We Can Make A Difference.

I believe we should never underestimate the power of the human mind. Why do I say this? I think the human brain is just capable of so many interesting things, both positively and negatively. Its up to you to tell your mind how its 'supposed' to be programmed. When we (children) read the news we look up to the BIG names that made AMAZING changes in society. For instance, some of us look up to Bill Gates. Why? He's rich and successful and every single one of us wants to be him. I think one of the things that us children don't understand or don't yet know is that we can make a HUGE difference in today's society. Especially when we are the future of this generation. 


The International Children's Peace Prize acknowledges children that made HUGE differences in today's society. In 2005, Nkosi Johnson, a South African boy who fought for the rights of children with HIV/Aids. As Johnson said at the international Aids conference in Durban "Care for us and accept us - we are all human beings". I agree with Nkosi. We are all human beings and they are just human beings that need help. Shouldn't we care? Express our concern. Nkosi has set up a project that is set up to help and prevent mothers with HIV from sending their children to orphanages which often is the case. I really admire what Nkosi has done. He has saved tons of children from being sent to orphanages and from feeling that their mothers didn't want them or that they were just alone in life. 


Another inspiring story starts with Om Prakash Gurjar who won the International Children's Peace in 2006 for fighting for working against child labour in India. I support Gurjar as he believes that every child has the basic right to education and the key to a better life. He has made sure hundreds of children have received birth certificates to be better protected against child slavery. I truly admire what Om has done. Protecting children against child slavery. No child deserves to work their butt off and to be treated as slaves. I'm glad that there are organizations that back Prakash up to help him continue to fight against child slavery. 




The latest winner of the International Children's Peace Prize was won by Chaeli Mycroft, 17 from South Africa. Chaeli is a teenager who was born with Cerebral Palsy which limits the functions of her arms and legs. Chaeli had a positive attitude about her Cerebral Palsy and now, is an inspiration to many kids all over the world. As Chaeli has said, “It’s what keeps us striving for the lives we deserve. I have hope for myself, but I also have hope for all other children with disabilities. I hope that my actions as an ability activist will leave the world more accepting and more accommodating for all people and not just people with disabilities, because we are all different and we all have the need to be accepted regardless of having a disability or not.” I strongly agree with Chaeli, I think that we should all have hope for children with disabilities and I believe that she has changed many lives for many children. Her project is the Chaeli Campaign which started of with herself, a few friends and sister started by raising money for a motorized wheelchair and now helps more than 3000 children with disabilities in South Africa. 


These three stories are only three of millions. From these stories, I have learnt how powerful the human mind is and if you put your mind to it you can achieve it. I want to take this opportunity and remind all the other children in the WORLD that we can all make a difference. Maybe not as big, but big enough. 

Freedom

What is worth fighting for? I think freedom is one of the many things I think is worth fighting for. Freedom of speech, freedom of thinking and freedom of action in particular. So are all allowed to convey our thoughts and feelings, think the thoughts that we want to and be free to become and do whatever you want.

So much is expected in us kids. Especially the ‘now’ generation. We are expected to keep up with our grades, join activities, get a 4.0 GPA and have good recommendations. I think it’s important for the ‘now’ generation to have these three key aspects of freedom. A lot of times I listen to my friends complaining about how much pressure they’re under. They have to keep up with the A’s, play one or more instruments, theory exams and participate in sports and it’s not that they can’t do these things but sometimes it’s the fact they’re just not interested as they want to be. But my question is whether we should keep this up and just go through life or to convey and express our feelings to our parents. Although, some parents will force their kids to continue even if their kids express how uninterested they are. Is that right? I’m not sure. I’m torn between both worlds. On the parents side, they’re just concerned for their kid’s future but on the kid’s side, he’s just not interested so shouldn’t he have the freedom to choose?

Freedom of thoughts and feelings. For example, Aung San Suu Kyi. She was Burma’s leader and she fought for the freedom of her people but the Burmese government sentenced her to house arrest. I admire Aung San Suu Kyi as she fought for the freedom of thoughts and feelings of her people. On the day of her house arrest release, she took the time to listen to every person that had something to say to her. Aung San Suu Kyi has said that every person has the right to express their thoughts and feelings and they deserve to be heard. I believe that's one of the things that we all have to start doing. Listening. Listening to each other. We all listen to the media and yet sometimes, we let others feel hurt as they feel disconnected because nobody listens to them. Or it could just be the fact that people aren't accepting them. 

Freedom of action. I think this is important in any society. The ability to become and embrace who you truly are. For instance, ridiculed kids. Some kids find that they are 'gay' or 'homosexual' and we see that they are constantly ridiculed and labeled because of that. Is that right? I certainly don't think so. I think if it's not affecting you, just let it be and let them embrace who they really are. I'm don't have the best body in the whole entire world but I do try to keep it fit and looking good and embracing myself as a swimmer. I realize that you can't compare yourself to anyone else in the world. You know why? Because there's only one you and if you can't be yourself. You're cheating on yourself. Embrace people around you and don't label or ridicule someone. It hurts feelings.

