Thursday, January 31, 2013

Ask the Experts


What is your area of expertise? Tell us about something you find interesting and know a lot about, but write in such a way that someone who doesn't know anything about your subject will still find it engaging.

11 comments:

  1. The one thing that I love to study the most is the human body. I have studied it since sophomore year in high school and love it! I love the concept that our Heavenly Father has created such a complex, intriguing figure. Everything flows so well together and all of the processes that occur in your body all flow together, letting you live. I love seeing and learning how each part of your body works as a separate system, yet it still needs everything else in your body in order for you to survive. I also find it interesting that within each organ, and even each tiny cell, there are so many processes going on. The human body is one testimony to me that we have a Heavenly Father. How else could there be such a perfect, yet complex being?

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  2. I'm not sure if I have that one thing that I know a ton about. It's more like I know a little bit about a variety of things, but one thing I've always loved is watching movies or TV shows and seeing how characters are portrayed through their clothing. This sounds pretty superficial, and it kind of is, but I think it's amazing how a costume designer can set up a character's background so flawlessly before the character even utters a sound. Imagine if Thor came over to Earth and he was in jeans and a tee shirt. It just wouldn't make any sense. Sure, we'd get the gist of what was going on, but (especially in superhero movies) the costumes and clothing just help complete the movie. Often, you can even see a character's changes through their outfit and it's so subtle, you hardly notice. A character may gradually transition from dressing in all black to wearing bright colors as they progress through the film. What a person wears is not the most important thing on the planet; however, it's pretty neat to see what a difference the right outfit can make, especially in TV and film.

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  3. I feel like I know quite a bit about ballroom dance. Right now in my class here, we are working on perfecting a Tango routine. The Tango is a dance that originated in Argentina when ranchers would come back from the fields after a hard day's work and go to the bars or pubs to relax. At these bars, there would be women dancing, and after the men inevitably got drunk, they would go up and try to dance with the women. The way I have heard it for why the women actually danced with these stinky, drunk ranchers was because they wanted to steal their wallets from their back pockets, so they danced closer to the ranchers from the hips and below, but their heads were pretty much as far away from the men as they could get them. The Germans and the English picked up on this dance style and added a bit of their own culture to it, making the Tango I'm learning today what it is. The English brought the snobby, noble, and tall or strong look to the dance and the Germans brought the sharpness, so you know a person is doing well dancing the Tango if they look like they think they're stuck up and if they have sharp movements as if they were a snake striking at prey. It's pretty hard to do really well because the guy is supposed to dance with his legs bent a lot, as if he was doing a wall sit. The big difference is that it's a one-legged wall sit and most of the stress is in the thigh. Also, the dance frame made with a person's arms has to look divine or the dance couple looks mediocre. Think of it this way: you have a 200 pound man standing on your shoulders to keep them from rolling down and forward, but you also have fish hooks on a fishing line attached to your elbows that pulls your elbows up at the same time. No wonder when someone is dancing that they sometimes get this glazed look on their face and look totally out of it!

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  4. I would say that right now my main area of expertise involves my job. I work as a CNA, or a Certified Nurses Assistant, at a home health and hospice company. A lot of people don't know what this is. Basically I go to the homes of disabled or elderly people who are no longer able to function on their own, and I have the opportunity to help them with their personal cares. This includes showering them, brushing their teeth, feeding them, etc. When people hear what my job actually is most people ask things like, "Isn't it awkward to give someone else a shower, or help an adult get dressed?" Some people ask, "Why would you ever want to do that?" I can't blame them! guess it is kinda a weird thing to do, if you think about it. But I can honestly say that I love my job more than anything else in the world right now. I tell these people that it really isn't awkward, because when you have the opportunity to help someone who otherwise couldn't help themselves, there's a special bond that is created there. I can't express how much love I have felt for the patients I go see and coming from the patients I go see. Every day I walk away from my job feeling more fulfilled. I have had quite a few sacred experiences with these people, especially in the time just prior to their departure from this earth. When I go see a patient for my job I walk away thinking, "Now this is what my life is all about," and as weird as it sounds, in that moment there is nothing I would rather be doing.

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  5. I love sports, but my expertise in this area is volleyball. I played for 8 years and I still love it though I decided not to play in college (mostly because I am short). Volleyball can be played by anyone, yet the amount of fun never decreases as the game changes with skill level. Volleyball is the best sport because it is fast-paced and you have less injuries than other sports that are contact sports. Some people think that as it is not a direct contact sport, that it isn't as competitive or fun. This is not true, for all of the guys or girls that like to hit people, you can still do this by slamming the ball down someone's throat.

