Tag: Personal Awareness

In-Depth Final Post: Google, How Do I Learn To Yoyo in 5 Minutes?

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Hi, I’m Colby Ng, and this year for In-Depth I explored what professionally yoyoing really is. Enjoy!

Definition Yo-yo/Yoyoing:

  • A toy consisting of a flattened spool wound with a string that is spun down from and reeled up to the hand by motions of the wrist. 
  • To move up and down; fluctuate.
  • To manipulate or maneuver (someone or something).

“It does not matter how busy or old we become, we shall always find happiness in playing with a yoyo.”

– Unknown

Step 1: Learn What Types of Yoyo’s There Are

A Beginner's Guide to Yoyo - General Yo-Yo - YoYoExpert Forums

Firstly, there are different shapes to yoyos, different shapes are better for different tricks. As a beginner you want lots of room to work with, so the wider the better. Secondly, there are responsive (flat), and unresponsive (curved) bearings. A responsive yoyo is best for beginners as a simple flick of the wrist brings the yoyo up. However, unresponsive bearings allow for much harder and more complex tricks.

Step 2: Learn What Components Make Up a Yoyo

Strings, bearings, spools, and wings are all the components that make up a yoyo. Combined they create our modern yoyos, just be sure not to break any of them, especially the string. Taking care of your yoyo is important if you want it to work properly. High-end yoyo’s need lubrication, string changing, and under no circumstances do you want to drop your yoyo and risk breaking parts.

Step 3: Learn Some Quick History of Yoyoing

World Champion Gentry Stein (See Above)

 

While seen widely as a toy, in the late 1900’s yoyo’s spun into mainstream pop culture. Through the years yoyoing has evolved into many different types, but performance yoyoing still remains prevalent. Added with music, a combination of tricks are thrown together to create an alluring performance almost akin to hip-hop dance. A mix of skill, creativity, adaptability, practice, and flow are all you need to put together a great performance.

Step 4: Throw Your Yoyo and Get Started (Add Music for Spice)

See Below. Yoyoing is a throw and a spin away.

Pro-tip, don’t throw your yoyo at anything breakable!

Final Presentation

Feel free to comment below, ask any questions, or take a look at my previous posts for more information.

In-Depth Post #6: The Last Knocks and Scratches

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In the last month of In-Depth, my skills, knowledge, and natural abilities are all coming together. Now more than ever, I feel that De bono’s ideas surrounding concepts and alternatives have helped guide me through the final stages of In-Depth. Therefore, instead of having my ‘Beautiful Mind’ section at the end, they will be integrated into my post as a whole.

Watch Some yoyoing as well: Progress

Yomania: yoyo tricks and reviews — Everything related to yoyoing!

Over Spring Break I continued working on my yoyo skills as per usual. I’ll walk somewhere and yoyo on the way, yoyo at nighttime and listen to music, or yoyo in front of the TV (And try not to hit it), the fact being, I’ve continued yoyoing and improving. I feel that some of my most significant improvements have come from these last few weeks, the first being designing my own yoyo trick.

Creating my own yoyo trick was a great example of how De bono explains concepts. Yoyo tricks, after all, are exactly that. They are concepts and different people’s ideas that get turned into something physical. When people are creating a trick, they might have an idea of what it might be, but executing and refining the trick is the application of the concept. The trick I created is called Bail Out, and you can see me perform it during my progress video as well as it being the last trick in the video. The interesting thing about Bail Out is that I came up with it through a mistake. I was trying a trick called Double or Nothing, and I messed up the trick by catching it on the wrong string. I fooled around with my yoyo and tried some hand movements, and just like that, I created a new trick. I called it Bail Out because I’m ‘bailing myself out’ of what would’ve been a mistake. When I first was messing around and basically freestyle yoyoing (no specific tricks and just random motions) the concept came into my head. I realized I could turn my mistake into something cool and impressive, and with trial and error, I did exactly that. I ended up showing my mentor during one of our meetings and taught Nolan how to do it as well. Both of us were impressed I could create my own trick, and I’ll be integrating it into my final performance. It goes to show you how mistakes can be a good thing, and how concepts are crucial to the development of anything, yoyo tricks included

All in all, my In-Depth has been going better than ever. I have continued my research and knowledge expansion of yoyoing. Specifically, I’ve been researching the World Championships of Yoyoing and how they work. The competition is a complex event more similar to a hip-hop competition than any other sport. Each competitor creates their own ‘routine’ with their yoyo and shows off all the skills they have. they’re judged on originality, complexity, space use, music, and so much more. The performances can be long and quite tiring, and obviously, they take a lot of skill. (See Build an Epic Routine Video)

