Dear Reader,

I’m very conflicted with the topic of what I will write my conference paper about, due to the requirement of the topic being “small”. However, I’ve come up with a few ideas I’m passionate about that I could maybe narrow down to write a detailed eight-page paper about.

First topic: Jazz. Jazz has always been something I’ve loved listening to in the background. It fills in the silence perfectly and sets the mood so that you can feel calm and at ease. Like the feeling of being in the present. But after reflecting on this topic, I’ve questioned something I never thought of before. Have I really ever listened to Jazz? Or has it just been something to fill in the silence? Lyrical music, on the other hand, has a different meaning to me. Every song holds a specific meaning to me, and a different emotion is invoked for every different song that plays. Different songs bring back specific times of my life and uncover that memory hidden. But what about Jazz? What meaning does it truly hold other than just filling in the silence and rocking me to sleep? In the end, Jazz is life. It doesn’t matter how passionate I am about it, or even if I only use it to fill in the silence, it is still an important tool for me and I rely on it almost every day. I love Jazz. And if this assignment allows me to learn more about something I’ve been exploring for a long time, then I’m all for it. The only problem is, the topic itself is too broad and I won’t be able to fit everything into a eight-page paper. Narrowing it down to specific Jazz artists, or even small subgenres of Jazz could help. Or maybe incorporating culture into it, like distinguishing Harlem Jazz from New Orleans Jazz?

Second topic: Food. Food has always been a big passion of mine. Growing up in Queens, I was surrounded by culture. Different local restaurants to try, and different cultures to explore. A Nepali restaurant is located right beside an Indian restaurant, and the cherry on top is the Mexican food truck in front of them. This shows the cultural melting pot of Queens, something any other place on earth could never achieve. Narrowing it down, I could write a paper about a specific dish either from my culture or my experience navigating other cultures.

I’m still open to discovering new ideas to write about. And these two are just some that I have brainstormed about in class. Maybe I could write about social media, but the important question to keep in mind is, “Is it small enough to fit an eight-page paper?”