E-Portfolio

Welcome to my e-Portfolio. My name is Samantha Martinez and I am a student at the Pennsylvania State University majoring in Political Science and Sociology. I am 18 years old and I was born and raised in New York City. I am a prospective Paterno Fellows and Schreyers Honors College student. I am currently very active in my college community. I am a member of the Student Minority Advisory and Recruitment Team (S.M.A.R.T) and a mentor  for the BLUEprint mentoring program. I am also currently in the selection process of becoming a Resident Assistant on my school campus. I was also an active member of a THON committee to raise money for children with Pediatric Cancer. Along with my recent activeness on campus I am also bilingual, being fluent in Spanish and educated in French. 


Being from a large city with a diverse group of people and cultures has allowed me to grow up with an open mind and an adventurous personality. Attending Penn State has allowed me to use these aspects to my advantage and has given me the tools succeed in the future. Not only has it provided me with an active community for me to get involved in, but also a good education. This e-Portfolio is intended for you to see the work that I have complete and progress I have made as a student at Penn State. Here you will find media and written pieces that reflect my experiences and skills that I have obtained in college. 

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

Earlier today April 19th, or yesterday since you guys will be reading this on Friday there was a Walk a Mile in Her Shoes march sponsored by Penn State Men Against Violence and the Center of Women Students. It started at 1pm today in from of the Boucke Building and men marched for a mile in a pair of women’s red pumps. There were also some people who walked in regular shoes to support the men walking and support the cause. The idea of the march was for men to metaphorically walk in women’s shoes and put themselves in her place. The men were also deal with an excruciating amount of pain wearing those heals being that any women cant even walk a mile in a pair of heals without dealing with pain. The pain that they feel walking is supposed to symbolize the pain that women deal with after being sexually assaulted. Many people do not realized the seriousness of sexual violence and the effect that it can have on victims. Men especially do not understand the seriousness because they do not have to fear becoming victims of sexual violence and in many cases they are known to be the aggressors. This walk was very influential and raised a lot of awareness about sexual violence. People where confused and wondering why men were walking around campus in heals and began to ask questions. When they did find out what the cause was they were persuaded to either join or to find out more about what they could do. Many people were also influenced to partake in the walk next year because of the impact it made this year. Being that it is Sexual Violence Awareness month I recommend that everyone do research on sexual violence and how it can be prevented. 

Every Kiss Begins With Kay

love the idea of people falling in love and living happily every after. One of the things that touches my heart the most is seeing happy couples. Jewelry commercials are one of my weaknesses. Whenever I watch these commercials I want to either go out and by my significant other a piece of jewelry or I hope that someone will buy me a similar gift.These commercials are so successful because they provide the idea that jewelry can make relationships work better and last even longer. In the commercials there is usually a couple who is spending romantic personal time together either at home in a private place or in a romantic restaurant. This shows that at the time the relationship is already going well and there couldn’t possibly be a thing that could make the relationship better. Then the gift is given, usually to the female and the female is ecstatic. She gets so excited and kisses her partner leaving the audience with the idea that the couple is now even happier and will remain happy. This is persuasive to the male because it gives him the idea that jewelry can either solve a problem in a relationship and resolve the issue or make things better than they already are. This is persuasive to the female because it gives her the idea that in a good relationship she will receive these types of gifts and if she provides these gifts it will make her partner even happier with her. Many jewelers also have catchy slogans such as “Every Kiss Begins With Kay” to remind the viewers that if they are looking for a jeweler for their partner Kay Jewelers is the place to go. Jewelers use the idea of a happily ever after and a catchy slogan to persuade viewers to visit their store and pick something out for a significant other. 

Magazines

I am absolutely addicted to shopping and looking at magazines and finding the latest trends. A lot of the time most of the new trends that I find in magazines are things that I would never have thought to wear if I hadn’t just seen it in an advertisement. In many cases, a lot of people would never wear most of the trends that are popular if they weren’t so popular. How can something so simple as a magazine influence so many people to changed their judgment about what they think looks nice and even their entire style? The entire fashion industry is build around persuade people in any and every way that the new clothing and styles that are out look good. One of the most influential ways in doing so is to show celebrities wearing these clothes. Celebrities are seen as role models, especially to the younger generation and most of our generations strives to be as beautiful and attractive as they are. Whatever they see a celebrity wearing they feel must be something that’s in and its something that they must have to increase their level in social status. Sometimes there are things that I see people wearing in the street that I think is absolutely ridiculous but once a celebrity wears it everyone seems to be wearing it.  Another method to influencing  people to try out these new trends and fashion is to put them in stores, especially high end stores. Most people dream to be wearing Chanel, and Gucci and high end brands that the average person can not wear on a daily basis. These brands are seen to be so exclusive and the clothing seems to be so great because of how expensive the clothing is. If new trends are put in these clothing stores society also gets the idea that they should have it because if it is something that is put in these exclusive stores it is something that is popular and trendy. Magazines put these store advertisements and images of celebrities wearing these clothes to influence people in this way. 

