Life is Just a Journey

I think that my future looks bright; I feel like it’s going to be so much fun aside from paying bills and all that boring adult stuff. I feel like I’m going to have fun with my life; I’ll go travel to places and adventure and explore but all that cost money, so obviously I have to get a decent stable job for myself. The only thing that scares me about my vision in the future is if I don’t have one. I remember in grade 9 and 10 that I was completely lost. I had no idea what I wanted to be and that scared me because the first thing that came to my mind was “Oh no, I’m going to become homeless”, so that thought of being homeless and having no future motivated me to strive further and start looking at what options I have in life  Since grade 12 I have opened many doors for myself, so I have a few options to go through. All of the doors I have opened for myself provide me a bright future like working on cars or being an auto body worker. The jobs I picked are jobs that I would enjoy and they also provide me with a stable income. Also the people who helped me through my high school years and are helping me open these doors would be my family and mostly the teachers, so thanks for that. Also I’m very thankful to my family because they are the ones who really gave me these opportunities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-jwWYX7Jlo

-By Kristers Kleinberg

It Is What It Is

Growing up was never easy for me, not only losing my dad, but finding out the truth about who he really was; my father was a drug dealer. This shattered my whole world.   The man I once I looked up to and loved so much, turned out to be a villain. When I am asked about my dad I don’t want to talk about it. When I do talk about it or think about it, it brings me nothing but pain, confusion, and causes me to feel shameful of whom I am. That’s when I need to have courage to accept reality, even when lots of people would dislike it.  I know that my father was that kind of man, but he was also a part of me, so it is important to see the other side of him.  With that in mind, I can say that he was hard-working because during my childhood my father showed me what it is to get knocked down and still get up and keep hoping and trying for the best.  My dad was a man who walked and ended up in a wheelchair, but he still kept his job even if it meant travelling 21 kilometers to the other side of the town when he his legs could no longer work.  I loved my dad more than anything, and he was my superhero and I wish I got more time to spend with him; there is not a single time I think about him without tears.  His death was the most horrible thing I ever had to go through in my life.  Every time I watch a Superhero movie I always think about him.  Every time a bad guy in the movie is shot cold, and the audience cheers, well in those movies I always think about the little boy that man left behind, waiting at home for his father to return. I will miss all the times my dad would spin me around and play soccer with me, so now I am left in silence to remember him, alone in my room.

My life may have lots of crazy situations from the beginning to this point, but I know I must try to do my best, to become a better person in the future.  I have learned from my dad’s mistakes so, each and every day I strive for something better.  I try and try until I get it.  It took lots of courage for me to heal brokenness and pain and to accept reality the way it is.   Accepting my dad, who I loved so much, gives me the skills and knowledge to take steps to correct wrongs because when I have kids of my own I want to be there.

-By Chris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZLUa8JUR18

I chose this as a link/song because, the song, kind of connections with my life, the way it is right now.

Hope and courage is what gives us the strength to believe in the good, to dream of better when times are difficult. Without courage and hope people wouldn’t be able to get out of bed in the morning. For me my family and friends give me strength to do my best, and to do my part in providing whatever I can for the ranch or to help with my parents when they need me. I have also learned a valuable lesson during this quarter: don’t take two core subjects at the same time in grade 12!   

Courage in my life comes from my family, mostly my mother. My mother has always cared for me, even when I was pushing her away. When I need something she always did her best to impress, even if it was very little but it always worked. My father, my grandfather, my brother and I all own about 80 head of cattle. Mostly my father and grandfather own about 40 each and my brother and I own 3 head each. It is hard work feeding and protecting them from mostly hungry dogs looking for an easy meal.  Many of the days we feed and work its blowing wind hard, and it’s even worse during the winter forking hay off the back of a trailer. My grandfather started the cattle business at a time when the Blood Reserve needed bus drivers for the new schools (after they gained control of our education, after the residential schools where closed). This gave him a good paying job and the ability to buy the cattle that we are now taking care of.  Everything that my family has done for me gives me strength to do as good as they did in taking care of me.  I wish to take care of their cattle business the best I can.  Courage and hope for me is what helps me dream of what I can accomplish with what I have and through the guidance of my family.  I also learned through my difficult experiences this year, not to take two core classes in the same quarter, but even through tough times when I have doubts on accomplishing my goals I have the courage and hope to get me through.