Freedom of thoughts and feelings, action are all so important to our society. We're all talking about world peace and how we can achieve that. I think if we all play by the book we might eventually get there but for now, listen and embrace your differences and speak your mind. You should never feel judged or worried about who you are. You are free to speak your thoughts and feelings and act however you want to act. No one can bring you down.

One Day The Trafficking Will End

 One day we will stop it, the trafficking will end.

Arunadha Koirala is a woman that has taken a stand to something that is the worst that humanity has to offer. Human trafficking. She runs an organization called Maiti Nepal which is strictly dedicated to helping girls and women that were/are victimized by human trafficking.


Maiti Nepal operates a rehabilitation home in Kathmandu. They also have transit homes on the Indo-Nepal border and an academy in Kathmandu. Maiti translated from Nepali means 'mothers home'. Maiti Nepal has been a refuge for women or little girls rescued from the brothels in India. It has become a home for the women and girls that have been sexually abused and is the true meaning of home for these girls.  The women or girls can stay in the homes run by Maiti Nepal until they are able to return to their homes and if they are not accepted by their parents they may stay there until they become able to live on their own. Maiti Nepal also works on reuniting these girls with their families and patrolling around the Indo- Nepal border with police or other authorities to rescue trafficked women.


Anuradha Koirala has received the the Courage of Conscience Award from The Peace Abbey in Massachusetts in 2006. She also won the CNN award of 2010. Anuradha Koriala is an amazing woman. She was brought up in India. She has fought for the rights of children and women. Non-stop fighting. The Courage of Conscience Award and the CNN Award of 2010 are only two of her 30 national and international awards. Anuradha Koirala has helped the lives of 12,00 girls and women since the year of 1993 and has not stopped fighting ever since. Koirala has a personal experience with sex abuse. "Every day, there was battering. And then I had three miscarriages that I think [were] from the beating. It was very difficult because I didn't know in those days where to go and report [it], who to ... talk to." So this is why she has done this. This is why she is helping all these young innocent girls.


 In this YouTube video, the girls that are represented in the video shown, are so thankful to her and this shows us all how much they appreciate everything Koriala has done. Statistics show that human trafficking is estimated to be the third largest international crime industry. According to the U.S. state government, some 10,000 to 15,000 women and girls from Nepal are trafficked to India and then sexually exploited each year. Don't you think this statistic is just so crazy and scare? I do. Imagine if someone you knew, someone close to you, you're sister, aunt or whoever was sent of to India to be sexually exploited. Think about how much you would fight for them. How much it would affect you. Anuradha Koirala is speaking for these girls and fighting for them when nobody would. 20% of trafficked victims are children. This really scares me. I hope people that read this blog post understand the severity of human trafficking. I certainly do after reading about all these statistics even though I'm just a school girl.


So I ask you. I implore you to help stop human trafficking. How? To at least by taking the step where you would promise all of mankind and to yourself you would never be part of it. Never let anyone trick you into being trafficked. Never be a man that would traffic someone. Why? Because it scars. It scars the purity of a girl. Think about what if something like this were to happen to someone around you. I know I've thought about it and it sure is frightening. So I will never become a part of human trafficking and I hope you don't too. 

The Challenge Of Our Generation

I believe in opposing a society,
that is infected by tragic living.
The aggressive infection has been disguised,
and is the challenge of our generation.
I implore you to stop this invisible problem with conviction
Personal determination is uncertain,
unless you exhort your opinion to this problem
Poverty has nothing to say to you,
so I entreat to question authority and attach yourself to the problem.

Stop Hating And Start Loving

I think people should start realizing how much hate can affect one person. I personally think one thing in this whole world that is worth fighting for is a world without bullying. This may not occur as such a big thing but in the teenage world it really is. It happens in movies, television series, documentaries and in real life. How many documentaries are out there about kids killing themselves because they can't take the pressure? Answer: TONS.

Bullying is certainly an issue we all have to attend to. I found this video on YouTube and have watched this video in health class last year about a boy that committed suicide in 2003 at the age of thirteen. His name was Ryan Halligan. He committed suicide because he was constantly bullied at school and on the internet. One day this girl and her friends decided it would be a laugh to pretend to like Ryan and Ryan told her all this personal things about himself and she copy and pasted all these secrets that he had told her into other chats and spreading them to others and laughing at Ryan. Ryan's father now has spoken at over a hundred schools about how he thinks Ryan made such a bad mistake. But I'm sitting here asking "Can you blame him?" Imagine everyday going to school being laughed at and teased and coming home and have the same people tease you. The worst part. There's no escape. I can understand why Ryan did what he did. He wanted this to stop. He didn't want to listen to it anymore. He wanted to just erase it from his mind but he couldn't and it certainly wasn't one of those incidents that you would have with a friend and the next day you're buddies again. He felt alone and he wanted to stop the teasing but how was he supposed to do that?

