Stepping Out

Riley Hull
Flash Fiction:                                                                

             Riley is not someone who likes to blend in and conform to how everyone else acts. She is an outgoing girl who sticks out. From strangers to her closest friends she acts bold and vibrant. She can be loud and obnoxious but can lighten up rooms and loves to make people laugh. Riley is not the type to do what others tell her to do. When given the option to do what she wants she will take it to be her goofy and silly self. She likes to always be having fun and trying new things that make her happy. Though Riley can be silly and friendly person she is caring and likes to think of other people. The most important people to her is her family. She also cares much for her friends that are close to her and mean a lot to her. Riley is easygoing and doesn’t like to stress herself out. She keeps things simple and doesn’t over complicate problems. Explaining Riley in four words is easy, friendly, ridiculous in a good way, considerate, and humble.

Artist Statement:

             I wrote my flash fiction as if someone else was using this picture to explain about me. Its stepping out of my body and explaining me by someone else’s point of view. I edited this picture with very bright colors because they stand out. I used this to explain that I am bold and outgoing like the colors. Even my shirt has the bright colors in it. It shows that I don’t like to blend in but be vibrant and bubbly. When I took this picture, I got to choose however I wanted to pose. I guess I decided to choose a funny face and I ended up loving this picture because it shows the fun side of me. One of my favorite things to do is to make people laugh or to be laughing. Going back to my shirt, as you can see it says the year 1971. I had a reasoning on picking this shirt, the year 1971 was the year my mom was born. This is an outfit I used for my senior pictures and picking outfits for pictures are usually very important. When I was picking out my outfits for the session, I thought it would really mean a lot to my mom if I wore a shirt that has her birth year on it. This outfit turned out to be my favorite I had picked out! In the picture, the shirt is just a simple tank top and design.  Nothing too crazy like some outfits can be. I also wore just a small and dainty necklace. I use this to describe myself as simple and easygoing because I do not like to over complicate things. Example, the outfit in the picture is a tank top, a dainty necklace, and glasses to tie together the colors in the outfit.

They Say, I Say:

            Many people believe that other people’s personalities are consistent, a personality myth. Individuals often say that people rarely change their personality and once they act one way the will not modify their actions. Society frequently says that first impressions are very important because it shows how you are as a person, though most times that is not the case. We think it’s hard for people to change after they show who they really are.  People fear change, we like sticking to the normal because it’s what we know and is comfortable. We all have hope and think that a person can change but it hurts us to find out the person chooses not to.  I think some people do want to work to make the changes to help themselves. In some cases, people want to stay where they are now.

            Hanna Rosin and Alix Spiegel state, “situations determine how we behave, not character”("Personality").They are saying that how we behave is determined by the situation we are put in not by our characteristics. Though a person can come off as a rude and stubborn person they could also be the most helpful and kind in a stressful and difficult situation. They demonstrate in the podcast, “The Personality Myth”, that we set biases on people’s personalities because of what we have experienced with that type of person before("Personality"). “Each person has an idea of their own personality type — if they are bubbly or reserved, sensitive or thick-skinned.” Stephanie Pappas says. We all think of ourselves as having certain traits. Others then see as something different from what we believe our personality is really like. So, Stephanie was asked “can personality change?” and she answered with “maybe. A study published in the January 2017 journal Psychological Bulletin synthesized 207 published research papers and found that personality may be altered through therapy" ("Pappas")She tells that in a study it shows that personalities don’t change but may change through therapy. Personalities are always changing based on the situation and what we have grown to know.

            I do believe that peoples personalities do change only if that person does want to make the change. It does take a lot for people to change something that makes that person them. I agree that it is hard for people to hear the words “I’ve changed” because you believe it and they never follow through with it("Personality"). Most of the times you hear that when in a relationship and you hear it so often that after a while it sounds like the boy who cried wolf and you just stop trusting. I feel as I grow up, I have changed my personality even in the moment or the situation. I have been told that I am more grown up more mature and organized. I learn from the mistakes I make and adjust accordingly. After taking the personality quiz my results were an entrepreneur. Some strengths of the personality type are bold, perceptive, direct, and sociable (www.16personalities.com). Just a couple years ago I could not describe myself as some of these words. Today, because of the lessons I have grown from I feel these describe me well. I have learned a lot about personality because of the podcasts and activities we did in class.