Being passionate is about showing feelings or beliefs you have. I have so many things that I am passionate about. The most important one is soccer. Soccer is a sport that I have always been playing throughout my entire life; soccer is the only sport that I will never give up on with something else. The best feelings in his word is me waking up in the morning knowing that I have either a soccer practice or game, trust me it's the best feelings in the word.

           Soccer is a sport I can't live without in my life. I started playing soccer since I was a kid. To be honest with you soccer is literally my life. If I see a soccer ball right now I would literally start playing with it, even if am in class, inan office, on amain road and even my room, that's how much I love the sport called soccer.

             When someone has a passion about something there are always a difficulties that the person will face. In soccer there's a lot of difficulties you can face. Some of them are getting injured. Mostly every soccer players gets injured, trust me it's the worst feelings ever. When you get in a bad injury trust me you will start crying like a little baby.

-By Sodiq Adekunle

My Grandmother

Throughout my life I have never really had a father, but I did have a grandma and grandpa. They taught me religion, spirituality, culture and most importantly the true significance of family. My great-grandmother had twelve children and my grandmother was the eldest out of all of them. She learned to give and care for others at a young age, but at the age of ten she was taken to a residential school. In residential schools she suffered from depression and abandonment from not being able to be with her family. While she attended residential schools she had an older cousin who looked out for her, because without her family she would have could have been raped, abused, and or mistreated.

Having a great grandmother who has survived residential schools is something to be proud and grateful for, because she is a survivor. She suffered from chronic nerves from when she got beaten and slapped in the face from the nuns because she spoke a native tongue. At a young age I was separated from my mother and struggled to have hope for the future, although after my grandmother took me under her wing, things became clearer because she too was taken from her mother at a young age too. I realized why our family has abandonment issues along with abusive history because of all the hardships they’ve been through. I cannot blame my mother for the things she did not know, but she too is still growing as a mother and survivor.

 

    I am very fortunate to have my grandmother who is still alive and well. She’s taught me to fight through hard situations and gave me immense courage in accomplishing the things I like to do, like sports. She taught me to do my best work and to do them with passion and care, Without my grandma in my life I would not be the person I am today. By having my grandmother and grandfather in my life, they give me that extra courage to do good, along with having hope towards a good future for my grandchildren too. Without the traits of hope and courage in my life I would not be able overcome average situations/problems in my life, because facing problems and overcoming them is what makes you who you are and make you unique/stronger as an individual.

-By Tristen Fox

When I was little I was told I was too small, skinny, or didn't have the will to play sports. I found this to be true because I had tried other sports before, I was told I couldn't and failed. I basically didn't really do anything all of my childhood, because of these discouragements, so my childhood had very little meaning to it. Grade 7 was when everything changed. Gymnastics became an everyday occurrence and completely changed me. Being a gymnast changed me; it made me not give up on everything I did, and persevering became a norm. I guess that's what 18 hours of training will do to you. After a few years of being a gymnast I joined football. Football probably had the biggest impact on me cause I learned about brotherhood. Football showed me the value of others and what we are willing to do for the person next to you. I truly believe that sport, and physical activity can make a life changing impact on the young people of tomorrow. Sport gave me hope,and courage, the hope to keep going, and the courage to start in the first place. Sports changed my life, and made me who I am.

-By Jordan Wright

Leaving Home

My life has been reflected off my experiences and I have bettered myself for everything that has happened in the past. I look back on my life and I see the obstacles I have dodged. One of the the many obstacles I dodged was moving to Lethbridge and leaving my old life for a new one and the reason I chose this is because it was one of my life's harder obstacles.

