ISABEL VICTORIA PEREZ-POULSON

PILOT NARRATIVE
QUARTER 3/SEMESTER 2
EXHIBITION DATE: 3.29.18
Table of Contents

Themes from Quarter/Semester - Page 2

Projects - Page 5

Subject Areas - Page 15

Transferable Skills - Page 17

Independent Learning Skills - Page 18

Bibliography - Page 19
 The Pilot is always going well for me it is my life, but in order for it to work better for
me I need to have less studies and for the studies that I do have I need to get more into
them.

Qualitative not quantitative!

The Rollercoaster of Quarter 3

It was in January when I felt that I had my life together. It was the beginning of the
quarter I was diligent with my scheduling, I met regularly with my Advisors and Mentors,
and I was getting things done. In the mornings on the bus to school I would listen to a 5-20
minute podcast in Spanish, once I got to school I would do some Duolingo and go to my
classes. When I got home I would read, try to write, paint, research Turmeric or meet with
my Tata. While I was scheduling I did a good job of budgeting my time for pilot work in all
my different studies, but I forgot about three different things.
1. While trying to follow my schedule for pilot work I was not accounting for all the time
I needed to be spending working on Driver's Ed., Adv Chemistry, Algebra 2, U.S.
History and Health homework.
2. I was not accounting for theater, which is not a burden, it just takes up a lot of time.
3. Finally, I was not accounting for any breaks or socializing.

Now, these are pretty major things in my life at least, as I was trying to follow my
schedule for the pilot I was also trying to do the first two things on the list which piled up
very quickly.

All though it was spread out over three weeks, I can cite a few events that represented my
mental and emotional decline. February was when I hit my lowest, the pressure of overdue
work in traditional school and the pilot was getting to me, due to the number of different
things I was doing I felt as if I was losing control over my life. In a meeting I had with Amy,
we were discussing my English study, I told her about how I just couldn’t write: I would pick
up my pencil write a sentence and erase it because I thought it wasn't good enough. She
suggested changing the subject of my writing to something else, something I love so that
the writing would come naturally (at the time I was writing a compare and contrast essay
about Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home and I Am Not A Pretty Girl by Ani Difranco). I
agreed I had been studying Bob Dylan’s music for a while and it was getting old. This
discussion was what kick-started me reflecting on and prioritizing what studies were
embedded in my heart and what studies were only interests.

Over February break I was in charge of finishing the mask for Lear (The Play directed
by Noah WM), I didn’t do much else besides paper mache, taping, and painting the mask for
a week straight. After I got off of break I felt regret for not doing more pilot work. The
Friday after the break had ended, David (the adult who comes in to help build sets) and I
were chatting, somewhere in the conversation he said, “I’m glad you took a break you
didn’t seem too well the last time I saw you”. I didn't want to include this for self-pity, this
was when I found that even though I did not do a lot of work over break, Izzy needed a
break.

I was in the pilot room on the blue couch in my meeting with Amy venting about
my frustrations with feeling too busy, feeling like I could not express myself culturally, and
general life frustrations. She brought up the possibility of me doing too much, at first I
dismissed it, the second time she brought it up I started to think about which studies I
really loved. Art is what I live for and it is what I am actually skillful at. English helps me
visualize my thoughts and reflect upon them, Buddhism has helped me understand myself,
like how I respond to certain things, how I love others and how I view myself. Spanish is
helping me discover who I am, where I come from, and my family. The only study that does
not have a place in my heart forever is Science, I love you Science, but I need to work on
me for a little while. That was when I decided to drop science because the amount of things
I was doing was stressing me out.

Wholesome

Through the study of Spanish I have gotten closer to my culture, I have realized that
while I live in Vermont, No tengo personas con las que pueda relacionarme. I felt like I had
to hide who I was culturally for a long time because I don't look Mexican. Getting closer to
my culture is one of the biggest accomplishments of this quarter, I will elaborate under my
Spanish project section.

This only pertains to one study in particular, but it is the most important
accomplishment of this quarter, it is learning to love. Not loving things that I haven't
previously but appreciating and caring for myself and the people around me. I don't
remember the time frame of when this happened, but Kenzan (Amy, Owen, and my
Buddhism mentor) gave us a new years blessing paper. It had a red border with black
characters and a gold circle in the middle, on the back of the paper a translation explained
that the black characters said "shin-kai" meaning open-heart. The week after Kenzan gave
us each a blessing card I felt warm hearted I went around to all of the friends that I loved
and I hugged them and told them I loved them. I have made it a priority to tell my friends I
love them. I believe that every person in my life that contributes positively to my quality of
life is an angel, wholeheartedly, and the least I can do is show my appreciation to them for
thinking about me or wishing me well. To the reader, I love you I am thankful that you have
read this far into my paper and I want you to know that you are somebody's angel, DON'T
FORGET IT!

Too Much Stuff!