You’ll also see a video called the 26 Levels of Yoyoing. Personally, I can get up to level 13, and for someone who has not been yoyoing for too long, I’m impressed with myself. The video also does a great job explaining how tricks build off each other, and I’d recommend watching it for anyone starting to yoyo. The video touches on De bono’s ideas about alternatives in a very interesting way. Alternatives are great because they provide additional insight, a different perspective, and flexibility to anything. Specifically for yoyoing, the idea of alternatives is critical as you start learning more tricks. You learn that there really is no one way of yoyoing. I talked about this with my mentor when I learned a new trick. It is all about flexibility and realizing that alternative ways to execute tricks do exist and could potentially be even better than the original. There is a general idea, but endless different ways to execute it. In yoyoing, the creative effort to generate alternatives appears the most. While this is a very yoyo specific idea on alternatives I can be applied to everything else as well. For me, its always about keeping an open mind with people, ideas, mentors, teachers, yourself, and everything around you.

I’m also happy to announce I’ve met and passed every single Goal I made for In-Depth. I thoroughly understand how yoyos work, the types of yoyos, the use of yoyos, and their components. I understand the basic history of yoyoing and how it has changed and evolved into the sport it is today from its origins in the 80’s and 90’s. I also know way more than 20 tricks that I can perform and explain, and lastly, I’ve created my own trick. Just cause I’ve met my goals doesn’t mean I’m finished. I have to put all of this skill and knowledge together for my final presentation, and I hope to keep adding to it in the time I have before May.

One thing really stuck out to me over these past couple of weeks. Yoyoing isn’t just a toy or a sport. There is a whole community behind it. Yoyoing came from a craze in the 90’s to complex engineering, aerodynamics research, creativity, competition, and fun. On the surface, it doesn’t seem like much, but there is so much more to explore.

I want to thank everyone who has helped me through my In-Depth, Nolan especially, and I can’t wait to show off all my improvement in my final presentation. Don’t Bail Out just yet…

Research:

YOYO Championships

In-Depth Post #2 Unresponsive Yoyoing

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It’s about a month into In-Depth, and my project is already turning into something amazing. I remember as a kid I fascinated by yoyoing and now is no different. Over the past month, I’ve worked on 3 main aspects of my project.

The first was research. I’ve been going on websites and learning about the history and evolution of yoyoing. You’d be surprised by how much the yoyoing community has changed even since it’s peak in the ’90s. Innovation, creativity, and enjoyment are what drives the community, and seeing that overtime is quite intriguing.

Secondly, I’ve been working on the basics of yoyoing. After my first meeting with my mentor, it was more than obvious that I didn’t remember a lot. We worked on the baseline of yoyoing. How to throw the yoyo, and how to get it to come back. When I started my throws and binds (Definition of Bind: Bringing the yoyo back up)were weak, wobbly, and frankly just had “bad form”. To overcome this I just kept practicing throwing. I did overhand throws, backwards throws, and across the body throws constantly for about a week. Now, I can see the improvement. The yoyo spins longer, it’s easier to perform simple tricks, and everything looks cleaner. It’s important to mention that there are many different types of yoyoing, but the specific type I am doing is called unresponsive yoyoing. Unresponsive yoyoing basically means the yoyo doesn’t come back up when pulled, and you have to perform a trick to get it to come up. Unresponsive yoyoing has become popular in the 2000s and has allowed new and more complex tricks to be created.

Lastly, I’ve begun to practice very basic tricks. These tricks include some I have learned in the past such as Walking the Dog and Double or Nothing, but also new ones such as Around the World, Trapeze, and Two Hand bind to name a few. Currently, my abilities aren’t consistent enough to record a video, but in future posts I’ll attach a video of my progress and my newest/favourite trick. Tricks require a lot of practice and repetition, and I do a lot of work on my own to practice. You might see me at lunchtime in the TALONS room throwing the yoyo around, and I must say that listening to music while practicing is a relaxing sensation.

