Marc's Story

I found his story to be very interesting. He has lived a crazy life and has done many neat things with his life. I though it was cool he was a page in the House of Commons and got to go to Thailand to help the people there. I think he raises a good point about we are really only truly affected when we witness it ourselves, and when we do it is what changes us and really makes us think of what we got and the life we live. I also think it was truly brave and passionate of Marc to turn down a high paying job right out of university and to purse something that was his passionate about. I think this shows how great of a person he is. He is a great guy who has lived a interesting life and has turned it into something so successful and is following his passion of helping others. I wish i was able to meet Marc.

Whale Rider

I thought that the movie 'whale rider' was very well put together movie. The movie started off very slow but the ending is really well done. I think this movie was very interesting and had strong messages behind it. I think they did a good job at having a movie on another culture that has a different culture and believes than we do and i think they did a good job at it without putting down or making fun of the culture. I think it was a great movie for women's rights. It showed women are cable of things that only men originally did. It shows women should be treated as equally as men are and they can accomplish the same tasks. It also shows determination, to never give up on your dreams no matter what obstacles you face. if you face the obstacles and overcome them anything is possible. I felt the characters were interesting and i really enjoyed the movie

Oak Island Theory!

Oak island has many different mysteries of what is at the bottom of the money pit. Some opinions are crazy others have been supported well with evidence and theories. But what do I think is at the bottom of this trap filled pit you ask.
After reading the article I lead to believe that whatever it is at the bottom of the pit is very important and I think it will change and affect all of us, an Apocalypse. Now what could it be that could change everything? Well, I have narrowed all the possibilities in my mind down to one of three possibilities into what is at the bottom of the pit.
First, there may be a large lump sum of money that will make the finder of it very very wealthy. It may be hidden in chests by pirates who didn't want anyone to find it. I believe it is a large sum because pirates are known to be lazy so for them to go through all this effort and ingenuity would make me believe that it was a large sum they didn't want anyone to find.
Secondly, It could be The Holy Grail that was hidden and was not inteded on beig found. This would be an asstonishing discovery and would affect a lot of people.
Lastly, it could be the proof that Shakespeare did not write all the plays that he took credit for. This would change everything and shock the world and english teachers and education would never be the same again. This proof is very important and would be worth going through the time and efforts in order to hide it so well.

Nelson Mandela

1st- He showed great determination and overcame so many obstacles that were put in front of him. He overcame them all and never gave up. He showed that it may take a while for your dream to come true. Its a journey and he overcame all the obstacles that were intended to stop his dream. True leaders have determination and once started they must finish it.

2nd- True leaders have a dream and they fight for that dream. Nelson Mandela had a huge dream and he fought for that dream with his life because he believed and never gave up. He didn't let others discourage him. He had a dream in mind of his country and people being free, and he gave everything up just to achieve that dream. Because of this he has changed the world and shown you can achieve your goals.

3rd- He was honest and true to himself. He didn't care what others thought and didn't let their beliefs discourage his. He was put in jail for his beliefs but a true leader who truly beliefs in their goals stays true to themselves and he didn't change his outlook and got out of jail and became the President of South Africa and made his dream come true.

4th- He also showed that one person really can make a difference in our world and that anything is possible. Many people think that you have to be a big group to actually change something but Mandela showed all it takes is one person and a dream they truly believe in. That gives us as leaders inspiration. At least it does to me. One person really can make a difference.

5th- Finally, Nelson Mandela showed us passion, strength and hope. He dreamed of change and went through so much because he believed so strongly. These are three very important things that leaders must have.

Nelson Mandela is a true leader who has inspired so many people by his dream and story. And he has definatly impacted my life.

Spring Clean-up Day

I think the Spring Clean-Up day would be a great activity for the leadership class. I think it would be fun and would be a great way to raise proceeds towards Me to We. I feel that people will be open to this idea and would be willing to do the work. I think I could find some people who could need some help and I would love to give them help. This is a great idea and should be an activity we do this semester. Its a great way to get involved in our community.

Me and Leadership

I took this leadership course because well I plan to lead. I really want to have an impact on this school and help out at different activities and think of new ideas and help others. I want to lead so that others will be inspired and will want to lead also. Think if he can do it then why can't I.
I plan to peer tutor students at our school in math and science since those are the courses I am strong in. I think not only will the student get something out of it so will I knowing i helped this student out and helped them pass the course and get a credit. I will be helping others (Me to We).
I also, since IDCidols got cancelled i plan to MC other assemblies that we may have in the remainder of the year. This will help me with public speaking as well with coming out of my shell even more and helping me talk in front of big crowds. I also have a lot of fun doing it.
I really would like to help out with activities involving Me to We. This will be fun and also meaningful and i feel i would get a lot of of Me to We. I think its a great cause and would love to be apart of it.
I think a school wide Easter egg hunt would be a fun activity which could appeal to everyone in the school not just a specific group. This would be fun and i would love to be the one who organizes it.

