6. Tigers 2024

Memories and Our Identity What makes up our identity? We could say ethnicity, culture, religion, appearance, or even career. However, there is something larger than all of these other factors that make up who we are, and that is our memories. Memories are a crucial part of how we, as people, form our individual beliefs and values which contribute to our identity. As a child grows and experiences various situations, “there is part of the brain that creates a story from these experiences” which allows for a sense of self to develop over time ( Hull ). This is due to a memory system known as autobiographical memory which consists of a series of events collected from an individual's life. For instance, someone's autobiographical memory could include playing with their friends at the playground in elementary school, celebrating a birthday, or the first time driving a car. All of these types of memories create the positive parts of ourselves and even allow us to connect with others o...

Do you remember the Flipgrids we all recorded at the start of the year? Most will only remember it now because they read the first line of this blog. High school is a memorable part of every person's identity. It is that point of life where we begin to transition into our adolescence.  Coming into high school as a freshman was a scary memory for almost everyone. Most of us were frantically trying to find our classes, or trying our best to fit in.  I remember on my first day of high school, it was hard for me to navigate through this new environment, especially because I had just transferred from a different school district. I recall my first few weeks of high school being horrid, and I constantly worried about not being able to make friends, or about people finding me weird or annoying.  However, just as freshman year is a time when everyone is still trying to figure out who they are, that is what  ALL of high school is about.  We are constantly changing. My mem...

Forgetting things is an annoying fact in life that we have to deal with on a daily basis, especially when you are in the middle of a test that may or may not decide the fate of your grade for the rest of your semester(a bit more than annoying I would say).  Being able to create memories is an evolutionary ability both animals and humans have. The useful ability allows us to learn about the world and how to maneuver through life. While memories may seem like an obvious benefit in life, the usefulness of the act of forgetting memories may not be so clear.  However, forgetting memories allows the brain to create new memories. Due to the way the brain works, it does not have infinite storage for memories. The brain has to let go of some of these memories by forgetting them to allow “space” for the new memories. By forgetting, we can let go of memories that may have been waying us down in the past. Another interesting benefit of forgetting is its benefit to creativity. Sleeping, wh...

Picture from google Recently while memorizing my notes for AP Biology I realized I forgot all the information I learned in about one minute, but when I was listening to a new Taylor Swift song the lyrics just stayed ingrained in my brain unintentionally.  Why? When you're memorizing notes for AP Biology, factors such as distraction, lack of rehearsal, and the complexity of the material can also affect the memory. Sometimes when we have no motivation to learn a subject, it also tends to cause us to not be able to memorize any information. And memorizing anything related to studies is not fun, which is what causes our brain to get distracted. We can use better reading techniques that could help us memorize certain topics or we can start writing down everything, which is also an efficient way of helping details stay in our memory.  Listening to a new song, several factors may contribute to the lyrics becoming ingrained in your brain unintentionally. Firstly, music often engages m...

"Here's to the ones that we got." That's the first line of the song "Memories" by Maroon 5.  I remember listening to this song for the first time in October of 2019. It instantly became my favorite song, and I always begged my parents to play it on the speakers whenever we got in the car. At the time, I was too young to understand the message of the song; I simply recognized that Adam Levine was remembering someone he once loved, and I simply loved the way the song comforted me. I recently learned that the song was dedicated to his close friend and Maroon 5's manager who passed away.  image of Adam Levine from The New Yorker As I was thinking about a blog to write this week about memories, I racked my mind for ideas. And I thought of the song "Memories", which in a way has provided me some of my fondest memories. I remember singing this song with my sister on a late Saturday night as my parents drove us to McDonald's to get milkshakes. It...

"When young children see characters that they can relate to, they are likely to reenact what they see in real life, especially through pretend play, which gives them more opportunities to practice those skills." - Karen Molano, Psy.D. , a psychologist specializing in infants and early childhood. Like many others, I grew up addicted to watching cartoons. From Fairly Odd Parents to Pokemon, the memories I had of watching these shows and talking about them with my friends were some of the most cherished parts of my childhood. Reflecting on these shows, I feel they had a huge part in shaping who I am today. For instance the show Pokemon taught me companionship and determination. Watching the main character, Ash, face setbacks and recover from them to achieve his goals inspired me to stay focused in school and complete my work. Additionally, his bond with his partners taught me the importance of empathy and treating others how you want to be treated since Ash’s mentality of showin...