As I mentioned before I’ve now met 2 times with my mentor, Nolan. We’re meeting over FaceTime, Instagram Video, or whatever video chat service is available at the time. It is nice not having to get to know my mentor since we’re already friends. We hop on a call, and in a super informal, yet fun and educational way, he teaches me how to yoyo. During the meetings, we discuss what I need to work on, my strengths, and where I can improve. For me, the time just flies by. At the end of each meeting, we set a date for next time, and talk about what I need to do. In the last meeting, I was assigned to keep practicing basic tricks, and I was challenged to research a trick on my own and show him next time. So far, everything is running great.

However well my project is going, it isn’t without obstacles. The first is learning tricks. Had COVID-19 not been an issue, I would be meeting in person, and Nolan would be able to critique my exact hand movements and guide me better, as yoyoing is a physical skill. Trying to mimic what someone does on a computer isn’t always easy, and I struggle with that. Secondly, repetition. One of the most discouraging things is messing up a trick over, and over, and over again. You feel frustrated and it’s annoying. I have to keep working through these obstacles, and I think motivation and support will be big factors.

All this said, I can’t wait to take this project even further.

Research:

Introduction to Unresponsizve Yoyos: https://youtu.be/s8pmieoAi4I

Tricks Website: https://yoyotricks.com/yoyo-tricks/unresponsive/

World Yoyo Champion: https://www.instagram.com/gentrystein/

Agreeing:

In a mentoring situation, agreeing is the easiest thing to do. Your mentor knows more than you, and agreeing is your way to respect that. Agreeing doesn’t have to be verbal, it can be in the form of body language, head nods, and even clarifying questions. Agreeing helps build a starting relationship, and that’s what I’m trying to do. With my mentor specifically, I know how good he is at yoyoing. When I first met with him and he told me that my throws were sub-par, I agreed, because I trusted his opinion. Hopefully going forward this will continue.

Disagreeing:

Disagreeing is never easy. Disagreeing with your new mentor can be even harder. So far I haven’t had to deal with any disagreements with Nolan, but I’m aware that may change. Since In-Depth is also a self-led project, I’ll be learning from areas other than Nolan directly.This could cause disagreement as to how things are done, and I’m prepared for that. After reading How to Have a Beautiful Mind, i better understand that disagreeing is a crucial part of having meaningful conversations. When I disagreement comes up, I’ll be respectful, but I’ll also disagree for the right reasons; to help both of us, and to build our relationship.

Differing:

Differing is a very important idea to understand. For the longest time, I thought everything was black and white. As I’ve grown up I’ve realized the world mainly lies in the grey area in between. This is important because often when opinions differ, both sides have reasons to back their opinion. I expect this to happen at some point during In-Depth. Even though Nolan and I are friends, we’ll have differences of opinions. It might be that I learned something about yoyoing online, and he was taught differently in-person. When these differences come up we can address them together and figure out if our difference can be or even if it needs to be reconciled. Differing helps us grow as both mentor and student, and I’m ready for when it happens.

EMINENT: Simu Liu Learning Centre

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SIMU LIU LEARNING CENTRE:

(Click On Images For A Clear View)

Hey! Honestly, you probably have no idea who I am. In a few years, all of that might change. My name is Simu Liu, try to remember that.

I grew up in Mississauga, Ontario and started out as an accountant. Boring, right? That’s what I thought at least. After getting let go as a (not so great) accountant, I was broke, confused, and lost, but something as small as a Craigslist Ad changed my life forever.

That Craigslist Ad introduced me to acting, and it’s been all uphill from there.

For 8 years now I’ve been an actor, writer, stuntman, and even a producer, yet you’ll be surprised how much I’ve done with this platform.

I’ve been a huge advocate for diversity and representation in Hollywood, starring in many Asian Led films including a lead role in Marvel’s first Asian American superhero, and being an outspoken online advocate. Since the beginning of my career, I’ve been calling for Hollywood to become a truly diverse and have minority representation, and I’m seen as a leader through this.

 

(Read these tweets, it’ll help you get to know me)

I’ve tried breaking stereotypes surrounding the Asian community. From racist jokes, to hate speech, I’ve seen it all, and I do my best to educate those around me and change the world for the better.

 

I’m an advocate for UNICEF. Just this year I partnered with UNICEF and plan to collaborate and be apart of their many humanitarian efforts.

I’m an outspoken voice during the Pandemic. This pandemic has pushed all of us out of our comfort zones, but I’ve been working to help people stay on the bright side. I’ve also been outspoken about how this pandemic has caused discrimination against all Asians, and how we can fix it.

And I’m just a normal guy enjoying his life and doing what he enjoys.

