Women Rule the World

Women have always been perceived as weak and fragile for as long as I can remember. There weren’t many female role models for me when I was younger, but now there are proud, strong women everywhere I look. Feminism has given me the courage to be proud of being a girl and to stop caring what other people think.

Being a feminist does not mean hating men or wanting men to be lesser than women, but rather wanting to be given the same opportunities and treatment as men. All women need to realize their own self-worth in order to be the best they can be. Coco Chanel once said, “A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.” and it has given other women and myself the confidence to chase after what we want in life, no matter what men think. Before I knew girls could be whoever they want to be, I was as misogynistic as other kids were. We were told “boys will be boys” whenever they did something wrong and to just accept that as an excuse, but now I have realized that the feminine and masculine stereotypes are unimportant and useless in my life. I identify as a feminist and I always will because it's the only thing that gives me courage and hope. I no longer give men the power to make me, or any other women in my life, doubt our self-worth.

Women are no longer seen as weak and fragile in my eyes. I refuse to let any girl or myself see ourselves as that. When I was younger, I was told to just accept that boys can do whatever they want and girls couldn't do what boys can do because that's just how things are, but that's not true. Girls can do anything they set their minds to.

-Mya Black Plume

https://youtu.be/Zt0E5mOz_lg

(Alicia Keys - Girl Can't Be Herself)

Singer Who Can't Sing

Being alone is such a harsh thing. Not having a sense of belonging is like having a band with one person, and passion is like a miracle drug that can help you fix yourself. Playing the guitar is what I’m passionate about because it fixes my feelings when my feelings are broken. It’s like I’m a part of the guitar when I play it. Although I’m not that good at playing the guitar and I’m not that good at playing with other people, I can say that as long as you play I by heart it will give me the courage to face it. Many people criticized me because of how I play, but some people liked it but never really knew the reason why. I play music because it is what my heart and mind desires, like unspoken words that are meant to be said. I was never confident playing music with other people, especially in public and I’m not good playing music with others. Some people say it's because I lack experience, but actually it’s because there is a story about it. People have told me that I’m not a good singer, so I myself accept that I’m not a good singer, but that never stopped me from striving for what I love and am passionate about. After that, I felt like the guitar was calling to me, saying that I don’t have to sing, I just have to show them what I can do. I hope that one day they’ll acknowledge me as a musician. I realize that I don’t really have to sing because I have my guitar that can sing for me and it gave me courage to face all of it.

-Inigo Flores

Boxing and Me

My life relates to courage and hope because I do a thing that requires a lot of courage which is boxing. Everyday I get up and I say to myself that I will succeed in boxing and bring happiness to my dad since he was a boxer. I go to the gym almost everyday and I do my workout. I hit the bag and, sometimes when I need to let a little steam off it helps me to do that. It takes a lot of courage to step into a ring and box someone you don’t know. I have many pathways to choose from and when it comes to boxing it opens so many pathways for me. When some thoughts of doubt run through my head I distract myself with boxing and working out. When school ends I will break those thoughts off and try my best. My values bring hope to me that I will be successful at life and that nothing will get in my way to stop me. My friends and family help me to get through the rough times and push me forward. Boxing is my passion and I want to keep up with it for as long as I can. My goal is to make it to the Olympics and to represent Lethbridge. I want to show my dad that I can keep his legacy going and make him proud. Flaws won’t stop me from being me and I won’t let any problems get in my way. Fear drives me to do my best even though I don’t have many fears those little fears keep me afraid and it pushes me. All in all, courage and hope help me in life and will keep helping me for as long as I am in this world.  

-J.D

The video should explain itself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxczlps5_bg

The Advantages of Fears

You must feel fear and do it anyway. Everyone has an open door to something, whether it’s fear, positivity, negativity, or whatever else. My personal open door looks like there may be struggle. Although there will be tough situations, success is around the corner. I look into studying the human anatomy, as well as healing injuries. My plan is to become a paramedic. That possibly might not be the correct career choice according to fate, but to me it feels right.

