About Me

Who am I?

My name is Collins Ogodo, I am a student from Nicholas Senn High Schcool. If I were to describe myself in one word, I'd say it would be "Motivated". No matter what task I have, whether it be difficult or tedious, my natural inclination is to complete it. Furthermore, I don't just satisfy for adequacy, I go above and beyond, making sure to complete my endeavors as well as I possibly can.

I try my best to always look through the world in an optimistic outlook. I enjoy helping an collaborating with others, and I don't let minor inconveniences, or rudeness from others ruin my day.

If there's one thing I don't like, I'd say it would be laziness. The feeling of being, inactive, unmotivated and just in general not accomplishing anything, simply doesn't sit right with me. In my opinion, life isn't meant to be a walk in the park, we should all be finding ways to challenge ourselves and contribute to a bigger picture. That being said, every summer when school is out, I always take it upon myself to find something that will both benefit me, and keep me busy. (More details on this down below)

Education

As of right now, I am Junior student at NIcholas Senn High Shcool. I take full IB classes, and I am in the Diploma Prep Program.

Current Classes:

• IB SL Math Analysis and Approaches ll

• IB HL English Literarture l

• IB HL Visual Arts l

• IB SL Spanish ab initio |

• IB Theory Knowledge and Extended Essay l

• IB SL Global Politics l

• IB HL Biology l

GPAs

Freshman Year:

• Unweighted: 4.0000

• Weighted: 4.7143

Sophomore Year:

• Unweighted: 3.7857

• Weighted: 4.6429

Nicholas Senn High School

Hobbies

The Piano

I have been playing the piano for two years straight as of now. It began when my mother gifted me with a 61-key piano keyboard. After being told a few times to practice on it, I quickly feel in love with the instrument, no longer needing to be ordered to indulge myself. I never once had I piano teacher to guide me, everything I've learned up until now was self-taught via books and other media Nonetheless, there were numerous drawbacks to this. With nobody to critique your form, you could develop detrimental habits over time, such keeping your hands stiff and straight. To compensate for this, I started watching YouTube tutorials on the piano to get a clear view of what I should aim for. Afterwards, I saw optimal improvements in my form and posture. That being said, my overall technique was nowhere near perfect, and since I lacked a teacher, I made sure to always put effort towards being mindful and conscious of every part of my body whilst practicing.

As for the actual contents of my practicing, there was a wide variety of methods I used. Originally, I played simple, beginner songs in a book, which progressively increase in difficultly. I had a strict obligation to master the current song, before advancing to the next. By the time I completed the book, I knew how to recognize most notes and play with both hands. At that current time, my dream was to someday be play songs from popular media I consume. I acknowledged that I was still many miles away from achieving this, so in order to develop my skills, I began studying music theory. I practiced scales, along with their designated cords and arpeggios. This not only forged my compression of how songs are structured, but also worked as a great exercise for my dexterity and finger strength. Even as of now, I try to practice cords and arpeggios daily, with varying tempos. The duration of this may last from 10 to around 30 minutes, hence why I claim that playing the piano truly illuminated my ability to perform repetitive tasks continuously. My commitment towards the bigger picture of the matter surmounts the feelings of boredom.

My original piano keyboard

At a later stage, I began playing of a book which featured intermediate level songs. I believe this marked a large turning point in my piano journey, as this chapter heavily illustrated my resolve. The songs in this new book were much more advanced than the pieces I played before, and I recall one which took me at least a month to master. On that note, I should clarify that I believe there are 3 phases, when it comes to learning a song. Firstly, you crudely cover all the notes. This phase is usually quite short, though some pieces are considerably longer than others. Second, you memorize all the notes, which may take several days or slightly over a week. Finally, you master the piece. This means playing in a consistent tempo from start to finish, using the intended BPM among other musical markings. Additionally, you'd also aim for your technique to convey the implied tone of the song. The main reason a piece takes a long time to finish is my effort to ensure this stage is completed to a satisfactory level. Without a teacher to point out the blemishes in my technique, progress towards significant change can be slow. It can be quite stressful and disheartening, being 3 weeks in a piece and still not have it mastered. Despite the negative feelings, I never once gave up on any piece. Whenever I felt this way, I attuned my body, particularly my fingers, with my mind. This allows for me to pinpoint areas of excessive tension, or phrases which I particularity struggle with. Once I Identify the issue, and allocate most of my effort towards tackling it. Eventually, It'll no longer be a problem, and from there, I continuously play the song, from start to finish, until consider it to be truly mastered. The feeling of satisfaction achieved from this stage is priceless, and it goes to show how with enough dedication, anything can be accomplished.

My current piano, bought from the stipend awarded after completing The 6x3 Project

Upon completion of The 6x3 Project in the summer of 2023, I was awarded a $500 dollar stipend. I saw this money as a perfect opportunity to progress my piano playing to new heights. The keyboard I had before served its purpose being a beginners introduction to the piano, however there's no denying that its capabilities where no where near the likes of a true piano. There was no sustain pedal to make notes sound richer, no touch sensitivity to incorporate dynamics, and was limited to only 61 keys. My new piano had fixed all these constraints, and now, I had to potential to produce profoundly touching, atmospheric music.

Yet another substantial chapter of my journey has begun, though it definitely took time to adjust to. The hardest part of playing on a real Piano was most definitely the touch sensitivity which all keys had. Essentially, how loud, or soft a note is depends on how hard you press it. It seemed simple of paper, but when you've been so used to playing on a keyboard that produced the same sound no matter how hard you pressed the notes, your fingers will leach onto your old style of playing. I trained my fingers to adapt by doing dynamics exercises daily, going from loud to soft, switching with both hands. Even to this day, I still find mastering dynamics to be a challenge. Nonetheless, I've accepted it as one which will improve as I spend more years playing. As for the sustain pedal, I got the hand of it quickly, and I soon found out just much it could drastically improve the emotion you convey whilst playing.

During the fall of sophomore year, all of us sophomores were required to complete the MYP Personal Project by March. Essential, it's a long project which challenges students to explore any interest of their choosing, record their findings and submit and report on it for a grade. When this was first announced, I remembered the dream I had last year, being able to play piano songs of media I like. It immediately hit me, that this Personal Project was quite literally the perfect opportunity to fulfill that dream. Not only was practicing piano a genuine interest of mine, but I was certain it would be a great challenge, with the added academic incentive to surmount. Even more so, my new piano with its defining intricacies would aid immensely in portraying various tones. It felt as though this project was made solely for me, and I was eager to get started right away.

I decided I would play 3 songs in total, each from the video game, Hollow Knight. I didn't know how long each song would take me to master, hence why I was urgent to start the project the day it was announced. The 1st of the 3 was surprisingly quite easy for me. After I mastered it, I was soon humbled the 2nd and 3rd song, both of which took me well over a month to master. As mentioned earlier, I wasn't discouraged too quickly by how mundane repeating phrases were, or how long the song as a whole was taking. I had my heart set on completing the song, not just for the sake of my grade, but also for the sake of turning my dream into a reality. Nothing would deviate me from that path, no matter how many long, arduous hours I spent.

I managed to master all three songs a couple mouths before March. At that point, words couldn't describe how proud and satisfied I was with myself. My resolve had pulled through, and my dream was no longer just a fantasy. As I continue my endless piano journey, along with my life as a whole, I will make sure to apply that resolve to everything I hope to achieve. In the end, my commitment to the cause, will never die.

(You can listen to these songs in the portfolio page)