TEDx Youth Waterloo

  Now..did you ever did anything that was able to have impact on many people in a good way? Being able to actually make a difference, rather than just saying so? Especially during high school? WELL... I know a bunch of teenagers that was able to do so.

  Today, I went to watch TEDx Youth Waterloo, a TED talk ran by youth for youth sort of thing. So as I was watching through the guest speakers talk, one group of guest speaker stood out for some reason.That was a group of 3 guys in grade 11 that established this group called H.E.L.P (homelessness everywhere lacking publicity) that shed light on the issue of homelessness.

  So, these 3 guys (Brad Golding, Tibor Kovacs and Teodor Nikolov) started of by being challenged by their civics teacher to make a difference... and from there they began as a 3 people group making care packages for the homeless in the streets and community...and 6 months later, they became a even bigger group with almost their whole school supporting them..

  I think it is amazing how 3 local town boys are able to make a difference and not giving up and keeping at it and also how they are able to share with everyone else at TEDx youth their story and showing us the "Gorilla" in our life. Hope they keep doing a good job :)

Follow them on Facebook or twitter at - http://www.facebook.com/HomelessnessEverywhereLackingPublicity or
twitter.com/HelpHomelessCA

Nature of Man

    The nature of man, are they essentially evil or essentially good? Based on Thomas Hobbe's philosophy believe that all man are evil. Today...well a few days ago, after my presentation on Thomas Hobbes, we had a class discussion on if men are all essentially evil or not. So....here I am writing a blog post about this topic.  Well, I believe that humans are all naturally evil as human emotions can are based on the 7 deadly sin.
Seven Sins

-Lust (Luxuria)
-Envy (Invidia)
-Greed (Avaritia)
-Pride (Superbia)
-Glutonny (Gula)
-Sloth (Acedia)
-Wrath (Ira)
Combined
-Jealousy
(find definitions here)

   I believe that rather than all men begin from being essentially evil or essentially good then becoming the other, I think that all men are essentially evil, no matter how good that men is. Based on the 7 deadly sin, which is normal emotions that we all feel, each of them, if taken too far will lead to bad things. Since everyone in there daily lives will feel one of these emotions, doesn't it make them potential for being essentially evil? Well, think about it! Why are these 7 emotions called "The 7 Deadly Sins"?

 So yeah, that's what I think of the nature of man. Everyone has a different perception on if men are good or evil, sometimes there are a clear line that divides them, but sometimes there isn't so no one knows.

Guest Speaker Alison

   Okay, so today we had a guest speaker name Alison come in to talk about her careers with us! To begin, her career is public relation, where she facebooks and twitter all day long.

What I like about is that how she told us that even when she got out of high school and university, she still didn't know what career path she would take. That can be a bit reassuring, since you don't need to stress out so much on what career you want to do during high school. So.. the part that are important and sort of fits into my future career job is that it's best to be in the arts programs and be a dedicated hard worker to achieve your goal...even if it means you have to survive on canned soups! She also talked about how you would sometimes have to do overtime and even be in a war room sort of state and even have to take calls at 4am!! That part and probably living in sort of a povertyish life style to begin with is what I don't really like D:

 Bring a hard worker, twittering, Facebook all day,dedicated, scrapping by to live, overtime, taking calls at 4am and even have to be creative and good at writing...Phew! what a tough job! At first glance it may seem fun, but it sure is tough from how she described it. But what I think is that， if you love sometimes and have a passion for it，it would be the most funnest and awesomeness job ever！！

Why to Kill a Mockingbird Project

This is the prezi I worked on for class on the topic Prejudice - Racism
http://prezi.com/cs7udjabm0tk/untitled-prezi/

Pirate Radio ( The boat that rocked)

Carl\Tom Sturridge

   After watching the movie Pirate Radio, I must say that I really enjoyed it. From serious moments to hilarious comedy and how it is based  loosely on a historical experience.The actors who plays the characters in this were all wonderful, making it really funny from the very beginning with Carl(Tom Sturridge) boarding the radio ship that his godfather Quentin(Bill Nighy) owns! I must say that it was wonderfully told, but some parts were really awkward to watch ...(if you've watched it, you'll know what i mean lol)

  So moving on, was it right for the government to change the law in order to capture the Radio Rock guys or was it wrong for them to evade the law? In my opinion, it is totally wrong for those of higher authorities to use there power for there own good. Not only that they should have taken into more consideration before the using their power to change the law as they wish. The Radio Rock guys also wasn't breaking any laws, so rather than dealing with them, don't the government have more important issues to deal with? But that's not it! they also ignored the citizen's favorite, by creating a law against Pirate Radio making it illegal, when it is a very popular thing among all the citizens! So it is totally unjust and fair for the government to do abuse there power to change the law for such a small matter!.......And now, was it wrong or right for the Radio Rock people to evade this new law? What do you think? After watching the movie, I felt that it was not wrong for the Radio Rock guys to evade that new law. Since the law not only saddens the fans who listen to them, it also was an unjust law just to silence them. But I'm not saying that evading the law is a good thing, but unfair laws like that are made to be broken!

