding their different playing styles.


      The written piece will be more of a musician profile where specific questions will be aimed to interpret one musicians take on his music.


      He will talk about how he specifically got started and give advice to beginning musicians.

Data Story

                   For our Data Story, Eric and I thought it would be interesting to investigate some of the statistics that we are surrounded by on an everyday basis—our peers.
                   It is easy to say that Vermont exists as a state that is not extremely ethnically diverse. In fact the United States Census Bureau for Vermont shows that as of 2013, Vermont’s population has consisted of approximately 95.2% white individuals and less than 2% of every other ethnic background.
                  That being said, Eric and I were not entirely surprised but still interested to see that the student body of Lyndon State College is made up of 90.8% white individuals, 2.2% African American individuals and less than 2% of every other ethnicity.
                  After investigating these statistics, we were left with the curiosity of what the ethnic makeup of other Vermont colleges consisted of.
                We decided to compare our Lyndon State to Johnson State College, seeing as the populations of these two schools are slightly similar. Our findings were not entirely what we expected as 83% of the students attending Johnson State had reported identifying as white, 7% as American Indian, 3% Native Hawaiian, and less than 2% of every other ethnicity.
                Because the numbers for both Vermont, as a state, and Lyndon, as a reflection of Vermont, had proved to be so dominantly White, we were surprised that the numbers for Johnson did not reflect that same pattern. However, what Johnson’s numbers included that neither Lyndon’s nor Vermont’s did, was a large number of unreported ethnicity. About 8.2% of students had never reported what background they identified as, which left a great deal of room for speculation.                 Continuing to search for interpretation behind the numbers, Eric and I sought out the admissions office of Lyndon State, to better understand what drew certain ethnic groups to particular places. The admissions office informed us, that while Lyndon may not be extremely diverse, the college is always working on programs and different ways to attract people from all over the country and even the world to its facilities. They also mentioned that despite the number of ethnically diverse students, Lyndon State does in fact have the largest amount of out of state students, then all other state colleges within Vermont.

Podcast

Dane Jackson (Podcast Article)

Recently Eric and I got in touch with World Champion White Water Kayaker, Dane Jackson, age 21, in order to get a little insight into his career as well as some advice for future endeavors.  

             We were thrilled with the opportunity to speak with him and when asked, what inspired him to keep going and how he pushes his limits, Dane answered,

“I just love kayaking every day, so every chance I get on the water, whether it is white water or just taking people boating for the first time, it’s never hard to remember why I’m kayaking. For me it’s all about just pushing the sport and really staying true to the fact that I would be kayaking even if I wasn’t a professional or even if I didn’t have any sponsors and I was just working and kayaking whenever I could. I would still be doing that just because it’s such an incredible sport to be a part of. So that understanding that I am not in it just for the money really allows me to enjoy each day on the water and push the sport.”

            While Eric has experience with white water kayaking, I myself have never truly explored the sport. So being able to sit down with the world champion, I was curious to get his advice for beginners. He answered,  

 “In the end it’s really a sport that anyone who loves water at all or even just loves getting outside should try. I think that the most important thing for people to remember is that they can go at any pace they want with kayaking. There is always some form of white water or something easy around that people can get on. They don’t have to worry about jumping right into some of the hardcore stuff, they can progress at their own pace, they can learn with other people. In the end people enjoy kayaking even if it is just flat water, it’s as simple as that, so any form of white water is exciting for most people defiantly when they are starting. So just take it at your own pace and just enjoy being on the water.”

            And finally, seeing as he has achieved so much in his lifetime, we wanted to know how he would encourage any individual, with any goal. How would he motivate and inspire youths and adults alike, to reach their full potential and achieve their goals. His response was,

“Just remember to have fun each day because as long as you are having fun it is easier to enjoy yourself and to think about stuff you can try and where you can go next.”

             Dane is currently training to compete in the Adidas Sickline Extreme Kayak World Championship, an event which takes place on the "Wellerbrücke” river in Austria's Oetztal Valley. This event will be taking place on the 2nd and 4th of October 2014. For further information on this event, visit www.adidas-sickline.com/en/race-info/ .