50 Amazing Hours

For my service hours I chose to do some construction work. Basically what I did was help build 2 brick sections in front of a building. The sections were approximately 1-2 feet wide and 13-14 feet tall. Here is the process of laying brick; take old brick to the scrapyard,, carry new bricks from my car to the space we were working at, clean the brick, and sweep the street: I didn't do the job completely alone because my dad was there and he mentored me along the way because he is a very skilled brick layer. My service hour sponsor was Connor Creevy an he was the one that supervised the job and eventually signed off on my hours. I wanted to do this for my service specifically because I like to work with my hands and I've always wanted to try construction. This is definitely something I can see myself doing in the future.

BKJ, Service Project, (2016)

Picture this!!

This project is for my steam course called systems and models. The purpose of this project was to create a self portrait and also explain the psychological test we took throughout the unit. I am very proud of the image I drew because I didn't take the project so literally I drew something I felt symbolized the true me. I really likes all of the test we took because it gave me a new perspective of me. I also liked the way the Action Project has art in it.



Title: The Alter Ego
Medium: Acrylic paint on a mirror
Size:11” tall 15” wide

The test that most influenced my art piece was the Myers Briggs 16 personality test. This test helped me because the test basically tells you who you are in every aspect. Another reason I chose this test is because it was the only one that I felt was spot on and defined me the best. When I took the test, I scored as an ENFP, which means that I am Extroverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving - basically I am a free spirit that is often the life of the party, energetic and compassionate.

We took the Enneagram Test which measures motivation. I did not strongly align with any particular result, although the two that came up for me were the 4 and the 6. A 4 is motivated by emotions and a 6 is motivated by self-preservation. Examples of well-known 4s are Frida Kahlo, Kat Von D and Bob Dylan. Examples of well-known 6s are Sigmund Freud (who we studied in class), Ellen Degeneres and Malcolm X. Neither fully felt right because I felt that I was pulled towards many different numbers when taking this test and for me it was very hard to decide between them all.

Another test we took is the DiSC which measures how you work in a job setting. I scored highly for Dominance, which means that when I work, I like to be a leader. One day in class we did a team building exercise and we had to get a basket from an enclosed space without touching the ground. Immediately I jumped in and started playing a leadership role by trying to facilitate what was going on.

The last test we took in class is the TKI which measures how you deal with conflict. My strongest strategies for conflict are Competition and Compromise. I scored the lowest on Avoider. Since I scored the highest on competition and compromise I am most likely to either argue with you and try to get my point across or compromise and try to find something that works the best. I had a 1 in avoider which basically means that I am never the type that shies away from conflict I am the type that deals with it head on.

We participated in an experiment called the Marshmallow Test. The marshmallow test basically measures someone's self control by placing a marshmallow in front of them and telling them they can either eat it now or wait 15 minutes and get another marshmallow. I chose not to eat the marshmallow, and I think this demonstrates my self control and I feel that it also showed me that having ADHD can actually be a good thing sometimes because I was able to distract myself naturally because I can never focus on one thing for too long so after a while I just forgot about the marshmallow.

There was an experiment that took place in 1971 where a group of researchers took students from Stanford and gave them roles to play in this experiment. Some of the students were guards and some of the students were playing the role of prisoners. This quickly went bad because The students that were guards took their job way too serious and began to physically and emotionally abuse the prisoners and instead of stopping it when it started the researchers just sat back to see how the whole thing would play out. If I were in the experiment, I think that I would be very neutral because I usually like to treat people equally.

BKJ, "The World" (2016)

For my art piece I wanted to do something symbolic as opposed to just doing a realistic self portrait. When I first started off I had the idea to just draw everything I like and I feel defines me on a piece of paper and have that be my art piece. Then I thought a bit deeper and decided to do graffiti on a mirror and then take a picture with the graffiti covering my face to symbolize my alter ego as a graffiti writer. Although the mirror with the graffiti on it is art, it is not my final self portrait. My self portrait is a picture of me taken from the perspective of someone else to show how the world sees me. Next to that picture is another taken from my perspective showing how I see myself. When people see this art piece I want them to realize that sometimes people are not always how they seem on the surface.

BKJ, "My True Self" (2016)