When I first moved to Lethbridge I had no idea who anyone was and was feeling out of place everywhere I went. I had no one to talk to for about the first two weeks. I wasn't really well known till I started hanging out with the hockey kids and some kids in my class, and that started to make my new life not look as bad as I thought it was set out to be. It was hard to leave my old farm for this new home in the big city, but I knew that my quiet voice would mean little in my family being that I’m the youngest. I would always have something to do when I lived on the farm, there were always dirt bikes to ride, guns to shoot, and some hockey sticks to play puck with. I would never get bored of things unless I wanted to go into town to hangout with friends, but I would still choose the farm over a city. I was able to get over the farm in time, but it was still difficult emotionally and mentally. I was able to get over it because I have came to a conclusion that I would rather live in a well known city than be a farm kid.

-By Eric Brewin

Life's Positive and Negative Difficulties

The thing I’m most passionate about and love to do is making the people in my life happy. I love it when people are happy because that is the main reason behind why I am still alive. Even though I usually get hurt in the process I still want others to have a better life than what I have experienced now. Why I’m missing out on the millions of opportunities that life has to offer is because you are going to die sooner or later and life is already hell as it is. The world will end sooner than anyone thinks and no one will be prepared. I try to stay positive throughout my life but it is very difficult for me at the moment.

-By Robbie Janzen

Buried Dreams

As a kid, we all have dreams to stand out from the others. But as we grow older,

We tend to let go of these dreams. For some of us we hold on, fight

Through, and achieve our dreams. Going through high school, we all

Just want to be excepted by our peers. We tend to hide what we truly want to do, so

That we can fit in with the crowd. We all have a mask over our faces hiding our true identity,

and keeping our passions a secret.

We all have bright futures.. well, at least in our minds. A lot of choose to not take

Action, and watch our life drift on by like the others. As we grow older, we tend

To not take action, because of the opinions of others. We let their thoughts

Drag us down in this hole of no return, and watch our dreams just vanish without us.

In my life, I have had friends who tell me what im doing is wrong, and won’t work. They tell

Me that I am wasting my time, and should be like everyone else, and just follow the same path.

I like to say that life is not a game. There are no boundaries. We are put on this earth to

accomplish every little dream we had as a kid. I feel like a lot of people don’t think this way.    

People have the mindset where there is only one direction. Which is to graduate, and move on

to the work force, working 8 hours daily draining your life until we retire, and die.  We all need

to have hope for our self’s, and believe that we can accomplish any goal we desire too.

Fear, sacrifice, and negative thoughts are always going to be there. Every time you try

something new, it will be there. We just need the courage and hope to take that first step in to

our dreams, and we will succeed. The first step is always the hardest, but if we push through,

and Ignore the negative thoughts of others. We will achieve our dreams.

-By Riley Lavorato

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/17757132_10203264551891787_3674856062532046318_n.jpg?oh=16f68ce25de042dcd1407e17eb0931ea&oe=59A71146

This song is called Scared by Jarren Benton; he talks about the fear of pursuing his dream.  ***Warning lyrics are explicit.  

Hello Old Friend

I have faced a lot of struggles and difficulties in my life that have caused me to be in so much pain. A pain that I wish I had never felt, a pain that has messed up my head in the morning and especially at night. All these aches that I feel in every part of my body, reflects my past. The most pain I have felt is losing most of my friends, and certainly a friendship that I thought would last for a long time. Usually during school or even outside the school, we would always get together and hangout, this is the environment that I got used to. One by one they all disappeared, one by one they left without saying goodbye, and one by one they found new friends, until I was the only one standing in the same place, a place where our friendship started. Waiting in the same place, wishing, hoping that they would come back to the person that they have left behind. Searching for them one by one, and trying to fix everything to bring back the old friendship that we once all had. The most painful goodbyes are the ones that are never said and never explained. They one by one shattered me into pieces, like a glass that they smashed and broke into fragments.  Without looking back nor caring, they left me behind crushed and hurt. I am a piece of glass that I wish I could fix and put all back together to look new and unbreakable, but I can only do that in my mind, my imagination. Once you’re broken you’ll feel pain, and eventually it will lead to scars, scars that you can no longer remove from your body. It will be forever with you in every journey you take. Behind my tears and behind the pain I'm still hoping that in the end I will have a smile, and hope and courage. I know at this age I have to go through this torment just to be strong, happy, wise and responsible in the future. We may want to get rid of our past, but we simply can’t, instead we should look back on the memories we had with the people that used to matter to us, or maybe they still matter to us today. I’m not sad or mad, well I was but I got over that. I am very happy I have met a group friends like them because they all have given me lessons. I cherished all the laughter and memories that we all built. Until we all meet again, friends. 

