Going through high school, I never knew that I would be so dedicated to anything other than my academics. All I wanted was an activity that kept me occupied and out of trouble; eventually I found that outlet in running. Don’t get me wrong, I had the ability to compete, but I do not LIKE running. What kept me focused was the end goal in mind- Winning races, receiving medals, breaking records and bragging rights were my only incentives pushed me to attend practice everyday. So that’s what eventually happened, I began to run in the winter and in the spring seasons.

During my senior year, I had an amazing season but slowly and steadily I knew that the track season and my high school career would be over and I knew I wanted to leave a more before my forced retirement. The county meet was coming up and I knew there was a chance where I could show the entire world what I was capable of.

The day before the county meet after practice, our coach told us we already knew what to do and that he was not going to tell us anything else. Somehow I knew what he was talking about, but those words did not hit me until I received the catalyst-my baton.

On the day of the county meet, I knew the race I was going to run with my relay members but I didn’t think that anything spectacular would come out of it. I knew that we were facing teams that beat us and I knew that we were facing teams that put up faster times than my team could ever think of. I also knew that people did not even recognize my relay as a contender to at least place in the race.

Somehow, I let these thoughts run into my head and something was telling me that I had no chance at success. Another voice in my head was telling me that it never hurts to try.

When the prompter told me to line up, my emotions were at an all time high. I usually get scared to run, I get scared to feel the burn of pushing my body to its extreme limit to the point I worry about it giving out on me.

The prompter tells us to set our mark, and the gun goes off. I felt weird that day, somehow I was less nervous that I usually was before races. Somehow, when I began to run my inner beast unleashed and I am suddenly awakened into a new person, a Victor that I have never seen before.

I begin to run, and somehow I see myself keeping close proximity with the frontrunners and somehow a voice is telling me to push and go faster. So I begin to push until I know that I cannot push anymore. One second, I see myself passing a runner. Two seconds, I see myself passing another runner and after five seconds I see myself at the top of the pack.

This is when I begin to hear screaming and people yelling my name. I continue to move, left foot, right foot, and left foot again. Now I feel my senses becoming heightened. I can hear the runners behind me exerting themselves to catch up with me but it suddenly pushes me to go faster and when I get faster, I suddenly hear the thuds of the other runners becoming fainter and fainter.

When I ran that day, I felt like a different animal, there was nothing out there that would stop me. I remember my heart beating rapidly, my emotions swirling around my head and my feet throbbing after a couple minutes. Even through all of that, I did not allow those distractions to mean anything because I had the mentality to win.

That day I broke my personal record in the 800m, helped break a school record in a 800m relay and helped win my school the gold in the 800m in 20 years. I believe everyone has that X-factor that will push them beyond their normal limits. I believe that the past does not matter when you are living in the present and I believe it doesn’t matter how you start the race, but more about how you finish it.

Once I have a good topic, it is really easy for me to keep writing and writing about it. The only issue that I have now is deciding on what issue that I wan to write about. Let’s take a journey into my brain..

For my passion blog, I think I will stick to  the music theme that I used last semester. For my first idea, I think I believe that I will keep writing and interpreting music lyrics while giving my personal thoughts and opinions on how they influence me. I loved doing this because it also allowed me to self-reflect on myself and see the deeper meanings throughout the lyrics that I listen to everyday. Another idea that came to mind was instead of individual songs, I can rate and give a reflection on the whole album. The second option will allow me to go more in-depth with my ideas and see the “big picture” that the artist is trying to promote.

For my civic issues topic, I think that I will either write about corruption in countries around the globe or the increasing police brutality in America. Of the many great things that Nigeria has to offer, one of its downfalls include the corruption and the embezzlement of millions of dollars by the government. I feel that talking about this issue will allow me to understand more and shed light on the wrongdoings of authority around the globe. In reference to police brutality, the  movement entitled #Blacklivesmatter has started to shed light upon the issue of the beatings, killings and “injustice” that have been frequent from this issue. I believe that blogging on this will give me more insight and see the issue from both parties involved.

I think my “This I believe” idea will center around creativity and how it is defined in today’s day and age. I feel that I can also talk about creativity on a personal level and describe what I see as creative in todays age. All of these combined will be what I “believe.”

For our project, we will analyze the whole controversy surrounding the Washington Redskins and how it might be considered offensive to the Native American people. Before I get into stasis, there are two sides that are fighting over the issue.

1. Dan Snyder (Redskins Owner) and Washington Redskins Fans – Dan Snyder sent a letter out addressing this controversy saying he had “surveyed” and talked to many tribes of the Native American people, saying that the name provided them with great honor. Actually, the name of the football team was originally changed to Redskin in order to “honor” the football coach at the time who was a Native American Sioux.

