Youth and Media Festival (YAMfest)

Goals: The Youth and Media Festival is an annual event that we hold at our school and is centered around modern day technology. By participating in the committee that plans this event, I hope to have increased my global citizenship in ways that I had not thought of before. The importance of technology in our world is growing and I hope that I can learn a lot about the roles that technology has in connecting me with other people in the world in ways that can help revolutionize industry and human well-being. As the presence of technology grows, I hope that my knowledge about it can also grow so I can have a better understanding of out growing technological world.

   The Youth and Media Festival is held at Grimsley High School every year and is run by a committee of students who volunteer their time to plan it. The festival consists of two parts: first, there are guest adult speakers who speak about the various sections of the technological world that they specialize in followed by a few student speakers who present a few projects that they have been working on and how they used technology throughout their processes. Planning this even was extremely fun because I took the role of being a liaison to a guest speaker, Professor Bryon Turman. I had previously known Professor Turman and remembered that he had spoken before and the previous YAMfest, so I suggested that we ask him to come speak again. My job consisted of coordinating with the professor, reaching out to him to ask if he would be able to speak again, and then conducting follow ups to make sure that he had the materials and technology he needed for his presentation. Aside from being the professor's liaison, I participated in various tasks throughout the process. First, I went to our local grocery store to see if they could donate any water bottles for the festival or gift certificates for the raffle that was to be conducted at the end of the festival. Luckily, I obtained two $10 gift certificates that could be included in our raffle. Aside from getting the adult speakers, we also had to create a list of student speakers, so I suggested a friend of mine, Santiago Elliot, to be a speaker since he is a photographer. The group agreed and we immediately contacted him asking him to present, to which he happily said yes! One of the hardest parts of the planning period was to advertise the event. We set up two slots for two different news shows and sent some of our committee members to advertise on the morning news shows in our city, which helped circulate the information. After much communication with the speakers, we finally established a final schedule for this year's YAMfest. Our guest speakers were as follows:

• Richard Barcus- Presented on the importance and use of Linux, a method of software collaboration.
• Professor Muthka Jost-Presented on the positive and negative roles technology has in our lives.
• Professor Bryon D. Turman- Presented on the use of technology in the evolution of hip-hop and rap, thus aiding in the cultural and pop culture movements that paralleled with the different musical movements.
• Ruhani Agrawal- Led a workshop on how to use Scratch, a programming software.
• Sean Deamrel and Matthew Jones- Discussed their experience making a feature-length film over the summer.
• Santiago Elliot- Presented on the technology behind photography and specifically the photo editing involved to make the photos that appear on magazines today.
• Reid Anderson- Discussed the advancement of technology in the photography world.
• Jordan Robertson- Presented the technology behind music development and recording.

  The day of YAMfest was extremely stressful because we wanted everything to go as planned, however I learned a lot from the guest speakers at the same time. As soon as we got there, we had to set up all of our signs to direct people where to go, set up our information booth, and set up the snack booth. I was in charge of greeting the speakers and audience members, and then throughout the rest of the day, I was in charge of setting up the materials for the speakers as well as notifying them when their time was almost up. The festival was a great success and I was so glad we got to learn and teach others about the growing role of technology in our lives. 

Here is the link to the Youth and Media Festival's website: 

http://yamfest.weebly.com/

Learning Outcome: Considered Ethical Implications

  Technology can either hurt or help us as it can aid in research, yet provide us distractions from that same research. Being able to be a part of a festival about technology really helped me think about my personal involvement with technology. Facebook and Twitter can be very helpful for people who want to stay connected but cannot see each other every day, yet at the same time it can be a huge distraction from our every day activities and cause us to depend on it more than we should. Professor Jost's presentation was very thought provoking in this sense because she discussed the balance between technology as a tool and as a distraction. There are many elements of our smartphones that enable us to become more organized and resourceful since we can look up any questions we have on the internet. However, are there times where we rely so much on our phones that we use it as an easy way out instead of putting in the hard work? For example, reading a synopsis of a book online is much easier and accessible, however this accessibility often keeps us from reading the book itself. Another very interesting idea for the promotion of technology is how much more eco-friendly we have become because of it. Instead of printing out hundreds of sheets to give to students, teachers are now able to create websites where they can essentially have a paper-free class if they choose to do so. 

Learning Outcome: Engaged with Issues of Global Importance

   As the world continues to grow, technology can help us stay connected with each other. I enjoyed helping out Professor Turman in his presentation because he brought up very important points that tied technology to many different cultures and countries around the globe. His use of music and technology was, in my opinion, very interesting because it showed how different musical advancements aided in the cultural movements that were happening at the same time. Technology can help start revolutions and expose us to problems around the world that we might not have been able to learn about without the internet. Listening to and analyzing different music through the internet can help us increase our global citizenship as we are more aware of reactions to these movements and revolutions. I am extremely glad I volunteered to be on this committee because it helped me think about the bigger issues that technology can address in out growing world.

Piedmont Volleyball Club 2014-2015 Season

Goals: This will be my last time playing for Piedmont Volleyball, a club that I have been playing for for the past six years. This year is extremely important because it is the year before my teammates and I begin to play in college, so we must try to eliminate as many bad habit and mistakes that we make before entering college. My personal goals are that I would like to be consistently jump-setting in practice and games. I also hope that I am able to work together with my teammates one last time, using all of our skills for the best year possible and continue to challenge ourselves and each other on and off the court. This year is all about risk taking and focusing more on using the skills that have taken us years to acquire and use them in different ways, understanding when and how to take these risks and when to play it safe.

