Honestly, I decided to revise my flash presentation all over again because I wanted to work on adapting the skills in doing the flash presentation. I found that it would be more fitting to do the flash presentation as my 5^th assignment because I found it to relate more with the new things that are going on in my life like: entering my junior year of high school. In my project, I wanted to add more to my presentation on how to handle the stress in one’s junior year of high school because in my previous presentation, I did not directly address that.

To improve my presentation, I added more slides that teach you what steps you need to take to get on top of junior year, since in fact it is the most stressful year in high school. In order to do this, I interviewed different post-juniors from different schools and asked them what they did to survive junior year. If I could add on more to my project, I would put on links to different virtual college campus tours because going to college is everyone’s top priority. In order to help my community and the people around me, I plan to show my project to incoming juniors in different schools to help them know what to expect in their junior year.

Warning: gzuncompress() [function.gzuncompress]: data error in /var/www/lab.smashcast.org/2007/creativemedialab/wp-content/plugins/easyswf.php on line 255

Please comment my post and tell what I need to fix

My name Vivian is a very special name to me. But my Nigerian name Oluchi carries more meaning in my life. The word Oluchi in the Igbo language which is one of the most common of the 250 Nigerian languages translates as God’s Work. It is usually used to name babies that survived from difficult labor. My mom named Oluchi (Anything with chi means spirit or God ex. Chika or Nkechi) after having complications while she was in labor. She prayed to God and told him that she would dedicate me to him. So if you ever ask my mom what I want to be after college, she’ll probably tell you that I want to become a nun.

Due to my mom’s dedication to God, I am religious. But to tell you the truth, I don’t think that I want to become a nun. (Don’t tell my mom)

My Christian name, Vivian, comes from the Latin word for Alive. I know that I am alive, but I usually say that my name means full of life or lively. I thing that I hate is when people say my name wrongly. Some random days, people will call my Veronica, Valerie, or Michelle. My last name is also Nigerian. Onuoha could translated in many ways, especially because of the English Dictionary, but it means voice or mouth of the people. In Nigeria, people tell me that my last name fit, because my dad’s side of the family is very vocal outside and inside of the village. That’s why I have a picture of Malcolm X on my montage because he was very vocal about what he saw the world and the people to me and he was a leader and spoke their cries through his power composure.

Th e background of my montage says: “I Rep Nigeria”, and that is absolutely true (on some occasions). Naija is slang for Nigerians and it is commonly used around the youth and for me when I am talking to any Spanish speaker who doesn’t know the Spanish translation for Nigerian. Today, especially in the heavy Nigerian populate states like: California (Bay Area and Los Angeles), Texas (Houston), and in New York, being Nigerian is such a big thing that there are Naija t-shirt everywhere.

I posted a picture of Vivian Banks (from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Vivian Green, the R&B singer. This is usually what people think of when they hear my name. Honestly, it’s cool that people refer your name to famous people.

I also love sports and music. I put the Nigerian soccer player: Oliseh kicking the soccer ball. In Nigeria, soccer is very big. It’s horrible if you telling them that they are playing soccer and not futbol because that is a beat down waiting to happen in the “futbol” field. Personally, I love to watch soccer, but to play it…Let’s just say that my dad thinks I am a poor excuse for a Nigerian. I love to play basketball as well. It wasn’t until high school that I really actually played basketball. To tell you the truth, I just tried out hoping to make it, so that I wouldn’t have to do the extraneous training for track, because my coach was going to put me in all sorts of sprints. When I made the team, I was like: ” I can’t wait ’til the season is over. But over the time, I realized that basketball more fun to play than watch.

Behind the soccer player, are musical notes. I love to play and listen to all types of music. When my cousins or my friends look at my playlist and think what the heck is wrong with me. After scrolling down a couple of hip-hop and R&B songs, some country or hardcore rock might “randomly pop up. I also play a couple of instruments (on the down low) like the bass clarinet, tenor saxophone, and the piano (not fluently). I love reading music and just liking looking at the complexity and beauty it has in each note.

I am total Naija. I put a picture of Victoria Island and the Nigerian flag drawn on the map of Nigeria which is about the same size of Texas. Victoria Island is one of the most beautiful islands in Nigeria. I also put a picture of suya on my montage as well. To me, suya is the most wonderful thing to happen on earth. Suya is barbequed meat cooked over an open fire and seasoned with African peppers: including habaneros(spiciest peppers in the world), tomatoes, onions, and seasoning salt. Although suya is only sold by streetvenders, I will do anything just to get it. African food is very important to our family. At home, my family rarely makes American food, and if we did, there will always be a twist to it.

