With the image, I wanted to continue the water aesthetic of the previous two reflections and introduce the conclusion of this website. In this image, there is a woman that has risen or propelled out of the water. This represents how I have not only completed the construction of this website but also how I have solidly formed a worldview. Throughout this semester and the construction of this project, I have gone from an initial worldview of finding meaning through examining your past, to redefining my worldview by stating we find meaning through voicing yourself to the world, and even to forming aspects and a purpose for my worldview. I applied hours of great effort towards contemplating my worldview almost every day and I was finally glad to have reached the accomplishment of defining my worldview. The water splashing out from the woman in the image also shows the effect of this accomplishment since the exaggerated way in which the water is sent flying through the air represents how exceptionally glad and proud I was to have made tremendous progress with defining my worldview. In addition, I have had water portrayed as an analogy to my mind in the images for the reflections, so rising from the water also represents how I have finally pulled myself out of the depths of my mind. Since I was spending hours of time trying to redefine my worldview, I was putting pressure on myself and I would end up not wanting to continue working on the project. So, by now completing this website, I feel like I have now proudly risen from my mind and can begin to relax.

Through the creation of this website and the time that I have spent contemplating my worldview and myself over the semester, there are some conclusions that I have made regarding who I am and my future.

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First, I have learned that I desire to enact change through voicing myself. Before I had entered the HNRS 2020 class and began working on this website, I had been paying attention to events occurring in the world around me. As was stated in the "Altered Perspective" page, I have noticed things, like the high chance of divorce, that made me question what was being told by the world for me to do in my life. Still, I did not necessarily desire to change the world around me because I was focused on my future and my career, thinking that this focus would lead me to my meaning. However, I began contemplating my worldview throughout the semester and took into account my absence of contentment with the world. The worldview I then formulated after extended periods of thinking and introspection was that we, or at least I, want to voice ourselves to the world. By formulating this worldview, it helped me come to the realization that I should strive to change the world around me, but I did not know the methods that I could use. Although, in reference to my "Altered Perspective" page again, I noticed that Patrisse Cullors voiced herself through a nationwide movement and Eric July used the mediums of music and video to voice himself. I then understood that I could use a wide range of methods to voice myself, like audio, as seen with the songs on the "Deeper Understanding" page. It was also with this medium of audio that I was able to further understand the aspects and purpose of my worldview. As I was recording multiple takes of the explanations for my songs, which are on the "Deeper Understanding" page as well, the statements I made about aspects of my worldview began to really resonate with me. I even began applying an apsect of the worldview, as said in the "Evaluation" page, which was making great efforts. Yet, I still had doubts about my worldview, which will be discussed in my third conclusion. Ultimately, through defining my worldview further and using the medium of audio to deeply understand it, I have discovered that I am someone who wants to voice myself and enact change in the world around me.  

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Second, I have learned that I cannot handle being in a constant state of critical thinking. Like I said in the "About the Site" section of the website's "About" page, I was given the entirety of this semester to work on the website. Realizing that I was being given a generous abundance of time, I immediately started working on the project once it was announced. I began with writing my initial worldview, which was that we look back on our past and evaluate it to determine if we have a meaningful life. This initial worldview is also stated on the "First Reflection" page. However, I was only dipping my toes into my mind and my worldview, as was discussed with the image on the "First Reflection" page, and I was therefore dissatisfied with the view that I possessed. Hence, I began contemplating my worldview more intensely, to discover new aspects of it or a purpose behind it, and more often, whether it be while I was brushing my teeth or reading a book or on a morning run. As a result of this notion, I was able to redefine my worldview, which is we find meaning through voicing ourselves to the world. Also, I was able to formulate some aspects of it, which are being confident and making great efforts, and I theorized a purpose behind the worldview, which is to become a person and feel satisfied with your life. Although, while I did form a worldview that I was proud of, the constant contemplation began to add immense stress on me. As was expressed with the image on the "Second Reflection" page, by thinking about my worldview most of the time, I began to feel as if I were drowning myself in my thoughts, which led me to not feel well, be focused on assignments for other classes, or relax. I eventually realized that the time I was giving to pondering my worldview and myself rather than relaxing or pursuing other endeavors was also hurting future developments on my worldview. This is because I would be worn out from thinking about it too often and thus I would want to get away from contemplating my worldview. In response to this stress, I started to think about my worldview less once I had redefined it and I gave myself more time to relax or work on other assignments. This notion made me actually crave the time to think about my worldview and dive deep into my mind. I was wanting to think about it rather than needing to think about it. Contemplating my worldview then started to not feel like a chore but something exciting and fun. Overall, by limiting the amount of time I spent critically thinking about myself and my worldview, I felt more prepared and starving to contemplate myself and my worldview. Henceforth, I will be limiting how much time I spend critically thinking throughout my day so I can find time to relax, chase other ventures, and crave the chance to think critically.

