EKATERINA TIKHONOVA

WELCOME TO MY WEBFOLIO!

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About Me

FUN FACTS:

My name is Ekaterina, but I usually go by Kate or Katya
I am 17 years old
Currently, I am a junior at the Birdville High School and a freshman at the Tarrant County College
Planning to attend the University of Texas at Dallas or Austin and study Finance Management
My favorite colors are pastels, especially lavender and blue ones
My passion is dance and travel

Hello

My name is Ekaterina Tikhonova, and I am a current TCC student. Feel free to get to know me better by some facts about me and my Composition class' (1301) work!

☺

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

~ Maria Robinson

“Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down.”

~ Roy T. Bennett

ESSAY WORK

MEMOIR

My Biggest Journey

I remember this period of my life as if I had experienced it just yesterday; although, quite a few years have already passed. In the sixth grade, back in 2015, I went on the longest and most memorable trip I have ever had, which gave me a huge spectrum of emotions. The idea of a whole adventure was very spontaneous and became the biggest and the most exciting thing I was waiting for among boring and gray workdays. My mom and I carefully thought over the trip to the smallest detail until a major turn took place. It twisted everything around, but...

I am from Yekaterinburg, which is one of the largest and most famous cities in Russia. In this part of the globe, the climate is quite cold, so my family and I went to warmer countries every single year to relax from the harsh weather. The same situation happened and this time. My mother and I decided to go visit my aunt and uncle on the other side of the world. They have been living in the United States for the past 25 years in the small and sunny town of Frisco, Texas, which is located near the world-famous city of Dallas. With no hesitation, mom and I agreed to visit this wonderful state, but soon a major turn of events had occurred. It was determined that I would still go on this trip, but all alone. The idea behind it was to increase my independence skills, knowledge of the English language, and just for the first time in a long time to visit my relatives. After discussing this option with my aunt and uncle, we confirmed to enroll me in one of the Frisco schools, Vandeventer Middle School, where I would educate completely in the English language from April to May. This decision terrified me because what kind of teenager could cross the entire globe with no help from an adult and then undergo continuing education in a foreign country in a language he or she did not speak? Panic started to arise in my head, but the thought of accomplishing this adventure on my own helped me to suppress the bad thoughts and to start preparing.

We began by composing the required documents for travel, the process of which did not challenge us at all. We were quickly able to obtain a visa to the United States and a declaration that allowed me to travel on my own by providing me an assistant during the flight and upon arrival in a foreign country. Once we completed the travel arrangements, I began to enroll in the sixth grade in the Vandeventer Middle School and requested a break from the further education within the records of my achievements at my native school in Russia. In order to finish my year perfectly well in my native school, I had to work extremely hard and to turn in all the assignments for the time of my future absences ahead of schedule. This led me to sleepless nights behind school textbooks, but the support of my friends and my favorite TV series at that time, “Pretty Little Liars,” which I managed to watch in between assignments, helped me to keep going and finish everything on time. Afterward, I proudly sent a report of my school performance to my future English school, which they immediately accepted and officially enrolled me in.

Day X finally arrived. It was my last day of the sixth grade at my Russian school, and my classmates surprised me by organizing a mini party. After a lot of dancing and even more laughter, I prepared to leave, but after a few moments of silence and deep reflection, I started to change my mind. Immediately, all of my friends began to surround me and to pass small gifts for my trip, but something shiny caught my eye. It was a big and mysterious box, which I carefully opened with trembling hands. Inside was one of the most important gifts from the day — an album with drawings from all of my classmates to me, where they had captured many of our favorite moments together and even some depictions of the future me in America. I remember how touched I was and for a long time could not restrain my tears of happiness. This album became a symbol of their support, good luck, and love. Even now, going back to that moment, I cannot control my emotions because it sank so deep into my soul.

After getting home from school with a warm heart in my chest, I leisurely began to pack my suitcases. The tears were slowly going down my face since I did not want to leave my friends, who had already become so dear to me. Of course, I was not leaving for forever — only for three months, but at that time, such a long period seemed eternal and endless. The time was running out, and after collecting my suitcases, I started to walk down to the taxi with my mom. Surprisingly, I saw a group of my friends by the taxi, who cunningly left school to be able to see me for at least one more time before leaving. Completely covered with tears of happiness, I was trying not to let go and to keep them in my arms forever, but the look of the taxi driver quickly let me know that it was time to say goodbye.