I personally have gone through a time like that. When every time I turned the corner I had eyes on me and I could hear my name repeatedly in sentences and sentences. I was more fortunate than Ryan because I had a friend that believed in me. She believed that I did none of those things that were circulating around the school. She knew how bad I felt about it even though I tried so hard to deny it. For a year, I felt so alone but thanks to this girl she really made me understand what true friendship is and to keep going at life and not decide to throw it all away. These things that were going around the school kept coming back to me and trust me it was like I was in a nightmare. As an adolescent, all your thinking about right now is about 'Hey, I wanna be so and so's friend!' 'I wanna be popular!'. And what people say about you really gets to you in terms of whether it is positive or negative. Last year, rumors went around about me liking this person and mentioning harsh words. But it was this friend that reminded me that you can't always please people and that you just have to walk away and don't have a care in the world about what they are talking about. So I want to take this opportunity to thank this friend, for always being there for me and always encouraging me.

Back to the topic. Why do people find differences? Why do people like to bully? Why do we have to hate? According to Bullying Statistics of 2010 , there are about 2.7 million students bullied each year. Why are the statistics that high? I want to ask the bullies of the world and if you are currently bullying someone either emotionally or physically. Would you want this to happen to you? To the bystanders, you have seen the statistics. 2.7 MILLION STUDENTS!!!! And about 56% students in schools, have witnessed a bullying crime taken place at school. How can we stop this? It's up to you. I bet if one student starts saying no a thousand others will say no. To the bystanders, don't just stand there. Do something about it. If you are scared to confront the bully yourself report it to a teacher. It's the only chance of stopping bullying.

If you are reading this, think about Ryan. Think about yourselves. Would you like to go through whatever bullying victims are going through as we speak? Stand up. Take a stand for what you believe in and stop hating and start loving.

Peace Within Ourselves

Peace. World Peace. Peace within ourselves. Peace with each other. This has what the world has tried to aim for but somehow it never really seems to work. Why? I'm not sure. But I do know one thing if everyone just stays calm and talk rationally we might actually get there. But the truth is everyone is fighting with each other. Finding differences in each other. Ever since when I was a kid, I've witnessed fights on the streets, people screaming at each other just because they want the last cereal box in supermarkets. Is this all really necessary? The worst of all? World War. You see every time we have a world war. It always ends up messy and killing millions and billions of innocent people. Why do we need this? I seriously can't answer this question.

If I was to be lucky enough to be given the opportunity to create a 'New World' I would hope the society to be built around the idea of Peace. With peace, we won't have anymore fights, arguments and wars. The idea of peace would make our world a better place to live in and allow the our world to be democratic. With peace with everyone everyone would be given the chances that we all deserve. People would vote to who they think is the suitable or the right choice.

Peace would also allow our world to stop judging everyone else like you would judge a book by it's cover. Yes, we all say that we don't but who are we kidding? When we look at someone its obvious that you look on the outside and sometimes your not even bothered to start knowing the inside of that person because of his or her looks. That is wrong and we all know that. With peace, we would be looking at each other through our hearts. We would be at peace with everyone. Letting everyone get to know you.

Why do people fight? Answer. Many people say we fight because people are animals. Because we originated from the apes. Another possible answer could be because of the fact that the 'natural person' is naturally selfish. We're always thinking about ourselves. Look into your thoughts everything comes out as "I need this" and basically everything starts with "I". This causes starts to occur when people start to get selfish. Have you ever seen little kids fighting over toys? How one kid picks up something and starts playing with it and the other gets another toy and starts playing with it. Then the first kid realizes that the second kid is having quite a good time with his toy and he comes and snatches it away from him because he wants to play with it now. This is a situation when the human selfishness comes into place. Also, people love fighting because it's a sign of significance. In middle school dramas and TV shows we see fighting throughout the whole main plot. The bully beats one kid up and the rest of the kids are scared of him and he will keep bullying a different kid each week and soon the WHOLE school is aware and they think he is superior.

How can we achieve world peace? I personally think we need rules for world peace. Firstly, people have to start understanding the fact that NOBODY has the right to take a life of another human being and governments also have no right of taking a life. This is how people start thinking that they can just kill anyone they want to. People in their minds would be thinking, if the government can take a life 'WHY CAN'T I????' I should have the same rights as everyone else. So I think if we start enforcing that NO ONE has the right to kill anyone we might be a step closer to world peace. How do war occurs? Simply one has to convince their people by saying things like "The land used to be ours, so we have the right to take it back" and "They did it to us". How do we overcome this? REJECT the thinking that the land used to be ours so we have the right to take it back and citizens have to be active to prevent a war. For example in WW2. All Hitler had to say was "IT WAS THE JEWS THAT DID THIS TO US" and none of the Germans could take a stand and say 'No'.

