Wow!

Even though I am slated to present my project on Thursday and am therefore working on my presentation, I just wanted to write a blog post to congratulate my peers on their awesome presentations. I was amazed by the creativity, originality, and meaningfulness of their projects and presentations. Dominique taught me so much I didn't know about black culture and the importance of hair in that culture. Pauline's presentation really resonated with me because I could totally relate to her (previous) feelings of being lost and unsure about what I'm going to do with the rest of my life. Juliana's claymation movie was adorable and it really seemed like she put a lot of time and effort into making it! Justin's movie was very original and unique; it was so interesting to view someone's every day life in a film as opposed to, like Justin said, the amazing stunts and moments people usually capture in Youtube videos.

All in all, I am very impressed with my classmates! I can't wait to see all the presentations on Thursday!

More Family Information!

As I continue on this journey of trying to uncover information about my relatives and ancestors, I am constantly surprised and amazed at the wealth of information that is available, even through simple means such as Google searches. It makes me realize how lucky we are to be able to use the Internet to look up facts and answers to almost any question we could ask.

I was just discussing this phenomenon with a friend this morning. We were saying that we were shocked that our parents, when they were our age, did not have access to such an amazing information database as the Internet. Today if we have a question about anything - almost anything at all - we only have to type our query into our smartphones to find an answer. Although the Internet has caused a lot of problems and complications (such as Internet bullying and stalking, and many others), we are so lucky to have this incredible resource. As my friend and I were saying, it would drive us crazy to not be able to remember something, and then not be able to even look up an answer or solution! Nowadays, information is so readily and easily available that we have become very impatient and demanding, in my opinion.

Anyway, this evening, when I scoured the web for more information about my ancestors, I found so much! It was truly astounding. Of course, I am very lucky that I have such a famous relative, Stephen Hopkins, about whom there is, unsurprisingly, a ton of information. However, when looking up the relative after whom I am named, I found some new, interesting facts, too.

One thing I found on the Internet tonight was this:

This is a screenshot from a website called "Find a Grave." I found a few of my ancestors' graves on this website, and some even had photos. This particular screenshot is from the Stephen Hopkins grave page. Although there was not a photo, there were several of these flowers images and accompanying messages, which was interesting because it shows how many people are actually related to Stephen Hopkins. Am I considered a relative of these people as well? Amazingly, there are 156 "notes" to Stephen Hopkins just on this one website. Incredible!

Family Graves

My great-aunt was able to scan and email me a photo of my great-great-great-great-grandparents graves, which she took while visiting Brookfield, Vermont, where they got married. During this trip, my great-aunt apparently also visited Randolph, Vermont, where a number of my other ancestors used to live. This photo was very special and important to me because it shows the grave of the ancestor after whom I am named. Somehow, just having a picture of her burial place makes me feel closer to her and as if I know more about her, even though there are many things I don't know, like what she was like, her hobbies, the way she grew up, and so much more. Only my middle name comes from this relative (it's her maiden name), because my mother thought it would be a bit too much to give me my whole name after her, since she lived so long ago and no one in our family knows very much about her. However, even just sharing my middle name with her maiden name makes me feel as though we have some sort of connection to each other. Although I'm not sure how to learn more about who this great-great-great-great-grandmother was as a person, I would like to try. I think that's where this project will go after this class is over; I'd like to work on finding out more about this relative and her life.

The photo my great-aunt sent me will be revealed during my final presentation. So don't expect to see it on this blog, you'll have to wait!

On another note, my great-aunt has been so kind and helpful in her responses. I am immensely impressed with and grateful for her. Since she was my (late) grandmother's sister, I think she must be very old now - probably over 90 years old! Thus, I am very impressed that she knows how to use a computer so well; she even has a Facebook! I am so glad that this project has allowed me to connect and speak with her, even though we have never met in person. She has been a huge help with this project, and I hope that our relationship will continue after this class is over.

My Peers' Projects

Today in class we read and commented on each other's blogs. I didn't realize the amazing variety and creativity of my classmates' projects! It was great to be able to look at them and get a kind of preview before presentations next week!

Sports & Privilege

After a difficult and distressing loss (though it's still great to be a Michigan wolverine!), I find myself looking back and reflecting on the role and importance of sports in our culture today. Last night, I watched my team compete for the National Championship in men's basketball along with thousands of other fans. As the final buzzer sounded, announcing Michigan's defeat, every face in the crowd looked incredibly disappointed and morose. Why do sports have this effect on us? Isn't it just a game? And how do they make us feel so united (for instance, when you high-five the people sitting around you, even though you don't know them)? I think these questions would be good starting points for a new project (apart from my genealogy project) that would involve investigating sports and the role they play in our lives and our society.