And here I am, at the airport with my mom. We had a long way to go ahead of us, but multiple checkpoints were making the process seem to be a bit easier. Our first checkpoint was Moscow, which we successfully arrived in two hours as scheduled. On the night of our arrival, we had to sleep at the airport, which was very uncomfortable. Instead of sleeping on the usual beds under some blankets, we had to use uncomfortable, cold, metal chairs, covered only by our jackets. This all occurred in a special kids’ room, due to the fact that we did not want to be bothered by airport announcements of other flights, but instead, all night we got to listen to crying babies and rattling of toys. Eventually, the night passed, and it was my time to say goodbye to my mom and to continue the rest of my journey on my own. For a very long time, I did not want to let her go, like a little chick, who was about to fly out of the nest for the first time. Suddenly, one of the airport employees interrupted us and explained it was time to leave to board the next plane. To my surprise, flight attendants moved me to a business class seat, which was for my safety, as they later explained. Happily, I made myself comfortable in a huge seat with a big warm blanket and began to watch movies on a mini-TV screen while enjoying the snacks, which the flight attendants periodically brought to me. Finally, comfortably and calmly, my 15-hour flight from Moscow to Houston had passed, and I was so ready to meet my aunt and uncle.

Upon arrival, I met a friendly woman, who turned out to be my translator and guide throughout all customs. We had a nice conversation with her about my flight and at the same time had finished filling out all the necessary paperwork for entry to a foreign country. After a few moments going through customs, I met my uncle Dima and aunt Luda, who surrounded me with hugs and happy smiles. Soon after, we began the four-hour driving journey to their house and used the time exchanging our news along the way.

Everything around me seemed so unusual and amazing at the same time. The difference in the landscape was enormous because I was born with tall skyscrapers, which almost reach the clouds all around me, and the sight of rushing and crowding people everywhere. There were always a huge number of shops within walking distance, and public transportation that quickly brought people to their destinations. Meanwhile, my body was used to hearing loud noises of the big city, cars, and endless conversations, and have a feeling of cold that pervades your whole body to the very soul. And here, the world seemed to be turned upside down. No one was in a rush, and nowhere did I experience the constant loud buzzes and the big city sounds. Wherever you looked, there were fields, single houses, and shops, which are too far away from each other to walk, to the point that you most certainly need a car. There was a terrible heat that brought sweat after a few seconds, and most importantly, there were not a lot of people on the streets. My first reaction to this absolute change was, “Well, I guess I came to a desert, where I would most likely die of boredom and heat,” but overall, it did not turn out as bad as I first feared.

The first few weeks of my arrival we spent exploring this unknown country and preparing for school. During the day, we visited different cities and new places, such as San Antonio, Fort Worth, various shopping and entertainment centers; in the evenings, we went for a walk to the park, which was located not far away from my new home. The first thing that struck me was the attitude of people. Everyone was always so nice to me by simply greeting, smiling, and asking how my day was going. I had never seen it in my hometown since everyone there was so busy and did not pay any attention to other people. I was finding almost everything around me so surprisingly interesting, and the time quickly flew by.

My first day of school had arrived. I was very nervous the night before since I had no idea how the students would react upon my arrival, what kinds of lessons and teachers I would have, and whether they would be able to understand me. Even though I have studied English since kindergarten, it was not comfortable for me to have this as my only form of communication with people. With all these thoughts in my head, I did not sleep well that night and woke up in the morning not in the best condition. However, as soon as I crossed the threshold of school, I felt much better and got positively tuned for my first school day. I was cordially greeted at the school office and received a booklet with a bunch of subject choices for my studies. This made my eyes open wide because in Russia we were never able to choose our studies, and instead, we had an identical schedule for each student. After I finished my selection of classes, a school assistant had provided a mini school tour for me, during which I had found a lot more differences between our schools. My native school comprised of three floors, which all 11 grades were located, while this new school was a one-story, and to my great surprise, included only sixth through eighth grade. Soon, I understood why there was such a big difference since American school had ten times more students in each grade than in Russia. This affected my nervous mind even more because it meant getting to know a huge number of people instead of just a couple of classmates.

Everyone met me with friendly hugs and smiles and began to compete with whom I would sit with. After choosing one of the girls, class questions began to arise. Everyone was interested in where I came from, how did my flight go, and if I was enjoying Texas so far. I could not even utter words out of my mouth and hardly answer any questions since my vocabulary was very limited. Google Translator quickly became my greatest assistant at the school. It translated everything I had heard or read and gave me a choice of not using my voice during a conversation. However, everyone wanted me to improve my speech on my own and emphasized to hear me speak with my voice instead of an electronic one. It was very difficult, and I can say that I only began to speak English toward the end of my two-month stay. Although my classmates almost did not understand me, they still tried to have even the slightest conversation with me and to get to know me better.