The only major problem I had this quarter was having too many things on my plate, last
semester I had three classes and five pilot studies and theater. It was ok, I was a little
stressed but I was able to manage my time without pulling my hair out. This quarter I had
five classes, five pilot studies, theater, and track (track is a very recent addition). Around
the time semester 2 came around I started caring more and more about my grades in
traditional school, I want to be able to get into a college that I like so i should try to get
better grades. With the fact that I wanted to spend more time on my traditional classes and
the two classes added onto my schedule, it was a lot to do. Due to the number of things I
had going on it made each of the things I needed to do less enjoyable, I focused too much
on perfecting skills in painting that painting wasn’t fun anymore, I focused too much on
finishing a book that I didn't get the details I needed from it. I have learned my limits
through this experience, I would like to think that I can do everything, but sadly I can’t do
everything.
A Final Thought

Over this past quarter I sense that I have grown as a human, no not taller, I, Izzy
the human not just the student, have learned what I need to do to be a healthy Izzy.

How to grow a healthy Izzy:

1. You need to let your Izzy rest, without sleep your Izzy’s brain will not function
correctly and she will be grumpy. A well rested Izzy likes to work and learn!
2. You must let your Izzy be in sunlight, the winter is beautiful and unique but Izzy
loves the sun, she feels a certain kinship with them (the sun).
3. It is suggested that you feed your Izzy healthy food, she will not die when fed
unhealthy food but healthy food improves her mood.
4. Izzy needs other people, Izzy has found how much she loves other people over the
past quarter, the people surrounding her are angels, and being without them would
be devastating.
PROJECTS

Portfolio: http://ivpp.weebly.com/
Blog: https://izzyspilot.blogspot.com/
Prezi: Prezi

Visual Art

The goals I have set in my learning plan are to learn how to accomplish these skill sets:

● How do I do undertones in skin and landscapes?

● How do I make expression?
● How do I paint metal?
● How do I paint hair?
● How do I make something look translucent?
● How do I paint different positions?

Over this past quarter I have attended figure drawing classes almost every week, it
takes place in Montpelier at the T.W. Woods gallery on Thursday nights. There are two
classes that take place, one is where the nude (or clothed) model poses for 2 hours and the
other is a series of short poses from 1 minute to 20 minute poses. Normally I would bring
pencil and paper and just work on conveying the shape and shading of the model onto the
paper, because I have been going to this class for 2 years now, bringing just pencil and
paper was getting bland. The next week after feeling like the class really challenging me
enough, I brought soft pastels to experiment with skin tone. It was a short pose class and I
tested a few colors out, as poses went for a longer duration of time on I found a way to
semi realistically represent the model using a bright orange and a turquoise. I feel like I
have gotten all I was able to out of this class so I have started to stylize my drawings, doing
small things make them more interesting. For example, I drew a mostly accurate outline of
the female model, I added no shading and I only drew in her freckles and hair. This has
been good practice, and has kept me creating even when I feel like I can't.

These are the paintings that I worked on this Semester:

Giants is a painting that I have started working on this semester it is of a dirt road in
the desert, on the road is a boy with blue shorts, a red shirt and black hair. The is wind
blowing slightly lifting up his shirt, the wind is not coming from a specific direction. The
angle of the painting is as if you were laying on the road and looking up at the boy who is at
least 35 feet away from you with his back towards you looking at a desert mountain range
in the distance. Behind the mountain range is a faint outline of a figure figure standing
facing the boy with his chin up, you cannot see from his mid calf down, whatever substance
he (the giant) is made of is blowing away to the right. The sky is clear for the most part
besides a few small faint clouds. The sun is shining from behind the boy and the desert is
bright. The color of the painting gets more vibrant as you get closer to the viewer, on the
sides of the road near the viewer there are cactus flowers de ocotillo y tunas. Over this past
quarter I have painted the mountain range in the distance and the shy three times over
because they didn't look good enough. The sky was especially difficult because I needed to
make a smooth gradient from light blue mixed with naples yellow hue to a darker blue but
because it was such a large surface and the brushed I have are not extremely big, the
gradient wasn't a smooth transition throughout. To create the feeling of the sky surrounding
the viewer the gradient had to curved like a smiley face which also added difficulty to
getting it right. The gradient that I landed on is still not perfect but is as close as I will get,
no one can beat mother nature in the gradient game, Kudos.

Gemhead is the painting that I finished this quarter, it is of a skull with blue gems in
the eye sockets that are dripping into… gem liquid? On the top left of the skull is a large
crack and out of that crack emerges larger blue quartz-like crystals. There is light coming
from the top right direction. The skull is floating with a black background. The hardest part
about this painting was understanding how light works when interacting with crystals,
eventually I realized I didn’t need to me an optical physicist to paint crystals and I just
made it up. This painting took me almost a year to finish and I am so glad it is over.

