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The Kite Runner, a novel by Khaled Hosseini, tells the story of Amir, a man who grew up in Afghanistan in the years leading up to the communist take over, before fleeing to America. The story is one of redemption, as it follows Amir both in his childhood when he betrays his best friend and in the decades following when he tries to find away to redeem himself for his actions, or lack thereof. Though The Kite Runner is a novel that I have read relatively recently (twice), the overall themes of the story: Amir's quest to redeem himself, the effect the choices we make have on our lives, and the importance of belief and faith in something outside of your self, in this case Amir's growing faith in God, has led me to solidify and fabricate some of my outlooks on life. I found Amir's turn to faith when Sohrab was in the hospital to be especially impactful. "I see now that Baba was wrong, the is a God, there always had been... This is the real house if God, this is where those who have lost God will find Him..." (The Kite Runner, Pg 346). I found this particular passage to be so impactful because it further solidified and clarified to me my own belief that there is an outside force (from my point of view the Christian God) out of human control, that controls and greatly effects our lives.

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How I Met Your Mother is a show, is the story of a young architect, Ted, in his quest to find his soulmate. The story, told over the course of 9 years by Ted in the year 2030 (25 years after the start of the story), places heavy emphasis on how the choices Ted and his friends made effected their lives and led to Ted eventually meeting his soulmate. It achieves this by not only taking time out of each episode to connect how choices made earlier (that episode or in previous episodes) effected the story but also how alternate decisions would have thrown Ted's life way off course and most likely would have kept him from meeting his soulmate. The show, which I have watched and re-watched approximately 4 times, has taught me how influential the choices we make are our lives. I have learned that every decision I have made creates a path that leads to my current situation and that I have the power to drastically alter my life with every decision I make.

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Thaddeus and Slocum is a musical written by Kevin Douglas, which premiered in Chicago's Looking Glass theater earlier this year. The musical tells the story of two performers in the Chicago vaudeville circuit, one white and one black, with aspirations to perform in the highly reputable Majestic theater. The story deals with the conflicts of race and identity, and questions how far one should go in order to achieve their dreams. This is done by showing the black performer, Thaddeus', dilemma: to put on blackface with Slocum and perform in the Majestic as a "white" actor pretending to be black, or to forget his dream (or at least find another way of achieving it) and stay true to who he is and what he stands for. Watching this show greatly affected me and modified many of my personal views on life. The show taught me that the choices we make can change us and who we are, and can make a difference on us becoming the person who we want to be. This show taught me that achieving our dreams means nothing if we make the wrong choice and become someone we aren't proud of and that it is the choices we make that get us to where we want to be that really change our lives and make us who we are.

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Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure June 1 - August 14 Written by Ensemble Member Kevin Douglas Directed by Ensemble Member J. Nicole Brooks and Krissy Vandwarker It's 1908 and Chicago's Majestic Theatre is the jewel of the vaudeville circuit.

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The Beatles, grew from small teen rock band in Liverpool to international superstars, stressing the importance of not only love and peace but also choices and the responsibility of everyone to make their own choices and forge their own path. The Beatles are proof that both the choices you make (the deals you sign, the places you play, the people you hire, the albums/songs you release, etc) and influences you can't control (right place at the right time, God's influence if you believe) determine your fate and how you live your life. I found the lyric in their song "The End", "and in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make" to reflect this sentiment well. The quote serves to point out to their fans the message that they wanted to broadcast since they began: first, the choices you make in your life will always reflect the kind of life you lead, and second, those who choose to live in love and peace will find a life filled with those things in return.

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The Beatles crossing Abbey Road became an iconic symbol and one of the most famous and most imitated album covers in recording history...

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I consider myself to be a very optimistic and ambitious individual. I see myself to be a sort of mix between a Naturalist and Existentialist because of my beliefs that God has a plan for us all and does have influence on our lives while at the same time human beings do have the ability to change their own lives and make their own decisions. Some people may say that considering myself to be partially Naturalist is incorrect because the nature that influences our lives, in my opinion, is God but I feel that The Lord's influence on our lives and, say, a hurricane's influence are both, in my opinion, natural and out of human control. It is my optimism and ambition that makes me an Exsestentialist. Through my optimism and ambition, I have developed the firm belief that human beings are not destined to do all of the actions they do but instead have the option to change their lives and forge their own path. I believe that it is the choices we make are a key determinate of our success and happiness in life and that each person must make the choice to strive and do what is necessary to be the person they want to be. Due to the fact that my ideals in Naturalism lie largely within the text of the Bible, I will be focusing on how I developed my view of Exsestentialism as it has been developing over time through the influence of several different works of art.