#25 Belonging

As lame as it sounds, I identify really well with the people I work with. We are all working together to achieve the same goal and make the store money so I guess that is part of it. But I also enjoy that I work with people of all ages, me being the youngest so you learn more things about each other and life itself. For example, I’d talk about a class I’m taking and they would be like “when I was in high school…” and the story would lead on from there. A lot of us enjoy the same TV shows and have other things in common. Even though most of them have kids and mortgages and I have neither, I still find it easy to fit in, as I slowly loose the "new girl" status.

#23 Oscar Pistorius

I don’t think he should have been able to compete. As rude as sounds, the Olympics are for able bodied people, and the Paralympics are for those who are not. From what I understand he competed in both. I don’t that was fair at all. He should have been only allowed to compete in the Paralympics. As far as the advantages go for him against a normal runner I don’t think there are many because I’m sure there are things that he has to worry about that we don’t. People are only looking at how he doesn’t get shin splits and what not. This is why I think he should only be allowed to compete in the Paralympics and end all this controversy.

#24 lions, zebras, tigers oh my

I think we can apply the lessons of the zebra in IDCI by coming together instead of social separation we all think is necessary to survive the hallways of high school. We could accomplish so much more if we weren’t worried about being seen with someone “uncool”. For example, stair climb was such a huge success this year because we all came together to raise money. Everyone got on that bus sitting beside people they don’t even know, to come and cheer and support IDCI for a good cause. If we could have that much enthusiasm and support for everything our school did we would go down in history. I’m sure a little friendly competition added to this as well… but we can pretend it didn’t.

#22 Petraus

I have very strong opinions on this subject. In my opinion I think that a person with bad morals cannot be a good leader. I think that a person’s morals and the way thy act outside of their job affects the decisions being made and how they do their job. The head of the CIA is a very important position and I think that having a good sense of right or wrong is needed for this person to succeed and keep America safe. This scandal also sets a bad example for young Americans who look up to Mr. Petraus may be discouraged. This also gives the allies of the United States a bad look about the CIA and its reliability in international affairs which require the utmost secrecy.

#21 Lance Armstrong

I’m a bit of a fence sitter when it comes to this one. On my right hand I say used all these drugs, lied to everyone for so long, ran all these campaigns saying he wouldn’t do that, and how it’s all about hard work, all the while running livestrong and being a hero to most with cancer leaving them with the mentality that “I can do anything if I work hard enough, just look at Lance.” But then on my left hand I think if they were all doping, then he was just the best at doping. He still had to work hard to win that many times. He still had to beat cancer and he still donated a huge amount of money to help stop cancer and to help all these people that look up to him. No he may not be the most fantastic, Nelson Mandela/ Ghandi/God but we can’t strip him of the good that came out of his wins. He may not deserve those metals, but as far as I can tell neither does anyone else in those races.

#18 Me Mentality

My favourite part of that was “the gap between the principle and the practice is impossible to miss” because it really is. The gap is getting bigger and bigger every day. Practice what you preach. Otherwise why preach, if you’re not listening to yourself why would you expect others to? I think it’s a very big deal that only 10% stopped. It really shows how were just caught up in our own lives, going day to day to look after ourselves and our families we forget all about caring for other people and even the planet. I’m no ecowarrior but when I think about how much I was every day it disgusts me. It also disgusts me the judgemental comments that go through my head as I’m at school or watching TV. I really start to wonder how I got this bad. I really hate when people use the word “gay” instead of stupid, but I use the expression “that’s retarded”. Now tell me that isn’t the exact same thing, I’m such a hypocrite as a sit here and tell the people who didn’t stop to help the shabby old man that they in fact are hypocrites. I think that was a bit of self-realization right there…

#17 Amanda Todd

I have yet to decide how I feel about all this. On one hand I want to say she was a slut and she did this to herself. It was her choice to send nudes, that was her terrible decision and she has to live with the consequences. When she could deal with them anymore she gave up. She made those videos for attention. She wanted people to know about her and what she had done. She wanted pity but instead she got bullied. Where on the other hand I am thinking, she was young and stupid and we all make mistakes it just terrible that this mistake will follow her as long as she makes it a big deal in her life. We all make mistakes and no one is perfect but it’s how you handle the mistakes and learn from them that make you who you are. Amanda Todd chose wrongly and she suffered for that reason. People are mean yes, but no I do not feel bad for her or anyone else in situations similar. I tried to post Hannah Montanas "Noboy's Perfect" song to this blog but it didn't work out... feel free to youtube it while reading this.