-By C.T

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/10/friend-breakup-stories_n_3417347.html
Here is a link to other people's stories that are similar to mine.

Hope and Courage

Hi, my name is Cassidy and I've struggled with depression, anxiety, self harm, and pretty much every social situation in the the book! Yes, I just wrote that. Why you ask? Because honesty is the best policy, that's why. Have you figured out what my blog is gonna be about yet? Of course you have! you read the title like any normal person would. If you didn’t then here is a recap: hope and courage! I know, fantastic title right guys?

Anyway with that mess out of the way here is the real intro. Have you ever felt like you let yourself down in life? Like you have never truly reached your potential even though you tried your hardest? Like society is the bane of your existence even though you know it has truly no grasp on you? Well I have, every day since the age of 13. It all started when I was enrolled in a summer program.

It was a normal Saturday, mom got a new job and I was in my room messing around on my old flip phone to try and get the stupid thing to work. I heard her calling me from the kitchen, so I walked over to see what she was going on about this time. She explained that her new job provides this summer program for children with disabilities and she signed me up for it. I thought that she was signing me up to be a volunteer at that place. Turns out I was wrong and I was one of the clients instead.

Now here's the thing, at that time all I really had was ADHD and it didn’t bother me because I was taking pills for it. I thought that was normal, ya know. It didn't occur to me that ADHD was an actual disability, and that alone was enough to qualify for the summer program. This place provided support to adolescents (those aged 6-17) with a variety of   mental illnesses. (I can’t remember all of them because there are too many to name) I spent the first half of the summer thinking “yo, what the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong in this place!” and pretty much blind to the fact that there were people just like me here. News flash, you don’t necessarily need to look or act like you are on the autistic spectrum to be on it. Lets just say I found out the hard way. Aka straight up being diagnosed and going through an identity crisis that involved reevaluating the way I thought, acted, and going through all of the things I mentioned in the first sentence of this blog.

Now usually when a teacher tells you to write about a time when you have showed hope and courage in your life, people write something along the lines of “When I was a certain age ____ happened and it made me feel_____ but I _____ed and it gave me courage and hope to ____ that ____ in the _____! Now I am ____ and everything is _____ !!! YAY!!!” or the opposite of that.  I went with neither of those options. Why? Because the courage aspect of this assignment is in writing this damn thing! It takes courage to put something like this out there, especially someone like me. I am actually a very closed off person.   

-By Cassidy Takeyasu

When I came from Africa I didn't have self confidence and I was shy to make new friends. This condition limited me from being a social person for a long time. What finally caused me to become less shy and more of a social being was social media. Social media was a platform where I could express myself without the constant thought of messing up my way of communicating with people. Social media impacted me positively as it helped me develop courage.

   Hope is also a main part of my life. I worked very hard as an athlete to get to where I am today, and my hope is that one day that hard work will be rewarded, and it's going good so far because scouts are already looking at me and they want me on their rosters for soccer. Without hope I wouldn't try at anything because I would feel like my hard work would go unnoticed. That is not the case though, with my faith in God and my faith in myself I know that I will be rewarded in the long term

-Richard Nyavor

Vulnerability

My vulnerability is meeting new people and being friends with them. I worry that if I tell new people most of the things that I am going through, they won’t tell me what they’re going through and I won’t know a big part of them. I also worry that perhaps I only thought we were close friends. I won't let myself be vulnerable and open up because I also worry that people will tell other people about me.  

