This is a very notable semester, as referring to my first time i feel like a college student, that i am actually on campus, see other students who are just like me, rather then stay home, everything is just so unfamiliar to me, but as in the end of the semester of ENGL 210, which marked another step on my journal toward learning English, unlike some of the writing courses i took online previously, from in person teaching, I feel more engage, every activity i did in class was significant to me, from both English Literature class i took during college, thet emphasized rhetorical, as one the main style of writing, my understanding of what rhetorical was developed more with sample essays that was provided, in different ways to describe similar things, that one might be more attractive to readers, in order to gain a sense of what is rhetorical, there written pieces are not just flat, me as the reader, do evoke feelings according to ethos, pathos, logos, and how importan it plays a role as to make the writen better.

There are much I can do in person, to peer-reviewing someone else’s work is helpful, how we use the sheet to write down our thoughts, help to build an outline for our own work, and also help other make corrections, by bringing the artifact to school, I feel more engaged as to the writer, form relationship with my audience, writing is not just simply write down words, it is a process of express the thoughts, people have significant personal artifacts that have important stories behind. When working for the subculture research essay, to put down our thesis on a piece of paper and stick it on the board, have each other make comments, that gives me thoughts on how to correctly write a thesis statement, various topics were provided, engage in the different social aspect of writing, to help me form a clear understanding on taking a stance of a question that’s been asked, by workshopping their position bring me ideas of what to write about.

Writing a research paper is very different than normal essays, the way I have to cite it with a present verb and put years on, that we have been practicing during the class, how to correctly quote, paraphrase, and summarize, after completing the task that I’m able to format my paper, along with using library resources, by having the library section, it allows me to access huge academic articles and sources, to specify research results using the advance search bar, rather than relying on browse engine, CUNY library system provides a ton of reliable and credible sources, to find proper sources are veery important to research paper, but it does not mean we should site everything, according to the practice citing section, only 10 percents of work should be cited. 

Moreover, this class is design writing for social science, which is about the people and events, I got a chance to observe a place for 7 days, I get to went to events and observe for 2 hours, and I’ve been also invited to many activities, that makes my writing unique, as adding my personal experience, and involve as a social science student, understand more of what writing means for multi-purpose, and the styles of writing have been changing during different scenarios, these are something I’ve never experienced, to combine daily life with writing, as researcher goes into a field, this indicates how they are going to write and why they writing it. This course as a big contribution to my writing skills, it is always been difficult for me to write essays when English is my second language, but as my profess stated before, we gotta use English writing somewhere, even though the goal is not to become a professional writer.

Just all of sudden, it is already in the middle of 2022, the end of my Spring 2022 semester, There was a lot that has been gone through, and to me, this class marked another step that I made, towards later in the future, that prepared me for any coming English tasks. It’s hard to conclude what I have done specifically, for each work that was assigned, there is a purpose, in many ways that I might not even realize how, this course had help me strengthen my length of writing, as well as using technologies such as library source and printing papers, develop the connection of other to my own writing.

What makes sneakerhead impactful financially 

We have a long history of shoes after human is no longer barefooted, from as simple and crude as using animal fur wrapping on the feet, to now people have a higher demand of quality on shoes, with multiple purposes, shoes becoming more advanced, the price of shoes varies, from just a few dollars to thousands of dollars that people can design. Sneakers, as one of the shoes that’s designed for sports, there are many different brands worldwide and as it gets more popular, it’s then a culture that among young people. In recent years, sneakers play a bigger role in the marketplace and impact it more financially. There are people, so-called the sneakerhead, Are people who usually knowledgeable and passionate about sneakers. They collect, trade, and admire sneakers. It brought out my attention to why rather than sneakers to wear, people collect them and are willing to pay a higher price than it actually is. I want to explore the transformation from sneakers to collections, and how people purchase sneakers for sale rather than wear them. We should not be allowed sneakerheads and the action of purposely purchasing shoes at low, then selling them at high.

