Author: Kai's Quest: Senior Year Edition

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Special K Chocolatey Delight

My favorite cereal! I had many different favorite cereals over the years: Raisin Bran, Krave, Fruity Pebbles. But in the end of my cereal eating era (there are only two I eat from time to time now), it was the Special K Chocolatey Delight that had me in a chokehold.

Have you walked into cereal aisles recently? There are like, a thousand options. That’s a lot of nutrition labels to read…

That’s why the data set I chose for this ‘Data Project’ is a cereal dataset!

My Cereal Data

Admittedly, this project was the bane of my existence and my headache the entire week. I don’t use Microsoft often, much less Excel, numbers are not my jam, and I simply didn’t (genuinely) have time to go to the DKC for help (which was part of my headache). I like making pretty things and looking at pretty things. Very different. I don’t like how my charts or tables look but I am so ready to stop looking at them. I digress, nothing is easy when you first do it, so a little struggle is healthy, but respectfully, I am so glad that this part is over:P

I got my cereal data from Kaggle btw!

Trend

So, I know we all had a moment in our upbringing when someone told us that cereal isn’t healthy and it was like this crazy realization so much so that we went into a rabbit hole of cereal nutrition labels (…no? Just me?), so instead of focusing on things like sugar and carbs which we all know cereals tend to have a quite a bit of, I wanted to see if there were any trends between any other parts of the nutrition labels. What I found (and chose to focus on) was that a strong positive correlation exists between fiber and potassium, indicating that cereals high in fiber are also likely to be high in potassium and cereals manufactured by Nabisco tend to have the highest average fiber content (therefore, they also have a higher average potassium content per serving)! Yay for no muscle cramps and regularity, if you know what I mean…

How?

How did I find this trend? Well, after I loaded the downloaded and loaded the data into Excel, I went through and deleted and columns and rows that I didn’t find relevant or didn’t want to analyze. I made a chart using the ‘Format as Chart’ button in Excel, and inserted a Pivot Table using that button. With the Pivot Table feature, you can make your own perfect storm of variables that you want to look at next to each other so that its easier to compare and well, analyze. I spent the most time doing this. I clicked around, adding and taking away different nutritional variables but always keeping the cereal name present. In the value field, I made sure I always had ‘average’ instead of ‘sum’ that way I was always looking at the averages of the numbers in front of me instead of what they added up to be. Everything I said is basically everything Professor Berge goes over in this video. Once I thought I saw a trend (the one I mentioned earlier), I asked ChatGPT how to calculate a correlation because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just imagining it (lol) and these are the instructions it gave me:

  1. Click on an empty cell where you want to display the correlation value.

2. Enter the formula: =CORREL(range_fiber, range_potass), replacing range_fiber and range_potass with the actual cell ranges for the fiber and potassium columns, respectively (e.g., =CORREL(B2:B101, C2:C101)).

3. Press Enter to calculate the correlation. The result will indicate the strength of the relationship between fiber and potassium. A value close to 1 indicates a strong positive correlation.

…To which the value was 0.90! I was not, in fact, imagining it.

That’s when I decided to move some more values around and see which manufacturers cereals tend to have the highest fiber and potassium contents and I landed with Nabisco. I didn’t make a chart for that, however (Remember? Bane of my existence?).

Chart displaying the average fiber and potassium contents of several cereal brands sorted by manufacturer.

So, All-Bran with Extra Fiber does, in fact, beat the rest of cereals in fiber content. Period.

Thank you for coming to my…Blog talk?

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My YouTube Video??

Yuppp. You heard that right. What does Professor Berge have us up to now? Read more below.

We’re All Gonna Die One Day

That title look familiar? It should. It was the title of one of my recent blog posts where I told you what my audio and video project would be about, but if you don’t remember: “We’re All Gonna Die One Day” drives home a powerful message: we only have one life to live, so why let fears or insecurities hold us back? In the video, I challenge common gym-related fears, like not knowing how to use equipment or being afraid of looking foolish. I share how fitness transformed my life, and even though I didn’t personally struggle with gym intimidation, I relate to the urgency for change when health or happiness is at stake. The title underscores the idea that life’s brevity means we should prioritize our well-being, embrace failure, and take action now—no excuses.

