Reflection:
Paragraph 1: Project Description
Describe the project itself and the direction you personally took it. Which essential question(s) was your project seeking to answer? What was the inspiration behind the direction you took and the perspective you developed?
We started the Your Life on Earth project by studying different philosophies. We learned about existentialism, transcendentalism, religion, and some other philosophies. Almost none of the philosophies that we examined spoke to me. This made me focus on a question not involving the philosophies on which we focused. The main question I worked with was “What makes my life happy and meaningful?” Almost immediately, I thought of family. I am very close to my family, and a lot of what I do involves them. Almost every year we visit family around the country, so I am pretty close with even my extended family. Even in the early stages of learning about philosophies, I recognized that my family is incredibly important to me. With my grandfather’s passing this year, the idea of family was reinforced. His death also made me want to make a project to honor him.
Paragraph 2: New Insights
Please explain what new insights you developed over the course of this project either about yourself, life, the human place in the world/universe? How has your thinking been influenced by our study of philosophy and ethics? You should reference specific texts or ideas from one or more of the sources to illustrate your insights. Answer this question in NO LESS than 10 sentences. Please be specific, proofread carefully, and think about what you are going to say!
Over the course of this project, I learned that some people focus on the idea that humans are insignificant specks and that life doesn’t matter. I learned that some people believe trees and nature are essential for happiness. Others believe in science or nothing. The main insight I developed was that my convictions don’t completely fit with most philosophies. I think spending time outside in nature can make a person feel happy, but I don’t take it to the level of transcendentalism in Walden. I agree with the Stanford research article that stress and struggle usually bring meaning. However, I disagree that you need to chose between happiness and meaning. Regardless, I still believe what I have always believed. I don’t know if there is a God or an afterlife, but I still believe that a powerful being created the universe and that death is not the end. I believe in a God, but I don’t think going to church is necessary to talk to Him. I see happiness and meaning as I always have, despite the various articles. You give your own life meaning and happiness, and strong relationships can contribute to attaining both meaning and happiness. I have always had a strong moral and ethical code; it’s just how I was raised. These morals and ethics have remained unchanged, but reinforced. This project encouraged me to examine my life, think about my beliefs, and see if I am fulfilling my role in the world/universe.
Paragraph 3: Further Questions and Intellectual Work Left to Do
Where do your intellectual quandaries go from here? What do you wonder about now that you may not have before? What questions do you still need to answer for yourself. If you like, include a list of roughly 4-6 questions this project sparked for you about yourself, life, or the human place in the world/universe.
At what phase in a person's life should one set aside time to reflect on those deep questions regarding the human place in the universe? Before this project I did not ponder the human existence or life’s meaning. As a high school junior, the issue of the purpose of the human existence feels way too lofty and irrelevant. My day to day tasks and obligation like taking the trash out before I leave for school, that assignment that is due by midnight, or practicing my guitar solo before the recital all seem more consequential. Learning about all these philosophies and rejecting most of them has made me more confident in what I believe. Even after this project, I do not think I will continue contemplating them. I don’t need to know why humans exist, and I already know what gives my life meaning. I have almost always known who I am, so I don’t really have many questions about myself. I believe some question will always remain unanswered. Does God exist? If I had proof that God exists, would that change how I behave? Is life meaningless? Is it helpful or productive to think that life might be meaningless? Would life have more meaning or happiness, if everyone in the world lived in nature like cavemen? Were indigenous people like the Anasazi happier than we are today? Why are we here? Find your purpose and make a difference.
Describe the project itself and the direction you personally took it. Which essential question(s) was your project seeking to answer? What was the inspiration behind the direction you took and the perspective you developed?
We started the Your Life on Earth project by studying different philosophies. We learned about existentialism, transcendentalism, religion, and some other philosophies. Almost none of the philosophies that we examined spoke to me. This made me focus on a question not involving the philosophies on which we focused. The main question I worked with was “What makes my life happy and meaningful?” Almost immediately, I thought of family. I am very close to my family, and a lot of what I do involves them. Almost every year we visit family around the country, so I am pretty close with even my extended family. Even in the early stages of learning about philosophies, I recognized that my family is incredibly important to me. With my grandfather’s passing this year, the idea of family was reinforced. His death also made me want to make a project to honor him.
Paragraph 2: New Insights
Please explain what new insights you developed over the course of this project either about yourself, life, the human place in the world/universe? How has your thinking been influenced by our study of philosophy and ethics? You should reference specific texts or ideas from one or more of the sources to illustrate your insights. Answer this question in NO LESS than 10 sentences. Please be specific, proofread carefully, and think about what you are going to say!