My vision of the future of the kind of scares me. What if I don’t get accepted or I don’t have the money to go to university? Money has always been a topic when discussing about university. I’m scared I won’t have it; therefore, putting myself in debt resulting in stress and a slight chance of no career. Even though those are my thoughts, I still believe I can make it work. Without hope and courage, I might’ve not had that extra motivation to do better, succeed, and be the person I strive to be.

In a way, fear is what motivates people to make the choices they make. So if you feel fear, do it. You will most likely feel satisfied and happy that you did so. Of course, it takes a bit of courage to face a fear and follow through with it. The outcome will make you feel great! When facing a fear, it also comes with hope. You hope it turns out beneficially, and hope it was worth while. Feel fear? Do it anyway! It will make you even more stronger and more confident.

-Jayme Dobni

This link is to an article which discusses the benefits and advantages of fear. It is more of a personal connection.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-slow/201307/the-benefits-fear

The Struggle of Life

Without courage and hope how are you supposed conquer the difficult obstacles in your life? All I hope for is a little change in the world and maybe my courage could help with that. All my life people, and especially teachers, have been putting me down for all the things I want and changes I ask for such as not having kids left out of activities and teachers actually taking their job seriously. To me and in my head the changes I want make sense, but I guess people can't look past their own selfish existence to see the brighter side. At least I have the courage to speak up for what I want and deserve. Most people can't say this about themselves, I know that for a fact. Now a days people in power think they can roll over everyone and not have consequences. A great example of this is our Government and Politicians in power, but it's people like me that will try to make a difference in the world. Even if I fail which has already happened I'll keep fighting for what’s right. To make my point I'll shorten it up for you - I have the courage to stand up for what I think is right and deserve. My hope is what keeps me going. I do think one day things will have change such as people having real freedom, stable jobs, and good schooling, but by then it won't matter to me. I'll be six feet under the ground rotting away and no one will remember I helped create change in the world.

-Montana DayChief

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp2qjshr-r4
Retrain Your Mind - Motivational Video (Mel Robbins)

Seeking the World

My passion is to travel. It's the thrill of getting on a plane or car and going wherever I desire, feeling like an explorer discovering new land, a new language, exploring a new culture. Traveling can be a challenge, but for me, a fun challenge. Though there are many obstacles stopping me from traveling- money, parents and school - I know one day I'll have the ability to get on a plane and go wherever I want. If I could say goodbye to everything and just get on a plane and go I would. Traveling you need courage, the courage to go by yourself somewhere new. You have to have hope in yourself that you will not get lost or in the journey ahead of yourself.  

I had never been able to travel until last summer which was my first trip; I went to Toronto all by myself. Getting on that plane with the biggest smile on my face was the best feeling ever. My parents never had the money to go anywhere spontaneous. My friends would say where they were going for the summer- Hawaii, Mexico, and Cuba, the places I dreamt of going. When I was younger I moved quite a bit. I moved from Sudan to Egypt then we did the big move to Canada. I think moving a lot at such a young age is what made me want to travel so much. Traveling gives you the opportunity to disconnect from your reality - going to a new place and living in the now, no tomorrow, or yesterday, just now. Travel is getting to forget the problems of back home and living life to the fullest.

-Aggie Dang

5 Scientifically Proven Health Benefits to Traveling Abroad

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/wellness/5-scientifically-proven-health-benefits-traveling-abroad-n759631

End of the line - TravelingWilburys

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwqhdRs4jyA

This Is Who I Want To Be; This Is Me!

I am a very passionate person and there are a lot of things that I am passionate about. I am passionate about art, music, cooking and baking. I love to sing. I love it so much that I can't stop. I am also passionate about making friends, being active and having fun. My friends are very important to me. Out of all the things I am passionate about, what am I passionate about the most? I am the most passionate about makeup. Makeup is my life and I would be nowhere without it. I have been accepted into Vancouver film school to become a makeup artist. That is what I wish to do in my future and no one is going to stop me. People may tell me that it will be difficult and they will tell me to give up on it because in their minds, it isn't a good career choice. But in my mind, it is the most wonderful thing I could ever be a part of. I will pursue what makes me happy, not what other people want me to. When I create artistic pieces on people's faces and bodies, I know that I have created something unique and beautiful. I want to share my talent and passion with the world and I am not scared of anything that could get in my way. Hopefully someday everyone else around me will be as happy to see my art as I am to create it. There is a lot of things that I need to achieve before I reach this goal but I know that I will make it. I know that I have the courage to make this dream come true. I can see myself now, working on movie sets and in the crew for Cirque Du Soleil. I can see my name in the credits at the end of movies and maybe someone will know my name. This is who I want to be, this is who I will be. This is me!