Mother and Child is the largest painting I have done and has at least three different
paintings on it. I started out last year with painting a person in a bubble, she was
surrounded by creatures of light in a cave lit with green light. The next painting was the first
version of the Pomegranate, a pomegranate seed holding a mother and child with a black
and white ocean around them. The third and final painting is Mother and Child, Mother and
Child is the same mother and child from the Pomegranate painting but the pomegranate
seed transformed into a different shape (it’s a vulva… shhhhh don't tell anyone), the ocean
around the mystery shape turned into a magenta and yellow sky. The hardest part of this
painting was/is deciding what I actually want it to be, also I am scared to paint clouds
because I haven't ever painted them before. This painting is one I have a stronger
connection with and that is why I haven't given up on it, I made/am making it as a tribute
to the mothers who work hard for their children, Thank you Mom.

The Laughing Woman is a painting of a woman in the desert facing up towards the
sun and smiling with her eyes closed. She is naked was a bronze milagro nailed to her chest
in the shape of a heart the blood from the nail is dripping down her chest and abdomen. Her
arms turn into cactus as you look further down her arm, the thorns that are facing in
towards her body are poking holes into her skin and drawing blood. On her forehead there
is a third eye with a blue and green iris looking directly at the sun. Her hair is long, curly
and dark brown, you can see it go to her lower back. In the background there is a desert, in
the distance there is a mountain range, the sky is clear and the time is about mid-day. The
sunlight shines brightly on the woman and the desert, you can tell that she is sweating, and
the shadows on her body are rather harsh. The hardest part about this painting is trying to
get the skin tone and the facial proportions correct or at least close to realistic. I hate to
choose favorites but if I had to it would be this one, this painting is what I am using to
culturally express myself (if you read my spanish section you will understand). I love the
colors in this piece even though they are not on the canvas yet, I can see her now and the
way she is smiling is the way I want to feel everyday. While I love this painting very much I
am having a lot of trouble painting her skin which I will talk to Meg about.

Rose is a painting that I have worked on very little but I still worked on it, it is a
painting of a red rose with large needle like thorns. There is no challenging component to
this painting, I just need time to do the small details to complete it.

Clarification!
I haven't spent a crap-load of time on these paintings, as I discussed in Too Much
Stuff! On page 3 I have a lot more things going on this semester than the last.

Lear mask, the Lear mask was the mask used in the play Lear directed by Noah
Witke Mele. The mask is 5 feet tall, and 4 and a half feet wide made from a cross shaped
frame split vertically, thick wire for outlining the profile and outer edges, then chicken wire
was used to form all the 3D detail like eye sockets, nose, mouth and cheek bones. I had
help from the other theater techies through these steps and the first two layers of basic
paper mache. After this I took it home over break and made all the smaller facial details
such as wrinkles and eyes. The way I did this was I made cylinders out of the paper
provided for me and I taped them down onto the face where I wanted the skin to be
elevated for example, to make a wrinkle you would have to tape two cylinders down on
either side of the wrinkle you wanted to be seen. After this I did three more layers of paper
mache using wheat paste. The next step was to paint, I spent a lot of time trying to find the
colors that looked realistically like an old man without looking super dead, once I did I
painted it, I painted around the edge of the mask black and in a few of the larger wrinkles
making sure that they didn't look uneven or too intense. Once this was done I put gold
accents all over the skin especially in higher places on the face like the cheekbone, the
forehead, the nose and a few of the wrinkles to bring more attention to them. The hardest
part about this project was that I didn't have a huge amount of excitement towards making
this, it just felt like work, an “I have to” instead of an “I get to”.

Over this past year I have noticed that my painting practice has become more
focused, which seems like a positive thing, I thought it was a positive thing, hell I put these
goals in my learning plan for a reason.

1. I want to improve skin tones, based on where they are, how the light is affecting the
color of the skin.
2. I would like to work with colors in a way that all the colors in the painting work
together harmoniously.
3. I would like to paint from within

I am not trying to say that there is anything wrong with trying to better myself in
these skills but this year I took it too far. Art in its painting form is something that I feel a
special connection with, it helps me understand life, enjoy life, sympathize with people, and
it simply makes my heart skip a beat, my mind is platonically in love with painting. But in
my learning plan I focused a lot on perfecting skill and not on the simple act of painting. By
focusing too much on perfecting skills I washed away what I really enjoyed about painting,
it felt like I lost my connection and painting was starting to feel just like work instead of
play. I stopped listening to music while I painted, I stopped taking dance breaks and as a
result of the perfection factor and the addition of two classed I didn't paint as much.

The pilot students, me being one of them, were all in one of the conference rooms by
the cafeteria in small groups of five having mini 10 minute exhibitions working on the skill of
demonstrating and showing instead of telling. My group was Noah and a few others, when it
came my turn to present I decided to bring out my sketchbook and show my development
in working with skin tones at the figure drawing class on Thursday nights. When I got to a
picture of a woman I drew and shaded her with blue, pink and yellow, I said, “This one is
not good enough because the colors are not realistic”. In response Noah said, “Well it could
be realistic if we put a person in the theater and shone different color gels on them”. At the
time I just argued with him trying to explain that I need to practice with realistic depictions
because my artwork is realistic, I do feel a little bad for not completely hearing him out,
Noah if you are reading this, Sorry. But, this did make me think about what my art can be, I
don't have to make extremely realistic paintings all the time, I can play with light and
elements like I did last year, I am not going to stop trying to achieve perfection but I am
going to try and focus on the act of painting more than making a perfect piece.
 This semester what worked for me was going to figure drawing class routinely, it
helped me with proportions, skin-tone and general improvements in skill. What also worked
for me was painting despite the fact that I didn't do it very often, it was still meditative
when I did it listening to music.