The style was inspired by many of the motivational speeches and podcasts I listen to. Perhaps you’ve heard of Eric Thomas?

The Process

I’m not going to lie, walking into the gym with my long shot list had me a bit overwhelmed, especially because I normally just record willy nilly, but I got it done! I shot with my iPhone 14 Pro, most of the time in cinematic mode. In addition, I used my favorite tripod from Amazon. There were quite a few shots at the end that my boyfriend, Jordan, shot; I really like how those turned out.

I used the same audio from my audio project last week and only edited a few spots. To edit my video, I used CapCut pro, exporting at 1080P and 30spf.

I chose YouTube incase I ever explore YouTube in the future, plus I wanted to see how simple/hard it was to upload a video.

I used all of these pieces of equipment because I know them well. I was confident in my ability to produce a project I was proud of with the time I had since I use these tools often. Plus, I am happy with their quality!

Attribution

Phone alarm snooze and stressed man: Photos by cottonbro studio

Fail wood tiles: Photo by Markus Winkler

Partner battle ropes: Photo by Leon Ardho

Gym machines: Photo by TUBARONES PHOTOGRAPHY

Mistakes are proof you are trying: Photo by RDNE Stock project

Stop making excuses tiles: Photo by Brett Jordan

If you just say yes to yourself graphic: Me! Made on Canva

Here it is!

I hope you enjoy!

Love Yourz,

Kai:)

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My Visual Project

What’s up, homiesss!? I’m not going to lie: this semester is eating me up but you know we persevere (insert crying smile emoji).

Although the assignments in this class are really fun for me, I wish I didn’t have to squeeze time into my schedule to do them because of the workloads of my other classes (more specifically, my capstone course. God, I can’t wait for that to be over with). On the bright side, I always have an assignment to look forward to!

In this post, I’m going to be telling (and showing) you guys all about the shots and shooting of them for my final module 8 video project! If you remember from my last audio project, the audio was about overcoming gym intimidation and any intimidation that comes with starting a wellness journey in general. For this project, I’ll be creating visuals to lay into that audio!

First things first: The Shot List

I’m going to write my shot list according to the actions that I do while getting ready and going to the gym, because that’ll be easier for me to film on filming day.

An excel sheet of my shot list, detailing the shots I plan to get when I film

These shots are intended to paint a picture of what someones routine could look like if they do the work on themselves to overcome their gym intimidation. They’re intended for the audience to see themselves in the shots. I hope to invoke a sense of discipline, growth, and the reality that growth is a journey to be enjoyed.

Equipment

I’ll be using some different equipment:

  • Canon 850D
  • iPhone 15 Pro, Cinematic Mode (I think I’ll primarily be using this)
  • Tripod

As for lighting, since I’ll be filming in a 24/7 public gym, I want to be respectful of the space and the people in it, so I won’t be bringing a ring light or anything. I think that will add to the ‘grunge’ of the shots though!

Test shot

I didn’t get a chance to go to the actual gym that I’ll be filming at because I’m dying in the name of school assignments right now so I took a test shot in the gym in the basement of my parents house when I stopped by to grab a few things today because the lighting is similar to the gym I go to (you’ll see in the final project). Cinematic mode does wonders!

Me, in my basement surrounded by gym equipment, being silly for the test shot:)

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We’re All Gonna Die One Day

Oof. Too harsh of a title? It caught your attention though, didn’t it? *queue evil laugh*

I titled this post ‘We’re All Gonna Die One Day’ because it’s what I am going to call my audio project and my visual project that comes later after that. The audio is going to be centered around the reasons people procrastinate their wellness journey and while they may hold merit, I found that taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture has helped me immensely in not just my fitness journey, but in any life endeavors that I find intimidating or that feel I’m incapable of… because we’re all just gonna die one day anyways, right?

‘What Equipment Did You Use?’

I’ve had these two tiny Bluetooth mics forever for my Instagram content, so I opted to use them. I got them off Amazon and they’re from the brand PGDLOF.

