One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Dead Fish

In my last term for my STEAM class, I took a course called Frontiers. This term was the first ever time that course was introduced to GCE Lab School students, so I am super grateful that I was part of the first class to take the course. We learned about marine biology and why we must take care of our oceans right now. I have become very interested in climate change this year, so this course perfectly fit my interests. Although taking this course felt very self-guided at times, I was able to push through the current pandemic and not being able to see my teacher face-to-face. 
This Action Project was very hard to endure. I was very passionate about it at first, but life kept throwing curveballs at me, making my timeline to complete this AP shift a little bit. I can finally say that I completed my last Action Project at GCE to the best of my capability. I think I would have done better if I was in the actual GCE building, as that building is a safe haven from the outside world for a couple hours of the day. I can't change the past, but I can spark change for the future, as I did with this literature review. 

Curation of my Ambition

Here I am.
I am officially wrapping up my last Humanities course at GCE Lab School. It feels surreal. I have fallen in love with the "Endurance" course since the beginning. I cannot even imagine the possibilities this course has if we weren't all stuck at home. This course is definitely one of the best courses someone can take as a student at GCE Lab School.
The focus of "Endurance" was studying what apotheosis is. Apotheosis is the highest point in the development of something, otherwise known as a climax. We looked at an example of Malala's apotheosis to get a better sense of the feeling of a climax during a mission. After studying Malala, my class and I started our Action Project about our mission in life. I have been worked towards becoming a museum curator for two years now, so it was fun to sit down and make a cute manual on how I think the next few years of my journey will look like.  I loved decorating my slideshow and finding pictures in my camera roll that relate to my mission. I will most likely refer to this document through college as a sweet memory and token of GCE. 
Enjoy! Take care. Now I resume my journey...

Can Activism be Achieved in 12 Hours?

It has finally settled in.

I spent my last day of senior year of high school for the last time without knowing it. A day that I took for granted. A day that I wish I could relive and give my most warmest hugs to everyone that has helped me become a stronger student at GCE. When I heard the news that the rest of the school year is cancelled by the state’s orders, I saw my senior year flash before my eyes. I won’t ever forget when I heard this life-changing news. Thousands of seniors in the City of Chicago mourned about this dreadful loss. We will never be able to live the traditional senior spring term, which consists of yearbook signing, celebrating National Decision Day with our classmates, and sharing our last laughs at the lunch table. Our senior year was robbed from us in one day, in a heartbeat, in a snap of fingers.

Sadly, we can’t turn back the hands of time. The pain is fresh in my soul and my friends’ hearts, and there is nothing else for us to do except deal with the cards that are played.

Or, I could start an art initiative that lets seniors vent their feelings in a safe place.

Yeah, that sounds pretty cool.

I decided to create a journalism street art initiative for my second Action Project in my Endurance course. The point of this Action Project is to spend twelve hours enduring a mission and to document the process. I had a troubled time coming up with an idea at first, because I have been very scatterbrained about COVID-19. Then, I decided that I should use those feelings for a good cause and to bring other seniors some closure too. Some of my senior friends are essential workers also, because they need to help bring in money for their family. This pandemic has been affecting everyone really hard right now.

I am very proud of my work for this Action Project. This is among the best work I have conducted this year. I poured my heart and soul in making sure that the posters, video, and narrative is professional. I filmed and edited the video on my phone, which was an extreme challenge. I pushed through and still published the best video work of my high school career.

I hope you see my passion through this project. Enjoy and stay safe.

The Road Jess Traveled

It is officially my last Humanities term of my career at GCE. It went by really fast, and I truly appreciate the art of writing now as a senior. Since it is the end of senior year, I have been focusing on what comes after high school. National Decision Day is exactly a week away, which has me very hyperfixated even more on what there is to come after college. It is a sad time because I am spending my last term of high school at home. I started off this term with this course named "Endurance", where we are learning about what it takes to endure a tough journey. I used this insight by compiling the first chapter of my autobiography of what I think my mission in life is. I used my current experiences to predict what will happen in the future.




In conclusion, I had such a fun time writing this chapter. I feel like the growth of my writing over the last four years is really prominent in this essay. I hope you enjoy!

Predicting the Future With Language

In my class of Equality, we have been focusing on what equality can look like in the future. In order to understand that idea, we had conversations about what injustice looks like in our day to day lives and what we can do to fix it. We had a conversation with a professor from UIC, a college here in Chicago. I was so excited to be taught by a professor in my senior year, because it prepares me for how a college class will feel like next school year. He was very engaging, as I liked the way he spoke and articulated his thoughts and ideas. He listened to my classmates' ideas and answers to his questions very well and incorporated us into his teaching. Our conversation was about issues that roam around our lives and what solutions we see that current people in power are doing about it. In my last Action Project for Equality, I had to think of a social justice issue that I believe will be relevant in 100 years. I had a lot of trouble thinking of an idea at first, but after having a conversation with my mom about how she feels left out in the world, my writing was sparked. I am very passionate about rights for people of color in America, so I decided to write about the equality of language.

What is the Relationship Between Personal, Local, and Global needs?

Throughout my time in my "Equality" and "Social Entrepreneurship & You" classes at GCE, I have discovered what my place in the world is, a little bit at a time. In my Equality class, we learned about social justice issues that run in the community around us, in our country, and globally.

Through my business, I help the world on a personal, local, and global level.

Personal: Assert my belonging in the Mexican community
Local: Assert belonging for all Mexicans in the community, and fund money for a Mexican empowerment non profit
Global: Through the power of art, Mexican culture will be represented more in the world because of people wearing our products.

Don't Be Self Conchas

I never would have thought that I would want to be a social entrepreneur, ever in my life. I grew up thinking that working for a business only meant that you would have to be stuck in a suit and tie, running from meeting to meeting through downtown's many buildings, on a 9am-5pm schedule. I was very stubborn in my first days of my Social Entrepreneurship & You course because I was not particularly interested about that side of business. However, my perception of business changed when I gave this course a chance. I was surprised to discover through class discussion that...

Business is everywhere.

Business is the tamale lady standing on the corner, hustling to sell more than her competitor across the street.
Business is negotiating the price of a house you want to buy off of a seller.
Business is trading your bag of chips for a classmate's stack of Oreos.

