- Credibility
In preparation of the ‘credibility’ aspect of presentation ideas, I reflected on previous examples given in class, such as the pictures of the several political figures, athletes, etc. One of the most famous and, often notorious, athlete in cycling is Lance Armstrong. Apparently he was involved in one of the largest scandals in sports history, yet I have little to no knowledge of the entire situation. While assessing Lance’s credibility, I must evaluate him holistically, meaning that I cannot only factor in his ‘disgraces’, while discrediting and ignoring his several achievements. Also, I can also interpret how his credibility has changed throughout his lifetime, from the early beginnings of his career, and how it has either progressed or decayed as his career continued. Lastly, I can examine his current credibility and how it affects his current lifestyle, who it affects, and how it personally affects me. It might seem obvious that his credibility would have no personal or direct impact to me, but perhaps powerful figures can have influences towards bicycle cultures that I experience.
- Personal Interest
For the little knowledge and understanding I have in cycling, I can say that from what I have endured, encountered, and experienced that cycling is an immediate and powerful change in a person’s lifestyle. Whether a person uses it solely as a mode of transportation, or exercise, or as a social activity, bicycling demands a person to think differently, and rewire how a person interacts with the world around themselves in order to cycle. While this might sound drastic, I can personally attest to the impact cycling has made in how I interact with my environment, and it has become apparent when I moved from a small suburb to the city of San Francisco. When speaking about my personal experience with biking, I want to share the similarities and differences of biking in these two cities, and how it has shaped how I appreciate each city as well as biking in general.
- Academic Interest
I had discovered this initiative almost 3 years ago, while I was researching about access to clean water and sanitation in Sub-Saharan Africa. While I found solutions that were primarily executed on a legislative, economic, or political level, one of the most intriguing grassroots initiative I came across was the Ghana Bamboo bikes. While it already had made its mark and shown progress in 2014, I was pleasantly surprised to see its continuing success in 2017, and I wanted to see how simple innovations and initiatives like this one can have monumental impacts in the sustainability of these underdeveloped nations. While I am a communication studies major, I have always found humanitarian work and international affairs to be intriguing, and fortunately the Ghana Bamboo Bikes hits ‘two birds with one stone’ with this presentation.