To edit the audio, I used Soundtrap, per Professor Berge’s suggestion.

Attributions

The photo at the top of this post was taken by mwah.

I listen to a lot of motivational speeches, so the vibe of my podcast mirrors that of which I’ve heard on my favorite channel, The Ass Breaking Motivation

Music by Dmitrii from Pixabay

Music by StudioKolomna from Pixabay

Since this project is content that lines up with the content of my socials, hopefully the audio will fit well for a video reel on my Instagram for the next visual project? I’ll have to wait and see what the parameters and requirements are for it.

Before You Listen…

I reserve the right to tell you a few things to keep in mind before you listen!

So, this audio was to be exactly two minutes- no more, no less! I personally think I sound a little rushed in the audio because I was trying to fit everything in and I meticulously wrote my script. I know part of the challenge and art is knowing how to work within any time frame you’re given, but this was my first time with a limit, give me a break. Because of this as well, I was like where the heck do I put my audio effects? I went with the sound of me racking weights on the Smith machine and the sound of me running on the on the treadmill, and I lowkey wish I didn’t use that one because I don’t think its identifiable as running on a treadmill for listeners (I actually hate it but it’s what I got). Let me know if you can pick them out in the audio.

Lastly, next go around I think I’d definitely opt to try a mic from the HCC. I used my Bluetooth ones because they’re what I had, but the sound was more crunchy than I’d like.

The Actual Goods

We’re All Gonna Die One Day

Transcript

Introduction (0:00 – 0:15)

“I don’t like going without someone. I don’t know how to use any of the equipment. I’m scared of people looking at me. I’m scared of doing an exercise wrong. I don’t want to look stupid. What if I fail? I don’t know how. We’re literally all gonna die one day. No excuses, just go for it.”

The Intimidation (0:16 – 0:45)

*2-3 secs high intensity music* Listen, I’ll be upfront: I don’t have some intense story about overcoming my Intimidation of the gym because I’ve always been pretty comfortable in the athletic space. My parents both workout, I was a high school athlete. It was never an issue for me. And at this point you’re probably wondering how that’s relevant to you or someone who is working on overcoming that gym Intimidation. No I may not have an ‘overcomer’ story, but I do know what fitness has added to my life and what it brought me out of and in turn cant imagine what my life would look like now had I been afraid of what other people thought about me at the gym and let that stop me from starting.

(0:46 – 1:10)

When I started implementing a fitness routine into my life, the gym found me after gaining 15 pounds in three months, tired no matter HOW much I slept, lethargic, low focus, extremely bloated, the worst acne I’d ever experienced, and after a couple visits to the ER because of health related issues. For me, I started going to the gym because I had no other option. I had hit an extremely low point for myself. I NEEDED that change, and I was ready to make it. I think it’s unfortunate that it took me feeling so low in order to take both my mental and physical health seriously.

(1:11 – 1:45)

And for people that have never felt their own low for themselves, that low that drives you to implement change in your life, I cant blame them for letting what others might think of them at the gym stop them from starting. However, now that I’ve felt seen and felt the fruit of my labor, it makes me that much happier that I took action because I FEEL so much better physically and I’ve never been so confident, so naturally t makes me so much more hopeful that others would do the same for themselves.

Closing (1:46 – 2:00)

All of the people you see in person and online that you perceive as pros in the gym, all started as beginners. Hell, we were all babies that didn’t know how to walk, but we fell and got up to try again. All the people you see in the gym are there for the same reason as you: to better themselves. Don’t let what you THINK they’re thinking stop you from working on you and taking care of YOUR health. That’s like giving them a remote control to you. You deserve to take up space and there is room for you to learn and grow and experience failure in the pursuit of greatness. It all starts with saying ‘yes’ to yourself.

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I’m Starting a Podcast!

Kinda, sorta…not really.

Oof. Was that to clickbaity? Sorryyyy (not).

For real though. I’ve had so many people tell me I should start a podcast but I have zero time for that between school, my extra curriculars, and maintaining my relationships. Especially because… how TF do you even do that? You’re telling me I have to learn how to do the podcast before actually doing the podcast? Bruh.

