My Favorite Song :)

For the elective term in my senior year I’m taking a class called Radio-Rithmetic. In this class I’m learning about the relationship between math, science, and music. The first unit focused on rhythm. During this first unit we learned about how music is formed, how it keeps its time, how the beats are notated, and learning about how the Fibonacci Series and Golden Ratio can figure out patterns in music. For the action project the class was assigned to each pick a song and analyze it. I hope you enjoy watching below!

 

Future Portfolio

In the second unit of the Econ class, which is called Wealth and Wages, the class learned about economic systems and studied how wealth is distributed through markets and governments. For the action project, we were assigned to create a personal investment portfolio. The purpose is to see how we take a certain amount of money, and invest it in stocks while seeing how that stock is doing. We were also asked to add SMART goals to layout what our incentive is to invest. It was interesting making this portfolio. I had a hard time understanding this whole stock process in the beginning, but with more research, I was starting to understand. I’m proud at how I took the time to do good and accurate research, in order to get a good portfolio. I hope you enjoy looking at my portfolio!

There was a certain scenario that we had to work with in this project. We had a college plan that was created 18 years ago by our guardian angel, with $18,000. Each month, $50 was added to the plan ($600 yearly). After 18 years at an average annual interest rate of 7%, compounded annually, the plan is now worth $49128.87. Yesterday, you cashed out your plan and deposited the money in a brokerage account to invest on your own.

In order to see if a stock is worth buying, I’ll look at the value. I want to see what’s low, and then sell it higher. I chose to have a longer time horizon because of my SMART goals. It’s going to take awhile before I can achieve them, but I’m totally up for it. I took a quiz online with the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, and I scored a 25, which means I have a average/moderate tolerance risk. Below, I have my goals listed for 1 year, 5 years, and 25 years.

1-year goal: Save about $15,000 to travel for one full summer.
5-year goal: Put a down payment of $10,000 for an Audi.
25 year goal- Buy a home in Lincoln Park: $350,000

I value companies that are family owned because there is a personal touch added to that company. It’s also easier to control that company and figure out the outcomes for that business. Another reason why I value them, is because those kind of companies value and understand the lifestyle of a larger family better, so they’ll do their best to meet their needs.

Company 1- Walmart.
I decided to invest in Walmart because other companies and retailers have tried to go head to head with Walmart, but have not been able to compete with their low prices. Their buying power has made their economic moat wide and sustainable. I also appreciate their mission which is, “Saving people money so they can live better”. It’s an international business, and it’s expected that Walmart will keep on making acquisitions internationally as time goes on to boost growth in the global market. They have a healthy payout ratio of 42.89%, which means that it has the potential to keep or increase its dividends.

Company 2- Walt Disney.
I decided to invest in Disney because it has an excellent growth rate. It gets that rate from its movie studio, business segment, consumer merchandise and theme parks. It’s also a top 10 stock. While doing my research, I discovered that it has a 10 year dividend growth rate of 23%. It also has a reasonable p/e ratio of 18.

Company 3-TJX.
The company TJX owns stores like TJ MAXX, Marshalls, and Homegoods. This company takes in name brand products that didn’t sell, and put them at a lower price in their department stores. Their highest earning revenue comes from their housing products because of the housing market recovery. It’s profit growth is expected to be 10%, while other department stores have only a single digit number when it comes to their growth.

1 year portfolio
I invested $15,000 in my one year goal.
30 shares of Wal-Mart at $70.11($2,103.30)(28% profile)
60 shares of TJX at $73.66($4,419.60)(72% profile) WMT and TJX together, has an expected ROI of 24.92%

5 year portfolioI invested $10,000 in my 5 year portfolio 

50 shares of Disney at $93.71 ($4,685.50) (30%)
22 shares of Wal-Mart at $70.11 ($1,542.42)(70%) DIS and WMT together, has an expected ROI of 389.27%

25 year portfolio
I invested $350,000 for my 25 year goal.

70 shares of TJX at $73.66($5,156.20) (60%)
50 shares of Disney at $93.71($4,685.50) (40%) TJX and DS together, has an expected ROI of 11681%.

I made three different investments, and 2 of them are in the same stock sector. Wal-mart and TJX is listed under consumer goods, and Disney is put under Entertainment. While deciding, I wanted to have at least one different stock in a different sector, which is one of the reasons why I chose Disney. Based on the math I did, I'm going to be able to reach my goals.