In conclusion, Peace could be the answer to our prayers. Peace could stop all this hate, war and arguments we don't necessarily need. So lets all try to start with the idea of peace. Peace within yourself and to others.

Kristallnacht

On the nights of November 9th and 10th 1938, Nazi gangs attacked a Jewish villages. They burnt down the homes, shops and businesses of innocent Jews and left nothing behind but shattered glass everywhere. This night is known all around the world as Kristallnacht. The name Kristall meaning crystal and nacht meaning night. There were more than 270 synagogues, 70 businesses and thousands of homes were burned to the ground. Hundreds of people were killed. Yet, few Germans had the courage to speak out against the Nazi’s, who were ruthlessly destroying everything and everyone that came in their path. The strange thing was the Nazi's weren't charged for any damaged they had caused. There was no turning point for Kristallnacht.

That Crazy 13-Year Old

What type of learner are you? Well, you can determine what kind of a learner you are, through some tests. Why do you need to know this? Hah. That's the catch. A lot of kids around my school thought that finding out what kind of learner they are, wasn't that big of a deal. Later, they realized that it was.

It's important to know what kind of learner you are because there are two major things that can change your life. One being after you understand what kind of a learner you are you'll do much better in school or in life or being a successful person as you'll know what your strengths are and what you do to keep yourself from just crashing down. Two being you struggle in school or in life and you basically, shut yourself down when your under stress. Being under stress, that's another thing that we all have to be careful with.

I am a 'Profile L'. I know when you just read that you went 'What?' but let me explain. Profile L's are 'Gestalt' which means that my right hemisphere of my brain is the dominant hemisphere. You see, in class, I fiddle a lot and you won't find me just sitting there quietly unless I'm having problems but back to the main point, I fiddle A LOT. Teachers find it annoying and they tell me to stop but movement, that helps me understand and learn better. In Humanities, we have to summarize quite a bit of stuff and when I sit down and think, I can practically see the whole picture but when I try to chunk it down. That's when I struggle. If you see me in class, you see that I have trouble focusing, learning and thinking. This is because I like to socialize quite a bit and for me as a learner, I have to be sitting by myself without any distractions for me to be focusing. This causes me to get stressed and when I get stressed its not good especially for Profile L's. The stress causes difficulty functioning and my mind completely shuts down. Also, I prefer to jump ahead to conclusion. I don't like having to follow step-by-step instructions because that just seems stressful to me.

When I'm relaxed, movements come easily to me. It's kind of strange. It seems like my movements are saved in my brain and when I need to use them they come without me having to struggle. This occurs a lot when I'm swimming. I swim at least 4 times a week. I'm not that great of a swimmer but hey, I'm trying. Anyways, when I jump in the water and my coach yells out a workout to a certain stroke my body just automatically does it without a lot of effort. It's pretty cool.

Things that could help me learn better in class, are doing Kinesthetic activities to release stress and isolating myself to focus.

I would like my teachers to know this information as movement really is something that I need to be doing to help me process information and when I fiddle with something it doesn't mean I'm not focusing on what your trying to teach. Also, I think teachers should know that I am a learner which just doesn't like step by step instructions because I just seem to do whatever seems right to me.

Over all, that's what kind of a learner I am and that's all about ME!

Our Universe Of Obligation

Mankind is no island. What does that mean? The word 'island' means a piece of land surrounded by water and a feeling resembling an island is the feeling of being isolated and detached. Mankind is no island. No human being or man should have that feeling of being isolated or detached. In other words, no human being should stand on his or her own and no human being should feel that he or she is alone in this world.

In this poem John Donne emphasizes the idea of no man is an island entirely of itself. No man is alone and no man stands by himself or herself. 'Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.' This quote really stands out as Donne is saying every man's death affect all of us as we are all involved in mankind. Donne suggests that we are all interconnected in our universe of obligation. The word 'obligation' comes from the Latin root 'ligare' which means to bind therefore we are all bound together in this world.

Jason Van Genderen's visual poem 'Mankind Is No Island' emphasizes the same idea no man is an island and no man should be standing alone. On the streets, there are so many homeless people. We show our empathy and sympathy by giving them money but honestly should we be showing our empathy through money or love or just simple acknowledgement by smiling? In the video, people stop and give these homeless people money but no one really stops and listens to their stories. People just walk past these homeless people and don't even glance at them. People don't care about them. They are isolated. They feel detached. They're on an island. They all have stories and if we just listen to them, that feeling of being isolated and detached will diminish from this world.