Lucky for me, I have to learn how to for class anyways (I need to learn how to insert emojis on these posts because I keep wanting to add them like I’m texting you LOL). Aaand lucky for you, you get to see the process unfold. So in this post, you’ll get to see my outline for a short audio I’ll be using for a visual recording in the future, and a test audio.

The Outline

Professor Cartland says no more or less than two minutes! Wish me luck…

WHO: Me! I’ll be riding solo (for the most part). My boyfriend works at the protein bar at the gym I go to so he may very well end up in a few shots or behind the camera for the visual recordings later on.

WHERE: So, I plan on recording all/most visuals at my gym, Fitness 1440. It’s a 24/7 gym, so I can go at times where there isn’t too many people. T

WHAT: I have a set of mini mics that Bluetooth to my phone that I record my social media content with, so I’m going to use those for both the audio recording and my test snippet. I got them off of Amazon and they’re goated. I also plan on using either cinematic mode on my iPhone 15 or my Canon850D to record visuals later on (or both). Here are some sounds I plan on including in my audio:

  • Weights slamming (the forbidden gym action)
  • Feet running on the treadmill
  • Hands rubbing chalk

Here’s my mic test snippet.

And the visuals I’m envisioning:

  • Gym locker opening and me putting stuff in
  • Putting headphones on
  • Hands clapping with chalk
  • Weights slamming (zoom in)
  • Putting plates on the barbell (zoom in)
  • Me deadlifting (lol)
  • Receiving a protein shake from the protein bar
  • Zoom in of me putting on lever belt
  • Me smiling in the mirror
  • Shot over my shoulder of me looking at pictures of me when I first started my fitness journey (zoom in)

The Outline

Confidence in the Gym: From Intimidation to Empowerment

My topic gym intimidation. As a coach and creator, one thing I hear so often is people caring too much about people looking at them in the gym or judging, being scared to go alone, scared to mess up or not know how to use equipment. And all I hear when people say these things are that they care more about what other people think than what’s best for themselves, so I want to talk about it here (in a more gentle manner).

Introduction (0:00 – 0:15)

“I don’t like going without someone. I don’t know how to use any of the equipment. I’m scared of people looking at me. I’m scared of doing an exercise wrong. I don’t want to look stupid. What if I fail? I don’t know how. We’re literally all gonna die one day. No excuses, just go for it.”

The Intimidation (0:16 – 0:45)

*2-3 secs high intensity music* Listen, I’ll be upfront: I don’t have some intense story about overcoming my Intimidation of the gym because I’ve always been pretty comfortable in the athletic space. My parents both workout, I was a high school athlete. It was never an issue for me. And at this point you’re probably wondering how that’s relevant to you or someone who is working on overcoming that gym Intimidation. No I may not have an ‘overcomer’ story, but I do know what fitness has added to my life and what it brought me out of and in turn cant imagine what my life would look like now had I been afraid of what other people thought about me at the gym and let that stop me from starting.

(0:46 – 1:10)

When I started implementing a fitness routine into my life, the gym found me after gaining 15 pounds in three months, tired no matter HOW much I slept, lethargic, low focus, extremely bloated, the worst acne I’d ever experienced, and after a couple visits to the ER because of health related issues. For me, I started going to the gym because I had no other option. I had hit an extremely low point for myself. I NEEDED that change, and I was ready to make it. I think it’s unfortunate that it took me feeling so low in order to take both my mental and physical health seriously.

(1:11 – 1:45)

And for people that have never felt their own low for themselves, that low that drives you to implement change in your life, I cant blame them for letting what others might think of them at the gym stop them from starting. However, now that I’ve felt seen and felt the fruit of my labor, it makes me that much happier that I took action because I FEEL so much better physically and I’ve never been so confident, so naturally t makes me so much more hopeful that others would do the same for themselves.

Closing (1:46 – 2:00)

All of the people you see in person and online that you perceive as pros in the gym, all started as beginners. Hell, we were all babies that didn’t know how to walk, but we fell and got up to try again. All the people you see in the gym are there for the same reason as you: to better themselves. Don’t let what you THINK they’re thinking stop you from working on you and taking care of YOUR health. That’s like giving them a remote control to you. You deserve to take up space and there is room for you to learn and grow and experience failure in the pursuit of greatness. It all starts with saying ‘yes’ to yourself.