Citations:

Weil, Dan. "Best Investments: Good Investments In 2016 And Beyond | Bankrate.com." Best Investments: Good Investments In 2016 And Beyond | Bankrate.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

BasuMallick, Chiradeep. "5 Reasons Why Disney Is a Must-Have Stock."TheStreet. N.p., 02 Sept. 2016. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

Rossolillo, Nicholas. "Is Wal-Mart a Good Dividend Investment?" The Motley Fool. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

Listen to Dr. Seuss!

In the 2nd unit of the Journalism class, which is called Sound, the class studied the idea of how radio can let you hear the world. It was fun being able to listen to old radio reports, as well as new ones. The Fe's were also super interesting in this class. We were actually able to go to the media department at Columbia college For the action project, the class was assigned to create a podcast about a voice that we think made a influence in the 20th century. I had many people in mind, but at the end I chose Dr. Seuss. As a child, I remembered all his most of his books in my messy bookshelf. Even now, I still admire his work. I have a very special connection with one of his books, so I was very excited to put this together. I also really enjoyed interviewing people who also have a special connection with his work. I already knew some things about him, but as I was doing research I learned a lot more about him. Many things go unnoticed about him, and I think more people should be educated on the world's best children's author. He's a super cool guy! I hope you enjoy my podcast below.

WHEN	WHO/HOW	WHAT
0:00-0:34 0:34-0:46 0:48-1:12 1:13:1:39 1:40:2:10 2:11-2:18 2:18-2:35 2:35-2:52 2:53:311 3:11-3:25	[RD]     [Dr. Seuss] Music fades in   [Kid Voice]        [RD] Music Fades in again.  [Kid voice] [RD and kid] [RD and MF] [RD] [Adult speaker]   [RD] THE END	Hi, I’m RD from GCE Lab school. Today I’m going to talk about a voice that made a huge difference in people’s lives. His name is Dr.Seuss. He’s the best selling children's author of all time and revolutionized the way kids learned how to read with one simple concept, he made it fun. Many may think that his books just consist of silly rhymes and pictures, but there is so much more than that. His stories focus on obstacles and situations that we come upon as we go through life. They also hold many lessons that we can apply in our lives. I, Ted Geisel, and perhaps better known to the juvenile reading public as Dr. Seuss. My current best-seller, The Cat In The Hat, has sold so far, over a quarter of a million copies. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right. Feet in the morning, feet at night. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right. Wet foot, dry foot, high foot, low foot.Front feet, back feet, red feet, black feet. Left foot, righty foot. Reading is a huge part of everyone’s life, especially when you’re in first grade first learning how. I remember 6 year old me sitting in the classroom library looking for a cool book to read, and I’ll admit I was judging a book by its cover. My eyes finally came across The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss. For some reason the weird creature on the cover caught my attention, and when I opened it, so did the little amount of text. Feet, feet, feet, how many feet you meet.Slow feet, quick feet, trick feet, sick feet.Up feet, down feet.Here comes clown feet.Small feet, big feet.Here comes pig feet.His feet, her feet, fuzzy fur feet. So, what did this book teach you?It taught me that people are really different and that even our feet are different but that's okay. I’m going to talk to one of my friends who’s also into Dr. Seuss books. So what’s your connection with Dr. Seuss? The first book I ever read when I was little was The Cat In The Hat. This book was the first one I was actually able to read all the way through with no help. Because of that, this book will always hold a special place in my heart. Many think that Dr. Seuss’s work is just for children, but it’s not. Like I said before, his books hold hidden meanings and teach lessons. One example is his book, Who are you Sue Snue? I’m going to talk to an adult who has a connection with this book. In this book, Dr. Seuss covers a topic that many young people and adults go through. That topic is about finding yourself. The book focuses on a young girl who is pushed to find who she is and what she’s going to do with her life. I for sure have been gone through this, and I think I still am honestly. So, If you ever need advice, need a good laugh, or just want to take a trip down memory lane, make sure to pick up a Dr. Seuss book. Thanks for listening!

My Summer Trip

This summer I traveled to Matagalpa, Nicaragua. It’s a small town located about 3 hours away from Managua, the country’s capital. I was able to travel there because of an organization called Global Glimpse. This organization gave me chance to explore another country, culture, and helped me learn more about myself for 3 and a half weeks.

