AWOL - [Video] Project #1

Melanie's Way of Life from Mel Dionisio on Vimeo.

Title: Melanie’s Way of Life
By: Melanie Dionisio

Description:
In my video, majority of my pictures and clips are of my family, friends and myself in different situations taken place in the past. I included specific clips, such like my sister and I when we were four and five years old to show that even from young to old we act the same way, in terms of hanging out and goofing around at times. I would have to say that my sister is a major part of my way of living for the fact that I not only live with her, but she has been around for literally everything. Of course there are my friends and other family members who have seen me in my ups and downs, but my sister has always been there for every waking moment.
In my video I included another clip of me in class and how I explain that I was tired. The pictures and the following video that comes after it explains why I am tired; playing basketball, studying in school and hanging out friends is basically what I do on a daily basis that gets me tired.
Nothing is necessarily bad in my way of living. What seems ‘good’ is the opportunity to be around friends and family who accept me for who I am. As corny as that might sound, it is true. Few people have friends or family that actually accepts him/her for what they do, whether it is relatively something so small, or big. I am pretty satisfied with my ‘way of living’, though if I were to fit my entire way of life in a 5 minute video, I would have liked to include the other side of me: my personality. I am sure a few students have done this project to show what he/she does physically, such as hanging out with friends. It would probably have been better if I included a segment of me talking directly to the camera explaining who I am as a person and how my way of living is a bit different from everybody else.

Analysis:
Currently my way of living is stressful. It is only stressful because I put a lot of pressure on myself when it comes to school work and trying to maintain an A- in all my classes. I also have the habit of trying to maintain time for everything else that does not involve school, which includes my social life. Juggling the two main aspects of my life is not as hard, though when it comes to the massive amount of homework given in one night, including college class AND basketball, is quite a handful.
The good, ‘bad’, and the neutral all fit together in my way of living by helping me understand life and the way it is. There is no doubt that people have their own perceptions about life, but in relation to what I have gone through in the past, including the bad experiences I have encountered—but would not consider ‘my way of living’, has helped me through many other rough times that I have gone through. I personally do not think that my way of living is the ‘typical American way of life’ for the fact that my way of living includes the person that I am. The way that I come out to people is oddly enough my way of living as well. The way I respond, communicate, and react to other people is different compared to most people. Like the saying goes “all people are different in many ways”, and it is true. I find myself different from other people, especially for being and Asian-American; people usually underestimate me for that. My way of living includes myself not necessarily proving to others that I am different compared to most Asians who are shy and quiet, but show the real, outspoken side of me that likes to get her point across in any given situation.