In the movie Inside Out we see how Joy follows the “fake it until you make it” strategy. She does her best to convince the other emotions that they should not take action in situations where they normally would. Joy tries to see the positive in every situation though it may not be necessarily a good thing. She does her best to prevent Sadness from touching memories or participating in Riley’s emotions. Eventually, when Joy is feeling upset herself, she sees the memory of Riley’s family approaching her and her teammates cheering her on when she missed the winning shot for her team. At first she was proud that it was a happy day for Riley but soon she realized that the only reason her friends and family approached her and made her feel content was because she was initially sad. Once Joy realizes this she gets herself and Sadness up to headquarters and allows Sadness to touch her core memories. She makes Sadness acknowledge that she is just as valuable as Joy in Riley’s life. From then on each memory became a mixture of emotion, which is more realistic than a purely happy emotion. Much like Viktor Frankl, Joy realized there is meaning in suffering. Though she wants nothing but happiness in Riley’s life she becomes aware that at times it is necessary for her to reach a low point so she can surpass it and something good can come from it.

Freshman Research Conference

The Freshman Research Conference was a great way for us to get an overview of what different classes in our pod have been learning. One class was concerned with cooperative learning, and the other discussed different examples of altruism. I think the information was presented in an overall productive way. All three groups were able to present their information in an efficient way, though I believe it would have been better if the altruism group had a power point like the other two groups. That way it would have seemed more uniformed, and I'm not sure if the people towards the back of the cafeteria could really see all of the information on their poster boards. Since the presentations were relatively brief it was helpful to hear and see all three groups in the front together answering various questions, and expanding on a few topics. Essentially, my role as an audience member was to be respectful towards the presenters, and take notes regarding their main ideas.