Month: October 2024

Some obstacles that people come across in their daily lives tend to be shared among others who are from the same generation as them. A good example of this would be the COVID-19 Pandemic, which negatively impacted multiple generations of people. Or the modern-day inflation problem. These examples have one thing in common, they are both shared struggles in the Gen Z population. 

The Gen Z population largely use TikTok as their main social media cite, with 60% of TikTok users being “Gen Zers”. One of the main issues that I see TikTok creators discuss in their videos is “trying to get by in our current economy”. Many of the TikTok creators I see who are from my generation post content such as cheap meals to make, ways to earn quick money, and reactions to other creators talking about inflation. It is evident that Gen Z is well aware of the struggle they are going through in the process of becoming an adult. Many adults are barely getting by with a paycheck that would have allowed them to live a good life just a few years ago. Hashtags such as #worklife or #corporatelife are being used by these creators as they are now realizing how difficult the next few years are going to be for them. 

However, many people in my generation do not know exactly why it is getting harder to make enough money nowadays. While inflation is a major issue, money exchange also plays an important role in this topic. For a full generation of people to understand how to navigate the economy, they would need to also understand what statistics factor in to how much money they can earn. With many creators on TikTok having a decent understanding of our modern-day economy, the best way to get the idea out would be to post videos about the statistics of money exchange on the website, with the right hashtags, so people will start reacting to it and spreading awareness on the subject. This would allow people who do not have much prior knowledge of economics to learn more about what they are getting into as adults. 

While not every Gen Z creator on TikTok is posting informational videos online, there is a good number of people who are. There is also a big number of users who watch these videos and either repost them or comment on them. Gen Z may not have the best reputation, but many of them do have a strong knowledge base and a drive to learn more as they go through the biggest transition of their lives. 

Autonomy is a word that starts getting thrown around when a teenager begins to reach the point of adulthood. As kids, we are taught to rely on our parents to make tough decisions and to call the shots. Nevertheless, as we start to age, and we are given more responsibilities, we start yearning for something more: freedom. We want to be able to make choices on our own without the input of an adult. One of the first steps in this journey towards independence is getting a car. While receiving a car may not be so world changing in the long run, since it eventually becomes a necessity for most adults, it is a major milestone in a teenager’s growth. This point is best illustrated by a photo essay published by The New York Times, known as “The First Car”. 

The first image of the photo essay perfectly demonstrates one main aspect of teenagers having their own cars, that is the ability to create a safe space for them and their friends. Before getting a car, most teenagers do not have an environment that is strictly ‘theirs’. At home, teenagers may have their own room, unless they share one with a sibling, but even then, their room is still inside their parents’ home. Even at high school, while they may be away from their parents, the kids are still surrounded by teachers and fellow students. Not to mention that the pressure of class work does not exactly make for a relaxing environment. A line from the introductory paragraph of the photo essay sums it up best: “For many young people, their first car grants them a freedom to explore their city on an intimate level, with their windows down and music blasting – and away from the prying eyes of parents.” Being free to drive around and go wherever you want with your closest friends allows for bonding time, not only with your friends, but with your environment. Whether that environment be a small suburban area or a big city, having a car lets you familiarize yourself with your surroundings in a more comfortable setting. However, that was not the only point that the essay had to make about the autonomy of getting your first car. 

There are multiple perspectives of the impact of first getting a car explored throughout this essay. One that stands out among the rest is the idea that a car can act not only as a means of getting to a destination, but also as a second home. The feeling of having controlling parents is a common ground for many teens across the country. But when a vehicle is introduced into the dynamic, it can give kids a taste of freedom that they have never experienced before. The independence these teens are seeking is not always just from parents either. With the internet and social media playing a crucial role in our daily lives, the world is more stimulating now than it ever was before. Many high school aged kids are looking for a release, a space they can have where it is just them and their closest friends. The photos in this essay perfectly illustrate this concept. Each one of them shows a group of teenagers laughing and conversing either in the back seat of a car or just outside one. The phrase “It is not about the destination, it is about the journey” is true for these kids. The reality of the situation is that most kids do not want a car just so they can go to faraway places, but so they can just go on a drive and leave all their worries behind them. Upon taking a further look at these images, one can tell just how important driving is to adolescents. 

Besides having the similarity of containing multiple teenagers in one shot, these photos also do a wonderful job at showing the surroundings. For having such a passionate desire to get a car, one would expect the teens to be going to various places, like the movies, or a nice restaurant, but that is not what these images display. Many of the images just outside of a car are taken on a hill, by a sunset, or near a body of water. Additionally, they all seem to take place right next to an open road. These are places that many adults would drive past daily and not give a second glance to. It appears that, despite what adults may think, these teens are acknowledging their surroundings and taking them in as if it were their last time seeing them again. “‘I want to hang on to this as long as possible.’” In a time when the most fulfillment that people get on a day-to-day basis is seeing how many likes their post on Instagram gets, it is refreshing to see that there are still kids out there who are capable of living in the moment. 