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Digital Image Creation

Who knew?

As discussed in my first post, I love to create! Some of my earliest memories consist of painting welcome home banners with my mom and brother for my dad when he’d come home from deployments, painting pumpkins, and making Christmas cookies with my mom.

If I could pinpoint a time that really got the ball rolling on my exploration of creation in my “adult” life (besides being in choir all of middle school), it would be taking pictures for the photography club that I wasn’t even in my 8th grade year. That club advisor went on to choose my art for our school yearbook cover that year (you know my 12 year old self was SICED).

Ever since then, I’ve not only enjoyed exploring things like photography, graphic design, drawing, modeling, event planning, content/video creation and fashion, but sharing these things with others in addition to learning from others that are more advanced in these areas.

Now. Despite my thorough exploration of digital creation, there is ALWAYS more to learn! So I am going to summarize some things that have been a review for me recently along with new things I’ve learned.

All the Things

If you are a human in 2024, you have likely heard of ‘pixels,’ or the smallest units of a digital image. Pixels, (short for “picture elements”) are tiny dots that combine to form an image, akin to atoms in a physical object. Each pixel can display a different color, and a higher number of pixels enhances image detail.

Resolution refers to the image’s level of detail, defined by the total number of pixels, expressed in width x height format. For example, “100×100 resolution” means the image is 100 pixels wide and 100 pixels tall, while “1920×1080 resolution” signifies an image that is 1,920 pixels wide and 1,080 pixels tall. More pixels contribute to a clearer and more detailed image.

There is so much more to know about graphics like rastor graphics (the photos on your phone) and vector graphics (your favorite brands logo), but I won’t get into the nitty gritty- just know there’s a world of knowledge about graphics!

Info drawn from Professor Cartland’s Canvas page!

My Site Graphics

I got to make two graphics for my site, and I’ll be so honest, my professor is probably going to tell me I have to go back and do them on different software or that they’re resolution is off, but that’s a problem for future me (I’m still learning-everything is FINE).

My Favicon

First of all, favicon is the best word I’ve ever heard. Second, it’s that lil logo you see on the tab at the top of your screen. Mine is a little heart connected to an upside down heart that I drew forever ago. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always signed these hearts with my name, and a couple years ago, my parents and I got it tattooed. I made this JPEG graphic on Vectr, using 512 x 512 pixels as it is the recommended sizing by WordPress for favicons. I wanted the background to be transparent, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it in Vectr, so I gave up.

Heart connected to and upside down heart.
My signature doodle, tattoo, and now favicon.

My header

I also created a header for my website! I am a Canva girly at heart, so I created a PNG vision board using all photos that I took in my camera roll- after all, my whole thing is about ‘loving yours,’ so I wanted it to be all of the moments in my life that I am grateful for. Friends, coffee, food, fitness, and family. I included a few quotes from Pinterest to which I’ll link their original home on the web. The WordPress theme that I have my website set to right now has a header of 1300 x 500 pixels, and the closest pixel sizing that Canva has is 1500 x 500, so I had to crop a little in WordPress, but that’s okay.

Mood board full of photos of friends and family smiling and laughing, food, a variety of drinks, and small quotes.

Small steps everyday.

Focus on the good.

She believed. She prayed. She planned. She executed.

Be happy with what you have while working for what you want.

Me and a collage go together SO well.

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Copyright!

My Copyright License?

Yup, you heard that right. MY copyright license. It sounds really fancy and like I did a lot to get it, but I didn’t (lol). And that’s the beauty of the simplicity of copyright.

…so, what is copyright? Copyright protection is automatic when a work is created. Even your napkin doodles at your favorite restaurant! There’s no need to register the work. A Creative Commons copyright waiver, or CC0, is one of the choices available to creators that enables the communication of their wish to make their work publicly available. Creative Commons licenses are an excellent means for authors to express their desires regarding their works (unrestricted access, restricted access, commercial-only use, vice versa, etc).

