 Angela Lee's TEDtalk was about success and failure, with grit being the key to success. What is grit? It is passion and perseverance, sticking with your future for not just days or months, but sticking with it for years to make it reality. Angela makes a good comparison of this to a marathon. Success is measured by how hard you work and how long you work, and I completely agree with this fact. She talks about how failure is a motivation to get you to succeed, and failure is not a permanent condition. Having grit makes you more successful in terms of graduating. Grit is unrelated to talent, social intelligence and IQ. It's all about sticking with your long term goals with passion and perseverance. Failure or success? Your pick!
 What does it mean to fail? No one likes to fail at all. How do you know that you will fail unless you try? Failing is when you don't give your best effort in something like writing a test or doing a project. Failing means to give up, not trying and quitting. People see failure as a negative thing, but it actually means finding a million ways that won't work! It's a motivation for you to keep trying until you succeed. Failing is not the end of the world; you have another chance to try again. You must fail in order to succeed. It gives you the opportunity to improve and find your weaknesses.
 Everyone has heard of failure leads to success. An average human being makes mistakes like everyone does, no matter if they are smart or stupid. People who are successful has gone through many failures. You must fail in order to reach the next level of success.
Failing gives you the opportunity to improve and find your weaknesses. If you failed once, try again. If you fail twice, try again. Try until you are successful. Sometimes you cannot be successful in one shot. People don't expect you to be able to serve the volleyball over the net or shoot a basket in the hoop on your first try. Don't ever give up, because perseverance is the answer. If you failed, your life is not over.
The quickest road to success is to have a positive attitude towards failure. Fearing and being frustrated with your failure won't get you anywhere in life. Now that you have gained some experience, make a new approach.You can take risks or test out something new. Learn from the mistakes that you have made in order to never run into them again.
Failure to success is like practice to perfection. If you practice, you'll get better and better at it. Your hard work will eventually payoff in the end because hard work leads to success. Failure is just the beginning of success!
 Thirteen Reasons Why is a novel written by Jay Asher and he has won many awards for this book. I have mentioned before that it's hard for me to read a book and really get into it. Most of the times, I would read a few chapters, then give up on the book. But for this novel, it's a different story. I couldn't put down the book because it was that good! So far, the first three chapters I've read are very thrilling. Every single page of this book is addicting.
For a quick summary of what I've read so far, Clay Jensen received a shoebox stored with thirteen cassettes that was left on his porch. He listens to the first tape and realized that a girl named Hannah Baker ended her life and there are thirteen reasons why she decided to take that action. Each side of a tape involves a person. So far, the people revealed are Justin Foley, Alex Standall, Jessica Davis, Tyler Down and Courtney Crimsen. There are still eight people involved that included Clay himself. Each of these people hurt Hannah in someway.
The style of this book was written very well. I liked how the author wrote each chapter tape by tape. This makes things easier because each tape is about a person, explaining the reasons why that person lead to Hannah's suicide. I was able to understand the story because the use of language was simple. I liked how the author italicized Hannah's speech so I can differentiate between Hannah's and Clay's. I did not get confused and I was able to follow along every detail as the book unfolded.
Even though I am not close to half way through the book, I would consider this novel as one of the best book I have ever read. I am looking forward to read more of the book to find out who is included in the tapes and when Clay Jensen will appear in the tapes. I have a feeling that he will appear on cassette number thirteen, which is the last one.
This novel really teaches me how a little action or a joke can affect someone's life; it can potentially ruin their life! What started out as a joke ruined a friendship, and a rumour that is not true can ruin a friendship as well. This mostly happens in high school because everyone is so immature. What I don't understand is people are biased on one perspective, but they never find out the real truth. They believe the rumors, but they don't don't believe friends like how Jessica didn't believe Hannah.
 Jennifer Pahlka's TED talk states that apps that only take a couple days to write could spread virally, and it's a powerful way to connect citizens to their government. She is saying that technology makes it possible to fundamentally reframe the function of the government, improving and making it better. Another main point about this talk is being an active citizen is not just using your voice, but using your hands.
The point where she said "We are not going to fix government until we fix citizenship" is very true. Jennifer strongly stated not give up on the government. If citizens are not involved to help strengthen the community,it won't improve. When one citizen helps another, it strengthens the community. I agree with the fact that the government plays a key role to connect those people who help each other. They could have connected to government service if they needed help, but a neighbor is a better and cheaper alternative. That's how you strengthen your community, by helping each other help!