We partake in business everywhere we go, though we don't realize it. Though I was fascinated by that idea, I was more intrigued that business can be used for social good, aka social entrepreneurship. I learned about key concepts of social entrepreneurship, identifying social issues, different types of investors, and how to create a business plan.

I've been in charge of my own jewelry business since last April. I haven't had the chance to sit down and create a detailed business plan about it, so I took advantage of the time given to do this Action Project to focus on my business.

It was very difficult to delve into my business and nitpick something I am very passionate about, and discover why I am so passionate about it. I am beyond proud of my finished work. I hope I am able to find an angel investor soon to take my business to the next level, thanks to taking this class.

Ali, Tanveer. “Hispanics Pass Blacks As Chicago's 2nd Largest Racial, Ethnic Group: Census.” DNAinfo Chicago, DNAinfo Chicago, 15 Sept. 2017, www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170914/near-west-side/census-white-black-hispanic-majority-minority-race-ethnicity-population-change-2016-2017-decline/.

Bloom, Mina. “City's Latino Neighborhoods: Population Up, Challenges Persist, Report Says.” DNAinfo Chicago, DNAinfo Chicago, 13 Oct. 2017, www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20171011/logan-square/uic-report-latino-neighborhoods-report-latino-population-growth-chicago/.

Duncan, Eric. “Topic: Jewelry Market Worldwide.” Www.statista.com, www.statista.com/topics/5163/jewelry-market-worldwide/.

Bring in the Light

What does equality and success for minorities look like?

Minorities have always been successful, but they aren’t fully represented in the media. People with diversities often times aren’t given the place to use their voice because they live in such a unequal world.

I have decided for my first Action Project for my course, “Equality”, to look into a success story of a minority and give diverse person a space to use their voice on the story I researched about. I chose to look into Lori Lightfoot’s story because she has changed what a mayor can look like in Chicago. I have been following her story since I started working on her campaign. I enjoyed having fun with the format and making my report look like a history textbook. I found out that I have a knack for graphic design and color coordination through making my mini textbook booklet.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-candidates-for-chicago-mayor-htmlstory.html

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/02/chicago-lori-lightfoot-elected-first-black-female-mayor

https://chicagoelections.com/dm/SummaryReport.pdf?v=1552063866079

https//www.citylab.com/equity/2018/09/how-rahm-emanuel-blew-it-on-police-reform/569323/

Diversity is Unity

What is our place in the career world?

This is a question that has been in the back of my mind during the month of January- the first half of the Social Entrepreneurship & You course. My class and I have been focusing on what our personality traits are, how our traits can affect our role in the classroom and relationships, and how we can better achieve SMART goals to build on our weaknesses. I had a lot of fun learning about my personality traits and consciously observing myself throughout my day-to-day life. In my Action Project for this half of the class, I had to pick an aspect of the school and start thinking like a consultant by composing a solution on how the school operates. I chose to focus on diversity and inclusion in GCE, and how it plays a part in student’s learning and behavior, and implement a plan to celebrate diversity and inclusivity in GCE.

Diversity is important in school environments for a number of reasons. A diverse school fosters a sense of empathy and awareness, welcomes open-mindedness, allows students to feel unique but also part of a group, and prepares students for a diverse workplace.

One of GCE’s great values is diversity. Among the 60 students and faculty members of GCE , we represent 43 of the 77 neighborhoods in Chicago. Although our neighborhoods are segregated, we convene as a community of different races, sexualities, economic backgrounds, and ideologies.

Just read this quote by KC, a faculty member at GCE for about 10 years.

“In terms of student body, it has been very diverse. We have from African Americans to Africans, from Latinas to Latinos, to various European students, and a lot of people of mixed heritage. We even have people from various sexual orientations. So, in terms of student body, I think we have been on it.”

Strengths of GCE’s Support for Diverse Students
GCE’s admissions process is very inclusive for people from all different backgrounds. GCE provides nearly full-ride tuition for low-income students. The Director of Admissions at GCE, SB, pointed out GCE’s financial diversity when I interviewed her.

SB: “I want to make sure when we are curating a class, that we are being conscious of having students from many different financial backgrounds, because that in itself is a lesson for everyone. How do we understand and navigate economic class? It’s important for me to have a representation of that.

There certain different classifications. There’s need-blind and there’s need-aware. Need-blind means that I don’t care what your financial situation is, I will admit you based entirely on how you are as an individual person. That is how I go into the first review. And then, because we need to be conscious of that, so that we do maintain that financial diversity, so that we have students from all across the board, I don’t make my first decisions in a financial space. But, financials do inform my holistic decision.”

The Commons of this Financial Aid pool is first come, first serve. Full-ride packages are given to those students who qualify and finish their financial aid application by the deadline. The amount of financial aid that GCE offers varies every year, but they try their best to accommodate every student that is admitted.

GCE meets student’s physiological needs by not charging for lunch. This encourages diversity because everyone has a chance to eat, no matter what their economic background is. I am personally grateful for this program because I know there is something always to eat.

GCE provides self-actualization through their Field Experience program. By visiting companies with POC in charge, GCE sets dreams for their students because they see someone that looks like them on a higher pedestal. When my class talked to black judges from the south side, talked to a black CEO of his own company, visited an author off the 79th Red Line, and interviewed a Hispanic man running for alderman, it changed my class’ perception of what success looks like. Black and brown people have always been successful, but are not as displayed in mainstream society.

Weaknesses of GCE’s Support for Diverse Students
The majority of GCE’s faculty consists of heterosexual, white people. There is only one African-American teacher and one Asian teacher on staff. Two sophomores at GCE, ES and DC, explained their thoughts on a more diverse staff.

ES: “The one person that makes me feel safe and welcomed at this school is Sharon, because she acts like my black mom. She reminds me of my mom all the time. Second, she’s open to my sexuality. Having more teachers of color would provide more different opinions about the reality of the world, instead of hearing the same generic opinions.”

DC: “Kim was the one who made me feel most welcome because she reminds me a lot of my Grandma. She makes me feel like I’m at home. People will get the same experience like I have with Kim and what ES has with Sharon, you’re gonna feel at home, you’re gonna feel like you recognize someone that looks like you, at least.”

