#14. Why Do White People Have Black Spots?

This was super cute video that definitely makes you stop and think about the world you live in. One thing I really like about the video is how we quickly learn that simple questions can be more meaningful and impactful than we tend to believe. For example when they ask about whether the dad is the main leader of the house, and about the effects of the use of the cane on white people.

There were two parts to the video that made the biggest impact on me. The first was when the boy said "why do war and oil move together"? This is INCREDIBLE for a boy who we believe to live in an uneducated, "third world" country to have a better understanding in the way that war and politics work is unreal to me. This was a huge eye opener.

The second part that left a huge impact was when one student asked if we had an enjoyable life like they did. This makes you stop and think. Living in a western civlization we for some reason believe that it is our duty to go around to poor countries and improve their life. In reality, they teach us that money really can't buy happiness.

#13. The Challenge Day 100

I'm very excited that we get to go through with Challenge Day @ IDCI. I think it looks amazing and it seems like it can have an enormous effect on the way that students treat other students, and just overall how the student body interacts with eachother. It creates a group of students who are all working towards developing a safer environment in their school.

I think we need to be careful when selecting the 100. Obviously people automatically assume that we need to have stereotypes like "emos" and "jocks", and "mean girls". News flash people, that is TV. On "If You Really Knew Me" that do intense planning to make sure that the TV SHOW has the proper amount of entertainment value. This is REAL LIFE. The purpose of Challenge Day is to break down the barriers of those that we would think to be "average" people. We are giving "average" people the chance to share their unique story with some of their peers. I think that the selection needs to be random. There should be some from every grade. Someone in class mentioned this may give senior students a chance to offer advice to junior students and I agree with that. I think everything needs to be random. Obviously we know people from grade 12 leadership will be there but I think even that selection needs to be RANDOM. We need to keep REAL LIFE real, and stop trying to achieve stereotypes from the tv show. Just because you're not a jock, and emo or a mean girl doesn't mean you don't have lots of problems going on in your life.

#12. Nelly's Side of the Story

This is my response to the article written from Nelly's point of view. I think that it was very big of her to admit that she had been ignorant to the situation that was currently happening in Libya, and I think that we can all admit to this kind of ignorance at some point at time. I think it was kind of weird how she needed to say she had her "blackberry in hand", I'm not really sure why but for some reason I feel this little bit of information was irrelevant to the bigger story. I know that what she did by admitting her wrong was a big positive thing, however I still stick with what I believe in the sense that she only did it because her conscience had finally eaten away at her for too long. I do respect Nelly's attitude on how she is focusing on the future and I think she can set a positive example for some celebrities who often refuse to right any of their wrongs, simply because of money and pride.

#11. Comments on Comments

There is one comment on the article that I strongly agree with. In the article, it talks about how they look forward to bringing the money "back to Africa". One "raincitygal" commented that she is all for schools in Kenya, but shouldn't the money be redirected back to the people of Libya. I totally agree with this comment. I think that it is amazing what Free the Children, and schools like IDCI have done for the children and communities of Kenya, but if anything this money should be going back to the people that it techinically came from. People will argue that this would be dangerous, especially during the current state of Libya. Honestly, if Nelly felt comfortable keeping the money for four years and was planning to give it to charity, I don't see anything wrong with her waiting until Libya had returned to a better state, and she could have given it back to their people.

Yes, I realize that Nelly did an amazing thing. One million dollars is more than some people will ever make in their entire life. The issue is, are we giving the money to the right people for which is was meant for. Are we robbing Peter to pay Paul?

#10. Nelly Furtado donates $1M!

I think what we need to start by doing is to recognize the fact that what Nelly Furtado did was a hugely positive thing. Donating a million dollars to Free the Children will have a large positive impact in Africa and will help to improve the lives of many children. Unfortunately, that being said, for me I believe that she only wanted to donate the money after the orgins of the money became public. I am not saying that she doesn't regret taking the money, I belive that she truly has good intentions in her donations, however I don't know if the donation is out of generosity or out of guilt.

#9. The One You Forgot - Poster

For this task I worked with the wolfpack! We created the "Aware" poster. The reason that we chose this topic, is because we thought it best described one of the best qualities that makes IDCI such a cool school. Not only does IDCI contribute to many important charities that makes a difference but we are aware of many of the problems that we are facing around our community and also around the globe. Sometimes we can't always raise money to solve a problem, but raising awareness about an issue is the first solid step towards solving it. IDCI creates awareness for many very important causes such as the ones portrayed on our poster like: recycling and the environment, remembrance day, white ribbon campaign, sea of pink and halloween for hunger.

#8. A Love Letter to Canadians

My favourite part of the letter is the last part... "...love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than dispair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world." I think this quote is INCREDIBLE! It should jump off the page and smack everyone reading that letter right in the face! Those are three qualities that everyone needs in order to live a successfull and happy life! I also really appreciate that Jack expressed his appreciation for the younger generation. The youth. it was refreashing to read something about how he understands that we need to be in the centre of things. We need to stop hoping that the adults will just take care of everything for us. We need to take our own actions to ensure that we have a bright future. One thing that I also admire about the letter from a political standpoint (and I don't mean to be disrespectful) is that it is a very well-worded letter in throwing numerous pitches for the NDP party. He lists everything that is great about Canada, what we can do to improve it, and then BAM basically suggests that by voting for the NDP party, you will be helping this to be done! I'm not saying that Jack Layton didn't do amazing things with his party while he was leading them, sometimes it is just frusterating that everyone is suddenly a huge Jack Layton fan because of his death. I totally respect the man, I just feel like there is a false sense of appreciation by people. Like when Michael Jackson died, suddenly EVERYONE wanted his music to be played around the clock. However, I did like how inspirational the letter was. This is extremely important to me, especially since I did have my 18th birthday in May and I am now a registered voter, I will be voting in the upcoming election. I will take Jack's advice and give careful hearing and consider all alternatives before I make my decision. I think Jack's death was a tragedy. I think that he was did show incredible leadership skills and there is no doubt he would have brought even more positive change to his party.

