NVA's GCE Portfolio

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

In my advisory class, Math Camp, we had to pick a math subject that we were interesting in learning more about. Then work on it for the entire class practicing the subject and getting good at it. We only met once a week on Mondays, we would give ourselves homework, or just use our class time to work on it. My subject is Card Counting, which is very popular when playing Blackjack aka 21. The point of the game is to get 21 in your hand to win, in casinos you are playing against whoever is at your table, and mainly the dealer. Card Counting is used to win the game, or have a better chance at winning, usually used to make sure you know what to bet when playing at casinos. This is related to math because in order to count the cards you need to be able to add and subtract very fast, it is very important to be able to remember things and adapt very quickly that is happening in the game. It is something that uses a lot of very simple math, but in such a fast pace that it can help you win a lot of money when you come out a casino. Hope you enjoy learning Card Counting and hopefully get good at yourself!

Now first thing you need to know to be good at Blackjack in general is basic strategy:

Blackjack Institute. "Basic Strategy." 2002

This chart shows you what you should and shouldn’t do when playing. This is an easy way to keep yourself ahead of the game. Now for counting cards it is very simple. Whenever a card is played you make sure you know how that affects the count. So I will tell what card does what.

2 through 6 = +1
7 through 9 = 0
10 through Ace = -1

Now that you know that when the deck is being played you just add or subtract numbers now. Say a 6, 5, 4, 7, ace, and 10 are played, the count would then be +1. This is because the 6, 5, and 4 made the count +3, but because the Ace and 10 were played it was dropped to +1. The count is very helpful in that it can tell you what to bet, and if you should go high or low. The main thing you should always know is that 10 has the most cards in a deck; you have the 10, Jack, Queen, and King. That is 16 cards out of 52 cards. Meaning they are the most likely to be played. You have always have to remember what is being played so you can also change your moves, because if a lot of 10 cards have been played then the chances of you getting another 10 are very low.

Lastly there is a thing called True Count, this is basically when you are playing a game with more than one deck. The way this works is, say your count currently in a game is +3, and there are 2 decks being played the true count would be +1.5. You divide the count by the amount of decks that are being played. This isn’t the easiest thing to do though because all casinos use a different amount of decks, and they have shuffle machines that can change everything in an instant. There is even a machine that keeping the true count is impossible because you can’t focus on how many decks are being played when it is constantly shuffling the cards.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Can I Help You With Something?

In unit 2 of my class System & Models, we learned about groups of people and how they come together, and how they go apart. As an FE we went to Mariano's and divided into groups to look at people and see what people go towards most in the store. As for the action project, we had to, with a partner or not, pick a subject we would want to do a lab report on. My partner and I choose to make an experiment to see how employees come up to us based on our gender, and see if there are any trends. Something I liked about our project was that we go to choose anything we wanted and got to use ourselves to our advantage when doing the experiment. Something that was difficult at first was choosing our subject, because my partner and I knew we had to do some extra stuff for our experiment since it was more than one person. Please enjoy looking at my lab report, and seeing how employees come up to people!

Friday, February 3, 2017

Marching for the World

In my class Equality, we went over the basics behind race, gender, and class, and all the ways in our world we aren't equal with these three subjects. We did have a guest speaker, Elizabeth Dozier, where we got to talk about issues in our city, Chicago. For our action project we had to make a history book chapter on a big event and show how to relates/effected race, gender, and class. The event I chose, was a very recent one, the Women's March, which happened on January 21st, 2017. This was a march for women's rights but turned into something much bigger. Something I liked about this project was that we got to choose any event, and really show how it connects with race, gender, and class, especially because it was so soon. Something I didn't like was that it had to be like a history book because the format of a text book is very hard to really copy, so I really had to play around with everything and make it look nice. Please enjoy reading my chapter in a history book for the Women's March!

Monday, January 23, 2017

Number One Protagonist

In the course System and Models, we learned about different personality tests and how they can be used in certain situations to help people understand you more, but also to help you understand yourself more. Next to that, we went over imaginary numbers and they can dispel the theory of not being able to square root a negative number. For the action project, we took multiple personality tests such as the Myers Briggs, Enneagram, DISC, and the TKI. Each of these show what kind of person you are in different ways. We then had to make a self portrait of ourselves and write an artist statement how two of these tests relate to our self portrait. The self portrait could have been anything visual, so I decided to do an actual self portrait of myself but add some details to make it relate more the personality tests I wanted to use. What I like about this project was being able to freely create anything and show how it really does represent us, even if it looks nothing like us. Something I struggled with was coming up with a way to do my self portrait, and how I wanted to do it, mainly because it was so free. I hope you like my drawing and like hearing more about me!