2. Native American people– The term “Redskin” derives from bounties that were given to people that killed Native Americans. When they killed the Native Americans, they cut their scalps off, which exposed their skin making the top of their heads “red.” The argument does not seem as strong (at a first glance) on this side, because not all Native Americans found the word offensive at all. This weakens the strength of their argument to an extent because they are not together backing up their stand.

Now before I enter stasis, you may ask me, “What is stasis?” Stasis is where a rhetor takes a stand within an argument. When you look at the Redskins controversy in terms of stasis, you can conclude that each side of the argument (Dan Snyder vs. Native Americans) is trying to make a stand for their argument.

But what about when you cannot achieve stasis between the two parties? This is where both parties will have to “agree” in order to disagree to reach stasis. At this point where they are “halfway” we will look more in-depth to see each perspective of the argument.

So now, if I were to use stasis in order to create the framing questions for my project, I would try to enter the perspective of each side of this debate. I am looking forward to presenting my project!

I find it difficult nowadays to resist from connecting to the internet, due to the fact that majority of things in this day in age requires some sort of internet interaction. As an incoming freshman, I grew up using the internet for almost everything such as school projects, communicating with people or using it for pure entertainment. Life before the internet can be (blurry) now because of the significance that it has today. How did the generation of my parents function without the invention of the internet?

The concept that created the internet was called the “Galactic Network” concept created by J. C. R Licklider from MIT where he was the first head of the computer research program – DARPA. From there, more people got involved with the project until the internet was finally commercialized after several years. In 1995, the FNC passed a resolution recognizing and defining what the internet is. Soon after, the the internet went live to the public on August 6th, 1991. When it was first released, many people did not even know of its existence or were confused on what it was. Eventually people began to get on board to the point where we have 3.17B users connected.

The first form of internet in the typical household setting came in the form of Dial-Up. Users connected their phones into their modems in order to access the world wide web. Reaching top speeds of about fifty-six kilobytes per second, the internet has since increased in popularity and in speed. Companies such as Netzero and American Online were the top internet providers during this era.

The internet has come a long way since its first days where a couple of people had access to it, to the present where it has three-hundred and seventeen billion users (statista).With an increase in popularity came a demand for faster internet speeds. After the Dial-Up era was over, internet providers shifted to Broadband and Fiber Optics as upgrades from Dial-Up. Reaching top speeds of 1,000 megabytes per second (with Google Fiber), internet speeds have grown (exponentially) faster since its birth. Things such as downloading movies or streaming HD videos are a thing that could have never happened with the internet speeds of the past.

While there is a paradigm shift from the way the that the internet was used before and the way that we use it today, sub-paradigm shifts exist where the internet has altered traditions that have been set in stone for years.

So long are the days of sending letters by snail mail and waiting to get your response back a few days later. With the internet, this traditional process is slowly being eliminated through e-mail. Take a look at the Unites States Postal Service for example. Their business has declined drastically because of e-mails sent through the internet. In 2011, USPS struggled financially to make a 5.5B dollar payment almost forcing them to shut down during the winter.  Because of their financial woes, USPS considered eliminating Saturday delivery, shutting down 3.7K post offices and laying off about 120,000 workers. If we compare the internet vs. the traditional snail mail procedure, you can conclude that the internet provides a faster, convenient form minus the physical article that snail mail provides.

Now if we analyze communication today, has the internet brought us together or pushed us even farther apart? That is a question where you can argue on both sides. With the internet came the eruption of the digital age, introducing social media platforms such as Snapchat,

Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. While these platforms have done a great job “connecting” one use to another, what has it done for people skills overall? It is possible for friends to all be “hanging-out” yet, they are still utilizing social media via their cell phones. According to Forbes magazine, about 7 percent of communication is established through verbal or written word. This equates to 93 percent of communication being nonverbal. This is where people frown down upon social media because people become too accustomed to communicating via a computer rather than just meeting up and discussing an issue.

Because the internet has increased in popularity and speed, the birth of online gaming came to no surprise. Outlets such as Microsoft’s Xbox Live (Xbox 360 and One), Sony’s Playstation Network (Playstation 3 and 4), Steam, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and even Riot’s League of Legends connect users all around the world in order to play against one another. Because success and popularity of these platforms, the term eSports is known throughout the world where user compete on professional teams to win games for prizes. So long are the days of going to your friends house and playing games.

Because of the internet, productivity and the way that we perform tasks have changed drastically, creating a new type of setting in homes and schools around the globe.