The Shaping of Memories Memories are one of the most integral aspects of humans. They shape who we are and give us opportunities to learn, experience, and connect with others. But how are memories formed? To answer this question, we have to look at the three types of memory processes our brain contains: sensory register, short-term memory, and long-term memory. The first memory process of sensory register is when the brain gets information from its surrounding environment. This process consists of the mind collecting “information passively through visual and auditory cues, known respectively as ‘iconic’ and ‘echoic’ memory” ( Lesley University ). An example of iconic memory is when you are still able to see an image after you look away from seeing it on an electronic device. Likewise, echoic memory is when you ask someone to repeat themselves during a conversation, only to grasp what they said a second later. The second memory process, short-term memory, involves two parts: “the tradit...

Triangles. Circles. Squares. These are all shapes, with different types of curves and edges connecting each other; they all contribute to what makes up what they are. Just like triangles, circles, and squares, we all have our own curves and edges that make us human. Memories specifically shape  who we are.  Our good memories can create soft curves, and bad memories can create rough, sharp edges. Memories like the ones I have with my mother, who would gently brush my hair when I was a kid each morning. Her gentleness and love for me and our family stay with me today. I remember how she wouldn't waste a second buying food for any homeless person she saw on the cold streets, the stray cat she would always feed on our porch, and the sacrifices she made for those she loved.  These memories I have of my mom helped shape  me into the person I am, and they fuel me to become as tender and caring as she is to the world.  Such meaningful memories like these have helped me ...

Beans. Image from Google You may be wondering: what do beans have anything to do with this? Well, beans have historically been a staple food throughout many cultures around the world. It is its continuous usage throughout history that allows it to be the iconic food it is. Other than that unrelated fact, it was just to get your attention to the main idea of this blog.  The topic I am alluding to is history.  See, history is just a collection of the many memories that have been recorded by various peoples of the past. In a way, it represent the collective experiences of the past generations of civilizations and express the ups and downs of the average human’s life. It also reflects the values and beliefs of the different cultures and societies that have existed throughout history. History allows for a better understanding of humankind and society’s evolution.  Like a traumatic memory, tragic past events act as a reminder of what went wrong in humanity, demonstrate what ...

Sixty-seven. That's the number of songs I've memorized throughout my years of playing the violin. You may think that the hardest part of playing the violin is the sharp strings pressing against ur fingers or the wood piercing into your shoulder. At the beginning of my instrumental career, I was certain that holding the bow properly was one of the most difficult things I would ever have to learn. Now, it comes to me like drinking water or brushing my teeth. Memorizing the notes of all the songs I've had to learn is the hardest thing I've had to do as I learned the violin. When I began playing, I was focused on the fundamentals, simply learning the different notes and their positions across the strings. Even after years of learning the violin, I still was not close to learning a song due to my teacher's emphas image from Pinterest is on perfection. It was only in my fourth year that my teacher finally began teaching me my first song. I was quick to reach for my music ...

Artificial intelligence has been evolving at a rapid rate transforming the job market by gaining abilities and becoming rapidly more similar to humans over time. According to the Oxford dictionary, memory is defined as something remembered from the past or a recollection. So, based on this definition, does artificial intelligence have memories? One of AI’s greatest abilities is its ability to store information. Because of this, AI is capable of learning from past situations and changing its behavior to prevent a repeat of the same mistake. This ability to reflect on the past and evolve because of it coincides with the definition of memory representing remembering something from the past. Based on the definition of memory, Artificial Intelligence is capable of utilizing memory. Image from iStock However, I believe memory is a much deeper concept than a simple recollection of the past. Memory carries emotional attachment. Remembering our loved ones even after they have passed is how the...

  Picture from google This blog is dedicated to my grandma. “I wanna put you in the past 'cause I'm traumatized But you're not letting me do that” Tonight I truly understood the song Memories by Conan Gray. Recently two of my family members passed away and now I feel as if I am being haunted by the memories. Sometimes I wish all these memories would go away, along with the dead person, but then I realize I would not want to remember all my lovely memories with my grandma. I want to cherish the moments spent together, the aroma of her cooking, the shared laughter over TV shows, and the comfort she offered in times of need. However, alongside these cherished recollections, there are also regrets I have: moments when I would be angry at her, the words I never got to say to her, and the actions I wish I could undo. In the night, these memories haunt me but among these overwhelming memories, the good memories come to my rescue. They serve as a bridge between the past and the pre...