The origins of sneakers and sneakerheads 

To explore this issue, I’d like to start with the origins of the sneakerhead, as introduced in Mathew’s (2021) article “I wear, therefore I am: investigating sneakerhead culture, social identity, and brand preference among men.” he stated that “Most Sneakerheads credit the advent of the Sneakerhead subculture to the late 1970s early 1980s and the introduction of the hip-hop era.” The age of sneakerhead is longer than I expected, though the first sneaker ever was invented much earlier around the 1800s, it was known as athletic footwear, and the word sneaker was used to call tennis shoes, after the sneaker was first introduced to the world at 1985, with the new release Air Jordan sneakers from Nike, and since then, it becomes more popular worldwide. The author also listed some reasons why sneakerhead became a business.

The first reason is social identity, Matthew’s(2021) study showed sneakers are not only the footwear but also tell their social identity, he stated “ According to the Social Identity Theory, as individuals establish membership in a group a sense of identification leads to behaviors that, in turn, serve to reinforce the group’s interests.” as opposed to how much it costs to produce one sneaker, companies make a tremendous amount of profit, and by branding them, people tend to identify themselves with certain brands of shoes, that shows their loyalty and personal identification, people do not always consider the value of something just it’s price, people are not always rational, as they would have their willingness to pay, the relationship no longer limited to producer and consumer, but as a member of this community, the sense of belonging compel them to pay more then what it really is.

Consequences of overheating sneakers subculture

There are some problems created by the popularity of sneakers, not only that people tend to pay more for one pair of shoes, but also how the company plays hunger marketing, how certain brands of sneakers are limited to an amount and period of time, while have people register to draw for the opportunity of purchase this shoes, that cause a lot of people to purchase many of them, and with eh higher demand exceeds supply, they usually make a good profit, according to figure 1 shown below, the Adidas Yeezy brand shoes, with the release price of $200, to now people offering it for $835, without considering it’s the cost to make one of this shoes. Sometimes sneakers cause violence, as reported by Tan Hyman(2018) “In 2015, a Brooklyn teenager was shot in his foot for cutting in line.” Got a bullet in his foot just because having an argument over shoes sounds crazy, but it does happen in 2015, this appears to me how sneaker seems to play a bigger role in some people’s lives, and how symbolic sneakers are, compare to material meanings.

Stocks X Adidas Yeezy Boost 350, 2022.

Opinions on Sneakerheads

The rise of sneaker culture was initiated by its unique look, and the purpose that it’s made for sport, how comfortable to wear on the foot,  thus becoming very popular among young athletes, It doesn’t seem wrong to make sneakers a type of collection, as there is various type of sneakers, with different designs, it’s a hobby for those who really like the product sneaker, just as much as how much money people would pay for things they love, others trying to exploit their enthusiasm for smears, and keep speculate and make the price higher and higher, there are distinguishes of people into and enjoy the creation of sneakers, also people just use sneakers as a tool, people purchase more sneakers then they can wear, do we really need 10 pairs of shoe, and are we really going to wear all them? Do buy sneakers because it’s a good product, or because it’s a fashion trend that might not even be decided by us customers.

Reference

 Matthews, Cryer-Coupet, Q., & Degirmencioglu, N. (2021). I wear, therefore I am: investigating sneakerhead culture, social identity, and brand preference among men. Fashion and Textiles, 8(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-020-00228-3

Hyman, D. (2018, July 6). A NASDAQ for sneakerheads? Stockx aims to Tame ‘chaos’ of luxury market. The New York Times, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/06/business/smallbusiness/stockx-sneakerheads-luxury-goods.html?searchResultPosition=5 

Reflection

As this is the last major assignment essay that I have to write for this class, it turns out that writing a research paper is very different than just writing regular essays, there was a lot that I’ve learned from the process, and I am able to “Practice using various library resources, online databases, and the Internet to locate sources appropriate to your writing projects.” By practice and introduction to the library section, I can now easily find resources that are scholarly and credible, by taught techniques of specifying words input using the advance search option, using word combinations such as “and,” “or,” allowing me to eliminate search results, find the desired article that’s relevant to our topics from sources supporting my college’s huge database. Another thing I learned is “Strengthen your source use practices,” to write a research paper, my thesis is going to be most likely supported by sources, during the class, we are engaged in how to properly cite sources to avoid plagiarism, in three ways, quote, paraphrase, summarize, apply the correct format to make the essay sound academic, citing sources in the reference page by APA form. While writing the essay, I was so impressed with the author’s study, the writing style, the study that has been done, and all the knowledge about the topic, it gives me a lot more deep understanding f the subculture that I’m looking at, a lot of ideas that provided in the text enhance my writing. Time is always squeezy at the end of the semester, however, we did go through each step of this assignment, and I did gain significant knowledge about proper citing in writing a research paper.

