Hey!!! I'm Ramika and I'm here at the SMASH program taking classes over the summer of '06 at Berkeley. I'm originally from EPA but right now I stay in Fremont. I still go to school in EPA though, East Side College Prep,and I'm about to move back down there so I still represent the 650. I think SMASH is a cool program. I'm learning alot and I am meeting alot of cool new people. This summer our main topic has been pretty focused around the media and the way they advertise. Personally, I think that television is the form of media that I am exposed to the most frequently. Whenever I get home from crossing the bridge and have some extra time, I turn on my T.V. Whether it's to watch music videos, The Real World,the 6:00 news, Desperate Housewives, or a Lifetime movie. I am constantly exposed to it. I also listen to alot of music. I listen to the usual, you know hip hop and stuff. I like Lil Jon, E-40, and the whole Hyphy Movement. I like Ciara, Paul Wall, Nelly, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, etc. However, I also am into a little alternative and rock. I love groups like Maroon 5, the All- American Rejects, Fall Out Boy, and alot of other little groups like that. I like Nickelback too. I used to listen to my stereo alot, but now since I got my i-Pod that's all i really listen to. I think I really got into media around the age of 11. At that age i stopped playing outside as much and I strarted watching T.V. and listenining to alot more music. I think that these two types of media are the most effective because they are easy to get to and it doesn't take much work. All you have to do is watch and listen. You can use this media to communicate with others in a number of ways because so many people have access to televisions and radios. I could benefit from using this media because if i know how to use it i can do things to make it better and possibly make a living doing it.

Assignment Two - Montage: What's In A Name?

I believe that I have a very unique name. I mean I've heard it before, but I never met someone with my name, therefore I consider it to be rare. Surprisingly, I get a variety of reactions when i tell people my name for the first time. Most people say that my name is very pretty, and that it is unique. However, other times when I tell people they be like oh that's ghetto. In fact I had like an hour discussion with one of my teachers because she told me my name was one of the ghettoest names at our school and i was in denial.( By the way her name was Shaneeka) She told me that she actually used to confuse me with another student who looked "ghettoer" than i did. I was convinced that my name was pretty and unique, not ghetto. After that i wasn't so sure though. After thinking about it some more though i have come to the conclusion that i love my name. I wouldn't want to have any other name. If I could I would just be named Ramika.

Working with the photoshop program has been a lot of fun. I always here about the program from my friends at school who take photo and yearbook, but i never got to experience it until now. I like the fact that you can manipulate images in order to make them look the way you want. I also like the fact that you can blend all the pictures together in order to create a certain effect. The only hard part about the assignment was trying to find images that represent me in the way that I want it to. As a matter of fact I'm still not quite happy with it, I would like to add more and try to put them together in a more creative way.

In my montage the background is of a sort of paradise with a palm tree. I chose this to represent myself because I like the fact that there are places like these in the world so I would very much one day like to travel to places like this someday.

In the top right hand corner, there is a picture of my two year old sister. Her name is Johana and I love her to death. Sometimes she can get a little annoying because she loves to mess with my stuff and try to be like me, but at the same time i think its funny because she catches on to things so quickly and she is such a little sister.

Beneath her there is a picture of the Georgia flag because my grandmother on my dad's side is from Georgia.

Next to that is a picture of an iPod, because DUHHH, if you haven't noticed by now I LOVE music. I don't know where I would be without it.

Under that is a picture of fried chicken because I feel that a big part of my family is food. My family loves food and they like to cook, especially traditionally black food, like chicken, potatoes salad, greens, etc. So I felt that it was appropriate to put this picture because my family is so into food.

Next to the chicken is a picture of a trophy. I put this to symbolize two things. The first reason is because the funny thing about my family is that they think that they are the best at everything. I always here stories about how this person used to be the best at this, or this person is good at that. To me it's pretty funny so I decided as sort of a joke to put that there. Then I thought of another reason though. Right now since I'm going to school and doing pretty good, people expect to me to be the best because they are counting on me to be successful. I'm always being pressured to be the best at pretty much anything academic, even though I know for a fact that I am not. So i felt that this was also an appropriate symbol of who I am.

In the top left hand corner of my montage is a picture of my mercedes because that's gonad be my future car. YEAH! I love cars especially sports cars or any car that I would look good in at all really . I'm not the kind of car lover that knows a lot about engines and horse power and all that. I just know what I like and don't like.

Underneath my future car is a picture of a basketball, because I used to play it and I had a love for the game. Although I still play basketball once in a while and I watch it on tv, I think i lost the love that i used to have for it. However i do still think that it is a big part of my life so i chose to represent it.

Under that is a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., because I am African American and I feel like people like him have helped me to get where I am today. He fought for my rights so I am thankful because i know that i wouldn't have had the strength to do it if i was living in that time period.

I also have a picture of a paw print, AND NO IT'S NOT A DOG IT'S I PANTHER. My school mascot is a panther, and i chose to put it there because I think that it is a huge part of my life since i am there from like 8 to 7 everyday. I love my school though because it's so small and everyone there is doing a lot in order to make sure that you get ahead in life. And the fact that i am around people that are like me all day, I feel like we are a family that is struggling in order to break the stereotypes that are put onto people like us. It makes me feel accomplished that I am going to a college prep school. I know this sounds kinda dorky, but I'm gonna cry so hard when i graduate from there. I know it's gonna be a hard transition for me.

Next I have a picture of a mexican flag, because my boyfriend is mexican and over the past couple of years i have noticed that i like that culture a lot. I may not know very much about it, but most of my close friends are mexican or some form of Hispanic, and i love to hear and learn about their culture and their language. It is very interesting and since more and more people of that culture is moving over here I feel that i should take the time out to get to know them and learn about where they come from.

Lastly, I have a picture of a gavel because i am also interested in the justice system. I I'm the kind of person who likes to watch detective shows, like CSI, Law and Order, Numbers, and the Closer. I love to get into that kind of stuff because i feel that even though it is tv, it teaches me a lot. I have this thing where I dislike a lot of cops and people of the government in general, just because of bad experiences, so I feel that if i learn the law then people won't be able to take advantage of me and i will be able to stick up for my rights as well as for others.

Assignment Three - Flash Presentation: What's In A Word?

Doing this project was pretty fun but at the same time hard. Working with flash requires a lot of organization, and if you mess up, you might end up messing up your whole presentation. The first word that I was going to do I had no idea what it meant, so I picked another one and got started. I think the hardest part for me was figuring out the layout and how I was going to organize it. One thing that really frustrated me though was when I worked really hard on on of the frames, and then I ended up losing it. I had to start all over again. But overall it was a great experience working with flah, and I can't wait to work with it again.