Over the course of this project, I learned that some people focus on the idea that humans are insignificant specks and that life doesn’t matter. I learned that some people believe trees and nature are essential for happiness. Others believe in science or nothing. The main insight I developed was that my convictions don’t completely fit with most philosophies. I think spending time outside in nature can make a person feel happy, but I don’t take it to the level of transcendentalism in Walden. I agree with the Stanford research article that stress and struggle usually bring meaning. However, I disagree that you need to chose between happiness and meaning. Regardless, I still believe what I have always believed. I don’t know if there is a God or an afterlife, but I still believe that a powerful being created the universe and that death is not the end. I believe in a God, but I don’t think going to church is necessary to talk to Him. I see happiness and meaning as I always have, despite the various articles. You give your own life meaning and happiness, and strong relationships can contribute to attaining both meaning and happiness. I have always had a strong moral and ethical code; it’s just how I was raised. These morals and ethics have remained unchanged, but reinforced. This project encouraged me to examine my life, think about my beliefs, and see if I am fulfilling my role in the world/universe.
Paragraph 3: Further Questions and Intellectual Work Left to Do
Where do your intellectual quandaries go from here? What do you wonder about now that you may not have before? What questions do you still need to answer for yourself. If you like, include a list of roughly 4-6 questions this project sparked for you about yourself, life, or the human place in the world/universe.
At what phase in a person's life should one set aside time to reflect on those deep questions regarding the human place in the universe? Before this project I did not ponder the human existence or life’s meaning. As a high school junior, the issue of the purpose of the human existence feels way too lofty and irrelevant. My day to day tasks and obligation like taking the trash out before I leave for school, that assignment that is due by midnight, or practicing my guitar solo before the recital all seem more consequential. Learning about all these philosophies and rejecting most of them has made me more confident in what I believe. Even after this project, I do not think I will continue contemplating them. I don’t need to know why humans exist, and I already know what gives my life meaning. I have almost always known who I am, so I don’t really have many questions about myself. I believe some question will always remain unanswered. Does God exist? If I had proof that God exists, would that change how I behave? Is life meaningless? Is it helpful or productive to think that life might be meaningless? Would life have more meaning or happiness, if everyone in the world lived in nature like cavemen? Were indigenous people like the Anasazi happier than we are today? Why are we here? Find your purpose and make a difference.
Project:
Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.
– Michael J. Fox
Birds fly in flocks, fish swim in schools, and dolphins live in pods. I am no different. I have my wolf pack, and they mean almost everything to me. A very large part of who I am is all due to them. My values, ideas, and personality all have been greatly influenced by my family, and not just my immediate family. Both of my parents, my grandfather, and one of my cousins are or were in the military. They’ve all had great times, and it makes me want to try it. My grandfather on my dad’s side was a tinkerer and so am I. Every single member of my family values hard work, and so do I. All of my cousins are older than me and each of them has a unique life. This diversity makes the future seem less intimidating. All of them have affected me in some way. I hope I have affected them too.
Anna:
It was rough at the start. I had older-sibling-itus and was jealous of you. As I grew, I learned to love you, and for some crazy reason you still trust and love me. My wacky ideas have led us to careen down the driveway on a skateboard, flip the little John Deere gator, and countless other reckless adventures. Through all the fights, disagreements, and everything else, we’ve stuck together. You remind me to always enjoy the childish things in life, playing with toys, coloring, and just dancing.
Philip:
Literally my entire life we’ve been brother and sister. We’ve also always shared a birthday. Other siblings might hate sharing every birthday party, but I loved it. It meant we got to have giant combined birthday parties. From dinos, to Scooby-Doo, to SpongeBob, to Indiana Jones, we’ve always had amazing parties. Even though we won’t always be together to celebrate, it still brings us together. No matter how different we are, we always have a common bond.
Mom:
I’m the middle child, but you’ve always made time for me. When Anna and Philip did the soccer camps at the Fort, we would walk together on the track. Even when Philip and Anna weren’t busy, you’ve always made time to let me do things I want, like walk dogs at the Humane Society. You’re always there to help me succeed.
Dad:
You taught me to always be adventurous and find what I love - from roller coasters to scuba diving to biking. You’re always willing to help me expand my horizons. When I was 2 years old, you started teaching me to ski. When I wanted to try snowboarding, you were on board. Even with kickboxing, you encouraged me.
Grandpa Gores:
I remember the day I came back from the zoo with a squished penny with a penguin on it. Someone suggested that it could be made into a necklace, and I really wanted that to happen. You took out some tools, drilled a hole in the penny, and strung a chain through it. Sure this can be done to any squished penny, but it would never be as special as this one that you made for me.