Opportunity for GCE’s Growth of Support for Diverse Students:

GCE could promote this sense of safety by hiring more teachers of color so that students could let their guard down. As ES and DC stated, they feel more welcomed and safe with just seeing someone that looks like them and shares the same mannerisms.

Threats of GCE’s Support for Diverse Students
Since GCE has been in the north side of Chicago for the past ten years, it isn’t accessible for people of color that live in the south and west sides of Chicago. GCE was presented with the opportunity last year to move downtown, where the school would be accessible to the other sides of the city. Once GCE opens its new doors downtown next school year, I am sure that they will recruit an abundance of qualified, diverse students because it will be more accessible. 

As a student in the GCE community, I believe that I can use my strengths to an advantage by making our community more inclusive of our diverse students.

According to the Myer’s-Brigg’s personality test, I am an ENFJ personality type, meaning that I encapsulate:

Extroversion: I am energized by socializing, solving problems through discussion, open and willing to share about my thoughts, and often described as friendly and approachable.

Intuition: I notice the big picture first, and then try to see how everything connects. I imagine the possibilities of how things could be, instead of focusing on the reality of how things are.

Feeling: I make decisions based on what my heart feels, more than what my brain thinks.

Judgement: I like to express my opinions, need to feel in control, and undertake one job at a time before moving onto another.

I also took the DiSC Personality Test. The test results stated that “You (I) have a strong self-motivation to get to know people in all walks of life and to nurture those relationships. You (I) have a natural enthusiasm for all types of ideas and projects- your own and other people’s. People are likely to describe you (me) as gregarious, persuasive, and optimistic. “

Overall, the results of my personality tests say that I am a natural leader, because I am outgoing, optimistic, and motivated. However, my weaknesses are that I depend on social interaction to keep my positive energy going. My feelings and emotions control me more than I control them. I become eager to please others, instead of focusing on my own goals and personal happiness.

As a South Chicagoan, Mexican, queer, low-income student at GCE, I find that I should make a safe space for POC. To promote and focus on Esteem and Love/Belonging, I can create socialization spaces for new students in my Gamer Club and for Hispanic Spanish-speaking students at lunch.

Last year, Gamer Club only had 2 people. I decided at my school’s camping trip orientation to especially welcome new students this year, as a rising senior. When talking to the new students during the first couple weeks of school, I noticed that they all liked something in common: gaming and memes. I decided to reboot Gamer Club this year, with crossed fingers that these new students would join. At the first meeting, all of the new students played Super Smash Bros together, creating the biggest club at GCE.

Gamer Club has become a bigger thing than just playing video games. It’s a place for people of color to act like their true selves, without the worry of being judged. There are people of different nationalities, sexualities , genders, and they are from all over the city. It is really cool seeing all of the new students bond with each other. We respect each other’s levels of gaming and praise each other’s wins and tough loses.

As part of this formed friend group through Gamer Club, I have noticed that we are still on the first layer of friendship, which is getting to know each other. Because our minds are not focused on getting to know one another but instead on current memes and jokes, I want to make a space in gaming club for everyone to get to know each other further than the first layer.

I will start each club meeting with a Rose and Thorn activity, providing a space for club members to talk about good, tough, or funny moments they have experienced currently. Other club members can start to be more conscious of their interaction with each other, while also getting to know each other. After a couple club meetings with this activity, it will become a routine to build a safer and belonging space. I will serve as a participant of the activity, a motivator for members to participate, and as a coach to cheer people on or empathize with what they say, and inspire people to be as accepting as I am. Hopefully, by the end of the year, everyone will feel closer to one another and keep doing the activity next year for Gamer Club.

AM, Gamer Club, (2019)

As a Mexican student, I have wanted to make a space for students to talk in Spanish so that they can practice their language and help others learn the language.

On Tuesdays, I will have a designated spot in the OC lunch room for Spanish speaking and Spanish-learning students to speak Spanish to one another. Spanish speaking students can teach Spanish-learning students how to speak the language, which also helps the teacher become more fluent. Just hearing the language instead of being in a traditional Spanish class teaches in a unique way. Hopefully, by the end of the year, students will become comfortable with their Spanish tongue and make friends with those who share a common language with each other. We can measure this by speaking a bit more Spanish every time we meet. My role in this plan is to create the space for this activity by presenting the idea at the school Soapbox. It is nerve-wracking to start a whole new idea in a space that hasn’t had this sort of get-together before, but I think I can handle it with practicing my proposal in English and Spanish.

In conclusion, this project was tough to make a start on, but once I started, it has been one of the most thought-provoking projects I have completed. I am super proud of the organization and connectivity of all of my points. I hope that my SMART goals will help the student body and me.

Citations

DC, Personal Interview, (2019)

“DiSC Profile - What Is DiSC®? The DiSC Personality Test and Profile Explained.” DiSCProfile.com, www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/overview/.

ES, Personal Interview, (2019)

"Free Personality Test, Type Descriptions, Relationship and Career Relationships" https://www.16personalities.com

KC, Personal Interview, (2019)

SB, Personal Interview, (2019)

Promoting Success with Access

The senior class took hold of the steering wheel for the second half of our Economics course. The focus of the course was on the book “Doughnut Economics” by Kate Raworth. In her book, she visits the idea of old economic theory and renovates it in a more modern way of thinking. My class of 14 students was divided into groups of two. Each group focused on a chapter in “Doughnut Economics” and had to teach a lesson based on the chapter. My friend JN and I’s chapter, “Create to Regenerate”, was about the difference between a circular economy and linear economy. JN and I wanted to make our lesson interactive (aka not showing a wordy slideshow) so we had the class participate in a simulation. The simulation went as planned, with some minor discrepancies. Once the class and the teacher reflected on what they learned from our simulation, JN and I felt very accomplished of our successful lesson! It was very cool to hear other student’s presentations and views on the other chapters of “Doughnut Economics”. After studying Raworth’s book, the senior class went downtown to WeWork to visit a company named Rheaply. Instead of creating new, why not create a community of companies willing to reduce the amount of garbage at landfills? Rheaply aims to create a circular economy with creating an accessible, sustainable market for companies to sell and buy old resources. Rheaply was started by a young, black man, which is really inspiring to see a person of color as the CEO of a company. I gained a lot of valuable knowledge from this Field Experience.
To wrap the end of this term, I have created a mock chapter for “Doughnut Economics”. In this project, I will introduce another way to think like a 21st century economist.