Flags. 2016

There were 20 of us who were participating in this amazing program. I only knew 2 of them because they go to GCE, so it was pretty nice seeing familiar faces, but at the same time I challenged myself to reach out to make new friendships. I’m not going to lie and say it was easy, because being in a unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people can be kind of scary, but that’s where I had to step up and get out of my comfort zone. I’m so glad I did too because I made so many connections.

Managua Airport. 2016

While we were in this beautiful country, we were able to explore the bustling streets of Matagalpa, visit a monkey hut resort, and visit a chocolate factory. All those things sound fun, but one important point about this trip is that it’s not a vacation.

Apart from those things, we worked and lived like a local for a day, which involved a day of waking up at 5 am and showering with cold water everyday. We had a day dedicated to the history of Nicaragua, so we had a guest speaker who really touched the hearts of many of us. There was a day dedicated to education, and each person shadowed a student in high school. It was really fun and interesting making new friends, as well as seeing how different school is in a different country. We also had the chance to become tutors by teaching some English to people from the town. I had the duty of teaching kids, so it was really fun, but also stressful.

History Day. 2016

One day that I won’t ever forget is poverty day. That day we traveled to the city dump, where we learned and saw that people actually go there to find resources. It was very heartbreaking to see the conditions of this place where so many children and people spend their time at. My group was also assigned a community action project. We were assigned to help build a wall, a door, a ceiling, and a mural for a organization called Infancia Sin Fronteras. I helped with the building of the wall. The wall was put into place because there was nothing separating the classroom from the doctor office in the facility, which meant that it was really easy for a disease to pass. The ceiling was built to prevent the heat from bothering the young children who were sitting in the classroom. The door was put into place to prevent break ins. Finally the mural was installed to give the building a splash of color, and to also bring something positive to the community.

I won’t ever forget this amazing trip. Even the little things, like late night card games, late night convos and reading nights with the ladies of room 9. Every little thing made this trip unforgettable. I encourage others to take opportunities like this. I promise you won’t regret it!

What Is The Meaning Of Life?

In the first humanities class of my senior year, Journalism, we are learning how to analyze,observe, and report through media. Those forms of media include, image, sound, and text. In the first unit of this course, which is called Image, the class studied photojournalism and saw how it can help us see the world. For the first action project, the class was assigned to interview a person, and ask them what the meaning of life is. Along with the interview, we were also asked to take a picture of our interviewee. Throughout the course, we learned that pictures have the power to capture so many important things. I have always been interested with photojournalism, so it was really nice having a unit focusing on just that. I was really excited to conduct my interview because the person who I interviewed is full of wisdom. I hope you enjoy reading below!

When you ask someone what the meaning of life is they,without a doubt, have to ponder about it. I know I do, and to be honest, I still don’t have an answer for it. I decided to interview someone who did have an answer though. I conducted my interview on Wednesday night. A cold night filled with rain, so when I saw her smile, it warmed me up. Suzy, who’s been a close family friend for 3 years now, was sitting in my dining room joyfully waiting for the questions I was going to ask. She’s older, and she’s always giving me so much good advice, so I really wanted to hear her story on this question. She constantly feeds me words of wisdom, so I was excited to hear what she had next.

Once I entered my dining room, she was sitting there with her usual smile, a smile that always makes me go in for a hug. Once I explained what kind of questions I was going to be asking, her facial expression automatically let me assume that she too, needed some time to think about it. I sat there, wondering what she was wondering about. Finally, I asked the question. What is the meaning of life?

She was very fast in answering because I already had given her time to think about it. “Life is a gift.” I thought her response was really interesting. She went on to talk about how she sees God as the owner of life, and because of that, she consults him with everything she wants to do with her life. “That’s what I feel about life”.

Has life always meant the same for you? That was my follow up question. She brought up her childhood this time. “Well since a child, life has been of importance to me.” I wanted to hear more about that, so I asked her to elaborate. She talked about how her mother was the one who inculcated her to go the right way. “ I could see the wisdom going in the right path that could lead me to not get in trouble with the law or with family and friends, so I always kept up with the way she taught me to do things, and to be good to other people.”

Next was my favorite question. Is there a story that explains your meaning of life? She was silent for a moment, and again, I was curious. This question also took her back to her childhood. She explained how many years ago, her mother met a woman who showed her how she could get a true meaning of life. The woman also gave some advice to her mother about family, because there were some problems going on within theirs. Suzy told me that this woman shared her meaning of life with them, and it appealed to them so much that they decided to follow it. “It stayed with us until now, which is has been 60 years.”