NVA. “Looking at Power” 2017. Chicago

“Looking at Power”
Pencil/Markers
H 10 ½ “ x W 8”

Taking the Myers Briggs personality test and the Enneagram test, I learned more about myself in that I do take on a leader type of image. For the Myer Briggs personality test, I belong to the ENFJ community of people. Some famous people that fall under this category of the different 16 possibilities are Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. To go into more detail the, ENFJ are known for being, “natural-born leaders, full of passion and charisma. Forming around two percent of the population, they are oftentimes our politicians, our coaches and our teachers, reaching out and inspiring others to achieve and to do good in the world. With a natural confidence that begets influence, ENFJs take a great deal of pride and joy in guiding others to work together to improve themselves and their community (ENFJ Personality “The Protagonist”, 2011).” I really agree with this because I really like helping others with a passion, it makes me feel good. They do say that this category does not back down from talking out, which I don’t agree with for myself because I do tend to stay quiet, but I am speaking out more, because of my school. In the image I show this by the angle I drew myself, where I am looking up, as a leader would. I am stepping up and becoming the leader I know I can be in this world. For the Enneagram test, I fall under the One category, which has traits of a Four and Seven. To go into more detail: “Ones are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake. Well-organized, orderly, and fastidious, they try to maintain high standards, but can slip into being critical and perfectionistic. They typically have problems with resentment and impatience. At their Best: wise, discerning, realistic, and noble. Can be morally heroic (“The Preformer Enneagram Type One” 2016).” I find that statement interesting because I have heard people say that about me, but I don’t really think of making mistakes; I actually like them, because I can learn and grow. Besides that, I really agree with most others things. They both strongly relate to each other, but the Myers Briggs is a bigger picture of how I am and the Enneagram goes into a little more detail of why I am like that. To symbolize that into the drawing, I used words and colored them to pop more - a way of going into more detail to explain my morals and personality type. Work, because I work hard, and push others to do the same. Create, because I like to create new things to make something better or solve a solution. Lead, because I am good at pulling people together and getting them to do what is necessary. Imagine, because I have a lot of big ideas of what I want to do in the world. Lastly, Future, because relating to Imagine, I have great plans for the Future, and I like to have a plan built for what will happen.

A couple of other tests that I took were the TKI, which shows how you are in conflicting situations, I got the Accommodator, which basically means, “the complete opposite of competing. When accommodating, the individual neglects his own concerns to satisfy the concerns of the other person; there is an element of self-sacrifice in this mode. Accommodating might take the form of selfless generosity or charity, obeying another person's order when you would prefer not to, or yielding to another's point of view (“An Overview of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI)” 2009).” I agree with this a lot because I do tend to do this, just so I don’t have to fight anymore. I do feel in some cases this works with being a leader, because you need to know to work with people, and that might mean breaking up a fight so you can focus on what is important. Another test was the DISC, this measures what kind of person you are in a group. The personality I got in mine was Steadiness meaning, “is known for being steady, stable, and predictable. They are even-tempered, friendly, sympathetic with others, and very generous with loved ones. The S is understanding and listens well. Preferring close, personal relationships, the S is very opened with loved ones, but can also be possessive at times and hold them close (“Personality Types of DISC: S Personality Style (Steady)” 2017).” I agree with this a lot really because I am like this in many ways, in a group this works well for someone that is willing to put in the work with some guidance. I find that this can have some leadership qualities because they can put the forward, depending on the person they can pull people together. These two tests I believe are more detail of my two others being the Myers Briggs and Enneagram, they are represented but in a different way.

To create this image, I used pencil to have a outline of what I wanted and slowly made it more crisp and not as messy. Then I went over it in Sharpie and for the details used a thin point Sharpie. Same with the letters, and I planned out the colors actually. My thought process of doing so was really what it is important and what color really connects with the word; also depending on which one connect with the tests the most. That is why LEAD is all in capital letters and in red, because I want the viewer to see that first with myself. And then the other words are the thing keeping it up, like support, going into what it takes to lead.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

The Independent Artist

For my independent study, I worked on beefing up my art portfolio for various colleges. I spent a lot of time working on essays and making different films that I could add to my art portfolio. I plan to go for a film major and I decided I needed to have more film work in my art portfolio. This independent study allowed to me see if film was something that I could get into and it also allowed me to explore different styles of film like animation and noir. The biggest project that I completed was a Noir film which you can watch below.

I submitted applications to the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and Savannah School of Art and Design (SCAD). Each college requires two essays, one talking about personal aspirations and another talking about why I as an artist is a good candidate for their school. In addition to the essays, each of the colleges asked for something different to be included in my portfolio. For instance, Pratt asked for a film treatment and RISD asked for a separate art project following their guidelines. So, I needed more time to work and explore my art and be able to follow my own schedule. This is why I decided to have an independent study. I worked on a lot in the month I had to myself. I was able to work on my essays and really focus on what I needed before a certain deadline for SAIC.

Then I got to work on various films. I worked on different animations, as well as creating a movie about someone doing something so bad they needed to lose their identity. In that short film, Lost & Gone, I want the audience to interpret what it is that he did that he would need to lose his identity. I created new film where for a week I planned out the script and was always writing down ideas for how it look very good, this way I got to see more of the planning behind films. I knew I wanted to create a Noir film, so I started by looking up the elements a Noir film, other than the fact that they are usually in black and white. I got a few people I knew to be the actors. Following a storyboard and a script, I recorded the actors. Then I took the footage to post-production, where I edited a short film to tell the story I set out to tell. I am very proud on how it came out and I wish I had more time for this independent study. But I will still be creating films. In fact, I already have another idea ready. I want to keep growing as a filmmaker and artist and that’s what I plan to do.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Road to Olympus!

