I think I will wake up every morning and bellow a morning breakfast chant like Pink’s 18 month old baby. Sounds like fun.

Empathy is not a new idea to me. Empathy is part of who I am. I feel for people like the homeless and less fortunate in general everyday when I see them. I put myself in others shoes when I say “Ha! I’m an INTA major. Have fun doing that OWL chemistry stuff, Lab, and Calc 2 homework.”

I felt like doing the “Play ‘whose life?’” activity would end badly on my part so I decided to write some empathetic ‘cards,’ since most of the activities required moving or getting someone else to volunteer their time.

Card 1- Dear Billy Bob Joe Junior XII,
I am very sorry for your loss. Losing everything you ever lived for is a bummer. I know. I’m sorry its impossible to get it all back. I guess my suggestion is, buy an external hard drive. Computers don’t like us.
-Walker

Card 2- Dear Occupy Atlanta,
I’m sorry you are all homeless and don’t like large brand companies, you might want to not sleep in a North Face tent, but there is a difference in homelessness and annoying bums. Go get a job and or work harder before I punch all of you. Quit calling for socialism in a capitalist country. Oh, and Wall Street didn’t do it. That’s just a street people drive on. I am empathetic for your stupidness and homelessness.
-Walker

http://occupyatlanta.org/2011/11/07/press-release-occupy-atlanta-brings-it%E2%80%99s-message-home/#.TrqjOYIaPOJ
Occupy Atlanta, now reaching out to yards and parks!

Card 3- Dear Engineers,
If I were you i’d be dead by now. Last night I only got 2-3 hours of sleep and I am an INTA major. Good luck on not dying… oh and Thermo.
-Walker

I am empathetic to the maximum.

So here is an article.
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2097720_2097782,00.html

But we don’t care about the article. We care about the picture of the zebras. Here is a story based on these zebras…. zebri… zebren… zebra…s. 
After the war the cities turned to ruin. Weeds grew between everything and flowing fields of grass erected in the most unnatural places. The cities were eventually flooded by strange animals from the zoos that were rusted and broken open. Out of all the monkeys, lions, tigers, and bears, the zebras managed to survive the longest. Its been 121 years now. There are few zebras left yet they still manage to populate and adapt. The plains expanded far and wide providing more food for them to devour. They eventually moved out of the city interior and into the plains on the outskirts of the city. It was safe there. Nothing to be scared of and nothing that would attack them. They stayed in the prairies for years afterwards to survive. The city eventually crumbled into nothing, but the zebras stood tall.

Who do I have to interview to get an idea around here?

Dr. Seymour Goodman

Goodman is a Professor in the INTA community and a Co-Director for the Center of International Strategy. He focuses on public policy issues surrounding information technologies and the international developments of these technologies. Goodman has been backed by such groups as Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. He teaches courses such as Challenge of Terrorism and Information Security Policies and Strategies. Goodman has some focus on interests I may persue.

Dr. Vicki Birchfield

Birchfield is a professor in the INTA community. She focuses on European endevours. Much of her work is based on abroad topics. She seems like she would be a quality candidate to talk to about work in European countries based on politics. Many of her classes are on topics related to Europe and politics, for example Government and Politics of Western Europe and EU-US Relations.

Tom Pilsch

Not much is said about him on the gatech website, but he is a professor of the Practice of National Security! That’s up my alley, I think. His research focuses on some really interesting topics like strategic planning, leadership development, aircraft operations and design, and the history of war. These topics make him seem like an interesting candidate to talk to about my field.

Questions.

What kinds of work do you do outside of Tech?
What other careers were you interested in?
What do your majors focus on career wise?
Do you know anything about working for government agencies?
What do you enjoy about your field?
What kinds of connections have you made over the years in your field?
Have you worked in another country?
Why do you focus on national security?
Whats your favorite aspect of your field and or position?
Are you really happy? (haha)
Is there anywhere else you’d be than working here?
or did you ever have other aspirations?
What kinds of problems do you see people in your field look to solve? Weather it be global or right here at tech.
Who else outside of Tech would you recommend talking to?

I’ve got to be honest. Since I don’t know my track I don’t really know who I should be looking for. But here are some people that seem nice!

Here at Tech, I plan on getting my INTA degree and working in a governmental agency (I think). David Petraeus is the director of the CIA. Petraeus was a five star general at one point. He has a science degree from the US Military Academy. Later he got his PhD at Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. Patraeus was in the military and now is at the top of the intelligence and technological world. If that doesn’t make him an inspiration from the start, he is now considering running for presidency.

David Petraeus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Petraeus

Colin Powell, another general in the United States Military, now a statesmen and incredible diplomat. He has served on the Joint Chief of Staffs from 1989-1993. At age 49 he served as Reagan’s National Security Advisor while still being a lieutenant in the military. He as well as Patreus, was in the military. He served druing Vietnam. At one point during the war he rescued some men from a burning building. And now that same man is a political leader!

Colin Powell
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Colin_powell_(official_portrait).png

Loch K. Johnson is, sadly, a professor at UGA for Political Science. He has written many books and is an editor for the journal “Intelligence and National Security.” Writing I am  not so much for, but that subject I am all about. He has served on various committees for intelligence oversight over the years. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of California. Even without a military background, which I don’t have but wish I did sometimes, Johnson’s basis centralizing on Intelligence and National Security is up my alley.