In my life sometimes when I go places I change. At home I speak more and interact more with my siblings, but when I go to school I only speak to a few teachers and my friends. I am scared to speak to people that I do not know and I only speak when my friends are around me. When I go to the mall, or something like that, I only talk to the person I am with, and I block out everyone else and I avoid speaking to anyone except when I am spoken. I wish that I could speak to everyone without hesitation but it will not come out.

-By Trez Mountain Horse

That One Person

As human beings, people need to know that they are not alone because without family members, the amount of support and love you receive is altered.  As a young man I believe that role models and inspirational figures are important, and in my life I would have to say that one person is my mother. Personally she will always be a saint, the amount of courage and hope she has shown over the years is, and continues to, drastically influenced my perception in life.

I remember being a child and having bad dreams. The amount of effort it took for her to deal with that was substantial - getting up at random times at night, running to come make sure everything was alright. This not only showed me the discipline of getting up when I need to, but the lessons of patience, kindheartedness and responsibility all tied together.  She would stick it out with me until the “fight” was over, or the dream had ended. There are super heroes all around us and just because they don’t have a costume, or cape, doesn’t mean that they haven’t done something for another person “in need”.

It takes allot of discipline and strength to raise a child. One day I’m sure I will have to do the same for mine, but it blows my mind how hopeful and courageous she is. Words cannot explain the amount of things in life that she has taught me, but I know one thing for sure, along with the mind power to strive even when life puts you down, you must stand back up!

-By Mathieu Boucher

It Can Only Get Better

Last February was a really difficult time.  The passing of my grandma was really hard to get over.  She was my best friend and my role model.  I looked up to her for advice and guidance.  I will always remember the times we cherished especially watching the Jays Game and her saying “Let’s play ball.”  My life changed so much after finding out she had left me for good.  Growing up as a kid I never had any worries about life because she was by my side.  I’d constantly think to myself that life could only be so much more enjoyable as years passed. Nevertheless, it really was not.

Ever since that date, that tragic date, I have not felt like myself. I struggle to feel like I have a place in society and I constantly put myself down.  I’m always worried about a lot of things because I feel like I get judged on the way I dress, how I do my hair, whether I wear makeup or not, the way I act and all the little things like that.  An increasingly amount of darkness has overtaken my life and I just can’t seem to find any light to make it better.  The only time I really feel myself is when I am around my close friends and I consider those people family because they really are.  Whenever I’m just sitting out on the front porch or just in my bedroom I get a feeling and it’s not a good feeling.  I have these weird thoughts that go through my head and they stop me from achieving the things I want to do.   It makes me feel like I am trapped and I have no way out.  I feel as if courage and hope really help everybody out with the hardships in their life.  I know I struggled to believe in myself and now I finally feel like things are looking up for me.  Family is the most important thing to me and I strongly feel like I can do anything I set my mind to, I've just got to believe in myself!

-By Brooke McGinnis

Finding Myself

For most of my life I had lived in the same place, a small town in British Columbia just west of Prince George.  It is what I was familiar with, I felt safe there. I had good friends, and even better family. This all changed for me when I moved to Lethbridge in 2011. Moving to a new city is intimidating for anyone, making new friends, starting a new school. I was starting Grade 7, nervous, longing for acceptance from others. I spent a lot of my time worrying, worrying what others thought about me, and worrying who was looking - just like any kid my age. Throughout most of my school days I felt this way, eating away my happiness.  It took time, but eventually I got sick of worrying, ultimately for no reason. I came to realize that what others think of me really doesn’t matter, nor do I need to be accepted by them. This was a very significant chapter in my life that took some courage to overcome, but in conclusion shaped me into who I am today. It opened my perception on my peers and the way I live out my life. I lost people who I thought were my friends and gained ones I thought I would never have. I am grateful for the experiences I had to undergo and wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Our past is what makes us into what we are today, and what we know. Nevertheless, being through what I have I would encourage others to do what took me so long to learn. Have the courage to live your life for yourself and don’t worry about what others think about you because a lot of the time they aren’t even comfortable with themselves.