-Dora Clement

This is a picture of me in parade. It took courage to show my artistic talent in the parade.

https://vfs.edu/programs/makeup
Watch the course outline videos. This is what I will be doing for post secondary. It is going to take a lot of courage for me to move provinces and live on my own right after high school.

A Walk in My Shoes

In my life I want to succeed even when people tell me I can’t do it. I am planning to show them that I won’t quit, and I will make it to the top. My life is like a mountain it is hard to make it to the top because there are things that are holding me back, but I have to push through them. I’m showing courage by being strong and hoping to push hard enough that I make it. That paragraph should show people that even through hard times you don't let things block you from your dreams. Courage and Hope - everyone has it, but for some people it takes years or their whole life to build it up. I have finally found mine. I have always been the girl that people pick on so it was hard for me to be able to find it. This year has been a life changer because I have showed the girls that hurt me and put me down; I have showed them that I’m not weak. I’ve showed them that I am so much stronger then they will ever be. This generation of girls isn't what it use to be, it's always focused on how you look. Looks are what people pay attention to, they don’t look for what the girl really is and how amazing she actually is. You can’t judge a book by it's cover I have learned. People have masks. You think that they are happy and always smiling and have the greatest life, but have you ever looked at what is really inside? You think they are happy, but you don't know them they could just be wearing a mask and when they get home they take the mask off. I have learned in my life that everyone has masks, I have one and I will admit it. I Have learned that everyone is ‘"FAKE” - fake nails, fake hair, fake smiles, and fake faces. I see people and see how fake they are together. People are fake to me and I know that cause I know what the word fake is.

The age of 14 was a big step in my life because my mother got me a job working at a Pharmacy where I would meet new people. My job gave me great independence and I was making a wage so I could be independent to buy things focused around my own likes and values, and to be able to save for my future ahead of me. This job gave me great opportunities to see the value of money at an early age in my life. I enjoy my job where I can be my natural self around people. It has made me very independent, and see that I don't always have to depend on my parents and this is a great value in my life. Graduation time from St.Catherine's was a very happy time for me, where I was making a new life. Going to CCH was nice, but scary going out to the big world outside of Picture Butte, but it sure opened my eyes and I have come across some interesting experiences. I've learned a lot from going to CCH, as there are many walks of life here. I have learned from the bullying in my life to value and have respect for people with special needs and other needs, and to care and stand up for these people. In my 17 years of growing up I see the big world and thank my parents for making me aware of all that's out there in the world. This is my opportunity in life to be a police officer, to help and understand the people who are in the world today. Life is getting harder day to day. Let's respect what we have and I hope that my future takes me where I want to be. I want to be strong, and love those people who really need me. I want to show love to my family who are so good to me and have helped me along my way in this big journey to get to the age of 17, and to my friends and my teachers who have taken me this far.

-Kirsty Butler

Suraye's Passion

My passion in my life is rodeo because it's something I like and love to do and want to do it for as long as I live. Rodeo is part of who I am, where I come from and it’s what I know. I remember when I first started I was doing pretty good; I was on my way to making it to the Indian National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas that was and still is one of my goals to make it there. With rodeo there's always that "what if"; what if this happens, or what if that happens because you never know what’s really going to happen in the arena. Once you’re on that horse ready to go you can’t really determine how your run is going to go and it either could be a really good or bad outcome, you just never really know. During one of my practices I had a little accident with my horse, which left me traumatized. I took a little time off after that and I wish that I didn’t because it set me way back from achieving my goal, but it’s not like I’ve completely gave up on it. Despite what  happened I still ride whenever I get the chance and I’m slowly working towards getting back into that rodeo life because I still have the support I need and I know I can do it.