When you enter a typical home setting, how many of the devices are actually connected to the internet? From phones, laptops, desktops, televisions, dvd players, tablets and now even refrigerators- a hefty amount of our devices are actually connected. This goes to show the shift the internet has created. How many people seven to ten years ago can say that they could watch YouTube videos on their televisions or say that they own a SMART refrigerator?

From the house into the exemplary school setting, it is now considered “untraditional” not to use the internet for your daily functions. As a student at The Pennsylvania State University, the internet can be considered a necessity because of all the business you need to conduct using it. As a student, the internet is a top resource because of all the things you can matrial you can acquire from it. From watching educational videos on YouTube, looking up sources for research or getting help on homework assignment; it can be considered a “disadvantage” not to utilize the internet for everything that it has to offer. Even if you do not use the internet normally, Penn State forces students to conduct some business online such as scheduling classes, adding extra LionCash to your card, or even sending e-mails to your professors. Because of this, the internet has created an easier more efficient way to communicate and store information -which is the reason why we utilize is so heavily today.

In (retrospect), since we use the internet so much to perform our daily tasks, how much time do we actually stay connected each day? The average internet user spends about 1.72 hours while adults spend about one hour connected to the internet each day.

While the internet may be a great thing, users still find find ways to use it in a negative manner. According to GoGulf.com, about 565 million people fall victim to cybercrime each year with 18 new victims every second.

With the internet, came the integration of cyber crime and theft. Because the internet has the ability to conceal identities, hackers and scammers have the advantage in compromising sensitive information such as credit cards and social security information.

Even though many people enjoy the internet, some people may enjoy it too much.According to USA today, about 14% of the youth in China are addicted to the internet.

Aside from the negative aspects, the internet can be used for great things.

Personally, I find it hard to imagine a world where the internet did not exist. But what about the generation of our parents who either chose to learn it or stuck to their old-fashioned ways?

As for the millennial generation, it is hard to not find a millennial without internet interaction. For the generation that grew up using the internet, it is to no surprise that millennials are already so accustomed to this way of life. With the introduction of the digital age, a huge shift came from the ease of interacting digitally rather than peer to peer interaction, all through social media. How many times have you found a millennial teaching their parents how to use the internet?

On the contrast you have the parental generation who did not grow up with the internet, instead they were introduced to the internet at a later stage with the option to learn how to use it or to ignore its existence. Because of the revolution in the digital age, it seems like everyone is going to have to get on board at one point.

With the eruption came a revolution in the digital age or a push to make everything done in a digital manner. The digital age can be accredited for all of convenience that it brings.  Things such as online banking and shopping have increased in popularity because of the convenience that each service provides. Why is there a need to go to the bank when you can make all of your transactions with three taps on your phone? What is the reason behind the increase in online sales? Outlets such as Amazon and Ebay are internet giants because of the way that they connect users to essential products every day.

Because of the internet, we can connect instantaneously, share our ideas to multitudes of people and even find all of the information that our hearts desire. The internet has changed the way we do research, gather information and even communicate. Even though the internet can be a dangerous place, the positive aspects outshine all the negatives. In the future, I envision the internet to continue to get faster with the hope that it will be able to support 90% of the world’s population connecting to the internet.
The internet has come a long way since its birth; acquiring faster speeds, gaining a user base of  almost half of the world’s population and being a hub for business transactions. It is safe to say that the internet is one of the biggest things during this era and it has many more successful years ahead of it. My only question is, what’s the next big thing for this era?

Top Two Favorite Presentations

David (Sneakers: Necessity vs. Fashion) – I really enjoyed David’s Ted talk because he highlighted how the sneaker has changed from being a form of protection to becoming fashion staples. I could tell that he did his research by highlighting how the sneaker fashion era started and how it has developed to what it is today. I loved how he made connections to the real world today by explaining how people camp and do very extreme things in order to get highly sought-out sneakers. I think I may want to get in the sneaker business one day (not really).

Serea (The Evolution of the Tan) – Serea’s Ted talk was very interesting because I learned so many things about skin color that I have overlooked. Before, I understood that people tanned but I never understood tanning and skin color in the context that I do now. I even found out that fashion designer, Coco Chanel led the revolution behind tanning. Tanning has come a long way, but I realized that it is a source of skin cancer. I loved how she ended the presentation by alluding you to love the skin that you are in.

Top Five Moments

1. Matthew – Prior to Friday, I had no idea how the first cell phones were used and how you could even obtain one. Matthew did a great job explaining the shift and how our cell phones are not primarily used for calling one another anymore.