What didn't work this semester was not designating enough time to painting, and
trying to perfect skills that I could benefit from learning with experience. Another thing that
I was missing this quarter was the love and passion for painting, it is what fuels my creative
process.

Izzy’s suggestion to future Izzy:

Don't limit yourself to documenting only the things that you think pertain to your learning
plan, document more art! All the small pieces contribute to you gaining knowledge about
how to do certain things!

I love my friends, platonically I love their minds and souls and I want to make art
about what I love. I plan to make portraits of my friends next quarter surrounded by the
color that I see them as, they will be smiling and a text will say; “you are one of a kind…”
I would also like to finish all the paintings that I have started, third, document all the small
pieces of artwork that I make while also trying to make more smaller pieces that don't
require so much effort. Finally,

I feel the wave coming,

I can tell that I will be creating soon because I feel it in my bones, muscles and forehead,
the image of completed paintings are burned into my eyes as if I already have finished
them, I feel my hands covered in paint and my heart feels lifted.

I will create.

English

This semester I spent the first half of this quarter working on a compare and contrast
essay using The Brief Bedford Reader and Chris to help me structure it properly. I was
comparing and contrasting Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan (1965) and Not A Pretty
Girl by Ani Difranco (1995). I was first going to compare the artists, what their music was
like before this album, how popular was each artist, what did this album signify. Secondly I
would compare and contrast the music styles, what was mostly used in this album, what
was used before and after this album, what did the instruments signify, and if there was
anything in particular that was interesting in the structure of the album having to do with
the instruments. Third I would compare and contrast the lyrical styles including the different
points of view the song is being sung from, the usage of imagery and the possibilities of
interpretation of the lyrics/how literal they were. The fourth paragraph was the best song
from each album in my opinion and provide reasoning to support my choosing. Finally I
would summarize each argument I had for the the album that I thought was better. I
started writing and got through the first two section but I kept looking back in the writing I
had done and questioning whether or not the points I was making were valid or not. I had a
set idea of what the albums were like after listening to them just a few times but as I kept
hearing the songs, the music, and the lyrics, the set ideas I was basing by argument on
were just evaporating into thin air because each album was not what I thought it was.
Dylan’s album was a very pivotal album in his career representing his switch from folk music
to rock with the inclusion of the electric guitar halfway through his album. After listening to
Dylan’s album a few times I had noticed that for the most part he sings about the stories of
others and often distances himself from the song but in Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream he uses
the first person as well as in another song. Difranco’s album was a very personal album
compared to her past albums, singing with one percussionist and one vocalist. Difranco’s
album is also apparently more of an alternative album compared to her music before but
upon listening to her previous albums they did not sound very different, but that is just my
personal opinion. This was one of the areas that I had a lot of trouble writing about because
none of the predictions I made were set in stone. I would get so anxious about writing
something subpar that I would write one sentence then erase it.

Due to my assumption of the what the albums were like and the confusion and
cloudiness that followed, I was getting stressed out that I could not move forward past
these misunderstandings. To add to the preexisting stress from a crowded schedule because
of two extra classes, I was stuck on this essay for a couple weeks, it was starting to pile, I
would try to work on it and everytime I would stop myself, until one meeting I had with
Amy. I informed her about this whole ordeal, being stressed about traditional school and
writing, she, like the savior she is suggested that I change my study to something that I
actually love to let the writing flow naturally. I agreed, I had been studying music for a very
long time and I was simply getting bored of it, I apologize Bob Dylan but I need to put you
on the back burner.

A day or so after my meeting with Amy I set up a meeting with Chris (the week
before February break started) to talk about changing my study to something that I actually
love that could be easier to write about. After talking for a bit we came to the conclusion
that I would put the Music essay on the shelf for a hot minute and focus on two essays, the
first one is about my artistic process and the second one is about the Chicano Movement
and how my family contributed to it which I am psyched about. Over the break I pondered
what questions I would ask my Tata and I made a list of 12 which over the past few weeks I
have been asking him about, he has answered one in a two page document which is very
insightful and reflective of him. Tata if you read this, TQM! The essay about my artistic
process is going to be a slight graphic novel with little Izzys going about the different parts
of the process.