The Roseto Mystery

I think the Roseto mystery is a big mystery indeed. I felt this was a very interesting story and made me really think of our community. I think there is a good point and interesting message behind this mystery. The fact of a tight knit community adding approximately 30 years to your life is pretty amazing. This can be explained because of the co-operation in the community. To get one task done they all work together as a unit and are much more efficient than others who work as individuals. This can give them better health because they are doing less by themselves and not stressing out or doing something they should be by themselves.
As well, their feelings are probably a lot more positive and happier than most others are in the world. This is because the are apart of a group and no one is an outsider. Also, i would assume that there is no arguing or fighting within the community. I think this because that would bring more stress. Stress is bad for your health and won't help them live longer. That's why i feel these people are much more happier, and being apart of a 'group' can make anyone happy. Happiness is good for you health (actually proven) and may be a factor in why they live much longer.
When they took people out of the community and put them in another culture they say over generations the life span slowly deflated. This is very interesting and adds to the fact of the community. What I would think would be neat to see would be to add a family into the community from another culture and see if over generations the life span grew.
I think this shows how much we lack in a tight knit community. Nobody is very close to others anymore. Its almost like we lack in trust in the people around us. Our cultures can't always get along with each other and fight and we are always rocked with devastating news so we are scared to get to know anyone anymore like we're scared of what may happen. We always here bad news and it is what rules our media. All the bad things that have happened in our world (murders, economy, wars). We are all so unstable now and don't know what will happen next. This has affected our communities and people act a lot different and are a lot more cautious. This adds stress and we are on average less happier.
Now the reasoning of how this increases or decreases our life expectancy is truly a mystery. Very interesting concept.

Leadership Activity

This week we have done many weird, fun and awkward activities. I feel that the best activity we did this week was the Canadian Flag activity with our hands. This was a great activity to do and it brought a group of different people coming from different groups combined into one to work as a team and build a Canadian Flag out of hands. This was neat to see because with my group there was no real distinct leader we all cooperated and really gave our self tasks to do, no one was sitting around doing nothing and no one was giving orders. It worked quite well, some people were tracing hands, others were cutting and others were taping. It was very neat to see and I felt really comfortable in this situation and I found it to go very smoothly. We were all giving ideas and they were all accepted by others none ones idea was shot down. This activity I thought got me out of my shell in this class and a little more comfortable. This activity was a great show of leadership and cooperation between a bunch of individuals into one group. And the the end product I must say was pretty sweet.

IDC

I agree with Ken Robinson's point where schools are taking creativity out of students. Teachers focus so much on textbook work and the knowledge part and everything is so structured in our system. When students get projects they are given an outline of what to do, this puts limits and restrictions on the project which the students must follow to get a good grade which takes away from any creativity. Students can't be creative when they are given an outline they must follow. Not all students are able to strive in this type of system and because they can't strive they are labelled as having a 'learning disability', but its not their disability in a way its the system that doesn't have the proper system for these students to strive in. Not everyone is all for the textbook work and they struggle and learn in different ways and if these needs aren't met then they struggle. I feel the thing that made me think the most about the talk he gave was that we are all born creative and we are grown out of it. I think that is a very strong statement and he backed it up with the examples of little kids being creative and not afraid to be wrong. When these kids go through the school system there creativity is taken away by outlines and structed textbook work. This takes away there creativity which they once had. I think this is a good argument that needs to be looked at seriously and changes need to be made in our system to allow creativity in our students.

Blogs

See leadership blog

GPP

This semester, in this leadership class I would like to get involved and help out with Me to We. I think it is a great thing to do in our school and its a great way to help out people that are less fortunate than us and it gets the students in a giving/helping mood. I would like to help out at different activities around the school to fund raise for Me to We. Personally I feel Me to We is exactly for me because I have always wanted to make a difference and help out the people in a third world country. I am currently raising money to go on a trip to Africa the summer after I am done school next year. I along with the help from friends and neighbours raise money from pop cans to fund raise to be able to have enough money to build a well in the area I visit. This is why I feel Me to We is the right thing for me and it is what i have always wanted to do. So my goal for this semester is to get more involved and help out with Me to We.

Blogs

I have never blogged before... I have heard of them and I know some people who have them but it has never interested me into blogging. Now i will start!