2. Idan – I enjoyed when Idan reflection on vaccinations in the United States. I have always wondered why people did not get their shots and because of the presentation, I got a better understanding behind their motives.

3. Amanda – I loved when Amanda brought up the court cases in her presentation. It showed each side of the evolution argument.

4. Victor – I believe that I had a top five moment when I presented a pun inside of my presentation.  My presentation was named “Because of the Internet” and my coincidence, Childish Gambino also had an album called the same thing. I put it at the end of my presentation as a form of comical relief.

5.  Ishan – I made a personal connection with Ishan’s presentation when he talked about Michelle Obama trying to get kids to eat more healthy. I remember during my senior year in high school, we got juice at lunch every other day because of the same reason.

I find it difficult nowadays to resist from connecting to the internet, due to the fact that everything in this day in age requires some sort of internet interaction. As an incoming freshman, I grew up using the internet for almost everything- school projects, communicating with people or using it for pure entertainment. What was the alternative before the internet? How did the generation of my parents function without the invention of the internet?Personally, I find it pretty hard to imagine a world where the internet did not exist. But what about the generation of our parents who either chose to learn it or stuck to their old-fashioned ways?

The internet has come a long way since its first days where a couple of people had access to it, to the present where it has three-hundred and seventeen billion users (statista). The increase in popularity has also increased the demand for speed. Starting from Dial-up, Broadband, Fiber Optics and even mobile, the internet has not only extended it (base) but has increased in speed to conduct complicated tasks.

The use of the internet is personal and professional settings has changed drastically. Over the years, a shift in internet usage has created a new type of setting in homes and schools around the globe.

When I am in school, I find myself using the internet about 75% percent of the time to do procedures such as looking up resources, e-mailing professors and teachers, watching educational videos or even collaborating instantaneously on projects that are assigned.

Aside from faster speeds and changes in settings, the usage of the internet has in a way “destroyed” traditional ways of conducting business and communicating.

Take for example e-mail, a quick, efficient and easy way to connect to anyone whether they are a personal or business contact. As the years passed, the usage of sending snail mail has diminished.

How the Internet has changed

1. Evolution of the Internet

A. The introduction of the World Wide Web

B. Dial-Up Internet: Known as one of the first internet connections in the typical household setting; Dial-up was a staple during the late 90s/early 2000s

C. Mobile Internet: In this day and age, a data plan is essential if you are in ownership of a smartphone. Stemming from the early 2000s, the internet changed from being available only to your computer- it was at the tip of your fingers.

D. Broadband Internet: A more mature form of the internet, Broadband increased internet speeds and relied on a modem to function, eliminating the need for a landline and cutting conversations short on the phone.

2. Usage of the Internet

A. At home: How has internet usage at home changed?

B. School Setting: It is bery hard to go to school and function without the internet,. Nowadays teachers make it mandatory for you to check e-mails, drop things via a cloud server, or even complete assignments on the internet.

C. Amount of Time spent on internet:

3. How the Internet has changed normal traditions

A. Snail Mail -> E-mail: USPS is financial trouble due to the decline of mail sent through their service. This can be credited to the amount of e-mails and other forms of internet interaction.

B. Traditional Person to Person –> Social Media: Nowadays, it is typical to see a group of friends “hanging out” when in essence all they are doing is sitting down on their cell phones.

C. Local Gaming —> Online Gaming: gaming used to be, if your friend came over your house you can play. This all changed with the integration of Xbox Live, Playstation Network, Steam, World of Warcraft, League of legends and other big MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game)

4. Pros/Cons of Internet Revolution

A. Able to connect with people around the world: if you have family or friends around the globe, it is so easy to give them a video call or hold a conversation with them via a messaging medium.

B. Internet Predators: Because of this internet, crime has increased from hacking and even more online theft. the problem with the internet is that you cannot see the person on the other side of the computer making them able to display an identity that may not necessarily be theirs.

C. Faster/Easier Interaction

D. Internet Addiction: We all can conclude the the internet has to be one of the greatest inventions of all time (I mean I am on the internet right now) but with this, people can get addicted to it.

E. Enormous database: When you need to look for something or conduct research for a project, chances are that you would immediately go to Google and begin a search.

5. Difference in Generations

A. What the internet means to teenagers/young adults: As a teenager; i would have to say the internet is a pretty big part of my life from social media, to google drive for school and projects or even Netflix and YouTube to relax on my downtime.

B. What the internet means to seniors and middle age adults: The internet is still a part of middle agers but it is not as significant to them as it is to the younger generation They had to learn how to use it, while we grew up knowing and teaching it to our parents. it come to no surprise when children are teaching their parents how to use their new gadgets or to perform a new function on the internet.

