'Bonis' Exposure
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There are several videos on YouTube that I didn't produce, but still feature me. Often, these are the times in which I've been in front of the largest and most diverse audiences—hence 'Bonis' exposure.
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CNN Student News
On January 22, 2013, I appeared on CNN's 'Student News' (now CNN 10), describing 1960s civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. in single word: righteous. In sixth grade, my homeroom would watch this program in the ten minutes before math class. My fellow students and teacher, Mr. Chen, were awfully surprised to see me on the big screen that Tuesday morning. However brief my appearance may have been, that moment was so memorable that I made a whole video about it three and a half years later, which can be found on the 'Bonis Productions' page. What word would you have chosen?
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Belkin Family Lookout Farm Commercial
As recently as September, 2015, I appeared in a twenty-second advertisement for apple-picking at Belkin Family Lookout Farm in Natick, Massachusetts. Recorded several seasons earlier, it seems I picked apples in exactly the right place at the right time. Even though I was visibly older than any of the other children, the producers asked that I participate by appearing to reach for an apple several times. My aunt, who works for a local television station where the advertisement was aired, then shared the video with me. My scene passes very quickly. (See timestamp 0:04 for clip.) Was my apple-picking posture convincing?
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President Bonis
In May, 2016, I was featured in my friend's final project for his communications class: a campaign speech. Of course, this was inspired by the ongoing presidential election at the time. For better or worse, I was completely uninvolved in either the script-writing or editing of this video and can, therefore, take no credit for anything besides the outstanding performance. Also, without my prior knowledge, the project was played at the high school's film festival that year. I was absolutely stunned as a ordinary member of the audience to see myself projected onto a huge screen in front of hundreds of other students. Knowing that my claims are about as truthful as a typical politician, would you vote for me?
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High School Quiz Show
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In January, 2018, I appeared in an episode of High School Quiz Show from Boston's WGBH studios in which my team (Wellesley High School) was pitted against students from Natick High School. Several months earlier, I'd been waiting for the bus when a student with the team approached me, asking if I'd like to take a trivia quiz to potentially earn a spot. I'd tried out the year before, but didn't make the cut. Unfortunately, I had only about ten minutes before the bus was bound to appear. Nevertheless, I went for it and—miraculously—answered enough questions correctly to qualify without even starting the final page! Not long after, we participated in our first round of competition in which over a hundred schools took a preliminary exam to earn one of the sixteen tournament spots. Sure enough, we made it and continued practicing for our match against Natick—and you'll see how that went! As for my answer to the climate change question, I got anxious and didn't know what to say. How would you have responded?
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Friday Morning Announcements
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On March 9, 2018, I appeared in an episode of Wellesley High School's Friday Morning Announcements, which are basically entertaining weekly segments that inform the school community of upcoming events. As a video-maker myself, I'd wanted to host the show since freshman year, but the slots are available to juniors and seniors only. So, I waited patiently until eleventh grade, at which point I quickly signed up for the final morning announcements of 2017 with the same friend who produced the 'Present Bonis' campaign video two years earlier. Unfortunately, the hockey team bumped us out of that spot to promote their game, so we were rescheduled for the next available opening on some unremarkable Friday in March. Based on my performance, would I make for a good news anchor? Or do I shout too much‽
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HQ Trivia
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On March 22, 2018, I appeared in a game of HQ Trivia, a live mobile game show in which players compete for real money. After answering all twelve questions correctly, I earned my $45.87 share of the $5,000 total payout. I spent the money on exotic wood blanks! That night's host, Sarah Pribis, also gave my username, 'Tophurel' a shoutout when announcing a few of the 109 players (out of nearly one million) who'd won. After that, I won twice more, although both prizes were significantly smaller. (See timestamp 13:24 in a video of that game for my shoutout.) Did you know the answers to all those questions?
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Daily Dose of Internet
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On August 6, 2020, my video of poking wolf's milk slime was featured in a YouTube video by a very popular channel, Daily Dose of Internet, whose uploads receive several millions of views. I'd submitted the video the day prior, thinking it's the kind of content that would appeal to his audience. Sure enough, the host agreed and included a ten-second clip of the pink slime mold in his upload. (See timestamp 2:09 for my contribution.) Fortunately, the original video was linked in the description, allowing intrigued viewers to be redirected to my paltry channel. Although my face was never actually seen, appearing on a DDOI video was by far my greatest 'Bonis' exposure of all time, nearly doubling my subscriber count and adding five thousand views in just 24 hours. Have you ever encountered such an unusual organism?
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