I think both poems are trying to tell us that every man is important to the world and that we should care for others like homeless people and not only restricting ourselves to caring only about our own friends and family. Should not all of mankind fall into our circle of obligation? Should we not feel pain or concern when we see or hear through the news that people are suffering through starvation, or lack of access to health care? Do we not all have rights?

'Mankind is no island'. This relates to the themes of 'The Island' by Armin Greder and Aung San Suu Kyi's struggle for democracy. Donne and Genderen's themes of interconnection relates to the themes of 'The Island'. A vulnerable stranger appears from the wild sea and he is rejected and separated because he looks different than the others there. They didn't listen to his story and just locked him away. Just because we see others that are 'alien' to us our mind completely shuts out. It shuts out the value of humanity toward other mankind. Why do we do this? We have a choice to acknowledge or just ignore. Most people choose ignore. Should we be doing this? We judge people that are different from what they look like but really should we be shutting out just because other people seem like aliens? No man is an island. No man should be judged by his differences that seem 'alien' to us.

Aung San Suu Kyi also relates to the term 'Mankind is no island'. She has said that her arrest and her fight for democracy is no different than any other person under arrest and their fight for democracy. Aung San Suu Kyi has given up so much for her people. She has given up her personal matters for her people. People in need and she's been recognized all over the world for what she has done. She treats her people like her family. She stayed in Burma to help her people, her people in need. Aung San Suu Kyi has given up so much. She couldn't say good bye to her husband who died of cancer and she has missed out on the chance of watching her two boys grow up. It's these sacrifices that make us admire her. She had to give up so much and honestly, how many of us have had to sacrifice as much as she had to?

Aung San Suu Kyi also has given up her own safety but her believe in the interconnection with the people of Burma stopped her. She could've been safe. She could've been with her family and yet, she gave her personal matters up. Shouldn't 'Mankind Is No Island' be effort from all mankind, from all human beings? Aung San Suu Kyi is one of the leaders, who are trying to make the words 'Mankind Is No Island' work. We, as human beings, as people part of our universe of obligation should help in making the words 'Mankind Is No Island' work.

I chose this painting- painted by Morris Louis as the stripes on the sides are different and they spread from the bottom left and right corner but stop as they invade into the space. And it symbolizes 'ignorance' as both clusters of stripes don't want to acknowledge the alien which is the space in the middle.

10 Objects That Represent Me

A mug with a dog on it, glasses case, a ticket to the National Museum Of Singapore, Apple Care Protection Plan, A tag which says Natural Shopper, a sequin beaded cow, a Smiggle case, headphones, Glee DVD and a statue with 3 people on it. What on earth do these objects/odd assortment of ‘stuff’ say about me- my interests, excitements, passions and my life.

First, the mug with a dog on it because I really love dogs. My dog’s name is Izzie Elisha Wilkerson. She’s a Miniature Schnauzer and she’s from America and the Philippines but was born right here in Penang, Malaysia. I remember I had always wanted a dog ever since my mother’s dog, Coco passed on. Then, one day when my brother and I returned from school, there was a miniature schnauzer sleeping on my mother’s lap who started barking at me. I was so happy. I remember when I was in the middle of a big fight with my friend and I was lying on my bed, crying, devastated and Izzie jumped on my bed. She licked the streaming tears that were coming down my face. She made me feel much better and I hugged her and that was when I realized that Izzie was my true best friend. She has never turned me down when I needed a hug or never wasn’t there when I needed her.

I chose a glasses case because I use to wear glasses for about 6 years now and it feels like a part of me. When I wore glasses, I felt like I had to put them on because I was so used to wearing them and it felt wrong when I didn’t have them on. It was like my helping friend, one who helped me see the beauty of life. I remember the moment when I first got my glasses, it was like a miracle. Suddenly the world was so clear and it was amazing. Now, I’ve moved on from my helping glasses to my hard-lens contacts. When I first put them in, they really hurt and I started tearing but after 5 magical hours, I took them out and the world was as clear as it looked like with my helping glasses but the only difference was that I wasn’t wearing my glasses. After 2 weeks, of waiting for my contacts to be created, it was time for the overnight wear. The overnight wear meant that I had to put the contacts on after cleaning it with saline solution and cleansing solution and jump into bed. After that 12 hours of sleeping, I woke up to my alarm clock and went into the bathroom to remove these contacts and for the rest of the day it was crystal clear. It was magic.

A ticket to the National Museum Of Singapore shows that I went to a Museum and I really like history. I find history a really fascinating subject because you can see how much time has changed and when you look at what we have now; computers, iPods and iPhones & thumbdrives and what the time before us had; they had to struggle to find food you just go ‘WOW!’ It really fascinates me how so many things have happened over the thousands of years.