As I stepped out of the car, I let out a huge sigh, followed by a gulp. I edged slowly towards the funeral home, wary of each step I take. I opened the door and felt a chill going down my spine. This is the first time I’ve been to a funeral, having to be my uncle's. The place was decorated like a mansion, looking nice and fancy, but I felt eerie about this place. I don’t know why but I kept on trembling with fear. I felt my heart pounding as well. The whole room was filled with incense, which burned my eyes, forcing them to shut. That didn’t make things any better. I took a left; there were hordes of people standing in front of the doorway. I was trying hard to force myself through the crowd to hang up my coat, then I retreated as quick as I could. My parents, my brother and I waited in the corner for some people to leave, so we could pray my uncle. I felt really bad, like sorrow and grief as I watched my aunt cry. I felt bad for my cousins too. Their faces were red as ever, in agony. I took a glimpse at my uncle in his coffin- it seemed like he was just sleeping. My brother and I got on our knees and bowed three times, in front of him. Then, we were asked to take a seat. I was sitting there, solid for ten minutes, just hearing the room filled with tears, cries and yells. That made my eyes start to tear as well. The room was all gloomy and somber. The yellow, dim lights added to the gloom. My brother was sitting beside me, fiddling with his iPod. How nice and respectful of him. He dragged me to the other room so he can eat and play. My parents were talking to people. I was sitting on a couch, staring at the carpet for half an hour until it was time to leave. A very depressing day.
 Our FFP class decided to do a Harlem Shake video!! At first, I was freaking out, strongly opposed to this idea. This is something I normally won't do and I don't like to do. But, I found it an interesting experience after a while.
In one scene, we had to do the shake in the cafeteria. It was mortifying doing it in there where fifty pairs of eyes were turned to our attention! I tried to hide behind the scenes, camouflaging myself, while the others are dancing like maniacs. I may not be noticeable in the videos, but I'm there, embarrassed as ever. As we progressed through the scenes, I got more and more comfortable doing the Harlem Shake. Especially for the last scene, everyone just got all crazy and intense. The scene I liked most was filmed at the balcony of Tassie Hall, where our teacher was dressed as the GCI ghost!
The theme of our Harlem Shake connects to GCI and its the school's spirit. I used a gym shirt to represent GCI. You would probably ask what would a gym shirt represent. It symbolized me as one of the athletic students of the phys ed department of GCI. It even said the school name on it.
 As I wake up from the cold, crispy morning, I gazed out at the window. I see the world covered in sheets of pure, white snow; the trees, the ground, the rooftops, everywhere was covered! Mesmerized by the beautiful scene of nature, I didn’t let me eyes wander off until ten minutes later. It’s so peaceful outside. No noise, just dead silence.
 Neil Pasricha's TED Talk was awesome! In my opinion, the 3 A's- Attitude, Awareness and Authenticity sums up to living your life to the fullest. We should be happy about our lives, what we have and where we live. First, he talks about attitude. It is the importance of being happy and staying positive as there are many "ups and downs" in your path. Rather than grieving and frowning about the past, put a smile on and face the future! (By the way, it takes more muscles to frown than to smile :D) Next, awareness is all about being aware of your surroundings and experiencing the world around you. Lastly, authenticity is about being true to yourself. This means be you and not follow others' path. Attitude and authenticity resonates me most. I agree with Neil that 100 years is not a lot of time for us to experience the world, so we have to enjoy life and try out new things!
One thing that I disagree is with the fact of staying positive towards everything. This includes going through difficulties. Sometimes I see people pretending to be fine and alright in front of other people, but then once they are by themselves, they return back to depression. Someone people are hit so hard, that they can't stand up immediately and think positively, like Neil. That kind of defeats the whole purpose of authenticity. The people who hide their feelings are not being true to themselves. One person may keep saying they are alright but the truth is they are not!!
Watching the documentary, "Generation Jobless" did alter my mind in a negative way. Seeing that many young grads are underemployed and are mired in education debt, I'm afraid I will become one of them in the future! Perhaps the next generation will be even worse than now, with more people left jobless and underemployed!
Joblessness has affected my field of interest somewhat in a good way. Now, I will have to reconsider what courses to take, so I don't have to go back to university after I graduate! I want to go into the science field, but referring back to the documentary, I realized that a majority of the graduates who have a degree in science have to return to university to take a technology course. I dislike using technology (especially computers) but right now, I'm debating whether or not should I take a computer science course. Someone give me opinions, please!
In Canada's Labour Market Information, the sector I show interest in is the professional, scientific and technical services. The specific careers I'm interested in are chemist and chemical engineer.
I'm still not too sure what governing bodies are. However, there are. The UNESCO- United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization has two governing bodies, The General Conference and The Executive Board that promotes job creation in the science field. The ILO- International Labour Organization is also a governing body whose purpose is to promote jobs while protecting people. The government could help with the economic crisis by enhancing social protection and create opportunities for people to have a decent income and employment.
How can I gain experience to set apart from my peers? I can apply for an internship, co-op or an apprenticeship education to gain experience different from other people. Also, I can do volunteering and/or work while studying to gain not only experience, but skills as well.
What technological skills can I build? I can develop my skills in researching, writing lab reports, understanding basic hardware/software, troubleshooting, communication, word processing and database skills needed to help me in the science field.
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