I strongly was missing all of my relatives and friends in Russia and was calling them every day to share my school stories, pictures, and academic performances, which surprisingly were excellent although I hardly understood the school material. Every day was difficult for me since I had to do a double-work by translating everything to Russian first and then re-reading the material many times, in order to be able to understand the concept of a book or notes. I tried to do my best and get an excellent grade in everything that I had done, even though it meant staying at home after school and up late at night with books instead of exploring the world around me. A perfect education was everything for me at that moment because getting an A- or B meant that I did not work hard enough, and it was unacceptable to me.

Two months of my education in America had passed quickly and changed me a lot. I increased my responsibility since I had to achieve a lot on this journey, filled with many challenges and obstacles. I grew up mentally and without noticing crossed the line between “a child in the soul” and “a fully matured teenager.” I learned how to open up to the world and ceased to be that small and shy kid in the classroom’s corner. Meanwhile, it became easier for me to make new relationships with people and not to be afraid to make mistakes since they will certainly lead to the achievements of something new. Also, as was one of my goals, I began to speak more fluently in English. I was very proud of myself since English is an international language, without which you do not have as much access to new opportunities. For me, the knowledge of the English language led to the most impactful change in my life. Two years after my trip to America, I moved to this wonderful country.

I do not regret anything at all, even the fact that I had to leave my beloved family and friends for such a long time, or that I had to sit with textbooks most of the nights instead of having fun. It all made me stronger and opened my eyes to another perspective of life, which in the future helped me to have the courage and strength to make such drastic changes in my life. In addition, I acquired a different meaning for myself to one quote, which later became my motto in life. As Maria Robinson said, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

Work Cited

Marati, Jessica. “40 Inspirational Quotes on New Beginnings to Live Your Best.” EcoSalon, 7 Mar. 2015,
ecosalon.com/40-quotes-on-new-beginnings-starts/.

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ARGUMENT PAPER

Are Social Media Worth the Risk?

Social networks are developing faster and more progressively each year, flooding our mobile phones. Everyone uses them for different purposes as business promotion, entertainment, a source of information or communication. Regardless of the use of such social networks as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram, we do not recognize what kind of information we provide to the public in the process of registering and maintaining our profiles, and for what purposes it can be used. A recent incident in 2018 caused many people to be indignant and worried, which...

It is not a secret that after you had registered to social media before its usage, your personal information could easily be found and used. This scares a lot of people since it becomes an easy source for companies and criminals in the identification of where you live, who your family members and friends are, what you do on a daily basis, and your personal contact information. But it is only our fault when we provide too much information. Corresponding to Mitchell, “Around 60% of us never, or only occasionally, review the privacy policy and permissions requested by an app before downloading.” Instead of reading fully the privacy policy, people become too lazy and just hit the agreement button. This is the first step towards sharing data that you did not mean to share. The solution to this is to read fully policies that you agree to since a lot of people do not even realize what they are signing up for. Furthermore, Mitchell did an experiment and asked random people if they would agree to give the right of sharing the data from their phone or if they would specifically give permission to access and share their phone’s contacts and photos. In the first situation, 96% percent of people said yes; however, in the second one, the agreement of people had decreased to 80%. This experiment shows that we most likely will permit something that is asked broadly, rather than specifically.

Moreover, “You are required to share nothing,” states Curtis Silver, a financial/data analyst. It is your own choice about what to share online. If you fear getting spam in your email, create a “junk” email and use it specifically for registering to online resources. If you fear that people will find out more information about you with the usage of your name and date of birth, create a fake profile, so only your friends and family members will know who this profile really belongs to. Despite these precautions, according to "Social Media", the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) was created to ensure the privacy online of children under the age of 13. COPPA enables children not to provide their personal information online and forbids its further sharing with third-parties. Additionally, Police Chief Kevin Halloran explained that parents can easily monitor social media profiles of their kids by, “having administrative access to their devices and even banning access to social media” (Branford). Therefore, it is easy to make sure that you are not giving away too much information about yourself.

After you secured the safety of your social media profile, a lot of benefits and opportunities open up. One of them is making new relationships. Social media provide a great source for finding new friends and business partners through mutual friends and interests. You can search the topics of your interest through hashtags and find a circle of people who think the same way as you. “Through new connections, I have connected with people outside my zip code, gotten freelance jobs, been involved in projects I never would have known about,” says Curtis Silver. Additionally, social media help to stay sociable without literally talking to people in person. According to Craig Ross, a graduate student in psychology, “Shy people who may not always be able to engage friends in the real world are finding solace in the structure of Facebook” (Dailey). They are not being required to have an eye-to-eye conversation, which makes it so much easier for them to open up and share thoughts among society.

