Year In Review

2009-2010 was a pretty good year for myself. My academics have been at the grade level that I have wanted them at for both semesters so I am pleased with that. I started the year off with being the captain on the junior girls volleyball team. I couldn't have picked a better team myself, we had such great girls this year and we all got along so well. Our road trip to Weyburn will always be a high school memory of mine. The other sport I was involved in was softball. Our softball season couldn't have gone any better. We are city champions! Again we had such a good group of girls that made our time together so much fun. I was only able to attend two out of the three dances that were held this year but both of them were a great time. Throughout the year I moved houses and got my licence so those were two pretty big changes in my life that happened.

Next year, grade eleven, seems like it has come way too fast. After I complete my finals this year I will be done half of my high school years which seems crazy when you think about it. Next year I plan on playing the same sports, volleyball and softball. I am super excited about volleyball because I will be trying out for the senior girls team which will be a struggle. I would really like to play with those girls and also to be able to be coached by Mr.Foster and Mr.Ash. I will rejoin the softball team again as well. Hopefully 2010-2011 will be another successful year for me at WKC.

Exam Stress

Preparing for final exams next week is not going to be fun at all. I will start this weekend with studying for my first exam which is anatomy and then work my way throughout the week with each day a bit of each class or either a class per day. For my math final I am going to study a chapter each day so that I am prepared for the final before the weekend because I am going to Winnipeg on June 18th for a softball tournament. I do find it a stressful time because it is hard to remember certain things that you did throughout the semester and also trying to remember everything from each class. I am not too worried about my math final because I did really good on my midterm but my English final is a different story. These tips are could actually be helpful while I'm studying because I tend to get too stressed during this time. A tip I would like to add to this is to make sure to get as much sleep as you can. It would be smart to start getting to bed at a good time now so that you are caught up on your sleep by the time finals come around.

Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a huge problem right now in the news because it is effecting many things. The oil continues to leak through and into the ocean. The United State is started to take action to help clean this mess up. Currently right now engineers and scientists are trying to stop the flow of oil that is under ground by using the most advanced technology there is. Barriers are also being used right now to hold the oil back to keep the people and the Gulf Coast safe. The United States is saying that there are three companies that are at fault for this, British Petroleum, Transocean, and Halliburton. There have been disputes going on throughout these three companies because they are all trying to blame it on each other. British Petroleum currently is trying to use a chemical dispersant which will hopefully break down the oil before it gets to the surface of the water. Environmental conditions right now is a huge issue. Many animals lives are at risk or have already been taken from them. The Gulf Coast is their home and now it is being destroyed. If the oil spill is not contained this could carry on throughout other waters and endanger the animals and life that live in other areas. This is a big mess in our world right now and hopefully they can take control and contain the oil.

May Long

May long I think is a great couple day break that is needed for all people. Once May hits everyone seems to turn into summer mode, especially students, so it is nice to be able to go out to the lake for a few days and enjoy the sun. For this break this year I went to Calgary and Edmonton with my family for a shopping trip. We left at 4:00 a.m. on Friday morning to drive to Calgary. In Calgary we went to the new mall, Cross Iron Mills, but personally I didn't think it was that great of a mall. The next morning at around 7:30 a.m. we left to drive to Edmonton which only took about two and a half hours. In Edmonton we shopped at the West Edmonton Mall and met up with family friends. The next morning we went to Ikea and then went to a few of the stores around that area. I ended up spending quite a bit of money but I think it was worth it because I needed to buy summer clothing. These breaks are really nice to have because you can do little trips like this.

Facebook

Facebook has enlarged to being a huge Internet society that is used world wide every second. I am among those people who have a Facebook account. I think that people post way too much personal information on this site. I am careful about what I post or what others post about me because I know that I do not want everyone being able to see certain things. I have my account at a certain setting where only my friends can see my full profile page just because I know there are creepy people out there and I do not want everyone having access to view my page. I do think that Facebook is a great thing that has evolved because for me I think its a great way to keep in contact with certain people. Another reason is because I love how you can view and post pictures, and I am one who loves to see peoples pictures. I wish that Facebook didn't set up your profiles as public, I think that it should be our choice if we want it to be able to viewed in the public or not. This article just once again made me aware of how careful you have to be when you are using Facebook. I will probably go on my page later tonight and change a few settings just to be on the safe side but so far I think I have been pretty careful with that. Everything has an up and down side to it and Facebook is a clear example of that.