Last week Chris lead a seminar that focused on writing, he had us do hand exercises
and we drew a swirl before writing when we started he asked us questions with a limited
time to write a response and at the end of each prompt we had 7 or 8 minutes to make a
piece of writing using the questions he asked. I realized that because of the timer it was
hard for my brain to squeeze in judgmental thoughts, it was just focusing on writing and
that's it! This was great news I had been trying to find a way to write without judgment for
so long and not I have a way, I just need to set a timer asn ask myself some start up
questions.The things that worked for me this quarter were learning how to write without
judgment and writing about the things that I love.

I have bees writing about music for about a year now and it's getting old, this is meant as
no disrespect to Bob Dylan but listening to one artist for one year over and over and over
again gets boring. I think that writing about music is amazing but it just doesn't work that
well for me. Being too hard on myself was another thing that was keeping me from doing
well and giving it my all.
For next quarter I want to write the two essays one on my artistic process and the other on
the Chicano Movement and my family’s involvement. I would also like to write
accompanying pieces of writing to the series of paintings entitled Sentiment, the pieces of
writing will include some of my favorite memories with that person and well as the intended
meaning of the different colors etc. Besides this I would like to meet with Chris more often
just so I can keep a steady pace with writing. As well as meeting with Chris I would like to
set a frequent time to write, in the mornings most likely.

Buddhism

Over the course of this quarter so far I have meet every other week Kenzan and or
Taihaku our (Amy, Owen and my Buddhism Mentor). As we walk in we take off our shoes
and extra jackets and bow as we enter the temple sitting area, once everyone is in the
sitting area Amy, Owen and I bow and say “Yoroshiku”, then Kenzan and Taihaku bow and
say “Douzo yoroshiku” as a greeting. During our meeting we do a 10-20 minute sitting
practice, first you go to your mat and bow to it then turn clockwise and bow to the other
people in the room. Once everyone has bowed you can sit, I sit with my back straight, my
legs bent but not overlapping making a triangle out of my two knees and my bottom. I put
my hands flat on my knees and try to draw my attention to my breath, my mind usually
drifts but I try to bring it back to my breath, if that doesn't work I focus on other things I
senses in the room, like the cracking fire in the corner behind me, or the smell of incense,
the light coming through the curtain in front of me or the ticking clock. Often times during
sitting practice my back aches so I have to move around to make it less painful. After the
sitting practice we bow to our cushion then straighten it out, stand up and bow again
towards the cushion then turn clockwise and bow to the other people in the room. Despues
de sitting meditation we all go into the kitchen and sit at the small table for a discussion
about our homework which is usually a reading from Seeds For a Boundless Life by Blanche
Hartman or researching a precept seeing how that precept applies to us. Once the
discussion is done we stand up and bow to each other then walk into the sitting practice
room to close with sitting meditation, chanting or practicing lighting the candles on the
altar, placing an incense on the altar or placing water on the altar. To close we bow to each
other and say “Arigato”.

I have done experience meditation, it is like sitting meditation only I usually do it on

walks, in a bath, or when I am just being outside, if you would like to read one of my
responses to experience meditation read the post entitled “Bath” on my Blog.

Every morning before TA at 7:40 Amy, Owen and I meditate in the pilot room for 5
to 10 minutes, other people are welcome to come and join us and oftentimes Zak and Noah
will join in.

As I have mentioned before I have received a new years blessing card from the Shao
Shan Temple (depicted on the front of the narrative). The blessing said “shin-kai” or open-
heart. The week after receiving the card, I noticed how much I love people, platonically of
course, I would get up and be excited to come to school to see the people that make my
day better just by being around me. I realize that so many people have something amazing
inside of them and it is up to you to appreciate that piece of pure love and nurture it so it
grows, through hugs, holding hands, listening, telling jokes or just being there for that
person. I love my friends and everyone who has contributed to my wellbeing on purpose or
not intentionally.
 This semester there was only one thing that wasn’t working for me, when I do sitting
practice my back aches a lot, i don't know how to solve that problem.

For the next quarter I want to establish a morning routine so that I can meditate
daily for at least 5 minutes, I would also like to set a time for me to get more sleep like
going to bed at 11:30 at the latest because I usually stay up till 1. I would also like to read
the pocket book of mindfulness and the childrens books by Byrd Baylor, I read them when I
was smaller and they are full of mindful poetry.

Herbalism

Prezi

During this quarter I have finished my turmeric presentation, this consisted of me

doing a lot of research at computers and printing articles out and highlighting what I
thought was important and occasionally meeting with Mark (the Chemistry teacher).

Along with the turmeric project I meet with my Herbalism mentors (Sasha, Cate, and
James) every other Sunday, during these meetings we talk about different systems in the
body and how different herbs affect specific systems. We also talk about action terms, and
Materia Medica which is your documented experience with plants and basic information such
as the genus and species name, what you harvest and use off of the plant, where does the
plant grow, and what are its action terms. We also usually test different forms of herbal
medicine and take notes on what that herb is good for, as well as testing herbal medicine
we learn how to make herbal medicine like decoctions, salves, oils, and lotion! Sasha
usually gives us homework like determining actions of certain herbs, our most recent
homework in to make a medicine out of calendula and explain why we used the
measurements we did with math.