Day of Silence

Today as I was walking passed the hub, I saw a silent protest going on that was about supporting Gay Pride and Gay Marriage. Across the street were people who opposed and were protesting for religious reasons because they think its against their religion. This silent protest that was going on reminded me of the Day of Silence that is held every year. 

The Day of Silence this year will be held on April 20, 2012 and it is the biggest student lead day of action in the nation. During this day students around the country and now many parts of the world vow to take a form of silence to give awareness to the silencing of anti lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered harassment in school.

This is very interesting to be because in many cases when people choose to raise awareness for something its more of a fight. There are petitions signed sometimes, arguments begin to arise and sometimes protest can become carried away. Surprisingly, this silent form of creating awareness appears to be beneficial. Its crazy to think that sometimes not speaking can mean more than saying anything at all. This day is handle in a very peaceful way that gives others no choice but to listen to the cause and support whats being fought for. 

I have seen a couple protest outside of school and it seems as if the louder protests are less effective and only cause chaos and arguments between people outside of the HUB. Its impressive that silence works in such a persuasive way and has influenced others so much that the Day of Silence is the largest student run day of action in the entire nation. It has become such a good influence that it is now spreading to other countries like Russia and Singapore. Way more than many loud protests have accomplished. 

Kevin Hart is coming to Penn State!  If you are not familiar with who he is, he is a famous actor an comedian. He has made appearances is many different TV shows such as “The Big House” on ABC. He is also well known for his hilarious TV specials on Comedy Central.

Personally, I think this man is hilarious and I am looking forward to seeing him perform. In his shows he usually talks about his family and the troubles that they give him. He has two young children that he is always making jokes about. Many of his family issues are things that plenty of us have experienced. You know everyone has that one crazy family member that they just can not deal with or who is absolutely crazy. He also talks about his wife and the little ridiculous things that they fight about. People find it funny because they are common relationship issues that everyone seems to go through.

Kevin Hart is a great comedian. He takes relatable things that the audience can understand and makes them funny and interesting. Some stuff he said is exaggerated but that also makes the jokes even funnier.  Another method that he uses to make his audience laugh is to not only tell jokes about his audience, but also himself. He is a short little black man lol, and people constantly tease him about it. During his performances he talks about how he is short all of the time and the things that people say to him. He makes his flaws something sarcastic. Only a good comedian is good at not only telling jokes about other people but also himself and tease himself.

He will be performing at the Bryce Jordan Center on April 29^th if anyone is interested and tickets will go on sale on Wednesday at 10am.

YUMMMY!

Did this amazing sandwich grab your attention? Good!

I am currently watching the Food Network with my mother and my stomach is just growling and I am so temped to run downstairs and whip up a whole meal. I am sure I am not the only one who gets hungry and drawn into the food while watching the cooking channel. While watching I realized there is not more than one minute that goes by where  food is not being shown. Whether a show is on or a commercial is being played there is always a delicious meal being cooked or presented at a table for a group of people to enjoy. I think this is done primarily to grab the viewers attention. I can personally say that when looking through the channels trying to find something to watch, and I see a delicious meal I will stay on the channel for a while just to see whats going on. The Food Network uses this visual rhetoric to grab the viewers attention with the anticipation that the viewer will continue to watch. 

When watching a cooking show the kitchen is always very clean and fully stocked with any ingredient the cook may need. A photo of the dish is always shown before the meal is cooked so the viewer can be enticed by the meal and want to know how it is made. While cooking the meal the ingredients are all individually shown and the camera is always focused on the chefs hands and what they are doing with the food. When something is in the oven the chef is never just sitting there waiting for food to cook. There is always something being made so that the viewer always has something to watch. During the final result, the chef always places the food in a nicely presented way that is visually pleasing to the audience. An audience loves beautiful looking food, if it looks good it must taste good which is the idea the the Food Network tries to give present to their viewers.