Track Day

I thought that yesterdays track day was a great success. Even though there were some students who didn't want to participate like always there were still tons of students who were happy to be at the track meet and compete. I competed in javelin, 100m, and long jump. I knew I wasn't going to win in these events but I didn't really care because I was having fun. It was great to see how we all came together as Winston Knoll and just had a great time. There were some students who dressed up which made it even more fun. It was really nice to just get out of the school and spend the day in the nice weather. I do really hope that they repeat this track meet again next year even though I will be too old for it but hopefully I can come help out. One thing that I think teachers should emphasize more next year is to bring sunscreen. We have had bad weather lately so nobody really thought it would get that warm outside but as a result lots of students got sun burnt. Overall, this was a great track meet and I am happy I competed in it.

Financial Education

Financial education is a part of my education that I know I am lacking. I do not know everything that I should I believe and that is why normally I just turn to my mom who explains or helps me with any financial questions. Even though I do not know everything I should I believe that I do make good choices when it comes to spending money. I do have a job so I do know how easy it is to throw money away. I would say that I am a saver because I normally do not spend lots of money on clothes or unnecessary things during the week. Most of my money is spent on gas or food if I have to eat out during the week. I try to save as much money as I can out of each pay cheque. After I quit my last job I had about $600 in a separate savings account, so I considered that pretty good for saving. If I am going to make a purchase I always ask myself if it will be worth it in a month or is it really necessary to purchase? I think that if there was a class, such as Personal Financial Education, in school it would actually help students out with managing their money. I think we all need to learn more about finances so that when we graduate high school and move out of our home we are not overwhelmed with issues. Teenagers are in need of financial education, but I think the rest of the world could to as well. There may not be as many financial problems throughout the world if more people were educated earlier on in their life.

Young Artists For Haiti

Wavin' Flag, that was created for Haiti, I think has a had a impact on people especially in Canada just because now it is showing that as Canadians our help is needed in Haiti. This really shows how Canadians come together as one to help out another, as 25 artists came together to create this song. The artists of this song have taken responsibility to help Haiti and to help aware of others of how big Haiti's problem is. These artists very caring and genuine people. Remember that these artists did not have to help with this song, it was something they chose to do because they wanted to help out. When I heard this song it made me think of how I could do my part and help out. I quickly bought the "Hope For Haiti" CD on iTunes so that the money went straight to Haiti. I try to help others in need as much as I can, usually I donate my old clothes or items to a certain place for people in need. If we all helped a little our world would be even better.

Grade Book

On Friday, April 16th I received my grade book from my tag teacher and I was pleased with the marks I have. I am proud of how I have a high mark in math and english especially, and also just in general how lots of my marks are in the 90's. My tag mark needs more work, just because I forgot to blog a couple of times which brought my mark down from the start of the year. It shouldn't be too hard to get my mark back up to a 90% in tag because I should be able to do make up assignments. I do not have specific goals for my final grade but I want to aim for a 90% average overall. My best grade so far I received with this grade book was my french mark, 98%. I do really like actual marks instead of a letter grade like we had in elementary school because it gives you the exact mark you deserve. With letter grades if you fall just below the letter grade's requirements it makes it seem worse. Overall I am proud with how I am doing in school and I plan to carry that on until the end of the year.

Spring Break

Spring break '10 was a well needed break for myself and I believe many other students as well. I was busy with friends each day and just had lots of fun going here and there. I think that is good for students to get away from school for a little while. It gives us a little time to rest and then come back into school until summer. I feel that for myself it is needed because sometimes you just need to get away from school for a little while. Teachers can't sit back and say that they disagree with spring break either because they know that they too need a break from school. It also allows them to prepare for the last couple months of school that are left in the year.

