“Bahman’s Journey” by Olivia Samimy is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
This is the story of my dad’s immigration to the United States and what he accomplished once he arrived here. The photos are all from my dad’s collection. I recorded the narration myself and edited the video both using iMovie. I hope you enjoy!
My fictional podcast, “Whodunnit Hour,” is a place you can listen in to hear about all kinds of mystery novels. The podcast provides reviews and discussion around mystery books, both popular books and ones you may never have heard of. For this particular episode, I was referencing the book Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I opened the audio with the ambient sound of a spooky forest. This helps set the scene that we’ll be talking about creepy things. I follow that with my spoken introduction to the podcast. I closed the audio with some suspenseful music, as I hear many podcasts play music after the intro. I tried to set the scene that the podcast would be spooky, but also campy and fun.
“Honey” by Olivia Samimy is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
“Sweet Honey” by Olivia Samimy is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND
I took this original photo of my gorgeous cat, Honey. While she looks beautiful, the image has a lot of distracting background. You can see my messy living room on one side and the edge of Honey’s cat tree on the other. Additionally, Honey is in almost the dead center of the image.
By cropping, I brought Honey’s eyes up to the top third of the image to bring her to eye level. I also removed the unnecessary details. Finally, I also uncentered the subject, and brought Honey a little more to the right to make the image more visually interesting. This makes use of the negative space on the other side of her. It looks like she is intently looking out and this leaves her space to do so and raises the question of what she was looking at.
In addition to the cropping, I turned up the saturation and vibrance to make her beautiful orange pop. I also turned up the shadows a little bit to cast the background into darkness. This focuses the viewer on Honey, as she is the real star of the show.
Hygge is the Danish and Norwegian concept of embracing comfort, coziness, and contentment during the cold months. Since Tallahassee is experiencing its yearly one month of winter, I have been enjoying the opportunity to embrace coziness and comfort. I feel that this photo perfectly exemplifies a sense of cozy comfort. What could be more peaceful and warm than reading a book in fuzzy socks by the fire?
I added the sound of a cat purring because this is one of the coziest sounds imaginable. I am biased, of course, since I love my two cats immeasurably. However, some studies have shown that the sound of a cat purring may actually lower your blood pressure! For me at least, the sound of a cat purring immediately evokes a sense of warmth and peace. This sound adds that additional layer of comfort to the photo and implies that, out of frame, there is a cat enjoying the Hygge lifestyle with you. If you have a cat, you know that they are the perfect companion to the Hygge lifestyle, as there is nothing a cat loves more than a warm nap.
Hello everyone! My name is Olivia Samimy and I am originally from Fredericksburg, Virginia. I went to a tiny college called Roanoke College in southwestern Virginia, where I received my BA with a major in Literary Studies and a minor in Communications in 2021.
In 2022, I moved to Tallahassee to complete my MA in Literature, Media, and Culture. During this time, I also served as a Graduate Instructor where I taught Freshman English to FSU students. I graduated from this program in May 2024 and haven’t been able to escape Tallahassee yet. I am currently working as an Academic Advisor at FSU in the Dedman College of Hospitality, where I help guide undergraduate students through their degree. I started my MSI last semester, and my goal is to become an academic librarian. I love working with college students so I look forward to continuing to do that in my career.
As is probably unsurprising for someone like me, I love to read. My favorite genres are mystery and fantasy. You can check out my Goodreads account to see what I am currently reading. My other favorite activity is to be out in nature. If you live in Tallahassee, you may know we have an incredible park system. My two favorite places to hike are Maclay Gardens State Park and Lafayette Heritage Trail. You can find me at a park any weekend where we’re blessed with weather below 90 degrees. If it’s too hot for hiking, I like to make the drive to St. George Island and sit on the beach.
When I am not enjoying the fresh air, I try to keep my two cats, Honey and Bessie, out of mischief. At this, I am mostly unsuccessful.