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Lastly, I have discovered that I might need to rethink my path towards college and the future. With my worldview, I came to the conclusion that by voicing myself I will find meaning in order to be satisfied with my life. I had said with the "Altered Perspective" and "Deeper Understanding" pages that I can achieve this by being confident, making great efforts, accepting regrets, pursuing a passion, etc. Still, I wonder if there is more to be added to my aspects that cement the path to voicing myself. For example, I have been employing the notion of pursuing my passion by writing short fiction that communicates messages I want to see adopted by the world around me. However, I have taken note of the difficulty creative writers face or have faced with communicating their work to a large audience. The more notable journals, like The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, and The Southern Review, tend to accept work from authors who have already gained a wide audience, received notary acclaim from other prominent authors, or received literary awards. Even I have submitted to some smaller journals and have been rejected. A solution then would be to self-publish my own work, but every part of the publishing process comes with a cost. To publish, you need an editor to look over your work, a marketer who can advertise your book, an artist who can design the covers and spine of your book, and many other individuals. To hire all of these people would leave the author with having to pay thousands of dollars for the publishing of one book. So, right now, I am trying to combine my writing with the medium of audio, including music and sound effects, so I can create content that can be posted to free self-publishing platforms like YouTube. Yet, I still think about if this content will finally lift my voice up to a large audience, or if it will get lost amongst the millions of others. It is thoughts like these that make me wonder if I should add more to or redefine aspects of my worldview. One aspect, that draws upon what I have said in the "About Me" section of the "About" page, would be changing the notion of pursuing a passion to the notion of pursuing a career that will financially secure me. Concerning this notion, I have had the idea of pursuing a career that can allow me to make a salary of at least $72,000 annually, since this would grant me enough money to live by myself and save up for a car, retirement, and even for creating opportunities to self-publish my voice to the world. I am still unclear, though, on what these opportunities would be. Nonetheless, this goal would take decades of time to accomplish and heavily dedicating myself to this financially stablizing job could entrap me within it and make me lose sight of my worldview of voicing myself to others. These thoughts sound like a slippery slope, but they are ones that I want consider since I want to form the best possible future for myself while sticking to my worldview. Overall, the path that I choose to take in college and in my future will need to be contemplated for some time, but through staying confident in myself, pursuing a passion, opening myself up to and accepting failure, and continuing to make great efforts towards voicing myself, I believe that I will carve a stable path for my life.

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"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how" ("Friedrich Nietzsche"). 

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I want to send my sincerest of regards to browsers of the site for treking to the end of my website. This website was a serious challenge to undertake. It had me frustrated on several varying levels but ultimately taught me more about myself than I thought it would. I also want to thank Dr. Diehl for giving our class this project. The time and effort I invested into not just this project but to other assignments and listening in on class discussions has tremendously deepened the waters of my mind and opened them up to how I view the world and my future. I certainly will never forget him as one of the most important and impactful teachers I have ever encountered. Thank you, Dr. Diehl, for hosting HNRS 2010 and HNRS 2020, and thank you, Bowling Green State University, for allowing me to experience such a profoundly insightful and inspirational pair of classes.

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On the next page, you can view citations and links to the sources that were used to aid in the construction of this website.

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Thank you again!