My name is Steven Paul
Repka. I grew up as an only child in Hopewell Junction, New York. At the age of
nine, I moved to Germany, where for two years my parents were on assignment
with IBM- an experience that opened my eyes to European ways of living, as well
as to a whole new world of languages. In high school I was very athletic,
playing football, basketball, and in the later years, track and cross country.
I was also the Editor-in-Chief of the John Jay Patriot Newspaper. I graduated
with an Associate’s Degree from Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, New
York in December 2012 and am currently attending SUNY Oneonta to further my
studies and follow my interests. I chose SUNY Oneonta because its positive
reputation from friends of mine that have graduated from the college. I am
taking Communications 100 as part of my curriculum for a major in
Communications studies. I am hoping that the class will help me become a better
communicator, as well as expand my knowledge of self and the world around us.
Most of what I truly
know about myself comes from other people. I have been called a deep thinker
and an intellectual. I would also consider myself to be a literary mind. I have
always enjoyed reading. My favorite author of all-time is the beat poet Jack Kerouac,
who wrote On the Road in 1951. Some of my favorite books are
categorized as American Dream literature, for example, The Great Gatsby,
and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I also enjoy writing,
especially poetry. I have done a lot of study of existentialist writers and
philosophers such as Nietzsche, Camus, and Dostoevsky. I am a big fan of Monty
Python’s Flying Circus. When it comes to my ideologies, I am a humanist. I
believe that humans are, at the core, essentially good, and that personality is
merely a corruption of the essence of man. I’m fascinated by the parallels
between Western psychology and Eastern mysticism, especially in the
perspectives of Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Perls, Carl Rogers, Timothy
Leary and Ramana Maharshi. I am especially intrigued in the study of
consciousness (i.e. Daniel Dennett, David Hawkins) and its correlations to the
theories of Einstein and quantum mechanics.
I have a very musical
mind. Some have even called me a musical “genius.” I have been studying classical
piano since I was five years old, and more recently been studying jazz piano.
When I was fourteen I stumbled upon a guitar and taught myself how to play. I
have had an affinity for singing and songwriting ever since first hearing Bob
Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. When I was sixteen I led a group called the Hazmats.
Around the same time I began playing guitar with blues musician Little Scotty
and the Knockouts, who still hosts blues jams at numerous restaurants and pubs
in the Hudson Valley. Two years ago I formed a band with some old friends, and
we are currently recording an album together as Steve Repka and The Space
Cadets.
I enjoy the culinary
arts, as I used to work as a sous chef at a catering company specializing in
gourmet foods. I am also somewhat of a connoisseur of craft and micro-brewed
beers. I also love the outdoors, and enjoy hiking and fly-fishing. I like to
watch the news and pay attention to the political problems of the day, although
I often think that neither Democrats nor Republicans have the right answers. I
believe that the widening political divide in America is only a product of a
much deeper issue. If I could ask for one thing in my lifetime, it would be to
see another vast jump in worldwide awareness, such as the rise in consciousness
that America experienced in the 1990’s.
Possible topics of
interest for an in-class debate include religiosity in America (e.g. is
religion helpful/detrimental to American society?), music (e.g. does
hip-hop/metal music with graphically violent lyrics negatively affect our
children?), the effects of the Internet/TV, legalization of cannabis, and
evolution (e.g. should American schools have a choice to teach our children
creationism as an alternative to scientific theory?).
Topics of interest for a
public speech include studies of intelligence, the study of human
consciousness, the evolution of the human brain, and the study of religion as a
social institution today.