Money, more specifically paper currency, in big values, is favored by many people, each tiny piece of paper contains a value that enables the ability for people to satisfy their desires. Open my drawer, and take a closer look at what’s in it, we can see this Chinese currency with the denomination of 100 Yuan, which is also the largest value people can find, lying down at the corner. This bill isn’t new at all, perhaps old with little scratches and folds, recently the bank released a new version of Yuan bills in 2015, such old bills, that might not even be accepted in the US, why am I still keeping them?

On the day I was supposed to fly to New York, I was sitting in the car, next to my grandfather, with the anxiety of how future life will be, and the feelings of don’t want to be away from the place I lived for my whole childhood, the closest family that I have been live since I can remember, all these thoughts sum up to my silence the entire time, suddenly, my grandfather called my name: “ Are you dizzy? You don’t look right.” even though both of us are lacking sleep because we have had traveled many places in the past few days to get my documents ready, we both tired but finallly we made to the airport, waiting for my flights, unlike whats around us, people either happy or sad, me and my grandfather just stood there, silence, we have much to say, but nothing eventually coming out, he pull out his wallet and take out a couple bills, stuffed into my hand, without giving the chance to say no, he say to have some cash on me just in case if flight delayed, I look at him, realize his now much older then in my memories, as i always bebelieve my grandfather is one greatest man to me,  nothing seems to bother him, i realized time did change something when i saw more wrinkles on his face. Finally, my flight came, at the last minute he still telling me things that I might have to pay more attention to, with some sort of choking voice, I was surprised because my grandfather rarely shows his emotion, the moment I grab my suitcase, I feel regret of not paying more attention to what he had told me on the ca. As I approach the security check, it’s hard to tell the mix of complicated feelings I have, going straight might be easy, however, I turn around, and stand there for a second, trying my best to remember the face, of this man who raised me. After getting on the plane, a depressing mood surrounds me. Memories get blurry, one thing I can remember no matter to be alone in the airport, or when I arrived, the loneliness stopped by these few bills I’m holding.

Living in the early years of China is a little bit tough, but he made it through it, with his hardworking, this type of experience had him become strong and thrift. He always is so “cheap” with himself, he saved every penny he could, but to me, he never says a “No”, no matter what I ask for, he always tries to get it for me,  his tolerance had me growing up as an arrogant kid, as now I often regret of things I’ve done to him, and never get a chance to make up. As I thought it was just another trip to New York and I might come back, young me didn’t know what exactly this journey means. To be in this diversified country, I often feel lost, who am I, and where I belong, the bills reminds me of my root, every few months look at them, memories all appear to me, and after many years, I understood the heaviness of these bills, how much they mean to me, not just money, but connect with deep and implicit love.

Reflection

When I first begin this assignment, I wasn’t sure which one to write about, I have many options that can be easy to write, and I have this one, which is relating to my grandfather, I know if I’m going to write about it, I have to remember details and think deeply, perhaps these good memories make me feel terrible of the fact that I might never see my grandpa ever, however, I decided to write about it, because, to me, nothing can be more significant, that I have complicated feelings about it. At the same time from the past years, I rarely speak about my grandfather, to the last thing he gave me, the last memories I had left, I decided to write about it. In the process of completing this assignment, every small thing in my first draft didn’t seem right, until I got suggestions from my peer and had a look at their paper, how he have a similar abject that came from his father, and now became a symbol of where he is from and states the how important his father is to him, my second draft is able to better apply rhetorical techniques. During the writing, by remembered and write down everything, which made me miss him even more, as many who said that “ Death is not the end to one’s life, forgetting is.” I am glad I chose this object for writing, I know my essay might not fully express my thoughts, but for me, I went through a whole childhood memories replay.