Who’s in the mirror?
Posted March 13th, 2009 by Pablo Saldana, student.
An ordinary day hasn’t been very ordinary ever since this semester. Ever since I started this program called “What Do You See?” (which is Oregon Children’s Theatre partnering up with Kaiser Permanente) during sixth period, I have had so many great moments and participated in so many activities about body image and how it affects our everyday life, along with advertising and other things we are exposed to in our daily lives that we are not even aware of most of the time.
One of my favorite activities we’ve done so far is when one time we were offered a variety of random pictures. We each had to pick one, partner up and make a scene. The picture me and my partner got was a kitty, tiny and fragile looking in the mirror (picture at right). In the mirror instead of the tenuous kitten, it reflected the picture of a big, well-built lion. This symbolized so much to me and my friend. We thought it was a small person looking into the future, or a dreamer with high hopes, or possibly the reflection of someone on the inside. We had a lot of material to work with along with ideas. And it really got our minds going with this inspiring image.
Beyond the magnificent opportunities we get to think afar from ourselves, we also have fun activities that go with the program, such as music, and dancing. These last few days we’ve been creating a rap. It was so fun and it has helped me understand things better. To start, before this, I only saw rap as a way to say how “great” you are and how you are superior from others. But it is actually very fun and it really helps you express how you feel. Such as “you see what people tell you to see, but I am more than what you tell me to be” this is the line of the chorus so as you can see it is very strong.
On top of that we’ve all had the chance of having a blast dancing to hip hop and making our own dance moves. Without knowing, we are all making original pieces that we never even thought of doing.
In conclusion this has undoubtedly become one of my favorite classes, it has the largest range within the activities that there are, there is no time to be bored. I am so glad they decided to choose Roosevelt for this wonderful collaboration.
Sincerely,
Pablo Saldana (formal student in the “What Do You See” program)
Thank You