The topic that I want to write my paradigm shift about refers to the way that we use the internet today. On August 6th, 1991, the internet was released to the entire world with limited accessibility. Now, in this day and age the internet has connection with almost everything that we do. I want to talk about the way things were done before the internet, how these tasks were accomplished and how the with the introduction of the internet these tasks have become easier.

Elevator Pitch:

How were things done before the introduction of the internet? Is it possible to graduate and go through school without any network interaction? They answer may be yes, but it would be substantially difficult due to the way that many thing relies on the usage of the internet. Even though our generation grew up during the digital age, or the age where we basically had gadgets since toddlers; is it possible to function without the internet? Why is the internet so important today? Can we analyze the reason behind this paradigm shift?

Ted Talk #1

Bill Gross: The single biggest reason why startups succeed

In this ted talk, Bill talked about the many companies that he founded, bought, or had a part in. He gave us the rundown and factors that you need in running a successful company.

Business Model- Somehow, a company has to find a way to make as much money and attract as many customers as possible. Someone may have a great idea, but without a proper business model, the idea is bound to fall apart.

Funding – Makes sure that a company is financially stable and will have the capital available later to expand and to deliver business expenditures.

Timing- The timing to when a company is started is also crucial. Based on results and prior experience;

Team- You need a team of people behind your idea with the se=ame vision in order to run a successful company.

Idea – Every successful company come to fruition all through a great idea. Who will have the next million dollar idea? What will be the newest innovation to hit us?

Ted Talk #2

Sam Richards: A Radical Experiment in Empathy

Sam Richards is an award winning professor that teaches a popular class at Penn State University entitled, Sociology 119. Known to be one of the most dangerous professors, Richards takes us into the world with the perspective of an Iraqi woman who is trying to survive during war. He claims that the Unites States only has the alterior motive to go to Iraq for their oil and the get their oil only. Richards emphasized that these people probably see the Americans as bad people because they are killing everywhere, taking their resources and coming into their home turf asserting their authority over the national civilians.

The lesson to take from here is to always try to type this in word in case that the computer acts funny.

Thesis:

Apple has revolutionized the way that we function today. From listening to music, to reading and even learning; Apple’s presence in the technological world is highly profound. Because of this, Apple has came a long way from their days as an underdog to become a worldwide leader in technology.

Introduction:

Over the years, Apple has built a reputation for itself inside of the technological world.

Ad Description:

The advertisement was simple, straightforward and meaningful without words or a catchy jingle to hook the audience. There was only background music playing during the Ad which gave room for the audience to decipher their meaning behind the advertisement.

Social and Historical Contexts:

Gaining its social recognition with the first generation iPod, Apple has revolutionized the way that we work, listen to music and even learn. Attracting the likes of the young and old; Apple has found a way to market a universal appeal that is associated with all off their devices.

In a way, Apple has created a “bubble” or ecosystem that controls users to join their platform or to remain on their platform both on a  personal and social level. Applications such as iMessage, FaceTime and Siri are cross platform (accessible on iPhone, iPad and Mac) which makes the transition the more difficult if and when you ever decide to purchase a non-Apple product. In our class discussion, we elaborated on this claiming that we have some sort of discrimination on people who do not own Apple products because of the inaccessibility and how they stick out like a needle in a haystack.

How the Ad targets, responds or constructs and audience:

Throughout the whole advertisement,  Apple displayed their products for about five seconds throughout the video highlighting an emotional appeal on the importance of family, cohesiveness and coming together. Here, Apple emphasized on how their technology brings people together as they displayed their Airplay technology. Apple did not describe why they have the best products or why you need to buy it, they left it open to interpretation without speaking at all.

Ethos:

    I have owned a variety of tech products such as; Samsung phones, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, Windows PC and an array of Apple products.

Pathos :

The ad showed a very happy family joining together in unison to enjoy one another during the holidays. You could see many emotions throughout the ad; joy, surprise and happiness reflect on each character’s face.

Logos:

As of March 2015, Apple has sold about 700 million iPhones around the globe. When a new product is on the launch, it is to no surprise that the item will sell out in a matter of seconds. People have pure dedication towards this company, by camping out the day of a new product release which can lead to blocks being filled up with several tents.

Kairos:

When you think about Apple, there is a big chance that you are probably thinking about the products that helped to define this brand. People instantaneously  refer to the iPod, iMac, Macbook, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and the countless amount of devices that fall under their platform.

Link to Ad:—> Link to Ad —->https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhwhnEe7CjE