Another point I want to make about sports and how important they are in our culture is: we are very privileged to be able to watch, play, and care about this popular pastime. As Thylias mentioned during our last class, during which we debated about a hypothetical situation involving actor Ryan Gosling, we are very privileged to be able to have conversations and arguments about hypothetical situations. Similarly, we are privileged to be able to expend so much energy caring about sports. In impoverished nations, most people must focus all their energy on simply surviving. Meanwhile, we are able to have fun and invest much time and energy into what is - really, when it comes down to it - "just a game." Although sports fans cheer on their teams every week, it seems that they rarely pause to consider just how lucky and privileged they are. We are all very privileged to have been able to care so much about last night's game; even though we lost, we should still consider ourselves blessed with this special kind of privilege and opportunity.

Genealogy Project Update

My great-aunt has responded to my email! She has agreed to send me information regarding some of my ancestors, even though there is only a little time left to work on my project. (Of course, I will continue to communicate with her once this class is over, and learn more about my family history. This project will not, and cannot, be completed this semester - or perhaps ever.)

Sadly, my great-aunt told me that she took so long to respond because she has been sick with pneumonia. I am really hoping that she is feeling better. Pneumonia can be a very difficult sickness to manage, especially at her age.

More updates may be included in this blog or in my end-of-semester presentation. Stay tuned!

Stars as Ancestors

After all this searching for my human ancestors (although, now that some of them have been deceased for hundreds of years, they are on their way to becoming stardust once again), I have become curious about the idea that Thylias presented to us on the first day of class: we all come from stardust - the stars are our ancestors.

My roommate, who is an astronomy major, agreed with this idea, and during a conversation about astronomy and the universe, she explained why she too believes that we are all "made of stardust." She said that scientists do not yet know what caused the universe to be created. Of course, the Big Bang theory is very convincing to most astronomers; however, no one knows what caused that. Where did the matter come from that caused the Big Bang? How could there have been matter before there was a universe - before there was anything? These are questions that science has not yet been able to answer.

Furthermore, scientists are aware that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate. But how can the universe expand? Isn't the universe everything? My roommate said these questions have also not been answered yet, but some scientists speculate that there are multiple universes, and "our" universe is expanding into others ("our" because we clearly do not own the universe; we are merely one tiny speck in the universe). Or, she explained, our universe could function like a balloon being blown up. Our universe sits on the surface of this expanding balloon, and so it is able to expand, too.

If this all seems pretty confusing, it is. I certainly don't understand half the information my roommate tells me about astronomy. But it's still really interesting.

My roommate also explained to me that someday, the Sun, along with the Earth, will someday explode or implode, and pieces of the planets in our solar system will be scattered out into space. It seems scary, but this is all slated to happen in a long time - long after we and many subsequent generations are gone.

One of the theories for how the Big Bang occurred is that fragments from other exploded universes or celestial bodies came together to form something new: our universe. This is the answer to our relation to stardust. When we die, our bodies will decompose and eventually become part of the Earth. Then, a long, long time from now, the Earth will explode and become part of space. When that happens, our own fragments will become part of the stars and space. Perhaps our fragments will even create something new, just as the Big Bang created our universe. Thus, we came from stardust and will one day return to stardust. So, my family and ancestors can not only be traced back to humans with names and physical bodies, but also to the stars and the heavens, which is really beautiful.

A beautiful view of the Milky Way. The mountains pictured beneath the stars are located in Arizona. This would be a gorgeous place to travel to and explore!

A Walk in the Woods

Today during class, some of my classmates and I decided to explore the wooded, natural areas of North Campus - a place I am unfamiliar with, so I was happy to learn more! We trekked through tall, brown, straw-like grass to a small lake surrounded by rocks, which proved useful for stepping on and moving across the stream. Then we ventured to a creepy little shack (colloquially called "The Hut") up in the trees. Interestingly, this structure has existed for a long time, but only two people in our class even knew about it. And even though its roof is visible from the road, none of us had noticed it before. When we went there, we all thought it seemed haunted.

Here are some photos from our journey today. Enjoy!

A view of the stream trickling into the lake. We dubbed it "a waterfall of sewage." (It did not look very clean.)

It's really a shame that people have thrown trash in the natural areas of North Campus. Here, an old plastic water bottle can be seen among the stream and the rocks.

Someone has ironically written (or painted - not sure what medium they used) "CAVE ART" on a rock near the lake. Is this "art"?

A view of the trees surrounding "The Hut." The area is heavily wooded, which may contribute to the shack's seeming creepiness and remoteness.

This piece of art sits on the rafters near the ceiling of "The Hut." It has scissors for a nose. It looked both creepy and cool! Its placement on the ceiling, looking down, adds to its eerie air.

Also eerie, this dead and dried-up rose sits between the slats of wood that hold up "The Hut." A poem (not pictured - it was too bright inside to capture it) is written on the wood next to this rose.