I grew up discriminated against, bullied, and unsure of who I really was, but now I do everything in my power to make sure nobody else feels that way. In my opinion, you should always be “Unapologetically Yourself”, and never let anyone bring you down. I’ve done so much, and I won’t ever stop.

My name’s Simu Liu, don’t forget it.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE WHICH OF MY PROJECTS YOU’LL ENJOY!

https://www.tryinteract.com/share/quiz/5fc68865c3f0eb001604141c

And here’s some other links if you want to learn more about me:

  1. Jessica Wong. “Unapologetically Asian: Simu Lui, Marvel’s latest superhero, on his fight for representation” CBC News, July 24, 2019. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/simu-liu-invu-1.5221904
  2. CBC News Interview: https://youtu.be/la85Ak855a8
  3. Simu Liu. “A Chinese-Canadian to his parents: ‘Privately, I yearned for your love'” MACLEAN’s, December 4, 2017. https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/a-chinese-canadian-to-his-parents-privately-i-yearned-for-your-love/
  4. Bay Street Bull Staff. “Sime Lui on Representation, Progress, and becoming Marvel’s First Asian Superhero, Shang-Chi” Bay Street Bull, unknown date. https://www.baystbull.com/simu-liu-on-becoming-marvels-first-asian-superhero/

TALON Talk 2020 “How does oil added to soil affect the growth of bean plants?” Colby Ng

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Hi  Everyone,

I chose to do a science inquiry on “How oil added to soil affects the growth of bean plants?“.

Please watch the video attached below and comment!

https://sd43bcca-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/g/personal/125-cng1_sd43_bc_ca/EZteuTQXvBtPhRyxzopP2OsBLBPoEJ8ico5BMHLdcvmNNw?e=kpOqHC

Thanks, Colby Ng

Ecological Footprint

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My Ecological Footprint is 9.25 hectares

Comparison:

National Canadian Average: 7.5 Hectares

I’m 1.55 hectares above the national average.

World Average: 2.75 Hectares

Devon: 6.75

Evan: 9.35

Ruby: 8.10

Hailey: 10.5

Mel: 6.95

Compared to my other classmates and both national and world averages, I’m above average when it comes to my ecological footprint. I hope that in my two weeks I’ll be able to reduce it and be able to get below 9 hectares.

Twelve Actions That Increase:

  • If your shower is usually more than 10 minutes or your bath is full, you get +80
  • If you flush the toilet every time you use it your get +30
  • If some of your clothes were bought brand new for you or by you, you get +100
  • If you usually spend some time travelling just with your family in your car, you get +100
  • If you usually spend more than an hour on the computer and/or watching TV per day, you get +70
  • If none of the food you usually eat is organic, you get +40
  • For each time in one week that you eat non-organic beef, give yourself +20
  • For each time in one week that you eat non-organic or factory-raised chicken, give yourself +15
  • For each time in one week that you eat non-organic pork, give yourself +15
  • If all your garbage on a typical day would fit into a cup, you get +30
  • If wild fish is part of your diet, you get +40
  • If some of the food you usually eat was grown in BC, you get +20

Five Actions to Reduce My Footprint, Why and How I Can Reduce my Footprint:

  • Showering for 1-2 minutes or filling the bath ¼ full

I chose this one because I feel like it is a big change for me to make. I normally take longer showers because I find it relaxing, however it makes a significant impact on my footprint. If I can reduce this aspect of my life and shower less, I can reduce my footprint.

In order to reduce my footprint, I am going to try taking shorter showers. Instead of taking 10 minutes, I’ll aim for around 2-minute showers.

  • Flush the toilet not every single time

I chose this one because it’s the most do able. I can easily monitor when I flush the toilet, but a small change like this can easily reduce my footprint. This still will be a different change for me, because I don’t do this already.

In order to reduce my footprint, I will flush the toilet every few times I go to the bathroom instead of every time.

  • Buy local grown/raised food

I chose this one because I do a lot of my family shopping due to Coronavirus, and I can make decisions on what to buy and what not to. Sometimes when I shop with my parents, I don’t bother to look where the food is made or farmed. I can easily change this by paying more attention and I can make a better impact.

In order to reduce my footprint, I will try and buy local meat and produce whenever I go shopping with my parents. I’ll look and be more considerate about where my food comes from.