I think that getting out of school a week early in June would be a great plan if it didn't mean that spring break was taken out of our holidays. Seriously, who wouldn't want to get an extra week of summer? I doubt that it will happen without taking out spring break because I believe that the school board knows that spring break is needed for students and teachers.

summer'10

Here we come summer 2010. I could not be more excited for school to be over and to be able to hop in my vehicle and drive out to Katepwa. I am just excited to be able to walk out of the house in shorts and a top. My summer plans are to just mainly spend every moment at the lake. Katepwa is my home to me, no matter what is going on in my life it is just always the place where I can go to escape it all. I want to be able to lay on the beach and head out in the boat for the whole day on the lake. It will also be nice to finally be able to go for my early morning run around the lake and morning swim instead of having to result to the gym ever day after school. Another favorite part about being at the lake is just sitting around the fire late at night and tell stories and jokes. Besides the lake this summer also holds Craven Country Jamboree. Craven is definitely going to be a blast of fun that will never be forgotten I'm sure. So, come sooner summer 2010 :)

Blogging Now and In the Future

"Using blogs to learn about life," was a very interesting article in the Leader-Post that I read. It was an article about Andrew Gordon, a research scientist, who is on a mission. Andrew Gordon will do research using blog entries for the purpose of teaching creating computers that can interact with human beings. I can see how in this case blogging is great because it is helping us expand our technology into the future. Personally though for myself, I am not a fan of blogging. I only blog because I have to during class to get the marks I want. The one thing I am a little confused about in this article is how Andrew expects to find every blog in the world, good luck! I am not sure what his research will find but whatever it is I hope it will help him out in anyway. He has definitely signed up for a big mission!

Bullied Teen Still Missing

"Bullied Teen Still Missing," explains the life of fourteen year old David Fourtin who was constantly bullied each and every day which led his disappearance. He was diagnosed with ADHD and had to take Ritalin pills, because of this it gave other students the impression that they could make fun of him and bully him everyday. When he was young his teachers would even let him leave a couple of minutes early so that he could get away from the other kids before they could beat him up, and he hoped that would have changed once he hit high school but it didn't. His parents didn't realize what exactly he was going through until he went missing one day and his uncle had found him. David was forced to head back to school everyday where he had to live through the pain, and soon enough he said he just had enough. Every since that day David Fourtn has not been seen.

This article is beyond words. Why should one person have to deal with being bullied everyday that he ends up leaving? Who cares if David Fortin had a disability, that did not make it okay for the kids at his school to bully him every single day. I cannot imagine the pain that David went through everyday knowing that when you arrive at school it will be another day full of torture. I don't know how I would manage each day if I were David. If I were in that situation I would hope that I would mention something to my parents earlier on before it reached the point that it did with David. For David's parents, I feel so sorry for you and I can't imagine the heartbreak and pain you go through. To know that their child is out there or could even be dead has to be one of the worst things, and especially knowing that you sent him to school each day to where he had to deal with the torture. It would be unbelievably hard to hear that people may have seen your son and then to fly to another city and find out that it was not him, I couldn't even imagine the pain.

Dream Job

As of now I do not know what I want to pursue after high school for a career or job but I do have a dream job of course. My dream job would to be a professional athlete. I would either love to be a professional volleyball or softball athlete. If I would be able to have one of those as my job I would be very happy with my life. A bonus to being a professional athlete also comes usually a quite high paying pay cheque. I don't think that I would ever get tired of this job because sports is a huge part in my life that I look forward to and could not live without. I think that it would be incredible to have people cheer loud in a crowd or watch me on their televisions while I play. If I were to be able to pursue this it would also allow me to travel the world which has always been another dream of me.