Promoting Success with Access

JMP, Promoting Success with Access, (2019)

As I conduct a tour throughout the halls of the Art Institute of Chicago with my black and brown friends, unwelcoming stares from white tourist families burn. Black security guards stand at their post with blank faces, ignored by visitors left and right. When I leave late from work, I see older hispanic women cleaning up after fancy events held for the rich. 7 in 10 senior executives in the Fortune 500 are white men. Seeing a person of color be a senior executive in a large company is unusual. This system is still around because it is harder for minorities, first generation, women, and low-income people to earn high education and have their voice heard. It is a major problem in our current world that people of color (POC) are not represented right in our economy. Imagine what the future COULD look like. If it wasn’t unusual to see a black woman as CEO of a company, younger black kids would look up to her and be inspired by simply seeing someone that looks like them in power. If the economy provided a space for Latino sellers in desert neighborhoods, neighbors would come out and create stronger community. This sort of global perspective benefits both parties through cultural capital. Cultural capital would give power to people of color in the market and become successful and rise up the social ladder without necessarily having financial capital. Every market should exist once the economic world is more accessible for minorities.

Raworth says in “Doughnut Economics”,“Economics is not a matter of discovering laws: it is essentially a question of design.” We must fight the status quo right now and bring more representation in businesses for younger generations of people of color. Markets are not the most accessible right now, but young POC are working on it. Personally, I am fighting my own battle in the market world. I am a Latina, first generation, low-income queer woman that has started a jewelry business this past summer. I sell clay earrings based off of Mexican sweet treats. Since there are no spaces in the Southeast side of Chicago to sell my art to my intended audience (Hispanic/Latinx people), I travel two hours to the northside of Chicago to sell my jewelry at pop up shops. Since majority of buyers in the northside are not familiar with Mexican culture, I often have to teach about my heritage while trying to sell items. Trying to validate and educate my culture to anglo people as a Mexican teen is tough, so I usually do not get very far. The result? Traveling back two hours to the Southeast side with a backpack still full of jewelry. The market is not accessible to me or Latinx buyers. We both don’t benefit from this situation. I don’t sell jewelry to Latinx people, and the Latinx people are not able to buy my art at a location by them. According to Fortune, seventy-three percent of the senior executives, men and women, are white. The rest are 21% Asian, 3% Latino/a, 2% black, 0.6% two or more races, 0.2% Native American and 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. Since this is the case, I was very surprised to see a black man as the CEO of the company we visited for our Field Experience. Gary Cooper, CEO of Rheaply, said ,“Starting a company is really really hard. Starting a company in tech, as a first time founder, is three more times as hard. Not a lot of founders are minorities, less than 1%. So there’s a lot of things that are hard to navigate. I think the hardest thing is taking the leap. To just say, hey, I believe in this, I think it could work.” I think Gary understands the struggle as much as I do, but we still both took the leap to start our business with great confidence. Once the market world is more accessible to minorities, people like Gary and I could thrive and sell more to our intended audiences, and benefit those who are looking for our services

Citations
Jones, Stacy. “Fortune 500: 7 in 10 Senior Executives Are White Men.” Fortune, Fortune, 10 June 2017, fortune.com/2017/06/09/white-men-senior-executives-fortune-500-companies-diversity-data/.

Raworth, Kate. Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think like a 21st-Century Economist. Random House Business Books, 2018.

Internetainers' Impact on the 21st Century

Our last chunk of our Journalism course taught us the impact of voice throughout the past ten centuries. I enjoyed identifying important voices of entertainers, musicians, speakers, presidents, and crooks. I was very surprised how voices can be quickly identified with just one second of their iconic tone or sound, such as Barack Obama or Donald Trump. I decided to produce a podcast based on who I believe are iconic voices of the 21st century- YouTubers Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal- and interviewed my peers about them. I have a deep connection with Rhett and Link. Since I became a fan of them in fifth grade, my humor and dialogue has been influenced by theirs. Since I watch their content everyday, their lingo has become part of mine. I watch them because they inspire me to be my best creative self and speak my valued voice. In 2017, I stood outside after their show in Chicago in negative degree weather to meet them. When they were leaving the theater, I was able to thank them for their impact on me and take a picture.

JMP, Tour of Mythicality, (2017)

 This year, I was able to earn a job at the Art Institute of Chicago and save up enough money for a meet and greet ticket to meet them indoors at their next tour stop.

JMP, The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek, (2019)

I have met a number of best friends due to a shared love for Rhett and Link. One of them is my friend KC, who lives in California. We have been friends for about six years. We met through a chat dedicated to talking about our favorite episodes that Rhett and Link release on YouTube. We consistently talk everyday and send care packages to each other for the holidays. This upcoming summer, we are planning to meet for the first time! I would not have become best friends with KC without stumbling upon Rhett and Link first.

Since I know a number of people in GCE enjoy their content also, I wanted to hear what the impact of Rhett and Link was on them. I interviewed two people from the senior class, the head of school, and my friend KC from California. I picked these people because we talk about Rhett and Link eagerly when something is new with them. I liked the format of asking the question, and hearing the diverse answers at once.

Live Your Life with Compassion

Photography has interested me since sophomore year because of my friends' knack at the art. I often like having photos taken of me and posting them on social media. In my Journalism class, I got to go on Field Experiences to practice being behind the camera to tell a story. I took photos of my classmates, the train station, and the garden. I had to explain the story behind the photos in front of my class.

This Action Project had me practice my photography skills on a person that answered the question "What is the meaning of life?" I picked my mother to interview because she is an optimistic and influencial person in my life.

Eli is a Mexican 52 year old woman that grew up in the South Chicago neighborhood. She raised her three children there- Destiny (29) Savannah (22) and myself (17). Both of her parents immigrated from Mexico to Chicago in the 1940s. Her father worked in the steel mills all of his life, while her mom cooked, cleaned, and sold Avon. When she isn’t at her front desk job at Harbor Point Estates, she enjoys bike riding, grilling her famous shish-kabobs, and cuddling with her two dogs and four cats when she gets home from work. Although she has been through some tough spots in her life, she has made sure to keep a positive attitude and keep pushing through.