Everything in this study works for me but I don't have enough time for it, with this study I
would have five studies 5 traditional classes track and dance 32, that is too much, I
wouldn't be able to stay sane if I did that many things.

Dear Science,
,
I am sorry Science, I need a break. The things that I keep close to my heart
are the things that posses a piece of my being. Art will always be there for me to
distress or to express, Writing and Reading allow me to see my thoughts and reflect
on them besides being enjoyable. Buddhism helps me understand myself, others and
this world which makes me a better person. And Spanish, Spanish is where I come
from, the language of my family, or me, my lost language. It helps me understand
myself, my family, and this earth and changes the way I think.

So I am sorry Science, you are beautiful, I love the way you so clearly explain
the workings of this world and of my body. But everything else that I study is a
complete part of me while you are something I can admire from afar. May our paths
cross again, but for now I need to work on me because I know I can be better, and
when I am better I will come back to you.
 Love,
Izzy

Spanish

During this past quarter I Facetimed with my tata at least once a week, when we
Facetime the majority of the time we speak in Spanish but sometimes when I don't
understand what he said we speak in English to clear up the content of the conversation.
Last semester I read with my Tata while we met, this quarter our meeting usually consist of
conversational Spanish which is good because that is what I need to work on, I need to
improve speaking unrehearsed Spanish because life isn’t scripted. Our topic of conversation
varies, a veces I talk about my weekend, or what is stressing me just simple things that we
can build conversations on. Along with this I would do little routines like listening to a 5 to
20 minute podcasts in Spanish and I would try to do Duolingo everyday but I forget like
every other day.

I am reading two historical book in English for my Spanish study, the reason they
are in English not Spanish is because I do not want to misinterpret any important points.
The first book I am reading is Abraham Lincoln and Mexico by Michael Hogan, it is about the
US starting the Mexican American War to get more land to gain more slave states, and how
Abraham Lincoln strongly opposed it and argued that the provocation of Mexico was
unconstitutional. I am reading this book to get the backstory of the Chicano Movement.

The second book I am reading is called Viva La Raza by Yolanda Alaniz which takes a
closer look at the causes of the oppression of the Chicano group of people and examines the
Chicano Movement from the small uprisings to the Grape boycotts. I have gotten to the part
where she starts to define racism.

At the moment I am in CPUS History with Glenn and as this class goes on and on I
keep waiting for us to learn about our relationship with Mexico, the Mexican people or the
Mexican Americans in this country but we never do. We skipped of the Mexican American
War because that apparently didn't happen. We have these projects where we choose a
famous person or events that influenced a certain century, Glenn usually puts the list up on
the board and each time there have been no Mexican Americans or any event that has to do
with them. We have gotten up to the 1930s now and if it isn’t in the curriculum for him to
teach us about Mexicans/Mexican Americans I decided I am going to. So I did a little
research and found the Mexican Repatriation act where the US and local governments
kicked out up to 2 million Mexicans and Mexican Americans during the great depression due
to the national need and anxiety for jobs.

Starting about two weeks into the quarter Karli and I have been having lunch and
speaking Spanish together during third band on Monday. We decided that Karli would bring
dishes from Spain and I would bring dishes from Mexico. Karli brought in things like Paella,
bocadillo and tortillas de España, and I brought in things like Pozole rojo, Pan Dulce y
Horchata, and Enchiladas. I wanted to get all of the recipes from my Tía Dalia but I usually
ran out of time when I made these dishes so I just googled how to make them. I did get the
recipe for the Enchiladas from her and damn they were good.

Through this study I have come closer to my culture, my family and I have desired
more and more to express myself in that way, but I live in Vermont. I am not saying that
Vermont is not an accepting place, it is, I just don’t look Mexican, and I’m not Mexican I am
Chicana. I am just afraid to express myself culturally because people might think that I am
trying to assume an identity instead of trying to be a part of my own. I hate it when people
say, “Oh! Your Mexican? You don't look Mexican”, because you’d think I already knew that
because I have a mirror, I see that I don't look like my Mom, or her Mom or my Tías. I have
been unconsciously expressing myself through The Laughing Woman and Giants, they are
paintings of the desert and of celebration (Laughing Woman) and discovery (Giants).

This study might be my favorite, I feel like I am getting closer to my Tata and
learning about a suppressed part of myself. There was only one thing that didn't work for
me was reading this book called Chicana Power! I really wanted to learn about the feminist
section of the Chicano Movement but the author uses super specialized and complicated
language that I couldn't understand most of it.

For the next quarter I am going to meet more often with Tata and ask him to assign
me homework so I can improve more in Spanish. I would secondly like to write and essay
about my family's involvement in the Chicano Movement in english (a summary in Spanish)
so that it could possibly go in the Chronicle. I would also like to make a presentation about
the Chicano Movement to a Spanish 3 or Spanish 4 class, the presentation will be in spanish
but I will hand out sheets of paper with all the facts on it.
SUBJECT AREAS

English

Credits: 1

For my english credit I was writing using the Brief Bedford Reader as a guide. After I
decided that I didn't want to do that anymore, which was fairly recent, I changed my
study’s focus to writing about the Chicano Movement and my artistic process. I have not
written these essays yet I have been working towards being able to write without judgment
starting about a week ago.