-By Kaelan Baker

Decisions

The darkness in my life is the fear of not knowing, It’s scary to feel like I don’t know what to do next; I just exist. My high school career is almost ending and I only chose want I wanted to do a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know if I’ll succeed in this new chosen path and I’m trying to really hard to take this chance, but isn’t taking a chance kind of like having hope? When you hope for something it’s a gamble and you don’t know if you’re going to make it through or crash and burn, but you do it anyway. It takes courage to walk through the darkness and find a light.

Looking ahead is a lot easier than looking behind, at least there's a surprise awaiting you ahead. It’s hard to leave your comfort zone and just wing it, but how else do you move further and open more doors? I’m a shy and keep to myself kind of person, and for me to actually get out there and associate with people makes me a little anxious, but it always gets better. The darkness can morph try to drag you down or make you lost, but finding a light isn’t as hard as you think it just takes a little courage to get through it.

-By Timberly Pace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgO1LYAqMmI
This is a song called "Pork and Beans" by Weezer; it is about doing what you want in life and not following the crowd.

Fighting the Statistics

What I am passionate about is cooking. I have always loved it since I was a kid, I just never thought to make it a career until now.  My future involves going to college to attend the culinary careers program after I’m finished High School. After I graduate from college I am moving to Vancouver to start my restaurant and the rest of my life. I am scared and I think everyone is when they graduate. I’m scared because it’s a whole new school, people and experiences. I am scared because it will be a brand new city that will take me a while to adjust to.  I guess I’m just scared of the unknown because while I have everything planned out, I just don’t know what the future holds for me.  There is for sure one thing I am scared of and continue to fight every day of my life, being a statistic.  Being an aboriginal youth in this city makes me stick out.  Being educated, well dressed in foster care and being raised by a ``white`` woman makes me stick out 100 times more. There have been times where I thought of dropping out like I've seen some of my aboriginal friends do.  Instead I've studied as much as I can trying to get good grades, making it on the honour roll, winning awards and graduating from high school.  I will continue to fight being a statistic even after I graduate. I will fight it because cooking is what I`m passionate about, so instead of giving up I will continue to get an education, get a job, and start my business. Because I was given a second chance at life I have been given the courage to keep fighting, proving everyone and the statistics wrong.

-By Seleena Eagle Speaker

 http://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/overcoming-indigenous-disadvantage/key-indicators-2011/key-indicators-2011-factsheet-youth.pdf
This is a link to research on indigenous youth.  These studies show the struggles that indigenous youth face on a daily basis and these are the statistics I am fighting. 

It's Magic

I have never thought about things I am passionate about. The only thing that springs to mind is a trading card game called Magic the Gathering. It is a strategy game with a fantasy twist to it. Magic can be played by two players in various formats, the most common of which uses a deck of 60+ cards. It is a very hard game to become a pro at. I have been playing for almost 5 years now and am not even close to becoming pro at Magic. About 3 and half years back I heard of a tournament called the Pro Tour. It is one of the biggest Magic tournaments in the world. First place prize is        50 000 U.S dollars. The top matches at the Pro Tour are steamed live on Twitch and YouTube.

 I would love to go to the Pro Tour, but I have never tried. It is very hard to qualify for the Pro Tour. I get nervous just thinking about it. I have never had the courage to try. It is one of the few things I am passionate about and I can’t go all the way with it. If I can’t find the courage to do something I am passionate about then what happens when I face a challenge I don’t like?  Is it the other way around?  Maybe it’s hard to do because I do care about this, like an artist showing off this work. If I did good in any of the big tournaments hundreds of thousands would see me. I always have had stage fright. I have thought about giving up hope on trying to get into the Pro Tour, but if Mrs. Gardner's English 30-2 class has taught me anything it’s not to give up hope, because hope is essential to overcome the changes in your life.  I'm not letting anything stop me from perusing my passion. 

-By Draydin Kowal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0lMcAdXopg
This is a link to explain the feel and idea of the game.