-Suraye Blackwater

Passion

My passion in life is the marvels of being in nature; to experience mother nature’s spectacles of creations. For as long as I can recall I was always outside playing in the trees. My earliest years were spent in the country; I never grew up in the city and I’m thankful for it because it developed my relationship with the land. Around March of grade 11, I was in need of a job. At that point I was looking for just about anything, but my career counselor wanted to know what my passions were. I stated that I love working in the environment. Never would I have thought I would have the astonishing opportunity to understand the animals mother nature harbors. During the summer I got the chance to work with amazing Birds of Prey. I always knew my passion was nature, but this experience moved me and gave me a better appreciation for the outdoors. “I know what I want to do for the rest of my days.” I vividly remember saying this to myself as I released a bird back into the wild. Though the experiences were rewarding, it was very difficult when I first began this journey. I was one of the youngest workers there and was still finishing high school while my co-workers were already pursuing their dreams in post-secondary. I thought to myself will I have the knowledge to help with this job, or am I going to sound foolish? Many thoughts rushed through my head and they plagued me greatly. I could’ve kept thinking this way, but I didn’t. I smartened up and I pushed myself to be even better than my other new co-workers. The result landed me in heaps of rewards and respects. By the time summer was almost over and the work season was ending, I built myself into a reliable, and hardworking character. My boss and other co-workers endlessly complimented me and it restored my hope in myself. I had the courage to do this, but sometimes I just need to hear it from others to really believe it.

-Grace No Runner

The Story of My Life

Courage and hope - those are really strong words and sometimes when you are in difficult situations it’s hard to find the courage or the hope to deal with difficult times. Courage and hope are very important characteristics that all of us should have, because without them we are really just bodies walking with no thoughts about what may come in the future. We must have courage, because it will help us face our fears and hope because we must have something to look forward to in our day to day lives. If we don’t have these traits, we will not be able to take a stand for what we believe in or what we think is the right choice. We are so caught up in our daily, busy lives that sometimes we forget to see the good things in life.

There are countries all over the world that are suffering of hunger, health, and crime. There are poor countries that are considered failed states and that are at the edge of life. What do all those people have left? Courage and hope. It takes a lot of courage having to live your day to day life knowing that at any moment all hell could break loose. The crime rates in countries like Zimbabwe or Nigeria is crazy, and I don’t mean just those because I know that there are many                                                                                                                                                                                 more also not just in Africa, but all over the world. All that those countries have left now is for people to have hope and the courage to live their day to day life trying to keep their children safe, so that they don't get killed going to the grocery store. That to me takes a lot of courage, and until one day if these countries get better, they all just have to hope for the best. The point is that if you don’t have hope or courage you wouldn’t be able to achieve surviving your life in these conditions because you would have nothing to look forward to.

In my life I’ve had a lot of situations where I’ve had to have courage. One of them was when I was back in grade nine, and I got jumped by these people in an alley. I honestly felt like I died a little and that was the moment where I started getting all the flashbacks of my life and memories with my family and friends. I had to have a lot of courage, because I kicked one of the assholes that jumped me and I ran away. I didn’t know where to go and I so I hid behind a dumpster, but I could still hear them looking for me. At this point I had honestly lost all hope, because I thought that they would kill me. When I did manage to get out of there, I felt so relieved and this is why it is important to keep hope and have the courage in situations that might get you killed.

-Alejandro Gonzalez

Mexican Vigilantes Stand Up Against Crime

https://video.vice.com/en_uk/video/mexican-vigilantes-stand-up-against-crime/564a368398902876392296fd

Nothing Is As It Seems

Courage and hope will make the world a little bit brighter. Children are so full of life, joy and a desire to be happy. One day they will realize they can't be, or do those things. When I was a child I never had a care in the world, I was full of love and happiness. As I got older I came to realize the world is a dark, unfair place. I was always trying to make everyone happy: the kids at school, my teachers, my parents and even strangers. I came hate it because I would try so hard to please everyone I forgot about myself and my happiness. And when I did help people it did not matter, because nothing was helping me. I started losing hope in the world, but with a little bit of hope still left inside my soul I started feeling happy. I had the courage to continue to live. With just a little bit of patience you will find kindness, joy and happiness even in the darkest places.

-Keir Ajtai

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.