‘Why an Apple Care Protection Plan?’ You may ask. Well it’s because I am really good at using technology and I help my classmates and teachers when they have problems with technology. I really like using tech because it is so much useful. When you compare students back in the day, they had to carry around heavy textbooks and dictionaries when now you have Google Docs and laptops which have everything from calculators and dictionaries. I remember in 6th Grade when we first were starting up blogs and how everyone was struggling but I just ran through it and chose really cool backgrounds and I remember that feeling when everyone came up to me and asked me how to add the cool backgrounds onto their blogs. The feeling was in replaceable and the fact that I got to help many other classmates just kept me smiling.

I chose the tag which says Natural Shopper because I’m a shopaholic. I buy a lot of junk and at times I don’t really need it. My favourite place to shop is in Bangkok and whenever I go there I end up coming back with tons of stuff like necklaces, bracelets, stationary and bags. I love buying things but I’ve learnt that I can’t keep shopping and shopping when its wasting money. Now, I only buy things when necessary like binders and stationary for school and sometimes clothes.

The sequin beaded cow is important to me because I was born in the year of the cow. The year of my birth to me is really special because I was born on the 12th Of December (12/12) but it was sad that I wasn’t born in 2012. I really like my birthday because its something special to me and people remember my birthday because its so easy to remember and when people wish me Happy Birthday on Facebook (yes, it’s really annoying when you have to say Thank You to 400 over people) i enjoy it because I’m grateful that each and everyone of them took at least 3 minutes of their time to say Happy Birthday to me.

I chose a Smiggle case because I really like buying stationary. I love the brand Smiggle because it has lots of cool stuff like animal shaped erases on cute small ice-cream sticks and zippy pencil cases. I remember when I first discovered the brand Smiggle. I was at Claremont, Perth and we were walking down the street and we saw the brand and we walked in and there was a bunch of cool stuff. I took such a long time choosing what I wanted because there was so many colorful and cool stuff. There were Nintendo DS skin’s, iPod skins, phone skins, cool patterned notebooks and cool shaped erasers.

I LOVE listening to music a lot whether I’m on a plane, in the car or on the bus and that’s why I chose headphones. I love catching up on latest music and right now, I’m listening to Airplanes by B.O.B feat Hayley Williams. I love the song ‘Airplanes’ because sometimes in situations that I really don’t want to be in, I always wish to have a wish to make all the hurt go away especially when I’m in fights and times when I’m just hurt. I really like these earphones because when you listen to music through these earphones the sound quality is AMAZING!

If you don’t know what Glee is about well let me tell you, it’s about expressing yourself through music and drama, both which are very important to me. Drama is something that I can relate to as its part of life. Every step you take it’s like your on stage and to me when I’m on stage its like a total different place where its just happy thoughts and no hurt. I remember when in 6th Grade, Drama and we were having small plays and I was acting in one and I was asked to narrate another play and at that moment performing for an audience, the feeling just kept me smiling.

I chose the statue with 3 people on it because it represents my mom, brother and I. I really love my family and especially my mom. My mom always supports me in whatever I do. She’s does things that I don’t think I could do for my own daughter. She gives up so much for me and I really love her and she guides me through the way of life. I love my brother too so much even though he’s a devil. I love him because when I’m sad or I don’t accomplish what I wanted to he’s always there to support me and there to say ‘I love him, it’s okay Jie Jie’. Jie Jie in Chinese means older sister. I really love my dad to because he pays so much for my education and even he’s not home often I always feel that he protects me and really encourages me in no matter what I do.

I’m a person who loves music and drama, a person who loves history, a person who loves being with family.

Why I chose 'Little Voices Of Courage'

I chose 'Little Voices of Courage because when people hear the word 'Courage' they think of big and heroic things and that is what courage is about but not many people think about the little things that people do that need courage to keep them motivated to do it.

The Quote;
Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow. By Mary Anne Radmacher. That's what made me think. If I needed to do something today and I couldn't accomplish it I wouldn't just give up and 'courage' keeps me motivated to try again tomorrow. And that's why I chose 'Little Voices Of Courage' as my blog title for Grade 7.

Respond to Matt Harding's Dancing Video

I think that Matt Harding is a really friendly and open person. His video's of him dancing all over the world in 70 different countries and 7 different continents really shows the world how much he thinks that dancing can unite so many people together no matter wherever they are. He invited people to join him on his dancing quest and to see all those smiles on people's faces it made me feel so happy and made me feel like i wanted to join him.

I chose this picture because its very colorful and when I look at it, it made me feel so happy. http://www.public-republic.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/from-the-windows-of-jupiter.jpg

Respond to the 'Compliment Guys'

When I watched the YouTube video of Cameron Brown & Brett Westcott, I couldn't stop having a smile on my face. Everyone likes compliments and the way Cameron and Brett just went out with a sign and giving people compliments was just fantastic. It was also very nice how they just gave people compliments without asking for anything in return. I really think that giving your peers, your parents, your siblings, your teachers & any random stranger a compliment and you smile at them I believe its one of the best feelings. Another thing that the 'Compliment Guys' are doing is that they are showing people that if you say anything positive to anyone you will always get a smile back. I believe that in the outside world a lot of people are feeling stressed about jobs, reports & etc and when you have some people like the 'Compliment Guys' giving you a compliment it makes you feel so much better and it gives you a boost and you would want to give other people that. So if everyone keeps this up, the world can be such a great place to be.

