Reflective Essay

            I’m not the biggest fan of writing, and honestly, I probably never will be. I’ve been told I’m pretty good at it by friends, family, and teachers alike, but I only really saw my work as decent at best. Maybe it’s because I normally don’t care for what I’m writing about as it’s usually some academic essay for school, I really don’t know. When I wrote the original versions of the three pieces that follow this, I wrote them because they were an assignment for class. While it is the exact same situation with this portfolio and the revisions, it felt different, like something clicked. I actually had fun writing all three revisions. When writing the original pieces, I was stretching to barely make 200 words, but with the revisions, the 500 or so words just flowed right out of my fingertips onto the keyboard. I have no idea what happened to me between writing the original works to the revisions, but whatever it was, it was a good thing.

            The three pieces I chose to revise weren’t necessarily my favorites or the worst I wrote for this class, but they were the ones I saw the most potential in for improvement, and I like to think I improved them tenfold. The first piece I ended up revising was the Extended Metaphor, not for any particular reason, that’s just where I started. As I read my original work over and over, I realized I really did like the actual metaphor I used. It very much applied to myself and I thought I could expand on that, so that’s exactly what I did. I made it a more personal piece, and while it’s not 100 percent factual, I’ve been in extremely similar situations before. After finishing the first part up, I moved on to the next revision, which was My Obsession. My Obsession was by far the easiest for me to revise; I can talk (technically write, I guess) about pro wrestling for days on end, especially if it’s about my favorite wrestler of all time, The Undertaker, which a good chunk of the piece was. The final piece and the one I had the most difficult time trying to revise was Why I Draw. It was the hardest because it was tough to put into words how exactly drawing makes me feel, it’s kind of indescribable, but I did the best I could. Digging deep down within me and figuring out why I do sink hours upon hours into drawing was an interesting experience, though.

            While I’m still not the biggest fan of writing, I do feel like this course has helped writing win me over a little bit. That’s the only explanation I can come up with on how I could go from being really disinterested in what I was writing during the making of the original pieces to breezing through and having fun with the revisions right now. Initially, I was dreading doing this final portfolio, but I ended up having a good time and the time flew right on by.

Extended Metaphor

            It’s a hot summer day, and I’m doing what I normally do during the summer, pretty much nothing at all. All the windows in my room are open and the fresh cool air is blowing through, but it’s not just air coming inside. A lone mosquito finds his way into the room, probably looking to get some food. It spots me and I spot it. It starts flying right towards me as I grab an old magazine that’s been sitting on my floor for months to swat at it with. The mosquito is coming closer and closer; one clean swipe with the magazine should end it all for the little guy. SMACK. Got it. The mosquito is dead and gone. It’s not a problem anymore.

            I look over at my PlayStation, placed perfectly in the center under my TV. “Been awhile since I had some quality game time,” I thought to myself as I got up and grabbed a controller. As I turn on the console and am scrolling through what seems like an endless amount of games, I remember I had laundry to do. If I didn’t get that laundry done, I wouldn’t have anything to wear tomorrow. Actually at this point, I was already wearing the same pair of sweatpants for two days straight. A third day wouldn’t be that big of deal, right? I brushed it off and booted up Batman: Arkham Asylum. As I was playing, another mosquito flies through the open window, probably to avenge his fallen comrade. “No problem,” I thought as I grabbed that old magazine again and started swatting away. This one wouldn’t go down, though. He was just too fast. Every time he’d stop and land on something, I’d go for the kill, but he’d buzz right out of the way just in time. Finally it got to the point where I just chased him right back through the window. After that, I gave up on playing Arkham Asylum and just went to do my laundry.

            This actually happened multiple times throughout the summer, and not just when I had laundry to do. Cleaning the dishes, taking out the trash, doing work to prepare for the start of school, etc. Each time I kept putting whatever my responsibility was at the time off, somehow, a lone mosquito would make its way into my room. Put off finishing up that job application that’s been on the kitchen table for weeks to watch some TV? Mosquito. Leave folding my clothes and putting them away for another time? Mosquito. Responsibility became a mosquito, and it wouldn’t leave me alone. The mosquito wouldn’t die; it would just be there, buzzing all around me, reminding me of all the things I was putting off. The mosquito was reminding me of all of my responsibilities.

My Obsession

            I’m attending Drexel to study Game Art & Production, so it wouldn’t be that far off to think that my obsession is video games, and while they have been and still are a huge part of my life, my true passion revolves around the world of professional wrestling. When most people hear the words pro wrestling, they will usually think of it as some big fake soap opera, and honestly, they’re not entirely wrong.