  • Produce less garbage in a day

I chose this one because I feel like I have many unnessesary garbage items and I could reduce them to have a better impact. Items like granola bars, and snacks that are single use are easy to get rid of, and I don’t need to eat them. If I focus on eating items without wrappers like fruits and vegetables, I can reduce my footprint.

In order to reduce my footprint, I’ll eat more foods without wrappers, and focus on using recyclable items like paper and cardboard.

  • Eat less meat every week

I chose this one because I cook for my family and make meal decisions occasionally. Due to this I can decide to cut out some of the meat products because my dad and I eat a lot of unnessesary meat. I feel like this one will be the hardest, and I wanted to choose it to see how much I could improve.

To reduce my footprint, I will try and eat less meat products and cook meals that require vegetables and other substitutes instead.

Changes That Were Easy to Make

Producing Less Garbage –

I found this change extremely easy to make. I didn’t produce much garbage to start with, so reducing a bit more wasn’t a problem. I think I had the most success because it was a small change for me. I had the ability from day 1 and it was an easy change to make.

Not Flushing Every Single Time –

I also found this change easy to make. Not flushing was easier for me because once again it was a simple change. I had to do less work than usual, and besides having to explain to my family, I was able to easily accomplish this.

Buying Local Grown/raised Food –

Buying local grown/raised food was an easy change to make. Even though it was a considerable change, I had an easy time doing this. When I went shopping with my parents, I paid closer attention to what I was picking up. Due to corona, my parents wanted my sister and I going into the stores instead of them since they are at risk. I looked and bought local grown things instead, and since I only went shopping a few times in two weeks, I was able to accomplish this.

Changes That Were Hard to Make

Eating Less Meat –

I found this change hard to make because it was a big change for me. My family and I tend to eat a lot of meat. Whether it’s chicken, steak, or pork, my dad and I especially eat as much of it as we can. Over the two weeks I had problems adjusting and I eased myself into it. I did manage to eat less meat, but I still ate a lot. I think that meal planning helped, and I was able to make things like enchiladas or a pasta dish, but overall, I had a hard time because it was such a big change for me.

Showering for 1-2 Minutes –

This was another change that I found hard. There were two things that made it so hard for me. Firstly, I enjoy having long showers. I prefer longer showers because they help me relax. Secondly, it was a big change, and with any big change problems arise. At first it was very hard trying to change from long showers to short ones, but I found that having colder showers also helped. Overall, the two weeks were a challenge, but I was able to accomplish having shorter showers, maybe not 1-2 minutes though.

Obstacles

Family – My family was one obstacle that stood in my way. When it came to eating less meat, it was hard to explain to my dad what I was doing. My family was confused by some of the things I was doing whether it was super-fast showers, or not flushing the toilet, and that was an obstacle I had to overcome.

Preferences – My personal preferences also stood in my way. Taking shorter showers was different to me. The first few days were hard because my personal preferences got in the way. If everything was easy, I would’ve been doing it already. In this way, my preferences held me back the most and challenged me.

Lifestyle – Certain aspects of my lifestyle also stood in my way. I don’t usually eat only vegetables. My dad and I are intense carnivores, and we’ve been that way our entire lives. Changing something like that was trying to change my entire lifestyle. It was hard and definitely an obstacle for me.

Future Steps

In the future, I hope to continue reducing my footprint. This whole activity has taught me how much of an impact I have on the environment. I will continue to try and reduce my footprint by using my same 5 strategies, and work on them going forward in life. I also hope that I can continue making small changes that help out the environment and continue doing the things that I was already doing right. I realize that I have an above average ecological footprint, and I hope that if I continue to follow some of my reduction steps, then I’ll be able to reduce my footprint to an average Canadian Level or even less.

IN-DEPTH JEWELRY MAKING POST #4: Starting New Projects

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The past few weeks have been some of the strangest for my in-depth project. 

My jewelry making went from hands-on and working hard, to research and theory. This major change was due to Coronavirus, and I’ve tried my best to work around it and continue learning about jewelry making as best as possible. Overall, I still think I did a lot of great research and learned lots about jewelry making. Nothing ever runs perfectly, and I’ll continue to try my best to accomplish as much as I can. 

At first, my project started off as usual. I was able to meet with my mentor and continue to work and learn about jewelry making. In the time that I met with Mme. Toure, I was able to finish a project, start a project, and continue a project. 

My bracelet is now completely finished and polished up. I think it turned out really great and I want to make another bracelet the next time I can so that I can see how my skills have improved. Handmade jewelry isn’t supposed to be perfect, the imperfections are what make the jewelry stand out and I really learned to take that into consideration with my projects after my bracelet. 