#7. Real Heroic Behaviour

In grade 11, I had the priviledge of getting to know someone I consider to be a true hero. Wade K is doing his 5th year @ IDCI along with myself this year. Getting to know Wade was one of the best experiences of my life! He is one of the funniest, most charming people that I have ever met. I think that everyday Wade goes to school with a smile on his face is him proving to the rest of us what real leadership is. Wade has taught me not to take things for granted, and not to stress over little things. I look forward to working with Wade again this year for our 3rd annual Walk For Wade! In my eyes, Wade is a fearless warrior. He's a fighter. And he also has the biggest heart out of anyone that I've ever met. All of us can learn something from Wade. And that's a real hero.

#6. The Emotional Comment Debate

This is crazy! As a "third party", I can easily see valid points on both sides of the arguement. Firstly, I can understand why students at Banting are getting defensive. This "Field Riot" seems to be a tradition at their school. Yes, it does have many positive qualities to it because it eliminates things that usually devides student bodies, and introduces a sense of "unity" to the grade nines. However, just because it is "optional" does not rule out the fact that is can be considered hazing. One definition of "to haze" from www.dictionary.com , is to subject (freshmen, newcomers, etc) to abusive or humiliating tricks or ridicule. To harass with unnecessary or disagreeable tasks. Yes, it's optional. Yes, it's unnecessary. Some comments said that most students chose to participate. Obviously! They don't want to be ridiculed for not rolling around in the mud. I do not agree or disagree with what they have done but I certainly think they are walking a very fine line. I probably wouldn't support an event like that @ IDCI.

#5. Grade 9's Get Down & Dirty

I think the one main thing about this that is good, is that it equals the playing field for all grade 9's. Nobody has to worry about how they're acting or what they are wearing, because everyone is in the same boat. That is an excellent idea...in theory. Our stars game was a great idea too. However, our grade nines didn't participate because they thought we were trying to "initiate" them. If they consider THAT initiation, there is no way they would agree to humiliating themselves like they do at Banting. Just sayin'.

4. Pat T... a leader? A hero?

Yes, I believe that Pat was a leader. I think that Pat earns the title of a leader firstly, because he gave up his comfortable life as an NFL star to fight for his country. After 9/11 Pat left behind his NFL turf to fight on a very different kind of battlefield. This act of leadership proves that Pat was willing to give up money and safety to protect what he loved most, his country. Pat showed another act of leadership when he tried to leave the war. He realized that the war the USA was fighting was not one that he supported and so he was planning to expose the horrors that were being committed over seas. Pat's death led to more heroic actions back at home. His mother continues to fight for justice and to bring the truth of Pat's story to the world.

#3. Ineffective Habits

The following list that I have created are what I believe to be the top five ineffective habits or characteristics that can be harmful and damaging to a succesful and happy life. 5) Being Jealous of people around you is extremely damaging to your sense of self pride and self worth. In order to be effective you need to be thankful for what you have in your life and not take things for granted. 4) Cruelty is completly unacceptable in order to have a successful or happy life. Being cruel to people, animals, or the environment around you may give you a sense of power. However it will isolate you, leaving you lonely and feeling crappy about yourself. 3) Manipulation is a sneaky little tool that people use to get ahead of others in life. This is an unecessary way to bring others down. 2) Procrastination is one of the MOST ineffective habits that a person can have (and this I can speak from personal experience). Being a procrastinator means leaving things to the last minute so you have to rush to get things done. When you do this it does not give you adequate time to complete the work to your best of ability. Finally, 1) Greed is what I believe to be the worst habit that will lead to a miserable life. Being greedy means always wanting more, more, more and never being satisfied. Being greedy will lead to a downward spiral of unhappiness in anyone's life.
5. Jealousy
4. Cruelty
3.Manipulation
2. Procrastination
1. Greed

#2. The Leader Within

I do belive that under the right circumstances, everyone is capable of great acts of leadership. I believe that when we are in our darkest moments, we learn how truly strong we really are. Most people would probably say that they are not capable of these great acts, however I don't think it's fair for them to say that, until they have been put in a situation that requires leadership. Also, a sign of true heroism is when a person does not recognize what they have accomplished to be an act of heroism. True heroes do not wish to receive any recognition or fame for what they have done.

#1. Your Definition of Leadership

Leadership is not tangible. It is not something that you can feel or touch. Leadership is a quality that can be found deep within the heart of a person. Someone who posses leadership is fearless. They will go above and beyond when people or obstacles try and stand in their way of achieving their goals. Leaders can be a group of people or one person doing the right thing, trying to make positive change in their environment. Sometimes showing true leadership can be a difficult task. It may mean overcoming fear, discrimination, humiliation or just a whole lot of darn hard work. Leadership is one of the most rewarding things a person can experience.