Correspondingly, social media are a great source to find the information you need about a person or simply to get to know him or her more. For example, employers use social media in order to see if an employee is qualifying under their requirements and if he still follows them after getting the job. Law enforcement officers also use the advantage of social media. In 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California did research, which showed that 40% of police departments use social media as a resource. This source helps them to track criminals and the start of a negative event. And last, but not least, teachers find social media being very helpful nowadays. Chris Velardi, current public relations professional and former WTNH news anchor, states that social media help him to encourage the students to participate during class and keep up with all the trends, so he can be on the same page with his students. Velardi stays connected with his class 24/7 online, which helps him to immediately answer students’ questions or remind them about homework.

Another great advantage of social media is the fast-spread of news. In 2010, Haiti had a cholera epidemic, and social media helped doctors and epidemiologists to quickly track the start of disease through a browse of Haiti’s posts. Scientists from the Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School say that it was a valuable source for them, and they were able to finish their job in two weeks ahead of the government’s health ministry (Speedy). Similarly, social activists were able to spread the awareness of kidnapping by the Nigerian extremist group Boko Haram in 2014 with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. And moreover, to raise more than 115 million dollars to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, through the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which required participants to dump an iced water bucket on their head and share it to raise donations (Social Media).

One of the other advantages of social media is getting positive feedback. Everyone likes to get compliments about their new look, talent, or a new product. A simple positive comment under your photo can make your day brighter and boost your self-esteem and confidence, according to Kate Dailey. Correspondingly, a nice review of the company's new product can make their day much better. After seeing good feedback, they will be more likely to try to find a way to improve it and therefore make your day better.

But the main advantage of social media is self-promoting. Businesses can easily find their customers through ads and hashtags; therefore, they will reach larger audiences and sell more products. A lot of businesses would not have existed if not for social media, especially the ones in the advertisement business. These companies use demographics from people’s profiles and create targeted ads, banners, and social groups to get more attention to the product. According to "Social Media, “Facebook, for example, generated $16.6 billion from advertisers in the United States in 2019 and $15.6 billion from mobile ads.”

On the other side, social media can be very dangerous. Every single piece of information that you post online is being saved forever, which makes it be an open source for your information. According to "Social Media", an average person uses 9 additional apps throughout the day, and 70% of them will most likely to harvest your data without your knowledge. However, our friends and family members make it even easier. One of the MIT studies shows that 98% of people will give companies the information they need about you and your “close-list” of people in return for something very little as a coupon or a free item (Mitchell). Therefore, our privacy depends not only on our decisions but on the ones of our friends and family members correspondingly.

Criminals and cybercriminals can use the information shared on social media to track the targeted users. Social media connections make it so much easier for criminals to find the information that they need. In fact, “The average Facebook user now has about 338 friends, though the median number is quite a bit lower: 200,” states Steven Mazie. This statistic proves that once you had hacked one account, you can get access to more than 300 more. None of us have protection from being hacked; therefore, social media experts recommend to not upload valuable information online. According to one of the advanced malware protection systems Bromium, “Nearly 1.3 billion social media users worldwide have had their social media accounts hacked” (Bromium).

One of the solutions is creating a fake social media account, but at the same time, that is when “catfishing” may come in turn. Catfishing is a term used to define the creation of a false identity. In 2017, the University of Southern California and Indiana University determined that as many as 15% of Twitter accounts were fake (Social Media). Most of them are bots that are used to misinform people, send spam and even scam, but some of them could be real people. Grown men can easily create a profile of a teenage girl and start chatting with girls of “his” age. With a fake profile, it is very easy for them to get their trust, which may lead to dangerous consequences.

The fast-spreading of rumors is the next disadvantage of social media. A study by Sinan Aral at MIT showed that rumors and false stories spread faster and further than true ones. It all starts in one group chat and then continuously is being transformed into other ones. This move of propaganda was used in Sri Lanka against Muslims. Rumors were spreading out too fast and too many fake Muslims' profiles were created in order to attack them. Eventually, Sri Lanka’s government had to block the access to Facebook for its nation.

Another thing that scares a lot of people is being faced with their past. We all have skeletons in our closet, but unfortunately, sometimes the closet is our old social media page. Not a lot of people want to see their embarrassing pictures on the internet or their ex being with another girl/guy after a couple of years. Correspondingly, not a lot of people want to decide on whether or not to follow back their ex-best friend or unfollow a certain person.

