Shark Finning- “the practice of catching sharks, removing their fins (which are commercially valuable) and throwing the rest of the shark back into the sea (often while it is stillalive, but doomed to drown because it cannot swim without its fins).”
This horrifying and gruesome act is done around the world for the small pleasure of a “delicacy” known as shark fin soup. Popular in many Asian countries, shark fin soup rapidly became popular in Asian restaurants around the world.
Shark fins being very expensive has lead to “humans killing an estimated 100 million sharks. Removing sharks in large numbers are having ripple effects that are throwing entire ecosystems out of balance(Smithsonian).” Many would think that this ghastly act would have be illegal as it leaves sharks to drown at the bottom of the ocean. No, it is still legal in country around the Pacific and Indian ocean, while many public awareness campaigns have erupted not much is being done.
I encourage all of you to help ban shark finning, you can start by visiting this site. Here they have ways to not only donate to the cause but help fundraise and protest. This should be illegal all over the world and the impact of this could be detrimental to not only sharks, but the ecosystem as we know it
The making of this podcast was helpful and fun. We got together in a group and discussed possible questions and storyboarded. We talked a lot about what the best questions would be as well as how to ask them. I really enjoyed the podcast project and learned a lot. Out Interviewee is a very passionate and charitable sophomore at Furman University and in this podcast you get to hear about her charity and what it does to help the community. She is very inspirational especially for being so young, I hope you enjoy this weeks podcast and come out to the race!
For this project my group and I walked and drove around campus to get the ideal photo for each scenario. We created a string of photos that would best reflect calm vs chaos in our everyday lives. This was achieved by different camera angles as well as props. The photos taken we then edited in photoshop to strengthen the point that needed to be made, either calm or chaotic.
Our group had a really good time taking these photos as well as creating the final product. During this project I learned that different photo techniques can really emphasize a point you are trying to make as well as change the whole look of the photo all together.
I also learned new skills within photoshop that helped make the photos more revealing to their meaning. These skills will be helpful in future projects as well as in my everyday life. With my newfound knowledge with photoshop I am helping my fraternity make formal shirts!
I am sure that knowing the basics of photoshop will also help me in my future career. I want to go into commercial real estate and there are plenty of areas in that field that photoshop could be useful in. Overall, I really enjoyed this project and my group and I had a lot of fun putting it together.
As a millennial who was introduced to the modern idea of social media at a young age, I believe I may have advice on the best and worst sites. Being at the perfect age when smart phones came out people of my age were able to adapt very quickly to the new technology seen in front of them.
Not only were we able to adapt, but also learn to create and explore new methods of social media and technology. Many millennials have a wide array of knowledge about many social media platforms and how they function. As we know technology was, is, and will forever be the future of our society. The more progressive the technology the more likely it is to attract the youth.
But, I’m not here to talk to you about the new gizmos and gadgets coming out in the future and what they will do for us. However, I am here to give my current recommendations on the best social media outlets and applications, as well as why I believe they are superior.
My number one suggestion for if you have to have one social media account would be Instagram. Instagram is incredible, from seeing what your friends and family are doing, to seeing random puppies in the explore page it does it all.
My favorite part of Instagram however is the explore page. The more you use the explore page the more it becomes tailored to you. My explore page is full of surfing, cars, motorcycles, dogs, and so much more. These are specified to my own personal likes and styles.
Instagram is able to recognize my patterns on the page and creates content for me. I admittedly spent too much time every day mindlessly going through the explore page.
Another application I use is Facebook. I got Facebook about two years ago because I joined a fraternity and we use the Facebook forum to update the brothers. I am not the biggest fan of Facebook, especially for millennials. The only people who continuously use Facebook are my parents’ generation.
Once I graduate college I will delete Facebook as I do not use it for anything else. I believe Facebook was vital in paving the way for many other social media applications but Facebook is not the best in my opinion.
Tik Tok is a newer application based out of China that is very popular among the younger generation, generation z. I personally love Tik Tok, the content is never that good but it is entertaining and fun. It doesn’t update people on your life or communicate with your friends.
The way you communicate using tik tok is by sending your friends the videos that are funny or relate to you. It is an interesting method of social media but it is one that is thriving at the moment as people love to feel like others are similar to them.
If you have to choose one application for social media I would choose Instagram. All around, it does everything you need to stay in touch with people, but also has that mindless scrolling aspect in the explore page.
After traveling through Europe and Asia this year I have found that instagram is the best way to stay connected with those I met along the way. Without Instagram and would have not communication with them.
Boat tour in Thailand
I am a terrible texter and would never remember to text them but instagram does this all for me. I am able to see and comment on their posts. I met a college student in Paris who is from Algeria and he posted on instagram the other week. I commented and we started talking again and now I am planning a trip to go see him.
Lollapalooza Music Festival in Paris
Without Instagram this would be much more difficult to do and would most likely have not happened. Social Media is a powerful tool and Instagram, in my opinion, in the best tool to use.
Lying on the pavement, my entire body is shaking and my mind is frantically trying to figure out what went wrong. I try moving different limbs to make sure I am intact. I slowly stand up to see my mangled motorcycle lying upside down and my father racing back to help me.
Gasoline is spewing on to the ground along with engine coolant and other miscellaneous fluids. The road is scarred with one-inch deep lines that went on for about twenty yards.
My father helps me pick up the bike and I wheel it over to the side of the road where we assess the damage. Replaying what just happened in my head I realize that I was very lucky.
The ravine to my right could have swallowed my bike and me, and the oncoming traffic I crossed from where I went down to where the stricken bike now lay on its side could have pummeled me as I slid across the road like a skipping stone.
Motorcycles have been a part of my life since the day I came home from the hospital and my father sat me on his old Harley.
When I was 15, my Dad and I bought a 1970 Triumph 650. This would be our project bike for the next year. I would learn how to work on it, taking it apart and putting it back together many times. Although the bike turned out to run beautifully, my dad decided that I needed a bike with better brakes if I would be riding with him.
We bought a 2014 Kawasaki Versys and planned a trip into the mountains. On the first day of riding, a bird struck me as I was leaning into a corner. By the time I looked up again I was on a thin piece of gravel that led into a ravine. I attempted to get the bike back on the road but the back wheel slid on the loose gravel and I was thrown over the handlebars.
This accident changed my whole perspective on life.
Being a teenager, I always thought I was invincible and that nothing really bad could ever happen to me. I now have an entirely different outlook on life and see every day as gift and never take it for granted.
If I had been an inch to the right I would have been at the bottom of a ravine. I also thank my Dad everyday that he made me wear the proper gear or else I would have been in the hospital getting skin grafts.
I was extremely lucky to come out of the wreck with minimal injuries. We spent the next two months fixing the bike so that we could ride again. Now when I ride, I pay more attention than I ever have, and I realize that at any moment anything could happen.
Having gone through this experience, my dad and I became closer than ever. My mom already did not like that we rode and although it might not have been the morally right decision. Hopefully, I’ve moved on from that day, lying on the pavement. Now able to see the road i front of me and the opportunities in brings.
My Dad and I on our motorcycle trip across the United States!
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