Besides the meaning that the pictures in this photo essay are really trying to display, the images are still impressive on an artistic level. Not every picture shown is taken inside of a car. Many of the images attempt to highlight the places that a car could take you. The mountains, the hills, the beaches, they all truly exemplify the creativity behind the photographer. The photos also go along great with the quotes in the essay. For example, 20-year-old Ankha Cros-Roig explains: “‘Growing up in L.A., it’s such a big city and the public transportation is so terrible. Getting a car I felt like I could actually do anything and go anywhere.’” This idea perfectly matches the feelings set forth by the creative images. The writer and the photographer both knew exactly how to make the images match the text in a way that invoked the same emotions. 

Overall, this photo essay does an excellent job at highlighting one main story in two separate ways. From the ideas given through the quotes, to the imagery displayed in the pictures, every point managed to correlate with one another in a way that could make the reader truly understand the impact of receiving your first car as a teenager. While there were other photo essays in the Where We Are series that had some depth to them, this one truly stood out as a piece that was both relatable and insightful. If I were to create a photo essay about a topic that was important to me, I would look back at “The First Car” as inspiration on how to make a cohesive photo essay. 

Throughout my time in high school, I had written several essays and given multiple oral presentations. While my presentation skills did not improve much until my Public Speaking class, my writing skills had constantly progressed. However, I always knew that my essays and speeches could have been better. I was not exactly sure what to change, but with college slowly approaching, I started to believe that there was more I could do to further develop those skills. Now that I am in school again and enrolled in a Transdisciplinary Communication course, I have a list of goals I want to reach during my time in this class. 

The English classes that I took in high school helped me learn how to effectively communicate my ideas through papers and essays. Unfortunately, finding creative ways to display my knowledge has never been my strong suit. I often found myself repeating the same words or phrases throughout a single paper. So, my first objective would be to widen my vocabulary in a way that allows me to show my understanding of a certain subject without sounding bland or repetitive. I want to be able to write a compelling argument or illustrate a talking point in a way that shows my full understanding of the issue at hand. But my goals for writing do not just stop at the writing itself. 

Another issue I came across in high school was finding the right sources for accurate information. I was told early on that Wikipedia was not a reliable source when looking for facts. When I reached my junior year of high school, I was also told that the Google search engine, as a whole, was not the best place to look for dependable data. After that, I started using the school search engine for information on essay topics, which was even more difficult since the school search engine never had enough sources to write an entire essay with. As a result, my essays began to feel emptier, like I was just filling the gaps in info with long, drawn-out sentences. I know now that I will need to discover better ways to find credible sources for college essays. Whether that be through finding more educational search engines or exploring the Lovejoy Library. Either way, broadening my number of sources will be beneficial for me going forward. Along with that, being able to communicate newfound knowledge with others is also a skill that I will need to further develop. 

Learning new things and developing them into my daily life has always been a great skill of mine. Sharing those topics with others has never been my strong suit though. I often feel unqualified to teach others on a subject matter that I just recently learned about. Even though I know on the inside that I have enough knowledge to share my newfound information with my peers. My hope is that being a part of CODES will help me learn to engage in conversations with a group of people who have a similar knowledge base as I do. So that not only can I teach others what I have learned, but so that they can in turn teach me things that I might not have known previously. Moreover, I am also hoping to be able to take charge of many of these discussions. 

I have never been the kind of person to take the leadership role during group discussions in high school. Part of that goes back to my fear of being too inexperienced to lead a group in certain conversations. I have always wanted to be the man who speaks up first and is able to represent a small number of people in front of a larger audience, but I was just used to standing in the background throughout high school. However, CODES gives me the perfect opportunity to develop these skills. One of my goals is to start speaking up more when a topic that I have some knowledge about is brought up. Overtime, this will give me the confidence to take charge in a group setting, even though I will not always have the answer. I want to be able to assume a leadership role inside and outside of the classroom. This brings me to my last main goal for my time in CODES, which is to be able to not only think like a leader but talk like one too. 

I would say that I have always been a good writer, especially in high school. The one thing I have struggled with in English classes is giving oral presentations. One thing my Public Speaking class taught me is that the way you draft a paper is different from the way you give a speech. However, I still spent most of that class trying to give speeches as if they were an essay I was writing. I want to adapt to different techniques of presenting to perfect my speaking skills while I am in college. Once again, the CODES program is my chance to improve on those skills before I need to use them in my regular adult life. 

My abilities in writing, speaking, and collaborating were constantly improving throughout my high school years. Even though some of those skills did not develop to the level that I had wished for, I still have time to work on them. No matter what kind of job I get, I know that it will involve sharing ideas with people through writing or speaking. Which is why I am excited about the CODES program. This is my opportunity to practice my abilities and learn what exactly I need to improve on before my time in college is over. Thankfully, I already know exactly where to start.