the r word.

just thought of this the other day when we talked about eliminating the r word....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iSlok6muY0

watch, its truly worth it.

Hamper Helpers

I had never done anything like this, and honestly it was an amazing experience. Its amazing how you can live in the same place for almost 17 years and not notice how many people are in need. It was so shocking to me the number of people lined up to get food. I felt awesome being able to be a help to some people. Really getting to know the people and hearing the appreciation in their voices really made it worth it. There was a woman who had 4 kids, and she had to feed her entire family as a single mom. It was awesome that the community donated gifts as well as food to make each child's Christmas amazing.

One of the things that i was curious about was how you go about qualifying for a hamper. How does the town decide who is worthy and who is not. I think anyone with valid enough reason should be able to recieve food. For example, if Christmas season is tight for you, and you work many many hours just to give your kids what they deserve, you should be able to qualify. But if you have no children, are not working to get a job, and just gave up, in my opinion, you should have to be working towards giving that to your children. If not, you are just abusing the system..

Anyways, I think this food drive is a fantastic thing for our community and it really helps the community strive. It brings us all together, and gives everyone the opportunity to help.

I would definitely help with this food drive again in the future. I loved helping out :)

Violinist in the Metro

I think its crazy that people wont take 5 minutes out of their day to observe something so amazing as music. It kind of relates to my last lecture, about worrying. These people worry too much. They're worried about what people will think of them, about being late for work, about observing music? Nothing is wrong with these things, maybe you shouldn't be late for work everyday, so leave 5 minutes earlier. Then you CAN stop and observe beauty. Whether its walking a little slower down the street to look at the buildings, whether it's stopping in the subway to listen to someone playing violin, whether its taking a different route to work to see what else you see. You need to stop and NOT think sometimes. Change up your routine. Stop and do things you wouldn't normally do, and when those things become 'normal' to you, change them again.

This article says it amazingly at the end, if we really don't have time to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, how many other things are we missing? its true.

Everyone is guilty of this.

A few weeks ago, a house on my street was ran into by a car in the middle of the night. The owners were on vacation. There were many houses surrounding it and the house sits on one of the busiest streets in Ingersoll. The accident happened at 5:30 am, and was not reported until 12pm the same day. I am guilty. I drove right past the house without even glancing. At least 1000 vehicles did the same thing in those 6.5 hours. One person walked past and noticed the house. 1 out of 1000. How sad is that? We miss seeing a house with a HUGE hole in the side. How do these things happen? The only thing I can think of is that everyone is too concerned with where they're going, and where they've been, rather then where they are AT THAT MOMENT.

My Last Lecture

Growing up, I always thought the most important things in life were to be perfect, and to do everything right, to succeed. I was only right about one of these things, success. I had the definition of success wrong though. I thought that success was to have a good job, or have a lot of money. I learned that true meaning of success is happiness. In order to live a full life, you have to be happy. Sometimes, you have to please yourself before you try to please anyone else. Dont waste any time worrying. I spent too much time worrying about the smallest little things. Between the ages of 14-17, I lost way to many people around me at young ages. I learned to live, to truly live. Now, I cherish every moment and I dont worry as much anymore.

If you spent every day worrying about the next, are you truly living for today?

Live for today, because tomorrow's too late...

One last quote for you. Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out?

Gratitude

This chapter really made me think. Think about all the things in our daily lives that we take forgranted. Such as food, and water, and a roof over our heads. The opportunity to go to school. lunch. Family. Safety. So many things we encounter every single day that we have, that not many people in this world do. And yet, these things aren't enough. We always need more. Do we really NEED the newest updated cell phone? NO. Do we really NEED that new shirt to make us look good at school? NO. We are safe in Canada. The story about the man coming to the door right after the twin towers fell really moved me. You think that these things will never happen in a country like Canada, and you feel gratitude that we are in such a safe country. Even if something like this did happen, I would feel so much gratitude that I was not involved. That I was safe. We are all safe here and nobody realizes it. Everyone takes it forgranted. Try living in Kenya, Iraq, where you walk every day wondering WHEN you will die. It's not a matter of IF, its a matter of when.

I feel so honoured to live in Canada and be so safe in this country. I love this country with everything i have. :)

Midwayyyyy.