Writing

● I have drafted a compare and contrast essay

● I have written half of a compare and contrast essay
● I have had timed writing and have practiced writing without being a perfectionist

Listening

● I have listened to Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan and Not a Pretty Girl by
Ani Difranco

Reading

● I have read my writing and have made revisions on that writing

● I have read articles on Bob Dylan’s music
● In preparation for my essay about the Chicano Movement I have read Abraham
Lincoln and Mexico by Michael Hogan and Viva la Raza by Yolanda Alaniz

Art

Credits: 2

This quarter in Art I am painting four paintings (reference my project description), going to
figure drawing class every thursday.

Developing Craft

● Figure drawing class

● Painting
● Lear mask

Performing, Presenting, Producing

● I put some pieces of artwork in the ReArt show made of recycled

 ● Lear mask
● I finished Gemhead and submitted it to the congressional show

Connecting

● I have a strong connection to the paintings that I have done of the desert

Responding

● Besides the art critique I haven't done a lot of responding to artwork.

Spanish

Credits: .5

I am facetiming my Tata at least once a week speaking spanish for 30 minutes to an hour,
researching the Chicano Movement and having lunch with Karli every Monday and speaking
Spanish with her.

Communication

● I Communicate in spanish with my Tata in Spanish

● I communicate with Karli every Monday in Spanish

Culture

● I am learning more about the differences between Chicano and Mexican through
reading Viva la Raza and talking with my Tata.
● I am also learning about what my Tata has done in the effort of the Chicano
Movement.

Connection

● I am developing a better relationship with my Tata because of this study

● I getting a few recipes from my Tia Dalia for lunch with Karli

Health

Credits: .5

For my health credit I am studying the Buddhism and participating in practices of the
culture as well as learning through my Buddhism mentor Taihaku.

Standard 5 Influences on health:

Analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology and other
factors on health behaviors.

● I will study and participate in some buddhist practices, and learn about ways of
thinking and beliefs. I will see how participating in these things will affect my mental
health. (5 a&b)

Standard 3 Physical activity and fitness.

Demonstrate the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-
enhancing level of physical activity and fitness

● Apply stress-management strategies (e.g., mental imagery, relaxation techniques,

deep breathing, aerobic exercise, meditation, yoga, strength training) to maintain
balance.

Science

Credits: .5

This semester I made a presentation on the health benefits of Turmeric and why it is good
for the body, I also have met with my herbalism mentors every other Sunday.

Structure and Function:

● I connected the shape of the Curcumin molecule to its role in the body
● I explained antioxidants and the inflammatory response

Change, Cause and Effect:

● I used my knowledge of different herbs to predict how they work for Example,
discussing actions and properties during herbalism meetings and at home when I
was prescribing myself herbal remedies.
TRANSFERABLE SKILLS

Creative Thinking and Problem Solving

● Fixing small things in a painting to make it better

● Designing the Lear mask
● Mock sickness diagnosis with herbalism mentors
● Writing without judgement

Effective and Expressive Communication

● Meetings with Amy every Monday.

● Speaking Spanish with my Tata.
● Meetings With Subject Advisors
● My blog

Engaged Citizenship

● The art I am making is going to be in the art walk (hopefully) in September the profit
from the event will go to The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) to the
Mediterranean Mission.
● Constantly bringing up Mexican Americans in CPUS History.
● Participating in seminar.

Working Independently and Collaboratively

● Mini Herb School.

● Learning Spanish with my Tata.
● Spanish Lunch on Mondays with Karli.
● Independently researching turmeric, Chicano Movement, Pure precepts.

Informed, Integrated, and Critical Thinking

● Biochemistry of turmeric, interacting with different things in the body.

● Conversational Spanish with Tata and Karli.
● Painting, and repainting to get the painting to its best quality.

Self Awareness and Self Direction

● The calendar I use

● Designing a painting and finishing a painting.
● Researching for all the different studies.
● Family history Project
INDEPENDENT LEARNING SKILLS

Perseverance

This semester I have persevered through having a lot of studies and traditional
classes to do work for. The main obstacle was first trying to balance the homework of
traditional classes and pilot work, then it was trying to balance homework from traditional
classes, pilot work, and mental health. I would say that I handled the obstacles fairly well,
but I think I could benefit from implementing stress management activities and having a
schedule that includes traditional school work and taking reasonable breaks.

Inquiry

The way I generate ideas is when I need new ideas I sit for a little bit and think,
when that doesn't work I consult my friends, other pilot students or my advisors. For
example, I was very stuck on what to do with my english study so I talked to Amy about it
and she helped me brainstorm what to change it to. Often times when I am on the phone
with my Mom I express my frustrations and she helps me sort them out.