In unit two of my class, Game Changers, we basically worked creating our own game and looking at the process to see how games are made. We talked to many different officials in the field of game making and designing as well as seeing how playtesting can work in the designers favor. We went to the Chicago Toy and Game Fair to present our second edition of the games in the Young Inventors Challenge. This was super helpful in seeing what the industry looks for and really seeing a good game vs. a sellable game. For the action project, we worked on making the board and making it better also just had to really show our game off, by showing the process, and making an elevator pitch. The game I co-created was Road to Olympus, which you can learn more about below. What I really liked was that I got to have a partner, which made it easier to do a more complex idea and really get different viewpoints on what we should do. What was stressful was getting the board ready for the Game Fair because we had to have two editions done in a week to make it ready for the fair. I over came that stress by worker hard and using any free time to my advantage. I really hope you like learning about the game I created with my partner DR!

Hello! I am NVA and my partner is DR; together we have created the game Road To Olympus - a Greek Mythological game where you can play as one of 7 demigods. Hades has captured these 7 demigods and now they must make their way back to Olympus, going through 5 creatures the Sphinx, the Cyclops, the Hydra, the Minotaur, Medusa, as well as Hades himself to get to Olympus. They can pray to the gods to help them, but their prayers can be heard by any god, even Hades. In the end, only 3 can make it back to Olympus.

Creating this game was so fun, but stressful at the same time. What was fun about it was how my partner and I were able to make an actual game and in a pretty short amount of time. That was fun for me because I got to see how I can really push myself. I also really liked doing playtests with so many different people. It was a great way to really learn on what can be improved and made better to appeal to more people. One day during lunch, I got bunch of people and we just started playing my game and slowly more and more people wanted to see what the game was about. That was something I was super happy to see - that our games was actually appealing to people, and it was still in its first edition. We got to talk to the people from Marbles and they were able to give us great feedback on how our game could be improved. I think the thing I am most proud of is making the last board. I say that because so many people were telling me that we need to make it where the person gets the sensation of actually getting to climb to Olympus. The only thing that was stressful were due dates, and needing to get it ready for Chicago Toy and Game Fair with only a week. Besides that, I am very proud of the game I have created with my partner DR, we learned a lot together and I could not have done everything without him. In the end, I put a lot of mental and physical work into this project and I am happy to look at my game and see all the different stages it went through to become what it is now.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Honey I Love This Trip!

In my new class, Game Changers, I am learning how everything works in depth about tabletop games such as how you define a game, the different genres of games there are, and all the mechanics behind games. Also we looked at randomizers like dice and how certain dice give you more abilities, such as a die with 12 sides (d12) versus having 2 dice that are 6 sided (2d6). For FEs, we went to Cat and Mouse, a game shop, where we learned how to play Settlers of Catan, and ask the expert, Peter, who worked there his experience with games and game making. We also talked to Jason Little, a game designer who has created over 50 games, and we asked him questions about what the industry was actually like. For the action project we had to think of a scenario where some people would like to play a game and our recommendations for that scenario. I chose a scenario that I lived through where a bunch of kids are going to another country and they need to do something while in the airport. The two games I suggested they should play are WA and Honey I love You. What was challenging was that this scenario was that I lived through it and when I was stuck in this airport with all these people while only knowing one person, it would’ve been fun to play these games. We did have games we played in airport, but the problem was that they were more of riddles than actual games. What I like about this project was how free it was in getting to choose the scenario and the games we see fit to play in those circumstances. I hope you enjoy reading my scenario and seeing why WA and Honey I Love You are the best choices for the kids in that airport!

Scenario:
A bunch of kids are stuck in the airport for a service trip and not everyone knows each other. What is a game that they can play to keep them entertained while they are waiting for the plane? You are trying to give the trip coordinators the best game so the kids aren’t bored whilst waiting. They have certain needs that are:

- They need a game where they can learn each other's names and more about each other.
- They do have room because it is late and the airport is mostly empty, so it could be a physical activity.
- They have no money to spend.

I have chosen two games that meet these needs, Honey I love You and WA. Below are the reference sheets to describe the games in more depth:

These kids could really gain a lot from both games. They are both icebreakers so the kids can get more comfortable around each other for the trip. They both involve great interaction to help them get comfortable as well. They are physical games so they aren’t just laying around bored in the airport. Plus they are both free and pretty fast to learn after some playthroughs. Each game does have one thing that another might be lacking in, but together they work very well. When I was on the trip we played both games, and both helped us get used to each very quickly and got our minds ready for the trip.

I recommend Honey I Love You more than WA just because you get to really connect with people, and everyone is happy and laughing at the creative ways people think of to make others laugh. An additional bonus is that some people in the airport know each other so they might use names and that will help people get used to new names. It really gives people something to talk about afterwards, as well.

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