I DISLIKE THIS. I don't want this class to end. EVER. :(

It's kinda crazy but I would totally rewind time just to re-do this class over again. I wish I was gunna be here next year so I could take Grade 12 leadership with the same group of people. :(

I have learned so much about myself in the last 8 weeks. In this class, I have realized what is important in my life. And not to take the simple things forgranted. I love our class discussions. Connecting on a personal level. Today's activity really moved me.. I struggle with stress a lot and to be able to explain it to 27 people who UNDERSTAND how I feel felt amazing. I almost felt like we needed a group hug after. But, I have started to notice that we are migrating back towards our 'sides'. There are a few people who don't, but almost half the class has gone back to their original groups. Anyways, in this class, I've learned to be myself and not care what anyone else thinks of you. I love that we are able to express our thoughts. Not many teachers will take time out of their day to understand a student's issues. That's why I love this class. Leadership has honestly inspired me to do so much with my life. I would kind of like to do a facilitating thing, but more in workplaces. I have heard of something like it before but I forget what it's called. Almost like how every couple weeks, we bring our class together, it would be kind of cool to do that with a workplaces. Go in and lead a staff meeting, and bring them all closer together. I know that would be effective in my work place, as we really need to understand eachother. I hope I am becoming an effective leader. I try my hardest. But I kinda like to be the not overpowering kind.? haha. I still don't think I have found myself completely. But we still have half a semester :)

Haunted House

I honestly thought this haunted house came together fantastically. In the beginning, I had my doubts on whether it would all work out or whether it would even be scary. Walking through the halls, I heard people saying that it was the scariest haunted house the school had ever put on. We had so many laughs and great times in this haunted house!

Project Design Skills:

I was originally part of the 'shower room'. I tended to spend most of my time getting this settled out in the setting up process. But I also worked with other groups on their areas. I helped set up walls in the mirror room. My group did really well working together, it took some time for us to settle and agree on an idea, but we did eventually. I talked a lot to each of the groups to make sure nothing would be repeating itself. I made sure my group had what we needed, and brought things in for other groups as well.
Identifying and Dealing with Barriers:
Some of the barriers I faced in this project were working with different personalities. I became very frustrated sometimes when people weren't taking things seriously. I understand that the whole thing was fun, but don't be stupid. Some of the other barriers we dealt with were trying to fill our room, while incorporating everyone's ideas. The gas chamber didn't really end up exactly as we had planned, but I think we made it work. There were a few barriers in the entire haunted house that we had to overcome as a whole group. For example, there were times where I felt like some people needed to plan their own area, and stop telling people what to do... I understand that sometimes natural leaders stand out, and people need to be told what to do, but they do not need to be yelled at... yeah. anyways. After the first few days of planning and building, I think there were multiple people (myself being one of them) who sat down and said 'We can handle it on our own, if we need help, we'll ask' That actually worked really well. I didn't feel controlled as much. While the haunted house was running, there were some other barriers we had to deal with. These included: curtains falling down, mirrors falling over, people tripping, walls falling down, people going the wrong way, etc. I think I worked my best to prevent these things from happening. On the first day, I started out sitting in a chair creeping people out with my clown mask. After about 5 groups had gone through the haunted house, things started to get destroyed and that position got slammed. I ended up holding up a curtain, and directing people which way to go because the wall was literally hanging. On the second day, I had no specific job, so I was just scaring people. I ended up holding up the fallen wall (thanks kayla!!!) until I had a little muscle help to put it back up.
Interpersonal Skills:

I am a very interpersonal person so I didn't have trouble working with other people. As I mentioned earlier, there were a few times when I got frustrated but I simply had a calm discussion with the person, not call out 'THATS A STUPID IDEA' and worked it out with them. I think for the number of people in our class, and the number of different personalities, we did an amazing job of working together. :)

Understanding and Working with Diversity:
I think the diversity in our class really shone (is that a word? it doesnt look right) through in this activity. This also ties into the barriers and interpersonal skills that I have already talked about. but.... personalities. Every person in this class has a different personality. Hell, every person on this planet has a different personality. In this class, I have grown to love even the bad parts of every personality. It was kind of difficult working with different personalities but I think we have the perfect group of people that balance eachother out. I think you have to learn to accept people's differences, and embrace them.

Leadership Skills:

Organization- I felt that I kept myself and my group organized. We finished our tasks very quickly, and were left with spare time to help other groups. Everyday, before we started, we knew what needed to be done, and how much time it would take.

Enthusiasm- I felt that I was very enthusiastic because I kept my energy up, even if i was frustrated. It made the whole experience a lot more fun to be enthusiastic.
Empathy- I was very empathetic towards other students if they were stressing out or needed help. I tried my best to connect with other people and other groups to make sure they all felt like what they needed was being accomplished.

Personal Management Skills:

I think I managed myself very well during this project. I dont really have trouble managing myself personally. I'm always on time. One of the area's I struggled with was trying to communicate ideas. I am not the most creative person. It's easier for me to make a plan come to action rather than actually make the plan. I was always focused on what I was doing, and didn't need others to remind me of what needed to be done. I was always there to lend a helping hand :)

Self-Assessment Skills:

I think I did pretty good in this project. The only thing I think I could have improved on was coming out of my shyness a little bit, while people were coming through the haunted house. I was kinda shy when jumping out at people (im not a good actor) but I tried my best to believe in what I was doing, to make it real. I would probably give myself a ......15 out of 20. I think i could have stood out a little more in the class. But I also didnt wanna be an obnoxious leader. They're never fun!

I had fun, and I hope everyone else did too! :)