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The 20 artifacts or places include: Chicago, IL, New

Orleans, LA, Elizabethtown, KY, picture collage, ring,
childhood home, basketball, football, track blocks, baseball
glove, Sawyers dog tag, my Tahoe, Cowboys jersey, UK
hoodie, Cavaliers t-shirt, Dodgers hat, my shoes, a gavel, a
fishing pole, and marijuana to represent my research
After creating the list of 20 artifacts that represent me as a
person I began to see five themes based on the types of
artifacts that I chose, the five themes are : People/Pets,
cities, sports I am/was involved in, teams Im a fan of, and
items which represent my other interests.

IMPORTANT PEOPLE
The artifacts included in the people/pets theme are the
dog tag, picture collage, the ring, and my house. The dog
tag belongs to my dog Sawyer who is 2 years old and is a
mix between a Rottweiler and a standard poodle, Sawyer
is arguably my best friend. The picture collage is made up
of pictures of my two nieces, Jade and Maci, and my
nephew Brayden. Brayden, the oldest, is 6 followed by
Jade who is 5, and the princess Maci is 3. The ring is a
gift that I gave my girlfriend on our 2 year anniversary. I
chose this artifact to represent her as she is one of the
most important people in my life and of whom I love. My
house was chosen as an artifact to represent my family
which includes my parents Maceo and Tammy, my
brother Xavier, and my sisters Ashley and Makayla. I feel
that these artifacts serve as a representation of culture
because they show how we, members of society, build
meaningful connections with the people around us.

CITIES OF TRAVEL
The places included in the cities theme are Chicago, New
Orleans, and Elizabethtown. The city of Chicago has always been
a fascinating place to me and I have travelled there on multiple
occasions to visit family, summer vacations, school field trips, and
unfortunately attend funerals for I have many older family
members who still live in that area. I recently visited New Orleans
on spring break and immediately fell in love with the community.
The relaxed locals and music make for a peaceful experience.
However, there are also places throughout the city and times of
the year that are very fun and festive that would make for an
exciting experience year round. I can see myself moving there for
retirement some day. Elizabethtown is the city responsible for
raising me. Even though it is not the most exciting place to be in
the world it is still the location of the majority of my childhood and
adolescent memories and will always have a special place in my
heart and I will always consider it my "hometown" no matter
where I choose to settle down in life. The framework and
construction of cities can also be key in how a culture is
represented. It is interesting how much of a cultural change can
be experienced between different cities here in the United States
depending on if the landscape of the city is urban or rural.

SPORTS

The artifacts included in the sports them are a basketball, a

football, a baseball glove and track blocks. Basketball is my
favorite sport and has been for many years. I began playing
competitive basketball since I was 5 years old and still play
competitively through an intramural league to this day, 17
years later. Football has been a part of my life constantly
since I was 7 years old. I played football until my senior year
of high school when I was the schools team captain. I played
varsity for all 4 years of high school and left behind a name
that my brother has since then overtaken where he now too a
Junior represents the team as a leader and future captain.
Growing up I was always involved in baseball, especially over
the summer when I would travel for tournaments playing on
area All-Star teams. The track blocks represent my days of
being apart of my high school's varsity track team. I was on
the team for 5 years, and starting competing in 8th grade.
The events that I competed in for the varsity team were high
jump, long jump, triple jump, 4X1 relay, 4X2 relay, 100M, and
the 200M.

SPORTS FANDOM
The artifacts that fall into this theme relate to
how design can be represented and enjoyed
through various forms of media. These items
were chosen because they represent the teams
I cheer for in the sports world. The majority of
my television viewing has always been sports,
and mainly the air-time centered around
University of Kentucky athletics, Dallas Cowboys
football, Dodgers baseball, and Cleveland
Cavaliers basketball. Television is not the only
form of media that I use to stay connected to my
teams. I also follow blogs, websites, radio
shows, and newspapers to stay up to date on
the affairs of surrounding these teams. Through
this theme, design can also be a product of
consumerism. Each of these apparel items were
selected by me to be warn because they were
visual appealing and served as a symbol for my
loyalty to my teams.

The fifth and final theme does not have a concrete title, but
ITEMS ASSOCIATED
INTERESTS
ratherWITH
consists ofOTHER
artifacts that represent
some of my various
interests. What we find as interesting is another form of
representation of culture, and what we find ourselves being
drawn to many times is due to our culture and the impact it
has on our lives. Ever since I was a child, I was always
infatuated with getting new shoes and having the newest
designed kicks, especially ones created by Nike. My shoe
purchasing really brings the idea of consumerism into play,
because not only do I buy shoes out of necessity, but also for
style and to keep a stock of options in my closet. The fishing
pole represents a childhood leisure activity of mine, one that I
took part in almost daily while bonding with other family
members. The gavel represents my interests in the field of
criminal justice and shoes how my education and life
experiences have led me into applying to be a police officer.
Marijuana represents my current research on drugs that I am
conducting alongside a member of UKs faculty in the
psychology department. The artifacts in this category, along
with the other sixteen that make up this autobiography, show
the multiple design approaches and products tat help me form
my perspective of the world.

CITATIONS FOR PICTURES

http://
www.cannabisculture.com/content/2014/12/17/Colorado-Board-H
ealth-Approves-Medical-Marijuana-Research-Grants
https://www.flickr.com/photos/93065544@N07/8459330935/
http://www.sheltonherald.com/66437/free-fishing-permits-for-une
mployed-vets-active-military
/
http://www.nflshop.com/Dallas_Cowboys_Jerseys
http://www.walmart.com/c/bg/baseball-gloves-buying-guide
http://www.elizabethtownky.org/
http://www.acbl.org/tournaments_page/nabcs/upcoming-nabcs/
chicago-summer-2015-nabc-august-6-16
/
http://
www.shutterstock.com/pic-103375562/stock-photo-starting-blocks
-in-track-and-field.html
http://www.eteamz.com/ncyfl/
https://www.thomas.edu/events/2014/12/womens-basketball-vs-f
ort-kent
/
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