Wrestling is fake, but not in the sense that most people think. It’s fake as in it’s predetermined. The winners and losers are known before the start of the match, the champions are picked by the bookers, and the wrestlers “fighting” in the ring are actually working together to put on a show. The athletes in the ring do get hurt and injured, though. In an Interview with Men’s Fitness, wrestling legend Hulk Hogan was quoted in saying, “I don’t care how perfectly straight I lay you out, or how perfectly you’ve practiced landing in a way that breaks your fall, if I pick you up and body slam you to the canvas, I guarantee you it’s gonna hurt like hell” (Hogan 78).

Wrestling is a soap opera, too. There’s intricate storylines with rivalries, love interests, betrayals, and basically anything you’d find in your average soap opera, even the more outlandish things like evil twins. Personally, pro wrestling would be pretty boring if it wasn’t a soap opera, and I think the majority of fans would agree. Don’t get me wrong, the wrestlers are incredible athletes and put on some great matches in the ring, but without the story surrounding the match, why should I care that these two guys or girls are fighting? At that point, I might as well go watch something like UFC because while there usually isn’t any story behind the fights, at least they’re legitimate.

            When people see me wearing a wrestling shirt or find out I’m a fan, I actually do get asked a lot why I don’t watch something real like UFC, and the main reason is the storylines. I’m not in it to watch two guys just beat the life out of each other, I’m in it for the journey up to, during, and after the match. One of my favorite matches of all time is Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26, and while it is easily one of the best pro wrestling matches in history, the story surrounding it adds so much to it. Michaels was fighting for his career and The Undertaker was fighting to keep his WrestleMania winning streak alive. Their feud was actually going on for over a year as they fought a year prior at the same event, which ended with Undertaker extending his streak to 17-0. Michaels believed he could beat the streak once and for all if he was given another shot, but Taker felt he had nothing to prove after beating him once already. Shawn went to great lengths just to get Taker to agree to the match, even screwing Taker out of the World Heavyweight Championship, and it eventually culminated in Michael’s putting his career on the line. Once the bell rung, they told a story in the middle of that ring. Neither man was going to give up, but as the match was winding down, Undertaker had the upper hand and was reading to finish off Michaels. Ever resilient, Michaels stood up, performed Taker’s signature cutthroat taunt, and slapped him across the face. After that, Undertaker hit his finisher, the Tombstone Piledriver, and the ref counted the 1, 2, 3. Shawn Michael’s professional wrestling career was over. Undertaker’s character was basically that of the devil and he very rarely broke that, but when all was said and done, he shook Michael’s hand and hugged him out of respect.

            Stories, characters, and matches like that are the reason my obsession is wrestling. If all those components and factors never change, neither will my obsession.

Works Cited

Hogan, Hulk. "As Real as It Gets." Men's Fitness. Weider Publications, Nov. 2009: 78. Print.

Why I Draw

            Ever since I could hold a pencil, I’ve been drawing, and granted I haven’t done it much outside of my drawing class lately, I still love it just as much as I did when I first started. Even after months and months of never picking up a pencil or touching my tablet, as soon as I sit down to draw, I have so much fun. It allows me to basically just spill my imagination all over the page or screen. I have the freedom to do pretty much anything; only my mind can limit what I can draw. Drawing lets me escape reality for a few hours and escape into this world where anything and everything is possible.

There isn’t any one specific reason why I draw; it’s a combination of things. Drawing gives me this euphoric feeling whenever I sit down and completely block out everything but my art. It’s really easy for me to basically get lost in a drawing when I’m in the zone. Everything around me just sort of stops, and it’s only the pencil, the paper, and me. Hours feel like seconds when I delve into it fully, and that’s what’s great about it. It really does seem like time flies when you’re having fun. Fun isn’t the only reason I draw. It’s also a pretty relaxing experience. Usually when I sit down to draw, I plug in my earphones, crank up the volume, turn off my brain, and let my hands take me where they want to go. Everything just sort of flows and it’s a real calming practice. Now that’s when everything goes according to plan, which is admittedly not as often as I would like.

Along with being fun and relaxing, drawing can also be extremely frustrating. When I just can’t get that hand or foot to look right after drawing over and over again for what seems like a million times, I just want to call it quits, but I don’t because the positives greatly outweigh the negatives in this case. When I come across one of these moments in a drawing where whatever I do, nothing looks right, I’ll step back and take a break. Maybe I’ll pop in a game or just watch some TV, anything to keep myself occupied. After a few hours of completely ignoring my artwork, I go back to it and I’m usually able to draw whatever I was having trouble with on my first try. The sense of accomplishment I get after completing a piece of work is well worth putting up with some frustrating and irritating moments. Seeing how I improve over time is particularly satisfying. I may think the drawing I do today is the best thing I’ve ever done, but come tomorrow I may hate it. Just being able to spot mistakes a day later is an improvement in itself, and it helps me grow as an artist.