The second project I started was my silver ring. At the time of my last post, I had barely started and only stamped and cut my ring out. Now the ring is almost finished. First, I learned how to shape my ring with a ring shaper. Basically I had to heat up the metal, cool the metal, and then use a pair of pliers with curved silicon ends to shape the metal strip into a ring. Then after that, I was able to use a piece of silver solder to connect my ring completely. After that, I had to leave it to sit in a type of citric acid to get the fire scale off. Finally, I started to sand and polish using steel wool and a real jewelry polisher, but I need to continue doing that. 

I also had some time while my silver ring was in the citric acid, so I started on a twisted ring. I took two pieces of copper wire that had been heated and cooled, then using a drill and pliers, I twisted them around each other. After that, I hammered them on one side creating a cool twisted flat ring effect. I hope to be able to continue this as I go along with my in-depth. 

Meeting with my mentor was the big roadblock of these past weeks. Due to Coronavirus, I’m not able to meet with my mentor until further notice, so I’ve been doing a lot of research on my own. Jewelry making has become tougher with not being able to meet with my mentor, but she gave me a book about jewelry making that I have also been reading along with doing online research. Altogether, I went to many websites and watched Youtube videos so that my In-Depth continued at a good pace.  

 

Since I don’t think I’ll be able to meet my mentor again I’ve also been looking into buying some simple tools that I could use for making jewelry. I have a lot of the tools I need from hammers to files and even a butane torch, along with the projects I have and some copper and brass. If I buy a few tools then I might be able to do some jewelry making at my house. 

Coronavirus is a challenge to work around, but I’ll continue doing my best. 

Word Document with Photos: https://sd43bcca-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/125-cng1_sd43_bc_ca/EX1MOk2E53ZOkf6DWG9ZPq0BvV3oP0RzRh__ptT0rrRl7A?e=AVi1qJ

Above are some pictures I took to show how my current projects are going, and you can view them in the word document. The first pictures are my silver ring, the second my copper bracelet, and the third my twisted ring.  

I did a lot of research leading up to this post. I’m reading the book my mentor gave me which is helping me understand the basics better, and if I keep reading a little each day, then I won’t have a problem learning plenty. I also watched Youtube videos about making jewelry and visited websites about essentials to jewelry making, African jewelry, and why homemade jewelry is a great skill. Below I put links to the websites I found most interesting and useful. 

How to Hammer Wire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSVJqTqrb8U 

DIY Stamped Wire Bangle Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-gTk2UhofM 

How to Make a Bracelet Out of Copper Tubing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZvPYGX9Tbk 

Essential Parts of Jewelry Making: https://www.mybluprint.com/article/want-to-start-making-jewelry-these-10-tips-will-launch-you 

African Jewelry:  https://artsandculture.google.com/exhibit/the-history-of-african-heritage-jewelry-african-heritage-house/MQJiNWW15_JnJw?hl=en 

Homemade Jewelry: https://www.halsteadbead.com/articles/handmade-jewelry-types-and-techniques 

What has been my most difficult mentoring challenge so far? 

The most difficult challenge so far has been continuing in-depth and using jewelry making skills during the Coronavirus Pandemic. I can’t leave my house unless it is absolutely necessary, so I’ve had lots of problems from not being able to talk to my mentor, to not being able to use tools, to not being able to be shown new jewelry-making techniques. This has been a difficult challenge, and I’ve been working to try and do my best to combat this roadblock. I’ve looked into getting some tools, and I hope I’ll be able to do some jewelry making at home.  

What is working well? Why? 

Right now my research is going better than ever. I have plenty of online supports along with the book that my mentor gave me, and those have kept me occupied. I’ve started reading the book and haven’t even finished yet, and there are countless online sources that I can go to. My research is the one thing I can do during this quarantine, and because I’m trying my best and have the tools to succeed. My research is working well and I hope it continues too. 

What could be working better? How can you make sure this happens? 

My actual jewelry making could improve. Due to Coronavirus, I haven’t been able to use many of the tools or actually make jewelry, and this is slowing my in-depth down. I’m going to continue working and try to buy some of the basic tools. If I do this I increase my chances of learning all the hands-on skills I need to know for jewelry making. I’ll try my best but nothing is certain.  

Nothing is certain, but I’ll continue doing my best.  