Loch K. Johnson
http://kennedy.byu.edu/events/enews/news10mar09.html

First I’d like to address the fact that I’m in the art of liberal arts and I AM NOT an engineer what so ever. Yes I to question why I am here sometimes. As a kid I had three aspirations, tour in a band, make films, or be a spy. Sadly none of these are very realistic, but I’m not a realistic kind of guy. Why would I want to aspire to be an engineer or a guy who sits at a desk doing math for some firm? Today I still question myself and wonder if I should transfer to a film school. I came close to attending GSU for film, but I realized GT kind of beats GSU when it comes to getting jobs. So I figured money is greater than happiness, right? I also kind of convinced myself that film was a lost cause and wouldn’t go anywhere. I still do it as a hobby since its fun and something I can process and see in my mind and then execute, unlike calculus, cs, and basically anything else here.

So with film out of the way, what about touring in a band? I have a band! I love playing music and I love being on stage. Yet again, it’s unrealistic of course. How often are bands actually successful? Again it’s more of a hobby to pass time. Like film I continue to do it in my free time since I enjoy it so much. So where else do I have to go that I will enjoy? As I searched through college majors I stumbled upon “International Affairs.” It’s such an  intriguing major in my opinion. It just sounds more exciting and fun than engineering or bio medical. With this as my major I’d love to work for some sort of governmental group such as the CIA or FBI or some other group. I’ve always been someone who likes to help people, so if I can help countries filled with millions of people then that’s even better. During my junior year I hope to co-op with such an organization. Now I’m going to have to kill you. If I miraculously get the job then hopefully it will stick. Other options are to work abroad with such companies as BMW or Ferrari. I really am unsure what I’d do for these types of companies but I’ve heard of people with the same degree that work in similar fields.

So I have an idea of what I’d like to achieve, but I really have no idea if it’s an achievable goal. Obviously I’m not very optimistic…
If film or music took off and actually went somewhere that would be amazing, and if working for a government agency actually worked out that would be fine, but if not then I have no idea where I will end up honestly. I’ve honestly just been riding the curves and going down my life’s path taking the exits as they come hoping they lead me somewhere new. I’m sure I’ll figure it all out eventually, I mean it is, or hopefully will be, a Tech degree. Who doesn’t like those?

Simon Sinek explains his idea of the Golden Circle. From outer to inner he has three question words, what, how, and why. Sinek believes that most people think in this order. His discovery says that if we think of why right from the start we will find we can go farther and we are diligent in what we do. Apple and the Wright Brothers worked based on why. They worked based on why they believe, and the people that bought from Apple, or understood the Wright Brothers, believed in their ideals and their reasons for working. Sinek says, “People dont do by what, they do by why.” We work by why to be different and to be new. Dr. King went to people saying “I believe” therefore so many more people agreed in what he believed in. Sinek gave the interesting quote, “He gave the ‘I have a dream’ speech, not the ‘I have a plan’ speech.’” Sinek has a lot of interesting really confusing points. If I take this idea into my own life I can connect with his why, not what idea. I go to college why? To gain a degree and to be have a job, but do I get the job for money or for my beliefs? Money is a result of why, as Sinek states. My ‘why’ as a belief must be that I believe in hire education to do better in life and to gain that result.

Why do I get out of bed in the morning? That’s a good question. I often ask myself. What do I believe in that drives me to get out of bed? Competition. Competition to beat those around me in this rat race world. We must all believe in this reason. Therefore we all do for ‘why.’

I think I am rambling to make sense of this whole concept. The question words in this context kind of run together in my mind.  What can be money, but why can be to get what (money). What can be belief, but why is supposed to be for belief.  What do I believe in? I believe in higher education. Why do I believe in higher education? To make profit and to live comfortably. It is late…

The end of our journey has come, or has it? The project has come to an end yet we still want our project to continue on in our footsteps. We want our message to be known to every RAT that enters the premises of Tech to know that Tech is creative and that people here are not just silly nerdy boring people. We hope people continue to use our Facebook page and let every know what they can do. We hope connections will continue to be made.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/177915475620354/
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To explain our process we made a rap video. The video explains the process of our journey and our mission’s message… through a ridiculous song and video. We decided to make this to show our own creativity!

We hope creativity will continue to be shown throughout our Facebook page and that people will find and make connections with other creative masterminds at Georgia Tech!

So we started our Creativity at Georgia Tech Facebook page. People have been adding their art and interesting creative hobbies. The craziest thing I have seen so far is a cake baker… yet they look so legitimate. She made a Budweiser can that really looked like a can instead of cake.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/177915475620354/

Our next venture is to take on the rap industry. We decided we would create an interesting rap and video for our journey and where we’d like it to go. I have a buddy at GSU (Dillon) who I’ve made rap videos with before (examples below) who is going to help out. We will go to him to record the vocals and get the beat while I have already written most of the lyrics. I have film equipment and editing abilities so I will then film and edit our intense raptastic music video.

Check out these examples of past rap videos I’ve worked on.

This one was for a satire project (obviously). The song is better than the video. Limited time though.

This one is for a calculus project (obviously). The video is better than the song. Limited time for my buddy Dillon.

Wanna be in the video? Let me know! Find me on FB or email me at wwhited3@gatech.edu