I thought it was crazy that she stuck with some advice that was given to her 60 years ago. I think about all the times I’ve been given advice, and how I sometimes shrug it off. I give her credit for sticking with it. That’s one thing that I learned that day. You never know if one piece of advice can change your life.

I also wanted to know if there was a certain object, book, person, picture, or anything of value to her, that represents her meaning of life. “Well, I would say I have a favorite book, and that book is the Bible”. Suzy talked to me about how it has divine principles, and how the Bible has guided her throughout her life. “It’s not an object, or a person, but the principles in this book by God.”

I already knew Suzy was a religious person before this interview, but after this, I saw that it was basically her whole life. She values it so much, that she doesn’t even see her life as her own, but Gods. She’s aware that many people have different opinions, and she respects that. That’s one of her many qualities that I admire.

I finally ended the interview, and asked if I could get a picture of her. Of course she quickly went to fix her short hair and adjusted her glasses, something I found to be so cute.

RD. Suzy. 2016

I think it’s a very simple picture, but I love it. I wanted to make sure she was smiling because that’s what she’s always doing. I decided to snap this picture right after the interview in the exact same place where I conducted it. I wanted it to seem as natural as possible because what’s the point of taking a picture of someone if it’s not capturing their true selves.

Nurse or Social Worker?

The first STEAM course in my senior year is called Economics. In this class we discussed opportunity cost, learned how to calculate interest, and learned how to work with matrices. We also looked at supply and demand, and saw how that works on a graph. The FE for this unit was really interesting. We went to the Federal Reserve Bank to talk about what they do there, and what they do for the economy. For the first action project, the class was assigned to choose a career we could see ourselves getting into, and figure out the cost of our college tuition, salary, and how long it would take us to pay off students loans. For my project, I did research on two careers that I have though about going into. As you read my essay and look at my graphs, you'll figure out which occupation I end up choosing. I hope you enjoy reading!

To continue my education next year, I can go either go to Illinois State University for nursing, or I can attend University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign for social work. Nurses have the duty of taking and planning medical care for mentally or physically ill patients. Social workers have the role of helping people get through and cope with problems they go through everyday. Nurses can work in hospitals, clinics, and even homes. Social workers can also be found in hospitals, as well as in schools, mental health clinics, and child welfare and human services agencies.

Something that these two career paths have in common is that they involve helping other people, and making sure others are feeling their best,which is why I chose them. My aunt is a nurse, and I love hearing her heart warming stories, as well as her scary ones. Social work interests me because I think something needs to be done about how mentally ill patients are treated, and it would be cool to be apart of that change. To be a nurse, I must go to college for 4 years to get my bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) degree. In order to become a social worker, I have to go to college for 4 years and get a bachelors degree in social work (BSW).

Pursuing my education also means spending some more money. In 2015-2016 the cost of tuition at Illinois State was $13,664. The cost for 2016-2017 comes out to be $14,062. That means the tuition percent increase comes out to 3%. At the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, tuition for 2015-2016 was $12,036. For 2016-2017, it comes out to be $15,698. The tuition percent increase comes to 30%. If I were to go to ISU for 4 years, my cost would be $60,464.98. For the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, the total for 4 years would come out to be $127,430.67.

(Nursing)

(Social Work)

If I choose to go to nursing school, it would take me 9 years to pay my student loans, and the true cost of college would be $75,574,11. The amount of interest I would pay would be $15,109.13. The true cost of college for social work comes out to be $188,561.58. The interest I would pay is $61,130.91. If I choose to go to school for social work, it would take me 17 years to pay off student loans.

The minimum salary for nursing is $44,70, the median is $83,291, and the maximum is $104,276. For a social worker, the minimum is $46,836, the median is $52,945, and the max comes out to $59,340. For nursing I would make $3,888,269 by the time I retire. If I were to become a social worker, I would make $2,458,152. Going to school to become a social worker cost more, yet I would be making less. In the United States there are 3,129,452 registered nurses (RN). The total amount of social workers in the U.S comes out to be 650,000. Nursing and social work both are expected to grow 19%, and are considered to be one of the most fastest growing careers.

(Salary for Nursing)

(Salary for Social Work)

People will always be getting sick, and there will always be problems that are taking over people’s lives, so the demand for both occupations would be set high. Below I have a supply and demand chart for both occupations.