-By Austin Standing Alone

"Boxed" In

Have you ever felt like you’re inside of a small box, just feeling like you are small and scared, and not wanting or able to do anything about it?  Consider how delicate most things are in life and think about boxing up all of the delicate things, to keep these safe.  You may believe that boxing some parts of your life to keep them sealed away is best, but it is better to keep them out and in your life.  I believe keeping things out brought me to meet the people in my life which recently brought me to the things I love, and they have helped me to become the person I am today.

My personality and the culture of my life are partly made of my personal preferences.  For example,   I have a love for Ferrari which is an exotic vehicle company out of Italy.  It is a big thing for me because I feel very connected to the company and its past story of creation.  I want to be a part of Ferrari; I love how the creator, a simple mechanic, saw a vision for what he wanted in life and he turned it into reality.  I do appreciate how all my friends and family appear to support my choice in life, to be a mechanic like Ferrari. 

While fifty years ago Ferrari was a little known name, now with social media, it is known all over the world.  While I would love to work for Ferrari as a mechanic, I worry that social media holds my life in its palm; how will I ever become a part of something so big and well known?

In the past I have felt loneliness and a lack of support, but now I just feel grateful that I can understand that I still, and have always had my family and friends there behind me and to support me during important times.  I know that for my future I will need to have great mental strength to achieve my dreams, and I know that my support system can help me get there.

This song is related to my blog in that most of my childhood I felt like I was stuck in a box and could never find the way to open it; this is the one area I have so many problems with.  I know and believe this photo to be of big significance to my blog for the same reason, as the song I choose which is that  I have to rely on others to take me out of my head and bring me to new things.  
      

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm4ydqsZvMo

-By Tanner Aubin

Having Hope In Dark Times

Courage and hope is something we all have in our lives so that we can get though difficult times. Three or so years ago my brother was diagnosed with a type two brain tumor, it was a very scary time for me and my family. In August I was at a party with my friends when my dad told me something serious was wrong with my brother. When I got home they had told me he had a brain tumor and he had to go up the children’s hospital the following day. For a while I stayed with my best friend; we’ve been friends since grade one, so her family knew mine pretty well. When I was staying there my step dad came to the door and talked to her mom about what was going on. He told her that my brother may not be the same, he could become a vegetable and not be able to do anything. This made me really freaked out, but I hoped and prayed that everything would be okay. I got support from every one around me, mostly my grandparents and my friends. The night before the surgery my dad's friend  brought my brother his favorite food to make him feel loved and hopeful that everything would turn out well. The next day in the waiting room we waited in anticipation for hours to find out how it went. The surgeons came out from the ICU and told every one the good news. We went and saw him later, he was laying there with tubes and wires all over him, his head was shaved with a huge bandage around it.  When I looked at him it didn’t look like my brother anymore; I started to tear up, so I walked away. I didn’t want my parents to see me this sad, and I wanted to be strong and hopeful for everyone. A week later he was able to come home.  I remember him telling me it was one of the worst times of his life. I helped him get through it by doing whatever he wanted. I feel like this gave him happiness and hope for getting better. Eventually he went for radiation treatments, he told me that it made him feel very sick. He would lay awake for all hours of the night trying to sleep, but his wondering and imaginative mind wouldn’t let him. During the school days it would just be me going to school, and I was sad because I liked seeing my brother there. I hoped he would get better soon. Thankfully everything turned out perfectly, he is the same person but better. Before cancer we got along fine, but now we are like best friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIh3nO6-V_A

I choose this song because Dylan told me this song helped him get through the difficult times

-By Jolane Westerson