Are Pheromones for Real?

After reading an article that stated that love has to do with pheromones, Team Lovely went to work to find out if this was so and found out some other facts concerning love as well. Alanna Reyes, Ralph Kevin Gomez and Ashleigh Richelle did some research as well as interviewed fellow SMASH scholars and Residential Assistants in order to a gain a wide perspective on a little thing called love.

What’s In a Name?

When I first meet a new person, nine out of ten times that person will think or assume that I am Indian. However, I do not believe there is a single drop of Indian blood in me. In fact, I am a Mexican-American. What is even more amusing is that my name also throws off the new person as well too: Ashleigh Megan Richelle. Not your typical Hispanic name, yet it suits me just fine.

The history behind the making of my name is not very complex. My mother picked out the name Ashleigh one day when she happened to see it on a sign. She knew that was the name for me. Of course, my family on my mother’s side wanted me to have a more traditional Hispanic name like Guadalupe or Maria, but my mother held firm on the name Ashleigh. What I appreciate most about my first name is that it is unique in its spelling. There are only three other Ashleighs that I have seen with the common spelling. It makes me feel special that I can stand out in this way. My last name, on the other hand, is quite a mystery. Let’s just say that my last name may not even be the correct last name, but that is a long story that should not be delved into now. What I do know for sure is that my last name, Richelle, is of French origin. Whether my last name is the correct one or not, the roots of the name have coincided with who I am today and what inspires me.

In my montage is a medley of imagery that makes up who I am. Of course I include the colors of the Mexican flag on my softball field to show pride for my culture. I also include the Eiffel Tower, not because my last name is of French origin, but because for the longest time I have had a deep connection with France. Call me crazy, but even before I knew the origin of my last name, I had always been fascinated, inspired and in love with the country. It is the one place in the world that I would want to visit. In the background of my montage is a picture of a ripple from a water drop layered on top with pictures of exactly five daisies and three dragonflies. The daisies and dragonflies with the corresponding numbers signify a few of my favorite things: my favorite flower, favorite animal and favorite numbers. The background image of the ripple represents how I am a very emotional person (i.e. crying). Ever since I was a little girl, I was always empathetic with everything and everyone.

In the foreground, there is much more to look at. I set my scene on a softball field because the sport had a big impact on my life. When on the field and at play, nothing matters at the moment. Softball became an outlet for me to let out all my frustrations. It helped build my character and made me better-rounded. Around the softball field, one can also spot a bright green tree, a moose, and the characters Little Miss Shy and Oscar the Grouch. The bright green tree is actually an Ash Tree. The direct translation of my name is “of the ash tree” so it only seemed appropriate to include it somehow. The moose found in the scene is actually there to represent my childhood (and today) nickname: Moose! My mother came up with the name because I had always been a big kid growing up. I passed my mom in height several years ago, so it was then that she began calling me Moose because a moose is a very massive and robust animal, like I was and still am today.

The last two characters found on my montage are Oscar the Grouch of Sesame Street and Little Miss Shy. Oscar the Grouch is on my montage because he describes three main characteristics of me: Eyebrows, smelliness and grouchiness. Now before you get all weirded out, please take a second to read on. When I was little, I had this bad habit of not taking a shower everyday. I will not go into detail, but be sure that that phase is long gone! Also when I was little, I was a very hairy child. So as you can assume I had a bit of a monobrow growing up. Nothing extreme, yet was still present. Lastly, I mention the grouchiness for one reason only: I am NOT a morning person.

Little Miss Shy represents exactly what her name states: being shy. I had always been a very shy and insecure person. I have always been very socially awkward (and still am to a certain degree), so making friends was such a hassle. For a while, my shyness left me a loner in grade school. As time went on though (and honestly with special thanks to this program) I have been able to break out of my shell. I include the Little Miss Shy character to remind me of how much I have grown and a reminder to help others get through such troubles too.

Media et Moi

I recently found an old home video of my family and me visiting Half Moon Bay on Halloween. My favorite part was an approximately 3 minute long segment of 4 year old me unsteadily riding a pony and repeatedly yelling, “Austin!” at my baby brother. I could tell I was having a lot of fun, yet I don’t remember a thing about that trip. Thanks to media, namely our ancient cinder block of a video camera, I can now go back and relive the moment. There is so much more that makes up media than you know, or at least I knew. In a way, technology is what makes the world go ‘round these days, but technology can also have opposite and sometimes detrimental effects as well.

From my computer at home to my always-by-my-side IPod, technology is constantly around me and affecting me. My first experiences with media began during my pre-kindergarten and on years of home videos. Nowadays, it is all about having the latest IPod or the newest LG camera phone. As a child (and even now), I was completely fascinated by all the buttons and toggles and etc., not to mention the gadgets’ shiny colors. It is simple factors like color and style that make the actual contraption so popular. Furthermore, it is the ever-evolving media capabilities that make these machines ever more effective at exposing the public to different types of media.

Music, video and the internet are probably the top three forms of media exposure. Media, in all its forms, has also provided an effective way of communicating all over the world. While telephonically and using email is the most direct way of communication, it is often the indirect forms of communication such as music, television and internet that have a much bigger influence. From musicians, like The Foo FightersKT Tunstall, to videos on NBC concerning the war or Nickelodeon, home of great cartoons, all provide some sort of message to their audience, positive and negative. and

As technology and media changes, the world changes as well. Media can change how people communicate with each other. Through programs like Adobe Photoshop and Windows Movie Maker, communication becomes more focused on what we see with our eyes. Media can make communication more beautiful, more pleasing and more entertaining. These changes are even occurring now. At my high school, Santa Teresa High School, there is a program called the Multimedia Arts Magnet Program. In this environment, we use programs like those said above. I have learned how too communicate my ideas, opinions and likes through art and technology, integrated into one. It is in this class that I have learned to create new memories in an abstract way.