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  6. I have never considered myself an expert in anything, instead I am more of a person that knows a little about a lot of things. However, there are definitely things that I love more than others, and things that I find more interesting. One thing that I like more than any others is juggling. You could say I'm addicted. I have 10 juggling balls with me here at college. I have been juggling since I was 14, and have done a couple performances. One thing that I love about juggling is how there are so many different intricacies about it: the type and sizes of the balls, different tricks, and even different ways to perform. Because of the many intricacies, there are also a lot of things that juggling can be related to. My favorite analogy, that I love sharing, is all about focus. So, when people are first learning to juggle, or just playing around pretending to juggle, they focus on each ball as they toss it up, and as they catch it. However, this is usually the greatest downfall, and what causes the most balls to be dropped. The concept behind all of this is actually quite simple, so I will stop dragging on and on. When you focus at the apex of the arch that the balls are following, then the balls can just fall into place as you let your peripheral vision and hand-eye coordination catch the balls. This has helped me so much in my life, because I have constantly been metaphorically juggling things in my life: school, social life, time management, etc. When I focus on just one of the things, it seems like everything else suffers, and falls out of place. However, when I focus on my Savior, who can lead my life, I can let everything else just fall into place, and everything is on the up and up. So remember, when you are having problems, focus on the Savior, who can guide your life for the better.

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  7. Well as with may others I hardly consider myself an expert of anything; more like a jack of all trades, master of none. However, if I had to pick, the thing I would choose would garner both scoffs from some (namely females) and a full fledged discussion on the topic (any nerdy guy). Zombies. When in the presence of those with similar feelings toward these mythical(?) creatures from the beyond, we could talk for hours discussing facts, myths, weapon preference, defense techniques, who to have in your survival group, tactics and on and on. To any who know nothing about the topic, but are willing to learn we would simply have to start with defining what these undead foes actually are and what myths have been created due to popular belief and media. For knowledge is power in an undead world. We then would have to discuss weapons and what the pros and cons are of each class of zombie slayer. After this we must talk about defense strategies: where would you go? How would you barricade properly? When to engage and when to run? We also would have to consider the likely possibility of having to pack up and leave in a moments notice; what would you take, what would you leave, where would you go? These are all things that merit serious discussion in the unlikely but still possible chance of a local, national and even worldwide panic in the face of an outbreak.

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  8. Hmm, what am I an expert at? I'm not entirely sure, but two things come to mind. One starts with a C, then an A, then a D. Any guesses? Yes? No? Actually, that was a trick question. The answer is CAD, and I don't expect most of you to know what that is. It stands for computer aided drafting. Don't stop reading there; I know some of you probably aren't too interested in technology, but you might at least find my second area of expertise interesting so stay tuned. CAD is basically engineering and/or architectural design using computer programs. There are programs for making full 3D models and others for 2D drafting layouts. I prefer working in 3D, but I enjoy CAD in general and I currently have a job as a CAD technician at Vivint Solar creating 2D layouts of the roofs of customers who would like to have solar panels installed on their house. Now for the second thing. I'm pretty good at finding awesome deals for just about anything you might want to buy. I search internet stores a lot and have come up with some of my own search techniques to find the best deals out there. I get the large majority of the things I want that cost more than a few bucks for half off or more. As a third thing I'm good at, I would like to add photography (specifically nature photography), but I suppose I can't really consider myself an expert yet.

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  9. After thinking about this for 20 minutes, two areas of expertise popped into my head. Friends and family have always told me that I am an "expertise" in socializing. I have confidence in myself and thus, never hesitate to talk to strangers or my peers. I am a very bubbly and open person so can talk about anything under the moon with anyone. I absolutely love getting to know more about someone and making friends! Being a good listener has also strengthened that expertise. I just love people, I'm very much of a people person; I would much rather hang out with a person I met two minutes ago then go home and watch TV alone.

    Another idea that came into mind was the fact that I love taking challenges. Getting out of my comfort zone is the best feeling! Here's a little secret... one of the predominant reasons I picked up the cello was because there was only two cello spots left in an orchestra and so I challenged myself to learn the pieces and tryout to see if my hours of practice everyday after school paid off. I love the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction after I understand something or do a task well. Something I have noticed about myself is I hate taking the easy way out; for some odd reason, I would much rather work my butt off.

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