The Giver Blog Post

Would you want your future to be decided by others ? why or why not ?

I would not want other people to be decided by others. In the book 'Giver' the people in that community had to follow rules and each dwelling had the book which contained the rules which were to be followed which was called the 'Book Of Rules'. In our world, we have rules & laws that we have to follow but we have the freedom to make our own choices. Referring to the book 'The Giver' people in their community, had their choices made for them and if the people didn't like what they had been assigned to they just had to accept it. If other people chose your future for you, you will not understand what you shouldn't do and what you should do because you'll just be walking a path that other people made for you. If you were to make a path yourself that would be more interesting and if you are not happy with the path you have made for yourself you cant blame anyone else but yourself because that was the path YOU made for yourself. Also, when you have accomplished something, you'll be thankful to yourself and not to the person who chose for you to do it. When you grow up and look back at your past your going to be proud because its the path that YOU created. That is why I wouldn't want others to decide my future for me.

the end is here.... :(

The end is here. What I mean by 'the end' is that it is the end of our tripods book and it's time to get a move on with our lives.. I have chosen to write a letter to Will.

Dear Will,
I have a few questions to ask you. I'm very curious about your relationship with Henry.. Did your relationship with him get anywhere? Are you guys still enemies or good pals? Also, I was wondering whether you still keep in contact with Eloise. Obviously you miss her but do you wish you could go back in time and do it all over again? When the Tripods were stalking you three, did it ever occur to you to give up and just surrender? Enough questions from the past. How are you, Henry and Beanpole doing in the White Mountains? Is it nice there and did you meet any other interesting people such as yourselves? Have you ever thought of going back to your parents?

I can honestly tell you if I were you, I would've already given up. Especially the time where the Tripods were stalking you, I would've surrendered. I liked how you, Henry and Beanpole didn't give up and stood up to what you believed in.

As Ozymandias said the chances to reach the White Mountains is very unlikely I think that you guys did a fantastic job!!

Regards, Clarissa

Review on the Book :

At first I HATED the book but I decided to put away my negativity and i enjoyed the middle of the book but when it reached the end i didn't really like it because nothing really happens.. All that happens is that the writer tells the reader that they have reached the white mountains. I really like the climax because it went from Just henry and Will to Henry, Will and Beanpole and when they reached Chateau de La Rouge new characters were introduced and i found the climax very entertaining.

The White Mountains - The THEME

Hi all you daily bloggers, this time I'm back to talk about a book that we have been reading called 'The White Mountains'.

DESCRIBE how Will is feeling about life in the castle-Give three examples of things he likes about it there.

• "To live wretchedly, like a hunted animal, suffering hardship and despair or this life, with its fullness and security and happiness." Page 125.

~He likes the luxury, the food and all the nice clothes that were given to him.
~He enjoyed his time with Eloise, The Comtesse and the others.

~He got a lot of attention as the Comtesse and Comten treated Will like Will was their son because their sons were far away from them.

~He also liked the fact that he was offered to be a knight.

Will still has questions in his mind of what it would be like to be capped... Describe some of the concerns about being capped and how these concerns relate to the lack of
freedom.

• "Was I to abandon my hope of freedom, surrender the mastery of my mind, for the sake of wearing jeweled leather and having other men touch their caps to me?" Page 121.
  

• "Before capping there might be doubts and uncertainties and revulsion; perhaps these people had known them too. When the cap was put on the doubts vanished. How great a loss was that? Was it a loss at all?" Page 123.

• 'I had thought at first that the Comtesse and the others might be curious about I and want to know how a boy had come by such a possession' but they had shown no interest at all in it. They kept no relics of the skill of the ancients, and time meant nothing to them." Page 125.
  

I think the concerns about being capped are the fear of abandoning your own freedom and surrendering your thinking to the Tripods. When you are capped all of your thoughts automatically turns off. It's like all this while you have a brain switch in your mind and suddenly when you are capped the Tripods have this power to control you and that means they have the power to turn off and on that switch whenever they want. What I mean by 'the fear of abandoning your own freedom is like Henry, Will and Beanpole they had a choice. To leave home to the White Mountains the place where Tripods didn't rule or stay seated and to wait for the next capping day where they surrender their freedom and their thinking. for the second quote, I really think there were at least 5% of people who lived in that area (where Will lives) had doubts and uncertainties about the term 'Capping'. I also think that it was a very big loss to people as you need your brain to think. For the third quote I think because the Comtesse and the others didn't really care or wonder about how Will had come by such a possession. This proved to me that Capping is a great deal. Even when Will had found such a possession the Comtesse and others didn't care. They didn't ask questions or put any thought into it. Also, if Will was Capped he'd loose all interest in what he has been exposed too.