Time Management

I think that I made an honest attempt to manage my time, I made calendars for
every month, I would schedule my time one week at a time trying to work enough on
everything I needed to. Unfortunately I took on more than I could do so it was a real
challenge to make sure that I worked enough while maintaining my mental health.

Accountability

Through this semester I have been accountable with my meetings with Amy and my
advisors, there have been a few times that I have over planned and had to cancel a few,
but for the most part I was fairly accountable.

Demonstration

I have showed my improvement through my blog for the most part, and through my
meetings with Amy. An example is the the life drawings that I do, there is clear
documentation on my blog of my improvements in understanding skin tone.

Self Advocacy
 I think that this semester I did a pretty good job of advocating for myself, I had a
hard time with a few of my studies and when I felt like I was stuck or I didn't know the next
step I would talk to Amy or my subject advisors.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Annotated MLA format citations of all media and people you have used this semester. (Use
easy bib)

Scherbatskoy, Meg. "Painting Mentor." Interview. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Meg is my painting mentor, I worked with her last year and I am working with her this year as well.

Perez, Lucia Angela. Interview. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Lucia is my mom and she will help me with painting

Wade, Adrian. "Art Advisor." Interview. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Adrian will help me with painting

Google Arts & Culture. Google, n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.

I will use this site to look at other artist's work.

"Timeline." Salvador Dali Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.

I will use this site to look at Dali's paintings.

"Available Images." Alma Gilbert. N.p., 01 May 2015. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.
I will use this source to look at other artist's work.

"Home | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art." The Met's Heilbrunn
Timeline of Art History. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.
I will use this source to look at other artist's work.

"The Getty." The Getty. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.

I will use this to look at other's artwork.

The Hidden Masters. Danbury, CT: MasterWorks, 1984. Print.

I will use this to study other people's artwork.

The Hidden Masters. Danbury, CT: MasterWorks, 1984. Print.

I will use this to study other people's artwork.

Bordes, Philippe, and Jacques Louis David. Jacques-Louis David: Empire to Exile. New Haven,
CT: Yale UP, 2007. Print.
I will use this to look at techniques of painting.
Hogan, Michael. Abraham Lincoln and Mexico: A History of Courage, Intrigue and Unlikely
Friendships. San Diego, CA: Egret.com, 2016. Print.

Hartman, Zenkei Blanche. Seeds for a Boundless Life. N.p.: Shambhala Publications, 2015.
Print.

"Buddhist Mentor." Interview by Kenzan. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

"Buddhist Mentor." Interview by Taihaku. n.d.: n. pag. Print. Works at Shao Shan Temple

Marti̕nez, Elizabeth Sutherland, and Enriqueta Longeaux Y Va̕squez. Viva La Raza! The
Struggle of the Mexican-American People. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974. Print. I
will use this book to research the Chicano Movement.

Blackwell, Maylei. Chicana Power!: Contested Histories of Feminism in the Chicano

Movement. Austin: U of Texas, 2015. Print. I will use this book to research feminism in
the chicano movement.

Perezdiaz, Roberto. Mas Sabe El Diablo. México, D.F.: Ediciones EoÌn, 2012. Print. I will be
translating this book

"Learn a Language for Free." Duolingo. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017. I will use this to
improve my language skills.

"Quizlet." Quizlet. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.

I will use this to help me memorize words.

"CONJUGUEMOS." Home Page || Conjuguemos. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.

I will use this to help with conjugating.

"Testimonials." News in Slow Spanish | Learn Spanish Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.

I will use this so I can understand it when people talk.

"Spanish Mentor." Interview by Roberto Perezdiaz. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Tata is my spanish mentor.

Los cuatro acuerdos

"Song Lyrics & Knowledge." Genius. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.
I will use this site to look at the grammatical analysis of the song.
"Gale Group." Go.galegroup.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2017.

I will use this site to find information about Bob Dylan and other peoples opinions on the
songs.

Writing about Music. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2017.

I will use this to help me learn about how to write about music.

"The Bob Dylan Bootleg Series Page 3." Stereophile.com. N.p., 28 July 1991. Web. 01 Oct.
2017.

I will use this to look at the meaning of the eternal circle

Dylan, Bob, and E. Sa̕nchez Abuli̕. Bob Dylan Revisited. Barcelona: NORMA Editorial,
2011. Print.

I will use this site to look at artists interpretations of Bob Dylan's music.

Dylan, Bob. The Lyrics: 1961-2012. London: Simon & Schuster, 2016. Print.

I will use this to look at the lyrics of Bob Dylan's songs.

Hornby, Nick. Songbook. San Francisco: McSweeney's, 2013. Print.

I will use this to look at another person's interpretation based on their life experiences.

Blackburn, Chris. "-." Interview. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

Chris will help me with analysing songs.

"How Dylan's 'Bringing It All Back Home' 'Stunned the World'." Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone,
22 Mar. 2016. Web. 31 Mar. 2018.