At 9pm, I laid next to my mom on her bed with a pet dog  on each of our laps. I was sick with a fever but I had to push through and interview her for my project. When I explained the purpose of the interview at first, she doubted that she would be suitable to answer such a daunting question. I reassured her that she would do great and started recording.

“So, what is the meaning of life to you? What are your values?” She burst into hearty laughter and tears started rolling off her cheeks. I sat there in awe, confused by the certain burst of emotion from her.

“This is too deep. This is too deep, man.” She wiped the tears off of her face, struggled forming a straight face, then immediately burst into laughter again. “Live life happily, just by doing the things you enjoy on a daily basis. Live your life with compassion and have no regrets.” I wondered what that looked like, so I asked her how she practices her meaning of life.

“I wake up at about 5, pretty early. I take my spunky chihuahua out. Surprisingly, she wakes me up every morning to go outside and pee, even though she is very old. I make my coffee, Boston style. Lots of cream and sugar. I gotta make sure the weather channel is on while I am getting ready so I can listen in on what I should wear for the day. Seeing the weather ladies on the news inspires my outfits and jewelry. I gotta put on my war paint, aka my makeup. I don’t want people to realize how old I actually am.”

We laughed about her adoration for weather ladies and continued eating candy on her bed. “The meaning of life has changed so much for me since I was your age, Jessenia.” She closed her eyes and pet her chihuahua.

I pondered about her transition from being a teenager to now, so I asked, “How has the meaning of life changed for you since?" Eli pointed to multiple prayer picture cards of her deceased friends tucked on the side of her mirror. “When I was younger, I didn’t value anything. I had everything, and then I had great losses. Losing friends at a young age really hurt me. I started valuing life more once I realized I need to be grateful in the moment.” I got up from the bed and examined her prayer cards, each symbolizing a sad year in her life.

“What was the first impactful loss in your life?”, I asked.  Eli sadly smiled and grabbed her bible from her nightstand.

“My best friend from high school and my husband got shot on the same day, and they died a week apart. I think that impacted my life because of the coincidence. It was tragic. Just the experience of having to go to the hospital and then the trip to the morgue to identify the body. I can’t really relive everything. It feels like a blur and it hurts.”

Personally, I have never been through family loss, but I have accompanied Eli to her close family friend's funerals since I was smaller. I asked her if family loss is the same as friend loss. She hesitated and said, "A different part of your heart hurts when your parent dies than when your friend dies. Until you experience it, you won’t know how it feels."

We took a moment of silence as she flipped through her bible, full of highlighted quotes, scribbled notes in the margin, and saint prayer cards stuck in the binder. “I have been trying to get into the habit of reading verses from my bible before I leave the house. I pray to have a safe journey and not bump into people I don’t like. My mom always prayed, so I try to keep up with her tradition."


Here is a picture I took of Eli while she was waiting for the J14 bus on South Chicago Avenue and 83rd St the next day. It was very early in the morning because she was on her way to work. The aperture was high in this photo, which means that I let a lot of light through my lens. I wanted the bright colors to pop out, so that is why I used high aperture. I had high shutter speed when I took this, because the windy day was blowing her hair in all different directions. I hoped her hair would look like it was in place when taking the photo. The focus was on her face because she loves making animated facial expressions to show her spunk. The most colorful part of the photo is her face with different shades of red on her glasses and hair. She is wearing a pair of heart earrings that I gifted her for her birthday. I also practiced the “Rule of Thirds” while taking this picture. Her body is in the center of the photo, which is appealing to the eye. This photo encompasses her personality because she is very goofy, stylish, and fierce.

This photo is objective because I think others would agree with the adjectives I pulled out from her personality shown in the photo. Her meaning of life, living life happily and with compassion, is very bright in this picture.

Curating My Future Life Choices

Life beyond high school is exciting to plan for because I want to live the happiest life possible. I hope to study Anthropology/Sociology and Art History in my college career. 
Outside of the classroom, my internship at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) sparked my interest in the intersection of art and culture in non-anglo societies. My supervisor taught my co-workers and I the importance of accurate representation of indigenous communities in museums. Many indigenous artifacts at museums have been removed from their countries without permission, which leads to false descriptions and carelessly curated galleries. After research, I co-led a discussion panel with other AIC teens about how this affects visitors' impressions of indigenous art. We decided to advocate for change, which was difficult because the museum followed traditional practices that have never been examined by young people of color. We shared our frustrations and solutions for accurately representing indigenous culture to the curator of the African galleries at AIC, resulting in a recurated African gallery. This experience has inspired me to change how museums acquire art on a larger scale by becoming a museum curator as my future career, especially because minorities are underrepresented in the art world.
But the question is, what does that look like? So many big decisions have to be made, such as picking a college to attend, what major to pursue, what jobs to apply to during and after college, and ways of budgeting money. I learned how to make educated guesses and assumptions and use existing data to create a plan for my life after high school in my Economics class. My most favorite take away from this class was becoming comfortable with Google Sheets. I learned how to do calculations and organize data in Google Sheets. Practicing this skill will be beneficial to me in the future. 

JMP, Lifetime Earnings of a Museum Curator, (2019)

I calculated the lifetime earnings of a museum curator. A museum curator's salary ranges, depending on how much experience they have. I calculated how much I would make if I started working right when I graduate from college ,until retirement in 2063. Since I will earn more money with the more experience I gain, I have predicted that I will make around $2,030,839 in my lifetime. I interviewed Ayana Chavis, Program Coordinator of Youth and Family Programs at the Art Institute of Chicago, about her experience in Museum Education. She has been my supervisor at both internships I have been part of since junior year. 

1. What is your career? 

"My job encompasses planning, implementing and supporting our programs for family audiences which include everyday, seasonal and annual programming, such as our festivals and some offsite programming. I am also a manager of teen programs here in our division and department, where I mentor the teens in our internships here at the museum."

2. What college did you attend? Why did you decide to go to college? Why did you decide to attend your college?

"I decided to go to college, because really it was the only way I had ever been taught that I could sustain a life for myself as an independent woman. My mom was the person in my family that really pushed me to obtain a higher education and to always do well in school. In the fall of 2011, I attended Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), in Richmond, Virginia where I would graduate with a Bachelors of Science degree in Anthropology and African American Studies. I decided to go there, because I liked the environment of the school. Mostly I felt as if I could see myself there and indulge in the culture of the university and of the city. The school also had the major I was considering initially, which was journalism. I also liked that Richmond wasn’t too far from home, but I got to have a sense of newness by going to college out of state since I’m from North Carolina."