Will finally decides to leave the castle as Eloise has been appointed the position as the Queen of Tournaments. I thought it was very thoughtful of Eloise to take a chance of getting punished to say one last goodbye to Will. When she says goodbye Will is heartbroken because she clearly showed him that she didn't really care about Eloise. His emotions were for her and it was clear to Will that Eloise's emotions didn't return the favor. At this point, Will feels ashamed because he realizes that Eloise doesn't care for him. this is one of the reasons why Will decided to leave the castle because before all that was making him stay at the castle was Eloise and now that Eloise has gone to be the servant of the Tripods there's nothing making Will stay at the castle. So now, Will decides that he will start his journey to catch up with Henry and Beanpole. When he was reunited with them, he didn't want to mention Eloise to them because he felt ashamed and mentioning Eloise to the others brought back the sad memories. He still misses her though but the thought of Eloise at the service of the Tripods didn't make Will happy. Will accepted the fact that Eloise accepted Capping as the countless others had done, not understanding and knowing no alternative.

Pictures Of My Friends And I

World Music - The Power Of The Void

The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides (silence) an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

I find pausing after the word 'provides' kind of makes people think... provides what? It makes people wonder what the person is going to say and what does ISKL provide.

I find that if music composers put a void in the middle of their piece and start playing it loud again suddenly creates tension. Like, first playing the music really loud then pause and then loud again.

Snapshot! MY HOLIDAY!!!!~

The ride that we went on like a million times with new friends.

Enjoying the snow

Enjoying the Scenery

During the holidays my family and I went on a trip to China. It was very exciting and we all had a great time. We had so much fun that we made new friends.


One of the places that I really liked visiting was 'Happy Valley'. Happy Valley was like a version of Disneyland. It still had all the action and of course the feeling that you don't want to go home. As we were exploring the grounds of 'Happy Valley' we met a Singaporean family. They had lived in Shanghai for 5 years. They had 3 sons and a daughter. We enjoyed each others company and and particularly enjoyed the ride 'Spinning Saucer'. We were spinning like a saucer and being titled from side to side.

I also liked the tourist attraction 'Yu Yuan.' Yu Yuan was built in the Ming Dynasty and is a garden, surrounded by shopping. The garden was very beautiful. As it was winter, the garden didn't look very pretty because there were no flowers. One of the things that I observed about the garden was that the garden areas was separated by dragon walls. It was very beautiful and I am sure that it took a lot of work to do.

We also drove for 2 hours to reach Suzhou. Suzhou was filled with tons of sight seeing. The food was good too...

This is my little story from the holidays.

A Reflection On The Life Of 12/12/97

Hola! I'm back after ummm 2 months? This time I'm back to talk about the past. I've made tons of great friends here at ISKL and the techers here are great.

A skill that I've learnt is to be organised and keep track of the work, my own personal rubbish and organise my room. A week ago, I looked at my room and I found it very messy. I started by taking out my old exercise books and textbooks and dumped them in the trash. Later, I started taking out my own personal rubbish and paper that I didn't use or paper that I just scribbled on. I'm still trying to sort things out and I hope that in the end all that work was worth it.

Challenges? Of course, everyone has some challenges. 1 of the challenges that I had and I am still working on it. I'm still trying to be successful in being a piano player. I want to get a distinction in my theory in Grade 5 and to play hard pieces. I am going to try harder and I am sure one day if I try I can be successful in my theory and my playing. Another challenge that I handled was to be on time for classes. It was difficult for me in the beginning of the year to get my locker open, get my stuff and be on time for my next class. It was difficult because my locker was very disorganized and I had a pretty stubborn lock but soon I organized my locker and I had no more troubles on getting on time to classes.

A skill that I want to learn is to write better, use better word choice and elaborate more. I would like to develop this skill because for the last few months, I have received comments on my work, that my teachers think that if I had this skill my writing would be much better. I keep getting comments like this 'Try to elaborate more and use better word choice.' And with that I want to develop this skill.

I have contributed to the 6th grade community positively by being nice to other people. Recently, a new boy couldn't open his locker. He even asked his sister to come help him but they still couldn't open it. So I went over and asked whether I could help them and after a few spins on the lock I opened it. They thanked me and I said, "No problem."

2 goals that I have set up for myself for the new year is to one, be organized, stay organized and live organized. The steps I need to reach this goal is to always clean up after myself. If I don't need a piece of paper I will put it in the recycling bin. My second goal is to keep all my grades up to at least a B. The steps I will need to do to reach this goal is to one, pay attention in class and two, make sure my work is done with all my ability.