Olympics 2010

Let alone the Olympics being amazing, Canada was outstanding at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, B.C. Our athletes performed beyond of what we expected of them but also the support that came from our nation couldn't have been any better. Canada came together and showed their true pride for this country. I got involved in the games over the past 17 days as I watched every single sport from the moment I was home till the moment I went to bed. Each day I got excited every time I heard that our Canadian athletes won a medal and I wore my Canadian jersey proud. There were many moments that I will never forget through the Olympics. I will always remember when Alex Bilideau won Canada's first gold medal on home soil, when both of our canadian womens bobsled teams won silver and gold, but one of the most heart felt moments I will remember is Joannie Rochette winning bronze at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The strength inside her to compete after the death of her mother was beyond words. When the Canadian womens and mens hockey teams won gold was one of things to be able to watch. To see both of these teams succeed was unbelievable. I will always remember sitting in the lounge at SIAST in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan when Sidney Crosby scored the winning goal in over time to capture a 3-2 victory over the United States for a gold medal. I could go on for days talking about how memorable these olympics were. Our nation came together as one. And I couldn't be more proud to say I am Canadian.

Mr.Brokaw's Story

I thought that Tom Brokaw's description of Canada was very accurate. He proved that Canada is an emotional, caring, but hard working country. I loved how he proved that even though the United States is a much bigger country than Canada we still work together and Canada still helps the United States. A big example of Canadians helping the U.S. was during 9/11 when we sent planes to get people out of the disaster and help feed them. This did make me proud to be a Canadian because it once again just showed how much effort Canada puts into this world. That Canadians strive for everything they achieve, and that we are all very proud to make up this country together. Two things that I learned from Mr. Brokaw's story was that 200 million people cross the border between Canada and the United States each year, and also that the United States is Canada's top tourism spot. There will always be the rivalry between Canada and the United States but these two countries work great together.

Are Students Expected To Bring Lap Tops To School By 2012?

I do not think that it is a reasonable expectation for students to bring lap tops to school by 2012. Yes, obviously by 2012 there will be a quite a few students that will have their own personal lap top but that is not true for all students. I think that if students do have their own lap top by 2012 and they want to bring it to school for educational purposes then yes, go right ahead but the way we are taught now should keep carrying on. Not all students can afford to by their own lap top, some people cant afford to have one computer at their house so it is completely unreasonable to expect them to own one and bring it to school everyday. In my opinion, I think that using technology is a great way to learn but already there is so much of our lives that involve technology. In 2012, I will be enrolled in grade twelve, my final year of high school, and if the teachers are allowing students to bring lap tops to classes then yes I'm sure I will. I think by using a lap top in class taking notes in class will be more time efficient. There should never be any expectation for students to have to buy expensive products to have at school is my opinion.

21st Century Learner

I, myself, am a digital learner. I enjoy working with technology for learning and recreational uses. I find that working with technology such as computers for school lets me explore what I want to learn. I get very bored if I have to sit in class and listen to a teacher or read from a text book but when I have access to technology it is a very different story. My ipod is a great source of technology that I use to figure out what the weather is in the morning. If I want to know what's going on in the world or find out about a certain story I use the Internet and my television. I think technology has helped learning in a very positive way because I believe that it lets us students have a bit of freedom and learn in the way that we want to. Technology will continue to help learning progress.

How Would The World Be Better Without Computers?

How would the world be better without computers? Even though computers have had a positive impact on our world there have also been negative affects because of computers. Our world now relies on computers for everything. With email, blogging, and instant messaging there is now a huge lack of physical communication between people because it is just much easier for them to communicate over the computer. If computers weren't in our lives I think you would see quite a bit more physical communication. Physical health is in danger because of computer mainly towards children and teens. Children and teens are too wrapped up in their games or other sources on their computer which has now progressed to less physical activity. They are not getting their daily activity that has led to over weight children and teens. Even though their were computers around when I was a child I still remember going out and playing outside but now when I look at my brother it is completely different. There would be a huge change in physical fitness if computers were not around. For some people their computer is their life, they have absolutely everything on it but when their computer crashes they panic because they don't know what to do with themselves. I think you could also agree that some people do not keep hard copies of important information now because they can just save it on the computer. I think without computers it would make people make sure they have the important information ready at hand just like how it used to be in the old days. Also social chat software, facebook, twitter and such have been sources for bullying. These sites are very good but in some cases they are horrible because some people choose to use them as a way to bully others. I am not saying computers are a horrible invention to our world but they do have their negative affects. It is not the technology itself, it is the people who operate the device.