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Sama's Hobbies

Piano

I know if I say I've played piano for 13 years people might think I'm some piano wizard or something but unfortunately I'm not...

But it is my most treasured hobby because it is so therapeutic to sit at the piano and play whatever song comes to my mind. I took lessons for less than half of that time, and although I have a pretty solid foundation on music theory, I rarely pay attention to the theory. My favorite thing to do is play improv by ear or play a song I hear on the piano, except I don't really know how to match the key so I end up just playing the same chords in my left hand and matching the right hand melody to whatever chord the left hand is in. That sometimes results in major-sounding songs to end up in a minor key, basically meaning a happy song will suddenly sound sad and dramatic.

I really want to learn more about improv piano playing so that I can play more of a variety. Next year I'm planning on getting a piano keyboard for my room because this year I've only been able to play like 2-5 times this year so far. That's how many times I used to play per day. I feel like I'm forgetting everything, plus the parkside pianos sound so bad. And Thornton kids are always booking it out. And the rooms are really stinky. Very unfortunate. Oh well. Maybe I'll forget how to play piano. Then I won't have an issue. Jk. I miss my home piano. Except it's so fat and chunky. I'm jealous of guitar players. One thing I wish grand pianos had was a portable feature where I could shrink those big ginormous beautiful quality pianos into my pocket.

Storytelling Through Multimedia

Whether it's through writing, music, video, or photography, I love crafting and sharing narratives.

I didn't realize this was something I loved to do until I realized the most exciting parts of the projects we do in IYA are applying the design skills we learn in class to send an important message. For example, using 3D modeling softwares with our newly acquired/sharpened skills, we designed products for our IF pitches in order to strengthen our idea and product to our customer. I can also see how with the video editing skills we are learning with After Effects, what cross my mind are ways to use artistic film ideas to send a deep message whether that is through short films or even live video animations that play behind an artist when they perform, illustrating out the feelings and emotions that helps extend past the lyrics of the song itself.

I have also curated a magazine before during quarantine when news about society's social injustices were everywhere in front of us and in daily conversation, so I asked people in my school to write about their opinions/thoughts about the world through writing, art, and photography, which is one way I have found to have loved exploring multimedias. I expanded that interest into USC's SCene Magazine club where I was the multimedia director, storyboarding video concepts for the release of the magazine we made last semester. I have found to love the storytelling process and I notice myself incorporating that thinking process in everything I do.