3. Was college a worthwhile time and money investment for you? Does your career right now make up for the investment during college?

"College was worthwhile of my time, because I felt that I experienced so many new things, learned so much about myself and how to critically think about the world, especially as a black person and woman living in the United States. I met so many new people and built amazing connections. I have to say that besides receiving a full scholarship during graduate school, the money I invested in my undergraduate degree at VCU was not worth the debt I would take on considering that the career I am currently in does not pay enough to maintain a comfortable standard of living in Chicago and allow me to pay my student loans without sacrifice. I like what I do, but I don’t think that a passion for something makes up for being underpaid. The field of education is highly undervalued in terms of the hard work that we do and how it is decided how much that is worth in terms of salary and wages."

4. What advice do you have for me on the value of my college education?

"The advice I would offer to you Jessenia, is to follow your heart and make good decisions in the moment. Always know that there are so many possibilities to the way you can achieve what you want. Know that while your education is important, it does not solely make up who you are or say everything about your worth as a person. Who you are is not about what you do, it is about the content of your character. And if you lead yourself into your college experience being sure about that, what you want and advocating for yourself first, you cannot go wrong."

After conducting my extended research about the pros and cons of Pitzer College and Amherst College, how long it would take to pay off college loans, and hearing from a museum professional’s experience, I have decided that I would like to attend Pitzer College. I think the openness of the community and colleges around it, combination of the majors I want, and warm weather area is worth the investment. I am excited to find out which school I get admitted to, which will slightly alter my predicted plan.

The Ripple Effect of ICE Raids

Each day, hour, second, a new story is happening on the spot. These stories need to be said and heard. Professional journalists report these stories on a number of news channels all over Chicago. For this first AP of Journalism, I had to write about a story going on in my neighborhood. I find it inspiring to be able to write about a story in depth for big papers. My Journalism class has made me excited to read more about the news going on not only in my neighborhood and in Chicago, but around the United States and beyond.

On September 23rd, 2019, the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained five employees of the East Side neighborhood’s pizzeria named Route 66. The restaurant sits on the corner of 10180 S. Indianapolis. People from neighborhoods such as Little Village and South Chicago travel to Route 66 for its hand tossed pizza, Italian beef, and grilled burgers. It is a staple dinner spot in the East Side neighborhood. A member of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos: United Worker’s Center was ordering food when ICE came in and requested the employees for citizenship papers.

Route 66 from Google Street View

Chicago is known for being a “sanctuary city”, meaning it is a city whose municipal laws tend to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation or prosecution, despite federal immigration law. The sudden appearance of ICE surprised everyone because they haven’t been seen in the city lately. Mayor Lightfoot supports immigrants living in Chicago by actively sharing what resident’s rights are on social media.

“I can’t control what ICE does. The federal government, unfortunately, is out of control right now because of the person we have in the White House. So, I cannot control what the federal government does. We have no control over ICE. Neither does the Chicago Police Department, or the mayor. She’s (Mayor Lightfoot) doing everything she can to make this a true sanctuary city. Unfortunately, they (ICE) don’t notify us when they’re coming.”

According to New Americans in Chicago, in 2016, 20.7% (557,904) of Chicago’s population of 2,789,520 were people who came here to live permanently and were born in a foreign country. Also, 39,130 immigrant entrepreneurs generated $659.2M in business income for the city of Chicago.

Elida Benavides, a five year-resident of the East Side neighborhood said, “This event makes me angry because I don’t think it’s fair. I mean, unless these people have committed a serious crime, then I think they should go after them. These people have been here for so long, they haven’t been instructed on how to safely stay here.”

Benavides’ feelings are echoed by Alderman Garza. “It’s already impacted the 10th Ward. We’re already seeing a ripple effect. Businesses are worried that they are going to be the next one. People have actually closed their shops and sent their workers home. They were afraid. People are afraid. We’re already dealing with a ripple effect.”

As a result, fewer East Side residents are outside. Kids aren’t playing outside as much as they used to. The residents are starting to become isolated and not trust strangers. The community is starting to fall apart.

When asked if she had spoken with ICE, Alderman Garza said, “I haven’t talked with ICE directly, but we’re working with the National Immigrant Injustice Committee. The mayor was quick to respond. She called me as soon as she heard about it. We hooked up the families with lawyers. We’re working with Centro de Trabajadores Unidos. We’re making sure everyone is covered and everybody has representation. “

What Happens in the Courtroom, Doesn't Stay in the Courtroom

Our last unit of "Policy" consisted of our research on the United States Supreme Court and what difficult decisions they have to make that sets precedent for the future of court cases. My class produced an abundance of research about the suspension of habeas corpus of imprisoned suspects of terrorists of 9/11 on Guantanamo Bay. I couldn't believe that this policy was allowed back then under Bush's rule. After compiling our research, the class practiced on producing consensus among an entire class court answering... "Given world events from 2001-2008, is the Bush administration's decision to suspend *habeas corpus* for detainees at Guantanamo constitutional?"

Practicing discussing with my class was a little difficult because we usually all disagree with each other. I heard some unique, out of the box ideas that I would have not thought of before. Although I believed that the decision was unconstitutional with five other students, we were convinced by the other half of the class that it was constitutional because of rules in the Constitution document and not our feelings. It took about an hour to decide unanimously that it was constitutional. Going through this procedure was mind-blowing because the Supreme Court does it all of the time. it must take an unimaginable amount of skill to listen and articulate other's thoughts.
For the Action Project, I focused on a court case called Grutter v. Bollinger that affects many juniors in high schools. I chose to research this court case because I am going to apply to college in a couple months. The admissions process is very tedious and taken seriously by families and students worldwide.