I love jewelry and shoes(just a couple of things that I can’t afford). The jewelry that I wear is very special to me because it comes from my mom. On random days, she will always give me new earrings or necklaces that she either bought or made. Every once in a while, I always end up losing them or breaking them, which hurts me deeply. When I get really distressed by the guilt of losing it, I barely talk to my mom because I am afraid of what she might say or do. But she never gets mad because of what she sees me go through when I’m troubled. I love to look at shoes, especially the ones that I can never buy. My cousin calls me obsessed with shoes because when ever we go to the mall, I name the shoes I like the best like pink lemonade or crayons.

I put a flower in my montage to represent my name. Flowers are fulled with passion and beauty and they are also lively and bright (like me!!). On my montage their is a flag of Brazil because I call it my second home. It reminds me so much of Nigeria because of its diversity and life (along with many more similarities). Some day, I plan to go around the globe and gets help people in need; that is my major dream that I want to pursue when I become a doctor or “nun”.

My name is the most important thing that identifies me as a person. I think that the name Vivian, although sometimes I prefer to be called Oluchi has it’s own uniqueness to it. That’s why I wrote my name in graffiti because no matter stubborn it might be, its always hard to take off the wall. No matter how much I change, the name Vivian Oluchi Onuoha will always stay permanent in me.

My experience on Second Life was not that great because most of the time I was very frustrated. When I creating my avatar, I planning to make a really happening version of me. But I realize that I would be very hard to do. I started editing the facial feature because the avatar I chose had exaggerated features that made her like look she had excessive implants and nose jobs over the years. I started off with her facial features because it was the thing that stood out the most. The easiest feature I was able to replicate might have been the eyes since my avatar already had brown eyes. The most difficult thing to replicate was the skin color, the lips, and the body type. It was really hard for me to replicate myself into an avatar, because I had to start off with an avatar that was white and full figured with really large breasts and hips, making my avatars body parts too exaggerated. And when I tried to alter her appearance I did not get any where close to where I wanted to be. I think that some of the appearances of the avatar are the way they are is because there is a defined norm of people that usually go on Second Life. I don’t really know how many times I changed my avatar to look like me, but I got really fed up because I wasn’t getting anywhere with the path I was taking. Another factor could be that I was in the adult world and people of my state of being probably would not join Second Life. What needs to be required would be a large spectrum of clothing and skin color that best fits the individual making the avatar. I don’t believe that my avatar reminds me of someone I know because I usually don’t see people that portray the characteristics of my avatar.

In today’s society, almost every form of communication is based of the use of media. Using media, allows people and their ideas to be expressed in a way that touches the senses of those who look and hear what is being expressed. Media has such a prominent influence in the lives of many. The news that we hear, the latest music and trends we see on MTV, and the way we could contact those on the other side of the globe, are just some of the few ways that media promotes our daily life.

As a little kid, watching television was one of the highlights of my day. Sesame Street and Rugrats was the stuff back in the day. The shows on television helped me a lot in expressing the things I wanted to say and it helped me develop my speaking skills since English was my second language at the time. As I got older, kids were more interested in Pokemon and the show All That. This source of media provided all sorts of discussions and provided something that everyone could talk about. Sometimes our arguments will get real heated over who’s funnier, Kel or Amanda.

Media has also made its way in my life when I was about 10. My cousin and I always made silly and dumb videos. Our movies were usually about hanging out with Missy Elliot when we were kids or on random days video type our adventure to the backyard.

As the century goes on we are frequently exposed to media. Music, to be seems to a dominant component in media today. Music also alters the way we dress and talk. Some people that listen to rock, may dress up as a rocker. And those who listen to hip-hop, might decide to dress up as gangstas or those hiphop dancers in the music video. The major problem with this is that we forget our own originality.

The same thing is occurring with the news because now the news media is a competition and a game for public opinion. All we hear in the new are just tragic events and issues that might trigger peoples attention. And in order to do that, facts are exaggerated in a way that will promote viewer ratings.

One thing that I hope to get out of media is to find a way to express my thoughts and who I am in the realest way possible. I also want to be opened to new ideas and people in order to broaden my perspective and insights on certain matter and issues.