Grandma Gores:
North Dakota reminds me of all the baked goods at your house. Every time we visit, you bake something amazing for us. You’ve made Philip and me a birthday cake, and you bake amazing scotcheroos and delicious rhubarb pies. I love helping collect rhubarb and then racing the leaves down the gutters. Mom, Anna, and I bake some of your recipes at home. Next time we visit we should bake something great together.
Grandpa Wiley:
I don’t have any memories of you. You died when I was very young. I do know that you had TB, and that made you want to become a doctor. You were a dedicated worker: you started an ER, were the town’s general surgeon, and worked a family clinic. Even though I never knew you, you still affect who I am. You were a tinkerer. I know you invented a ski binding. You designed the lake house at which I spent countless summers. I love tinkering, and I don’t think it is a coincidence.
Grandma Wiley:
Every time we visit you, we take out your big box of wind up toys. We would sit for hours winding them up and watching them race, swim, hop, crawl, and backflip. We would laugh at the windup antics. Whenever we visited, you would take us to a store to pick out a new windup toy for your collection. One year for Philip’s and my birthday, we drove to a store full of windup toys. You bought us some really amazing metal windup toys, ducks that run around and a cool black robot. Whenever I see a windup toy, I think of these good times.
– Michael J. Fox
Birds fly in flocks, fish swim in schools, and dolphins live in pods. I am no different. I have my wolf pack, and they mean almost everything to me. A very large part of who I am is all due to them. My values, ideas, and personality all have been greatly influenced by my family, and not just my immediate family. Both of my parents, my grandfather, and one of my cousins are or were in the military. They’ve all had great times, and it makes me want to try it. My grandfather on my dad’s side was a tinkerer and so am I. Every single member of my family values hard work, and so do I. All of my cousins are older than me and each of them has a unique life. This diversity makes the future seem less intimidating. All of them have affected me in some way. I hope I have affected them too.
Anna:
It was rough at the start. I had older-sibling-itus and was jealous of you. As I grew, I learned to love you, and for some crazy reason you still trust and love me. My wacky ideas have led us to careen down the driveway on a skateboard, flip the little John Deere gator, and countless other reckless adventures. Through all the fights, disagreements, and everything else, we’ve stuck together. You remind me to always enjoy the childish things in life, playing with toys, coloring, and just dancing.
Philip:
Literally my entire life we’ve been brother and sister. We’ve also always shared a birthday. Other siblings might hate sharing every birthday party, but I loved it. It meant we got to have giant combined birthday parties. From dinos, to Scooby-Doo, to SpongeBob, to Indiana Jones, we’ve always had amazing parties. Even though we won’t always be together to celebrate, it still brings us together. No matter how different we are, we always have a common bond.
Mom:
I’m the middle child, but you’ve always made time for me. When Anna and Philip did the soccer camps at the Fort, we would walk together on the track. Even when Philip and Anna weren’t busy, you’ve always made time to let me do things I want, like walk dogs at the Humane Society. You’re always there to help me succeed.
Dad:
You taught me to always be adventurous and find what I love - from roller coasters to scuba diving to biking. You’re always willing to help me expand my horizons. When I was 2 years old, you started teaching me to ski. When I wanted to try snowboarding, you were on board. Even with kickboxing, you encouraged me.
Grandpa Gores:
I remember the day I came back from the zoo with a squished penny with a penguin on it. Someone suggested that it could be made into a necklace, and I really wanted that to happen. You took out some tools, drilled a hole in the penny, and strung a chain through it. Sure this can be done to any squished penny, but it would never be as special as this one that you made for me.
Grandma Gores:
North Dakota reminds me of all the baked goods at your house. Every time we visit, you bake something amazing for us. You’ve made Philip and me a birthday cake, and you bake amazing scotcheroos and delicious rhubarb pies. I love helping collect rhubarb and then racing the leaves down the gutters. Mom, Anna, and I bake some of your recipes at home. Next time we visit we should bake something great together.
Grandpa Wiley:
I don’t have any memories of you. You died when I was very young. I do know that you had TB, and that made you want to become a doctor. You were a dedicated worker: you started an ER, were the town’s general surgeon, and worked a family clinic. Even though I never knew you, you still affect who I am. You were a tinkerer. I know you invented a ski binding. You designed the lake house at which I spent countless summers. I love tinkering, and I don’t think it is a coincidence.
Grandma Wiley:
Every time we visit you, we take out your big box of wind up toys. We would sit for hours winding them up and watching them race, swim, hop, crawl, and backflip. We would laugh at the windup antics. Whenever we visited, you would take us to a store to pick out a new windup toy for your collection. One year for Philip’s and my birthday, we drove to a store full of windup toys. You bought us some really amazing metal windup toys, ducks that run around and a cool black robot. Whenever I see a windup toy, I think of these good times.