Rebuilding a Better Chicago

Since many of my summer programs as a tween were in downtown Chicago, I had to learn how to navigate the city by myself at an early age. Getting lost was my worst nightmare. Slowly after taking the time to explore the city on Google Maps on late summer nights, my love for the design of the city grew. I was able to share my good and bad experiences in the city in my last unit of my class "Urban Planning." It was interesting to go back in Chicago's history and learn about how the planned growth of the grid system came to be. I found it helpful to think of different solutions to the many problems that arise in Chicago, instead of spending time listing out the faults of the past. We focused on the Industrial Revolution and how it played a part in cities all across the world, redlining, eminent domain, and unique ideas on how to revolutionize the future of urban planning. Our last FE of the year consisted of taking a tour of the pedway system in downtown. I was amazed to discover that I can travel in the city by foot without needing to go outside. We took our research to the test by redesigning one area of a city with inspiration from cities and spaces around the world, the SDG targets, data of the area, and a TED talk speaker named Peter Calthorpe.

I chose to redesign a block in the South Chicago neighborhood because that is where I grew up. I often took the South Chicago (93rd) Metra train to go downtown as a kid. The space has always made me jittery while I waited for the train because it is very deserted and is not cared for by the city. Vacant lots surround the bustling station. The kids that live on the block do not spend time outside because the space is not very kid friendly. I think that every family should feel the comfort of being able to spend time around their block while having fun on their free time.

The area of the redesigned space is 404ft (Baltimore Ave to Brandon Ave) x 528ft (E 93rd St to E 92nd St) = 213,312 ft²

I replaced four of the vacant lots with new structures for the community and made the transportation there more eco-friendly.

JMP, Current Space, (2019)

JMP, Redesigned Space, (2019)

You can play in my newly designed block of South Chicago in Roblox by clicking here.

Vacant Lot 1 → Container City
I was heavily inspired by Project 24 in the city of Bangor for this design. They used old shipping containers and repurposed them into art spaces for the community that are open 24 hours everyday. There are not a lot of "third places", or places for families besides home and work/school in South Chicago. I have artsy friends in the neighborhood but we are discouraged that there isn't a clean place to do art freely outside. There are unused shipping containers in Vacant Lot 1, so I think Project 24's idea could be recreated there.

JMP, Container City, (2019)

JMP, Inside Art Container, (2019)

Project 24, Untitled, (2019) 

Vacant Lot 2 → Community Garden
Community gardens promote relationship building, cheaper food transportation costs, and reduces water runoff. Philadelphia has about 470 community gardens all over the city. They have specfifc permits allowing urban farmers to own lands for food for the community. That inspired me to create one in a community that need it a lot. There is usually flooding of water in Vacant Lot 2, so I believe that the water could be used for a good cause. According to Chuy Silva, resident of South Chicago, he sees a lot of hungry homeless people hanging around local grocery stores begging for food. He believes that a community garden can help assist those homeless people so they can have food to eat.

JMP, Community Garden, (2019)

Vacant Lot 3 → Coffee Shop
This block does not have any shops to buy food or drink. Commuters have to go out of their way to get breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It would be easier for Metra riders to fill their stomachs before going to school or work if there was a shop around. A coffee shop will benefit residents on the block and hungry pedestrians.

Volume of Coffee Shop building: Rectangular pyramid: 1/3 ft x 30 ft(L) x 50ft (H) x 25ft (W)= 12,500ft^3

JMP, Coffee Shop, (2019)

Vacant Lot 4 → Playground
A new playground achieves SDG 11.7 by providing accessible access of a "third place" (a place besides home and school) to children in South Chicago.

There is one playground in Bessemer Park for the 7,446 kids living in South Chicago. In comparison, Lincoln Park, a very wealthy neighborhood, has seven playgrounds for only 2,304 children. I want to add another playground in this area of South Chicago because the ratios between these neighborhoods are off. It is not fair for children to not have reachable playgrounds to have fun at after school in South Chicago, while there is an outrageous amount in rich neighborhoods for so little amount of kids.

JMP, Playground, (2019)

South Chicago (93rd St) Metra Train → Solar Panels
The Metra train releases a lot of pollution in the air. This can affect the residents of this block with different diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Solar panels can reduce the energy use at the station in an eco-friendly manner.

This new addition reaches SDG 11.6 by "reducing the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities". It keeps a lower risk of disease for minorities living in the area. Solar panels use free energy from the sun to use less money for resources that will run out one day. The air quality would be healthier and cleaner.

JMP, Solar Panels, (2019)

Water Fountain
Kids get thirsty after playing in the playground or working hard on art in Container City. Free water should be accessible for these kids so they can continue having fun with comfort and health.

Volume of cone: 1/3ft x 𝛑 x 1ft ² x 2 ft= 2.09 ft ^3

JMP, Water Fountain, (2019)

Peter Calthorpe's principles for building better cities helped set a goal for my design.

1) Mix: Create mixed-use and mixed-income neighborhoods
The newly designed place has gardeners, children, artists, and commuters conjoining together in one place. The mixed-land use by different people is important for new connections to form and create together.

2) Walk: Design human scale neighborhoods
All of the new attributes in this area are designed for pedestrians and are walkable from one point to another. They are all easy to access by walking along the outside of the buildings. It is enjoyable to walk around in a bustling area with more activities to do than a desolate, vacant place.

3) Focus: Match density and mix to transit capacity
Since there is a lot of people waiting until the Metra gets there, I implemented many activities to do around the station so they would not get bored. It may bring travelers back to spend time in the neighborhood on their own and meet the residents that live around there.

Overall, this has been my most favorite project in Urban Planning. I felt like I can actually make a change in my former neighborhood. I had problems with creating a 3D model of the redesigned place. First, I tried making it by hand with cardboard and glue, but it took a long time for the first step. I decided to switch to Roblox to make the 3D design, which turned out amazing. I also has problems with finding the right area to redesign, but I had conversations with my family about what they thought was vacant in the neighborhood and ideas of improvements.

Citations

“Age and Sex in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois (Neighborhood).” The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas, statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Illinois/Chicago/Lincoln-Park/Age-and-Sex.

“School Enrollment in South Chicago, Chicago, Illinois (Neighborhood).” The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas, statisticalatlas.com/neighborhood/Illinois/Chicago/South-Chicago/School-Enrollment.

“What Is Project 24?” Project 24 NI | Transforming a Derelict Location, project24ni.com/about/.