Quest
   Our first Tournament of the Year was the Quest Tournament. This tournament was extremely fun because I felt that my comfort level on the court increased. Because I have been playing with these girls for a long time, we all had great chemistry and understood each other on the court. This is very important because without team chemistry, nothing can be accomplished in volleyball. The team is above the individual. Normally the first tournament is always the hardest because the team is just learning how to play with one another, however I think that this year was better than most because I saw how well we already knew each other. This comfort level was important athletically becuase I saw that we were beginning to cover each other where needed. For example, one of my teammates hates digging line, so whenever a hitter would hit line, our libero would read their arm swing faster so that she could take the line shot instead of the girl who was not as good at digging line. Working with each other is key because my teammates are able to push me and teach me new skills that they have learned as well. To my happiness, we finished first overall and won the tournament.

Quest Tournament-1st place

Richmond/Charlotte
    Richmond was extremely fun as we came in 9th. I am feeling more comfortable with jump setting, however I feel as though my front jump sets are better than my back jump sets. Once I build more confidence to jump set more often, I know that I need to work on my back jump sets. I am only now starting to jump set in practice, rarely doing it in game, so I need to work on my sets in practice first before I can bring it to a game. The Charlotte tournament was so much fun because I finally got to see how the entire team worked together. Up until this tournament, we always had one or two girls out because of injuries, so this was the first time we all played together which seemed to have payed off because we won the entire tournament! Athletically, seeing everyone move faster and make smarter decisions was the best feeling of the entire day. Often I remembered when we first started out and how much we have grown as athletes, jumping higher, shuffling faster, and hitting harder than before. Seeing my teammates improve helps motivate me to improve because they push me to my boundaries every day.

Charlotte Tournament- 1st Place

Alumni Game
  One of my favorite times of the year during club season is our alumni match. Around Christmas, all of our club's past players come back and participate in a big game against each other as well as the club's current 18s team. Since this year I am on the 18s team, I got to play in the alumni match and it was so much fun. They are all extremely talented and I was very nervous to play with and against them because their skill level were extremely higher than mine. Being able to play with them taught me so much despite the fact that we only played with them that day. Seeing how they move to the ball and the decisions they make really taught me about my own game. I love seeing older girls come in and play because I always try to mimic their movements and copy them, so seeing so many talented setters come and set was amazing for me. Below is a video from our alumni game (I am in the pink shirt)

MAPL
 This Tournament was truly great because we set a record for our team this year-we beat Triangle 18 Black. This was huge. Triangle is one of the top volleyball clubs in North Carolina and their 18 Black team is composed of their best players who have all been recruited to play at big Division 1 schools. Beating them was an unforgettable experience because we had never won against them before now and it was nice to see that all of our hard work as a team was finally paying off.

Aerial view of the convention center

  

Big South
  Big South is one of my favorite tournaments because it is one of the most popular ones in the country, which means almost every big volleyball club attends. My club has attended it every year, so this is my sixth year playing in it. Sadly, this is also our last volleyball tournament all together, so the ending was very bittersweet. We were also missing one of our players due to health concerns, so we were not able to play all together as a team which was very upsetting. Despite the sadness, we played very well the second and third days of the tournament and at this point, we were just focused on having fun with the sport. There is always room to improve with our techniques, but seeing all of my teammates give one final effort was very rewarding after seeing how much time and effort we had put into not only the sport, but more importantly each other. I know that I would not have grown to where I have grown if my teammates were not there pushing me along the way. I have not only learned an incredible amount from my coaches, but I have also learned from my peers. Needless to say, I have been humbled and honored to play for Piedmont Volleyball Club and to find people who equally share love for the great sport of Volleyball.

Our last team huddle

Learning Outcome: Increased Awareness of own Strengths and Areas for Growth
      Our coach let us know this year that as the 18s team, our main focus would be on perfecting the skills we know, using them in different and more advanced ways, and most importantly, serving as role models and leaders for the rest of the club. This year was quite different in that I not only saw where I still needed to improve, but I also began to look at myself as more of a coach and identified ways that I could be a better mentor and leader. Pushing the younger girls and giving them constructive criticism was something that I found to be very helpful to them since they are in the process of harnessing their skills. Additionally, I also realized that an important part of being on the 18s team is leading by example. Not only did I have to teach the younger girls what to do, but I had to make sure that I was doing the correct techniques every time so that they can constantly be surrounded by proper technique which can help them learn it faster. Although it was a lot of pressure for our team to reduce errors during practice, I think that same pressure enabled me to become more focused during practice because I had to think less about myself and more about others in the club.

Learning Outcome: Shown Perseverance and Commitment in Activities and Worked Collaboratively with Others
    Being an athlete of any sport requires a huge time commitment. Every day I was either actively in practice, at a tournament, or doing some sort of cross-training such as swimming or weight lifting to keep my muscles active and improve my cardio. No matter what happened, I always stuck with my team and that proved to be the best path. Often, problems arose regarding playing time or attitude issues between my other teammates, but I wanted to stay strong and be the person that people can depend on whether they needed someone to talk to, or simply needed someone who was level-headed to play on the court at that moment. Despite many the many injuries throughout the team, we managed to play to our best abilities each time.