I joined the Leadership Program, for my 1st term option at school. As part of the leadership program, we were to go to the Elementary School and mentor a student for the day. I chose to mentor a little kindergarten boy who has severe Autism. I worked and learned along with him throughout the day. it was amazing, and a great learning experience for me to see and experience hands-on as to the challenges and difficulties some people face throughout day-to-day life. This little boy taught me so much. He taught me patients, understanding of differences, and most importantly not to be judgmental of behavior. this little boy's behavior is his way of communication, for example: jumping up and down laughing was him communicating happiness and "yes" that is what i need or want; turning away, making a loud noise or laying on the floor was his way of communicating unhappiness and "no" that is not what I need or want. I learned that, Behavior is Communication. As well as, seeing the others reaction was very interesting, those that I see as super nice and accepting, had troubles accepting the face that he was a bit different, and acted a bit different that we do.
I'll never forget this experience, and I hope to go back and see him later this year!
Another part of the Leadership Program at school was to raise awareness for the homeless and Boyle Street, and to volunteer there for a day. I as a student of the Leadership Program with from class to class at school talking to students about the importance of helping those who have no resources, food, or homes. We, in the program, got donations of clothing and food to take along with us to Boyle Street for the homeless. On the day we went to volunteer at Boyle Street, we were there making soup and sandwiches all morning, the serving them to the homeless for lunch. Once lunch was over, and clean up was done, we had the opportunity to go and visit and talk with some of the homeless. It is amazing the misconceptions we have of the homeless. For the most part, there people do not want to be there. But due to circumstances beyond their control they have to be. There were some very interesting conversations and awareness made. Most of them were very thankful, and loved to have us there. There were a lot of "God bless yous" said to us. I am very happy I had the opportunity to do this, and have matured and become a better person because of it. I look forward to going back there some day and helping out again.
" A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way."
~ John C. Maxwell
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Stress
Stress has just been overwhelming me lately.
I think that it has been a time issue. There are only so many hours in a day to try and get everything that you want to get done, done. Between going to school, 1 – 2 hours of homework and projects, and studying for exams a day, preparation for black belt and rehearsals, and countless hours at the studio teaching and taking my own classes, I have just been cramming a lot lately.
Working towards my black belt has become a big part of my life right now, as it should be. Kung Fu really is my passion; it challenges me, and pushes me to my limits. The candidate practices have really been tough, yet I love them. Everything is finally coming together, and it is becoming more real to me every step of the way. I have really come to get to know my fellow candidates, and we have been pushing each other to our limits every day. This journey has really been an eye opener for me. If you had told me a couple years ago that at 13 I would be grading for my black belt, I would have told you you were crazy; but here I am, living in the moment, absorbing every minute of this.
A little while ago, I had set an academic goal for myself to maintain my four core subjects (social, science, language arts, and math) at a combined average of 90%. I recently got my first report card of the year, and my combined average was 93.8%. It’s all been very worth it in a way; I’m just hoping that I can keep it like this for the rest of the year.
For the benevolent fundraiser, I had set a goal for myself of $1 000 dollars. Although this definitely seemed out of reach to me, I had some faint hope that I could reach it.
I have definitely exhausted all of my resources. I first decided to go to my school to raise awareness, and promote the fundraiser. I decided to type up a cover letter to explain a little bit more about the charities, and the benevolent foundation, so that I could go to my assistant principal and talk to her about it. After explaining about what I was doing, she decided to go out and send a voice mail and an email out to all the teachers, explaining about the charities, as well as letting them know where the pledge sheets would be. I was very excited. I currently go to a catholic school, and I believed that I would get quite a fair turnout. At the end of the week when I went back to collect the pledge sheets, I had only raised $20.00, my asst. principal did let me know that a lot of teachers were interested, but kept telling her that they were not able to sponsor me this time around. I did understand, and although I was frustrated, I knew that I had spread awareness about global issues.
I have talked to my peers about it, and although both they and their parents were very interested, some of them said that they were not able to this time around. But, I am happy to say that there are now a lot of kids that know about the benevolent foundation.
Lastly, I have talked to most of my family, and they do sound interested, but they do not know how much they could sponsor me until Christmas time.
I am disappointed, in some respect that people within my resources are unable, this year, to commit to a dollar donation. But am very happy that I have taken on the task of raising awareness about the charities involved, and am proud to say that there are a lot more people aware of the needs of these charities. People have also told me that once financial situations become more stable for them that they will definitely consider making a donation to these charities.
“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”
~Unknown
I think that it has been a time issue. There are only so many hours in a day to try and get everything that you want to get done, done. Between going to school, 1 – 2 hours of homework and projects, and studying for exams a day, preparation for black belt and rehearsals, and countless hours at the studio teaching and taking my own classes, I have just been cramming a lot lately.
Working towards my black belt has become a big part of my life right now, as it should be. Kung Fu really is my passion; it challenges me, and pushes me to my limits. The candidate practices have really been tough, yet I love them. Everything is finally coming together, and it is becoming more real to me every step of the way. I have really come to get to know my fellow candidates, and we have been pushing each other to our limits every day. This journey has really been an eye opener for me. If you had told me a couple years ago that at 13 I would be grading for my black belt, I would have told you you were crazy; but here I am, living in the moment, absorbing every minute of this.
A little while ago, I had set an academic goal for myself to maintain my four core subjects (social, science, language arts, and math) at a combined average of 90%. I recently got my first report card of the year, and my combined average was 93.8%. It’s all been very worth it in a way; I’m just hoping that I can keep it like this for the rest of the year.
For the benevolent fundraiser, I had set a goal for myself of $1 000 dollars. Although this definitely seemed out of reach to me, I had some faint hope that I could reach it.
I have definitely exhausted all of my resources. I first decided to go to my school to raise awareness, and promote the fundraiser. I decided to type up a cover letter to explain a little bit more about the charities, and the benevolent foundation, so that I could go to my assistant principal and talk to her about it. After explaining about what I was doing, she decided to go out and send a voice mail and an email out to all the teachers, explaining about the charities, as well as letting them know where the pledge sheets would be. I was very excited. I currently go to a catholic school, and I believed that I would get quite a fair turnout. At the end of the week when I went back to collect the pledge sheets, I had only raised $20.00, my asst. principal did let me know that a lot of teachers were interested, but kept telling her that they were not able to sponsor me this time around. I did understand, and although I was frustrated, I knew that I had spread awareness about global issues.
I have talked to my peers about it, and although both they and their parents were very interested, some of them said that they were not able to this time around. But, I am happy to say that there are now a lot of kids that know about the benevolent foundation.
Lastly, I have talked to most of my family, and they do sound interested, but they do not know how much they could sponsor me until Christmas time.
I am disappointed, in some respect that people within my resources are unable, this year, to commit to a dollar donation. But am very happy that I have taken on the task of raising awareness about the charities involved, and am proud to say that there are a lot more people aware of the needs of these charities. People have also told me that once financial situations become more stable for them that they will definitely consider making a donation to these charities.
“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.”
~Unknown
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