Just for the Innocent

We studied the executive branch of government in this unit of Policy. Our class time revolved around the different powers that the President and cabinet members have in government. I went on my own Field Experience to see the mayoral inauguration of Lori Lightfoot, Chicago's first black, female, and openly gay mayor. She is the head of Chicago's smaller scale of an executive branch. All of the new and old aldermen were there to be inaugurated also. I found it energizing to see all of those people in power in the same room and seeing a compassionate group of Chicago residents. I hope to make it to a President's oath of office in my future one day. I think that the mayor has a lot of work to do for the city, but I can't imagine the amount of power the president has over the United States. I find that the power to declare war is a big responsibility. Many wars have been declared in the United States' past. Some wars that we consider to be "real" were not declared by Congress, so the government cannot say those wars were legally entered. The war I decided to study for my Action Project is World War II. I chose this war because I have read non-fiction books of people's perspectives on the Holocaust recently, such as Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli. I had fun researching the history of the war and how it affected the world as a whole, and if it was legal or illegal from the United States' perspective.

Joseph Fornelli, Mission Extraction, Unknown Date

In conclusion, I learned a lot from the process of this Action project. I need to work on being efficient on writing papers and researching. I taught myself how to cite correctly, which is a new and impressive accomplishment. I hope to take the lessons I had from this AP and implement my new research skills on other papers.

Works Cited

Danforth, Bruce. “Why Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor.” Pearl Harbor. Website. https://pearlharbor.org/why-japan-attacked-pearl-harbor/ . Accessed 19 May 2019.

Fornelli, Joseph. "Mission Extraction." National Veterans Art Museum, Chicago. Ink on paper. Accessed 22 May 2019.

Recchiuti, John Louis. “FDR and World War II.” Khan Academy. Website. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/rise-to-world-power/us-wwii/a/fdr-and-world-war-ii . Accessed 19 May 2019.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. “Message to Congress.” 1941. PDF. https://fdrlibrary.org/documents/356632/390886/readingcopy.pdf/42234a77-8127-4015-95af-bcf831db311d . Accessed 19 May 2019.

Roosevelt, Franklin D. “Proposed Message to the Congress.” 7 December 1941. PDF File. http://docs.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/images/decwarp1.jpg . Accessed 18 May 2019.

Royde-Smith, John Graham.“World War II.” 23 Aug 1998. Britannica. Website. https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II . Accessed 18 May 2019.
United States Constitution. Article I, Section 8, Clause 11. Accessed 20 May 2019.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “Franklin Delano Roosevelt”. Holocaust Encyclopedia. Website. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/franklin-delano-roosevelt . Accessed 19 May 2019.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “War Refugee Board: Background and Establishment”. Holocaust Encyclopedia. Website. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/war-refugee-board-background-and-establishment Accessed 19 May 2019.

Save Our Energy, Save our Planet

 The Power class made me realize that I take electricity for granted. Electricity is one of the most important utilities we use in the city. It connects us to the internet, lights our streets up at night, and powers appliances that make chores easier. Without Tesla and Edison's inventions of AC and DC electricity, we would be stuck in darkness. I learned how to draw a complete circuit diagram with all of the components. The math in this unit interested me because it felt connected to how real electricians understand the amount of voltage, current, and resistance runs through a circuit. For our Field Experience of the unit, the class and I took a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry, one of the last standing buildings of the World's Fair held here in Chicago. We didn't have a chance to visit the Wooden Island, a calm and peaceful area that Frederick Olmsted advocated for. It is one of my favorite places in Chicago to relax and find peace at in the summer. I was partnered with my classmate PKA to create an energy efficient circuit that is more eco-friendly than our houses in Chicago. It was difficult to create the circuit, but we took our time to create a simple, yet effective one. It was interesting to do the calculations of the voltage, resistance, and current of our circuit because it made our work affirmative. If I had a bigger circuit board, I would like to create a larger circuit with more parallel paths. 

Fair Hours and Fair Pay

In my first unit of "Policy", my class and I have had conversations about policy in history and how it affects the present. We visited newly elected alderman of the 4oth Ward, Andre Vasquez, to talk about his plans for his new role in office. I found it reassuring to hear that he wanted to become alderman because he wants to advocate for his neighbors and their needs to live happy. Since there is a newly elected mayor and many new alderman joining city council, I wonder what Chicago policies will be updated under their rule.

For this Action Project, I am writing to my alderman, Susan Sadlowski Garza, about supporting the Fair WorkWeek ordinance. The Fair WorkWeek ordinance is to give service workers flexible schedules so it works with their day to day life. I am very passionate about equal rights for workers, so I hope takes my letter into consideration. 

Popsicle Sticks and Glue May Break Ya Bones

We started off our first unit of "Urban Planning" with learning about different kinds of bridges and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I spent a lot of time researching bridges around the city. This class has made me more aware of the structures and bridges I pass by when I am on my way home from school. For the first Action Project, my partner, RP, and I had to create a truss bridge that can support a minimum of ten pounds. From my research, I learned that triangles are the strongest supporting shape in structure, so I wanted to incorporate many triangles into the design. RP and I decided to build a tall, skinny bridge because we wanted to have a challenge. At first we spent a lot of time researching examples of other truss bridges, but our teacher insisted for us to start building as soon as possible because of the tight timeframe we had.

Bridge Hunter, Untitled, (2019)

We were heavily inspired by the Chicago Skyway Bridge. The designers of that bridge used many triangles along the mile long structure, so we wanted to use their design in a miniature way.

It was easy to create the sides of our bridge, but we got frustrated on how to connect the two sides together.  We used books to keep the bridge glued in place without having to be held up by us. The two sides were connected with 10 popsicle sticks cut in half, to equal 20 mini sticks.

Our bridge supports the Sustainable Development Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. Every stick used in the bridge has a purpose in order to make the bridge strong enough for safety. We planned for hours to make the bridge what we envisoned in our minds. The bridge held double the minimum amount of weight, so there is confidence it can hold the ten pounds it is supposed to hold.

Hiu To, Untitled, (2019)

We ended up with a symmetrical design with 18 tiny triangles on each side of the bridge.We had low confidence that our bridge would be able to hold the minimum weight of 10 pounds because the bottom had begun to start falling apart from tests. We am very excited to share that our truss bridge ended up to hold 20 pounds! It broke after 25 pounds. 

Hiu To, Untitled, (2019)

Hiu To, Untitled, (2019)