The CC0 I chose is called ‘ CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 .’ In digestible terms, here’s what that means:

  1. Anyone using my work must include proper attribution.
  2. Others can not use my work for commercial purposes.
  3. Others can remix, adapt, or build upon my work.
  4. Others must use the same CC license if they adapt my work.

Yippee!

A table with two plates of food and coffee
I’m really hungry while writing this post, so now you have to be too. Plus this is just pretty. Your’e welcome.
Photo by Amar Preciado from pexels.com.

So what?

Why care about copyright? The point of copyright isn’t to halt all creativity and collaboration. Using the creative works of others ethically involves respecting the rights of the original creators while also fostering creativity and inspiration. If you’ve ever created anything in your life, perhaps you can empathize with the feeling of if someone used your creation without your permission first when you would’ve preferred if they had asked beforehand. This is the same idea behind copyright. We have the wonderful vehicle of the web to be able to share creations with millions of people all over the world, so it is important for creators to have control of how their works are used among the masses.

The face of a gorilla.
Meme remix by me. Photo by Florian Kriechbaumer from pexels.com.
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Who am I?

Ahh, my first blog post! Though I’ve created this site for a class, I’m excited to continue using it for much time to come; I’ve dreamt about making a website for years, toying around with vehicles like Google Sites, but never could get it just the way I wanted. I’m optimistic that I’ll learn of all the ways to make this site my perfect little nook of the Web.

I’ve been assigned to create a “Who am I on the web?” post, but I think to paint an accurate, full, and clear image of who I am on the web, you should know a bit about who I am in real life. I am aware that that could sound terribly boring, so I’ll try my best to keep it brief.

Who am I in Real Life?

I’ll spare you the ‘first date’ Q & A’s of where I was born and favorite colors (though my favorite color is yellow, if you were wondering).

A Creative.

When it comes down to it, I’ve found that I am deeply fulfilled whenever I am creating something. For me, that looks like being behind or in front of a camera, editing photos and videos, tailoring an Instagram feed to look cohesive, decorating a room, putting together an outfit or gym outfit, planning an outing or event and watching it come to life- you get the jist. I am the friend that takes all the photos and I’ve been told that I “see life cinematically,” which I think is a sweet thing to be remembered for. Moreover, I like to use this creativity to reach, connect with, and help people. I’m a wellness coach whom uses social media to run her biz, and a lot of my day-to-day involves content creation to run and market that business. So I do in fact already have an online presence. Because the whole point of my business is ‘healthy active lifestyle,’ my Instagram includes almost everything that I do so that I can show others that its possible to pursue all of your interests and passions while also staying healthy and active. I also, though I consider it a hobby and not a job, am a photographer. I just love to capture memories.

So…how is that different from who you are on the web?

Well…it’s not really. I like to think I do a decent job at being authentic online. What you see is what you get, really. My presence on the web is a whole bunch of living in my own Pinterest board. Detail shots, a cute workout set, girls night outings, iced coffee, my favorite post workout meal. If you can’t picture it yourself, I’ll link my Instagram account so you can see for yourself (also, shameless self plug).

A spread of food including a fruit tray, two colorful salads, a bottle of kombucha and a bouquet of flowers lay on a picnic blanket on the grass.

Love Yourz

The domain name I’ve chosen- Loveyourzkai- isn’t new to me at all. As a matter of fact, it’s been the name I’ve used for my online presence for a couple years. ‘Love Yourz’ is my favorite song by J. Cole, of which the whole premise is not comparing your life and things in your life to others and to instead “Love Yourz.” I believe this name fits perfectly with my online presence considering everything that I share and will continue to share, because it is a good reminder during every season of life! I even have the lyrics tattooed;) And then I just added ‘Kai’ to the end because it’s catchy, duh.

I hope you come to ‘love yourz’ through reading and engaging with my blog!

Love Yourz,

Kai:)

P.S. True story: I worked on this blog post for a bit and then saved it to my drafts, hoping to later finish it and realized that I didn’t know how to log back in to my dashboard. Thank God for UMW’s Domain of Ones Own Website building site!

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