  That's pretty much what I think about the issue that this movie dealt with, enforcing new laws and evading them. But in contrast to that... the movie was a classic! really funny and entertaining!
   

Changing Education

   After watching the TED talk from Ken Robinson  on " School kills creativity" and "Bring on the revolution", it brings up the question on what if education changed in order to showcase your natural talent? Being able to do what you love to do all day in school, learning and improving your passion AND being able to get your credits to graduate....now wouldn't that be awesome.

   In the book I'm reading called "To kill a mockingbird", the main character Scout "Jean Louise Finch" excels in reading and writing. But, she is terrible at school due to the teacher not letting her read and write as  she were taught by her father. Rather than having the teacher teach in one direction, if Scout were able to follow her dreams and be taught the way she were benefit the most, I think that she would be successful and happy. Such as being able to read and write what she likes rather than having her learn beginner stuff such as the alphabet when she already knows how.

    Well, for me it would be amazing if I could draw and be creative all day, doing what I love to do.  Being able to draw what i like during school and not have to worry about subjects like science and math would be fantastic and having everything revolve around arts will really be something! For me, rather than working with textbooks, I would rather have classes where we learn photoshop, doing digital art, traditional art and even painting would really showcase my natural talent, since i have been really intrested in drawing ever since i could remember. Also, for many they excel by doing things thats not textbook related, such as hands on projects. So for many, if school could change and let people work and polish their talent and passion wouldn't everyone be much happier being able to excel in their own special area of talent.

  So, I think that if education changed for the better, it could bring in more creativity and let students excel to the best of there ability rather than feeling stupid in some subjects that they are bad at (for example someone is a genius computer programmer but just sucks at math by getting lousy marks)

Personality Quiz Assignment

1.       Some stuff that I have found in common through going through this unit are, that I am creative or artistic (Interest inventory, true colour personality and the four humor quiz) but also, shy and dislike taking the lead which is really true. Also results from many quizzes such as from type inventory quiz and the four humor quiz really stands out because it is true to some extent. Such as not liking to stand out or is bad at socializing with people and can be sensitive and creative to some aspect.


    I think that the work that would be appropriate for me would be jobs like Video game designer, Graphic designer or a Writer. Firstly, to be a video game designer one must like to play games and be on top of technology and be creative. From quiz # 5(Interest inventory), 9(true colour personality), 11(four humor) the results shows that I am creative and “often artistic”. Most times being creative is an important part of being a video game designer. Also, for being a graphic designer is also is an option from being able to be creative and having a passion for arts or entertainment . Lastly, I think that being an writer may also be an optional job

Letter

Dear the Right Honourable Harper,
   I am currently a grade 10 student at KCI, and there is an issue that I want to strongly address as it has become a tremendous debate in Canada. That even students are being informed on. I believe that you are a great Prime Minister. That is able to lead Canada into a better future. So I wish you will take into serious consideration on the issue of selling water to other countries.

    The issue about selling water from Canada to other countries has caused a great concern. This issue is very important because as stated by many, “water will be the oil of the 21st centuryor liquid gold”. Because of this, it would create a major problem as it will lead to war with countries like the United States, whom “struggle withintermittent water shortage for decades”. Water is also a luxury that should be enjoyed by everyone, not just a privilege for the rich in countries that lack water. Not only is it an issue for the citizens of Canada, it will also cause a colossal impact on the environment. Such as non-native species being introduced, harmful consequence to basin habitat, biodiversity, and will even cause problems for the First Nations (3).

      I firmly suggest that, we need a bill to strengthen the current law on exporting bulk waters. This time, rather than letting it die off; we need to let this bill pass to prevent future problems with bulk water shipping. Additionally, I must strongly suggest that water should be kept as a luxury for all rather than selling it. Especially, stop Nestle from selling bottled water from Guelph ground water. This way we will be able to prevent tax and waste from the use of plastic to make the bottles. This will lower citizen’s outcry and disappointment to this issue.

       Thank you very much for your time and consideration to read this. I am confident that you will take some time to address the issue on bulk water selling.

                                                                                                             Yours sincerely,
                                                                                                               Alice Zhou
                                                                                                               K.C.I Student