But one of the biggest risks is cyberbullying and a fear of negative feedback. The first one is more common among regular people, rather than business companies. Since the first Amendment provides a full right for free speech, people take it as an advantage and bully people online. It can be shown in the mean comments under the photos, cruel messages, spreading rumors, or even posting embarrassing pictures without a person’s permission. In 2018, “All the states had enacted the legislation against bullying, cyberbullying, and online harassment,” states "Social Media". However, this legislation did not stop bullying online completely as people try to find new ways of doing so. The second one, negative feedback, is more common among businesses. As soon as they launch a new product online, people start evaluating a product and write reviews about it. Business companies are terrified to see their products fail in the eyes of their customers, so they try to make sure that every single detail will be accepted by their target audiences.

Social media are definitely worth the risk of lack of privacy as it is being a great source for a lot of good causes as raising awareness of global issues, getting new friends and potential customers, staying sociable and supportive. People will always find a way to gain our personal information and use it against us, so it is our responsibility to be very selective in what we are sharing online. By following simple precautions as not to post valuable information online and not providing it to someone we do not know, we can decrease the chance of being negatively affected by social media. Moreover, if we will stay positive and nice to each other, then most of the negative feedback will go away and social online experience will be more pleasant.

Work Cited Page

Dailey, Kate. “Friends With Benefits: Do Facebook Friends Provide the Same Support as Those In Real Life?” Newsweek, 19 May 2010,
www.newsweek.com/friends-benefits-do-facebook-friends-provide-same- support-those-real-life-222404.
Accessed 24 Oct. 2019.

Hindenach, Jeff. “Adults vs. Teens: The Different Ways We Use Social Media.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffpost.com/entry/adults-vs-teens-the-diffe_b_3838657. Accessed 29 Oct. 2019.

Lindsey, Nicole. “Cyber Criminals Have Turned Social Media Cyber Crime Into a $3 Billion Business.” CPO Magazine, 28 May 2019,
www.cpomagazine.com/cyber-security/cyber-criminals-have-turned-social-media-cyber-crime-into-a-3-billion-business/. Accessed 2 Nov. 2019.

Mazie, Steven. “Do You Have Too Many Facebook Friends?” Big Think, Big Think, 30 Jan. 2019,

www.bigthink.com/praxis/do-you-have-too-many-facebook-friends. Accessed 2 Nov. 2019.

Mitchell, Vincent, et al. "Your online privacy depends as much on your friends' data habits as your own." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link-gale.com.ezp.tccd.edu/apps/doc/HSXQYZ999685367/OVICu=txshracd2560&sid=OVIC&xid=06a12bf6. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

Ortiz, Juliemar. "Branford event examines advantages, pitfalls of social media." New Haven Register [New Haven, CT], 6 Nov. 2015. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link-gale-com.ezp.tccd.edu/apps/doc/A434269872/OVIC?u=txshracd2560&sid=OVIC&xid=f90a25a4.
Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

Samarajiva, Rohan. "Banning Social Media Won't Stop Hate Speech." New York Times, 16 Mar. 2018, p. NA(L). Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A531150121/OVIC?u=txshracd2560&sid=OVIC&xid=500b1c8e. Accessed 23 Oct. 2019.

Silver, Curtis. "The Fear of Social Media Is Unfounded." Are Social Networking Sites Harmful?, edited by Stefan Kiesbye, Greenhaven Press, 2011. At Issue. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link-gale-com.ezp.tccd.edu/apps/doc/EJ3010744209/OVIC?u=txshracd2560&sid=OVIC&xid=cfab286e.
Accessed 22 Oct. 2019.

"Social Media." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2019. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link-gale-com.ezp.tccd.edu/apps/doc/PC3010999130/OVIC?u=txshracd2560&sid=OVIC&xid=b792211c.
Accessed 23 Oct. 2019.

"Speedy social media." Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Feb. 2012, p. 81. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link-gale-com.ezp.tccd.edu/apps/doc/A291701448/OVIC?u=txshracd2560&sid=OVIC&xid=baf6f367.
Accessed 21 Oct. 2019.

Stewart, Emily. “Facebook's Cambridge Analytica Crisis Keeps Growing.” Vox, Vox, 20 Mar. 2018, www.vox.com/technology/2018/3/20/17144318/facebook-cambridge-analytica-data-breach-stock.
Accessed 29 Oct. 2019.

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Digital Literacy