#15 & 16 Challenge Day

I attended challenge day and I really did enjoy it. I share a lot more than I thought I would and learned a lot more than I had anticipated. Although I like it and I’m sure it could be helpful for many schools, I’m not sure I would go again. I am also not sure where to go from here. There is faint reminder that challenge day happened but it didn’t make the big impact I thought it might. Hearing them talk about it at challenge day and planning how to get along better with others is great… but once the challenge day leaders are gone back to California it ends there. I don’t know what the answer is on to how to keep it going. But I do now that there are far too many kids who need this day that will never get it because there are far too many kids who think they need this day but soon realize they didn’t need it after all, that their life and hardships were not as bad as they may have thought. If challenge day did one thing, it was put things in perspective. You got a peek into other people’s lives; it’s what you do with that information that counts.

#14 The World Values Study

Sadly the results didn’t surprise me. I figure it would be a culturally rich country that does not have all the fancy things we have today. We as developed nations are far too caught up in materialistic things with less importance focused on family and moral values. I am much a fault here as I sit here and text and tweet away on my shiny iPhone, more concerned with what Kim Kardashian had for lunch than I am about how my mother’s day at work was. But, I’m sure if I asked her she would go on about the same thing I don’t have any interest in what so ever but, the point would be it would brighten her mood. Maybe, if we all took a minute out of our busy schedules to ask our neighbors how their trip was, or how our grandmother was feeling, we would all be a little happier because someone cared enough to ask. Maybe, just maybe, we would make it into the top ten at least. That is wishful thinking I’m afraid.

#13 Happiness

Happiness- state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Intense joy? The thing that brings me intense joy is sleeping in on school days, making people happy and learning new things. Happiness to me is doing that you enjoy every single day. Some people say “sometimes life is hard and you have to do things that you don’t want to do” I disagree with that, life doesn't have to be hard unless you make it hard. Some people like difficult things in there life because they like to challenge themselves and deal with new situations. Others just haven’t realized yet that they are the reason unhappy is because their mind set is “sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do” well honestly you don’t. If you don’t want to do something don’t do it. You may face the consequences but then you just have to weigh out which is worse. Pick the better one and move on as long as you keep thinking this is going to get me to where I want to be. Know what you want. If you know what you want then you will know when you achieve it. If you get on a train but don’t pick a stop then you will just keep riding that train round and round. By picking a stop it doesn’t mean you can’t get back on the train, it just means you can be content for the time being, relax a little bit and enjoy what you’ve worked so hard for.

#11 Keith Taylor’s story

I think that is awesome that he set three goals and worked as hard as he could for them. He redefined philanthropy so that he could become one. Even with the little he had he was determined to help others. I think more people should learn of his story because it’s a small thing we can all do to help each other out now and then. The problem is that today everyone expects something in return and the don’t fully see the point of give without receiving.

#10 Marc’s story

I really liked Marc’s story. It was impressive that he could turn down such extravagant job offers with no idea what the future would hold. Taking a risk and sticking it out in Thailand was probably the best thing he ever did. I don’t think I could do that. Poor sick people are not my thing, I would probably do more harm than good. I would go for the kids though, I think that would be rewarding to see them learn and go on to do good things in their life. I think it is equally as impressive as Craig’s story.

#12 Joe Paterno

I’m not sure I understand why Paterno was fired… Yes he should have said something sooner but firing him after he did tell was not the right thing to do in my opinion, because now if anyone else knows anything about this or any other incidents they will be afraid to come forward in case they might get fired too. He should have got a slap on the wrist for not coming forward sooner and then they should have let him retire like he was going to at the end of the season.

#9 Book of Awesome

• Waking up before your alarm clock • Clothes fresh from the drier • When butter melts on your toast • When an assignment you thought was going to be so hard turned out to be the easiest thing ever • When your boss lets you make the timmies run and pays • When your favourite song comes on the radio at the start of a long drive • When my mom bring me home my favourite sub from subway because she knows I’m late for work….Awesome

#7 The power of half

Honestly I don’t think I could give of what that girl gave up. It’s cool how determined she was about moving to a smaller home and only keeping what she needed. All the money went to a really good cause so I can see her motivation. She’ll always be able to think back to the people she helped. Her family was really supportive as well. If I was a member of that family I would find it very hard to downsize and see everything they’ve worked so hard for just given away. If I were to do this I think instead of giving the money away I would create some kind of program in the community for homeless people to help them get back on their feet, a job and a place to stay.

#6 Kim’s story

I think it is incredible that Kim lived through this horrific experience and is able to tell her tale. This is a perfect example of why we need to think harder about whom our “wars” are effecting and whose lives we are taking over a disagreement that can be solved many other ways. Kim was very lucky to survive, others are not so lucky.