P.S. Wash your hands 

 

In-Depth jewelry Making Post #3: Finishing My First Project

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In these last few weeks, I’ve come across some problems, continued lots of my own research, finished a project, and reflected on my In-Depth project so far. My first weeks started off very smooth and straightforward, but in the time since my last post, I hit a few roadblocks but was able to still continue and get lots done. In-Depth is always full of surprises, but so far everything I’ve learned and done has been worth it.

Meeting with my mentor was the big roadblock of these past weeks. For two weeks in a row, there were some communication issues and we weren’t able to meet for my regular mentoring sessions. However, I was still able to talk with her lots and meet with her again before this post and we even have make-up sessions set up. The main thing I did to counter missing sessions was to do extra research. I went to many websites and watched Youtube videos so that my In-Depth didn’t remain stagnant. 

However, the day I did meet with my mentor I learned a lot more. I started off shaping my actual copper bracelet. My piece of copper was too long, so I had to measure out the right length and then use a metal cutter on my flat bracelet. After that, I learned how to properly blunt the ends so that I don’t get stabbed. Finally, I had to use a wrist sizer and a rawhide hammer. I made sure I chose a wrist size that fits best to me and hammered it on the wrist sizer with the rawhide hammer so that it had the right bend and no scratches like it would with a normal hammer. After that, I sanded with multiple grits and buffed my bracelet until it was finally finished. The bracelet wasn’t finished perfectly, but as I learned from Mme. Toure, sometimes there is perfection in imperfection.

Since I had some extra time at the end of my meeting I also started on a silver ring. With this one, I had to be very precise with engraving, cutting the right size, and so much more, but I’ll get more into that in my next post when I continue the ring.

This week was filled with many challenges but in the end, everything turned out as it needed to and I’m looking forward to meeting my mentor once again and expanding my knowledge even further.

 

       

Above are some pictures I took and they show my copper bracelet I finished. Although it isn’t perfect I’m really proud of what I was able to accomplish for a first project. There’s also engraved on it “TALONS 2020” so that I’ll always have something to remember my first In-Dept by. On top of it all, after I talked with my mentor I realized that with handmade jewelry there are often amazing things that come out of imperfections, and my bracelet could certainly fit into that category of jewelry. Lastly, as I mentioned before, I started on a silver ring, and the picture on the right is something similar to how I hope it turns out.

I also did some research on the history of jewelry, how cleaning jewelry works, watched a Ted ED video on the origins of gold and watched some YouTube videos on making jewelry which helped once again expand my knowledge and prepare me for my next meeting with my mentor.

History of jewelry: https://www.gemsociety.org/article/myth-magic-and-the-sorcerers-stone/

Ted-Ed Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf_4z4AKwJg

Jewelry Cleaning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji06G9UXoW0

What went particularly well during the mentorship sessions?

One thing that I really love about my mentorship lessons and something that always seems to make them go well, is how fast-paced and hands-on they are. The fact that I’m able to understand the concepts fast and work on things that my mentor teaches me really allows the sessions to always be engaging. Then because they’re so engaging I’m able to learn so much more, and it makes me look forward to each day we meet.

What challenges emerged? What did I do to hold myself accountable for my learning?

The main challenge for my learning up to this post was miscommunication. Whether it was because I didn’t check my email, or my phone was turned off, there were several miscommunications that caused our meeting dates to be changed. With that several problem arose and I had to find solutions whether it was rescheduling or just doing my own research. In order to hold myself accountable, I spent extra time doing research because I knew that I was missing some mentorship sessions. I made sure that I had a list of possible websites and videos to watch, and I also took notes on my phone of questions I had during sessions that I didn’t ask. With all this, I knew that I could do extra research to hold myself accountable for the same amount of learning, and that’s exactly what I did.

What logical challenges affected your communication? What factors caused this?

The main thing that affected my communication was not staying in contact before the meetings and not double-checking through multiple forms of communication. If I was able to stay in closer contact then many of my communication problems wouldn’t have happened and my life would be much easier. The factors that caused communication problems were just not having multiple forms of communication, and even checking my email or my phone. However, now that i know this I can fix it for next time.

What three strategies could you use to improve the quality of your mentorship interactions?

  1. Double-check meeting days and communicate throughout the week through multiple forms of communication
  2. Do prior research and bring questions that I have to my mentor
  3. Come up with ideas for future projects so that I can do background research

Until next time, where I hope I can continue and improve even more!