Supply and demand chart (Nursing)

Supply and Demand chart (Social Work)

At the end, I realized that it would be best for me to go to school for nursing. Like I stated before, tuition would cost me less, and I would be making more money at the end, whereas going to school for social work, would cost me more, and I’d be making less. It would also take me more time to pay off my student loans if I were to choose social work. So my incentive would be the amount of money I would be making for nursing. I talked to my mom about all this because I wanted to hear about her college experience, as well as some advice. She talked about how it was hard, and how she did pull many all nighters, but at the end it’s totally worth it, because now she actually enjoys going to work because she loves what she’s doing. I really liked what she said, because although I know it’s going to be hard, I know it’ll be worth it when I’m at work and I’m actually enjoying what I’m doing.

I made 3 assumptions about my decision to go to nursing school:

• I’ll be a productive member of my community
• It’ll be easy to find a job, because I’ll have a BSN.
• I’ll find a job in the hospital that I want to work in.

Citations:
"Total Number of Professionally Active Nurses." The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. N.p., Apr. 2016. Web. 26 Sept. 2016.

"Social Work Profession." Social Work Profession. National Association of Social Workers, n.d. Web. Sept. 2016.

"Tuition." , Illinois Admissions. University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016

"Tuition Rates." Home. Illinois State University, n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2016.

We need green

In the 3rd unit of Urban Planning, which is called Flow, the class was able to learn about the history of cities. Where did they come from? How have they evolved? Where are they going? What makes a city a “good” one or “bad” one? The purpose of learning about those topics is so they can help us when we have to redesign our own perfect block for the action project. I had a hard time when it came to picking a spot to redesign. I was first thinking about other cities in the world, but then I stopped and realized that my own block needs some improvement. I’m proud of how I took the time to look at the flaws my block has. I even discovered some new ones along the way.


The area I decided to focus on is the intersection of Montrose and Lockwood ave. I live in this area, so I consider it to be mainly residential. It’s surrounded by tall apartment buildings and trees which block the sun. There’s only one business there, which is a haircut shop. The problem with my block is that a lot of children cross there when they get back from school, yet there isn’t a crossing guard, or a stop sign for cars or a light. Lockwood street, which is a smaller one, is very narrow, which causes a lot of cars to lose their mirrors. I also would want to see more green and color to that block because it looks very sad. There also aren’t any bike lanes, so people who ride, ride very close to parked cars, which is very dangerous.


The shape of the area that needs to be redesigned is a rectangle. When it came to trying to find the area I had to find the length and width of the block. I got 483 and 42. When multiplied I got 20286 square feet. I have a picture below of the space that I want to redesign.

To be more specific about the changes I want to make, I’ll explain them more. There is only one business on my block and I want that to change. It’s a small hair salon that has apartment buildings above it. I would take those apartments out and expand it to other businesses. I would want to add circular benches outside of that business building. I would also add a green roof to that building. We need some color as well as having something environmentally friendly because all that surrounds it is car pollution. I also added a small little pond in between the green roof business building and the small garden. I want to add a bench where the bus stop is. A lot of people wait for the Montrose bus in the morning, so I think it would be convenient for those passengers. I really want to push this block being as environmentally friendly as it can be, so I’m adding a garden, along with many trees. The biggest concern I have is safety. Montrose is a very busy street and it’s very close to a elementary school. The problem is that it does not have any stop signs or light. I would for sure add a stop sign to better control this busy street as well as making the kids feel safer. I added a blueprint below.

RD. Blueprint. 2016

My design was inspired by a city in Oregon called Eugene. It’s naturally surrounded by green scenery and that’s what I envision with my redesign. I want to not only add the beauty of natural greenery, but I also want to bring on the environmental benefits to my community. It doesn’t have much, and I think it deserves some environmental love.


My design incorporates THIS. THIS stands for transportation, housing, infrastructure and services. For the transportation part, I still kept the main huge street Montrose because many people use it. I also still decided to keep my block residential because I live there. Infrastructure would consist of me building in some more roads, and water and electricity pumps, which would also tie into services.


I decided to add some cylinder benches/chairs so people can rest after doing some walking around and shopping. In order to find the volume of those cylinders, I had to apply the formula which is, pi x r^2 h. The volume of the cylinders came out to be pi x 22^2 x 54=67858.4mm cubed. I also added a small little pond in between the green roof business building and the small garden. The shape is a sphere and in order to find the volume of that, I had to use the formula, 4/3 pi r ^2. My calculation looked like this: 4/3 pi 20^2, which came out to be 33510.32 meters cubed.




Citations:
Chief. "Top 10 Green U.S. Cities." MNN. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 May 2016.