When the Police are Enemy #1...

"If you were on a consulting committee to a police force, what would you suggest as a means to address the problem of police officers killing unarmed citizens? Is this a matter of improved training, restricted weapons, stronger consequences following incidents, or something else?"

I believe that in order to curb the occurrence of police officers unjustly killing citizens who are not posing a direct threat to anyone, there must be a variety of measures put into place. Everything mentioned above in the reflection question including improved training, restricted weapons, and stronger consequences would help in this case. But above all, what needs to be changes is the mind set of these people.

 It seems as if there is a large number of police officers who's position of power has poisoned their minds, making them think that they are above the law. Others have become numb to the horror of killing someone. Mental screening must be done regularly in order to catch these kind of tendencies, so that we have officers with the right mindset keeping us safe from bad people, instead of becoming the bad people themselves. 

The NYPD body camera pilot project seems like something that could very easily deter police brutality, because most people act differently when they know they are being watched. In the end, something must be done, as there seems to be an increasing number of instances of wrongful police action. 

Facing the Future

“I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I'm not afraid to look behind them.”― Elizabeth Taylor

Being a little older than most of the students in this class, I've experienced a little bit of the freedom that is to come. I've already worn my gown and cap, I have my high school diploma, and I've applied to, been rejected by, and accepted by Ontario universities. At that point in my past, I was looking at my future, and frankly, that future was something that didn't appeal to me. Living in Toronto, going to a snobby-feeling, crazy dressing school situated in a shoe box way up in the sky, propped up by pencil crayons? Yeah that didn't seem like me, no matter how prestigious OCAD was, or how proud people were of me for getting in.

Seriously?! What were they high on when they built this place?

So then there comes this quote from the fabulous Liz Taylor, a glamorous, diamond obsessed, much loved and adored old-Hollywood actress who passed away in 2011.

Elizabeth Taylor, 1932-2011.

“I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I'm not afraid to look behind them.” - Elizabeth Taylor

This quote from her really speaks to me because it seems as if the last 5 years of my life have been filled with incredible opportunities, and will continue to be. It encourages me to continue taking those chances and looking behind those doors. I am excited for the future, and it certainly does not scare me. Bring it on, I'm ready.

Remembrance Day

Since I was not at the Romeo Dallaire assembly or the Remembrance Day service due to being sick, I am going to talk a bit about the meaning of Remembrance Day.

We take many things for granted every day, like the clean water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes on our backs, and the school we go to. The biggest thing, and by far the most imporant, is our freedom. Not every country has the level of freedom that we do here, and things that we take for granted here like stating our own opinion and feeling safe while walking around town are only the hopes of people in other countries. Remembrance Day is an important day for us to look back on how we came to have this freedom and thank all those who have fought, currently fight, or have lost their lives in the name of Canada in order to secure our freedom. We are eternally grateful for the sacrifices these men and women have made, and it is only right to have a day devoted to them.

Costume Conundrum

I love Halloween. I turn into a big kid, excited to dress up, go to haunted houses, and carve pumpkins. It's just such a fun tradition. One night that you get to be someone else, to be something scary, or something cute, or funny. My artsy side definitely feeds off of Halloween as well. I love making my own costumes. However, one thing that upsets me about Halloween is the increasing amount of elementary schools which are banning costumes, and even the distribution of candy. The reasons for banning costumes are wide spread, from cultural differences, to it being too much work for teachers, to kids being scared of some costumes. This is an age of overprotective parenting, where parents raise bubble-wrapped kids who will eventually fall apart as soon as they hit the real world. I mean, c'mon, no candy?!

But here’s the thing with banning costumes at school…in Canada it's really freaking cold for Halloween, so kids go out trick-or-treating with full on parkas and hats. Or they don’t wear a coat and develop pneumonia, or they go to the mall to go trick-or-treating, which is lame. So insert costume wearing at school… yay! Way more fun for the kids - they actually get to show off the costumes that their parents spent so long making or paid a ridiculous amount of their hard earned dollars for. It’s about the kids here. I repeat, Halloween is for the kids. Just because you're an adult and no longer have any joy left in your soul, doesn't mean kids should comply to your no-fun joy-sucking ideals. So what if they lose a day of elementary school teaching in order to be able to parade around and eat candy? How much are they learning that is actually fundamental to moving on in life? As for the teachers complaining about how much work it is to attend to costume wearing children all day long? Get over it! That’s the life of a teacher teaching children. Let the kids enjoy their childhood.

This years costume, featuring me as a deer and Blaize as a hunter. :)

Thoughts on Poetry

This week, Mrs.Reidel's question to us was:

WHAT IS POETRY TO YOU? WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM WRITING IT?

Poetry hasn't really done much for me. I don't really connect with writing it and I find most of my attempts at writing poetry end up totally fake because I try too hard to sound deep and thoughtful. I much prefer writing fiction. I do however enjoy reading good poetry, and I am always astounded at how the author has put together the words to have such a beautiful flow. There is also a wide range of really interesting, off-beat poets who's work I find really intriguing to read. One of the books of poetry we have in class, Cigarette Salad by Mike Freeman, has really caught my interest with it's crazy topics and nonsense writing - it is a very entertaining read. Overall, writing poetry again has affirmed my previous dislike for writing it, but expanded my interests in reading it. 

This is basically how I feel about writing poetry.  :)  :)  :) 

School is for YOU

How can you, as the manager of your own education, ensure that school assignments meet your needs? Is there are way to meet the instructor's expectations, while also following your own interests?

I believe there is always a way to bend the assignment to fit your interests. If you are able to choose your topic, you can choose something which you are interested in or want to learn about, as long as it fits the criteria. Most teachers are fairly supportive of outside interests and some will allow you to do something a little different if you talk to them first. It is up to you to find ways to interject your interests into your assignments whenever you can. Doing this will allow you to do the project with more passion, therefore resulting in a better mark and making it more enjoyable for yourself. It's hard to do an assignment when you couldn't care less about the topic. Have to do a history assignment on the 1800's? If you find it a snore-fest but really like music, give a brief overview of the time period, answer all the necessary questions, and then instead focus on the way music in the 1800's has influenced modern day songwriting or compare the two etc. Same goes for anything else, just make sure it's okay with your teacher so you don't get bagged for "not understanding the assignment."

"Don't let schooling get in the way of your education." - Mark Twain

Stephen The Wise

   “I am always chilled and astonished by 

the would-be writers who ask 

me for advice and admit, quite blithely, that 

 they "don't have time to 

read." This is like a guy starting up Mount 

Everest saying that he didn't 

have time to buy any rope or pitons.” ― 

Stephen King

This quote from American contemporary horror author Stephen King really speaks to me because I believe that a lack of reading and literacy is a very large problem in today's world. Due to this sad disdain for reading that many people show, we end up with people who write utter junk and will continue to write garbage until they have read some proper works of literature. Since the 70's, King has been a largely successful author, laying claim to 55 published novels which have sold over 350 million copies worldwide. He often criticizes modern day society in regards to technological advances and the poor state of today's developing writers.

Gratitude

Dear Blaizey,

Thank you for everything. I know how taxing it is to take care of me every time I relapse back into my dark places, but you make it all better. Without you, I probably wouldn't have ever been able to conquer my demons. You came in and picked me up off of the ground and took care of me until I could stand on my own again. You are family now, Mom and Dad love you, you know that. I think it's evident every day when you come home late and the first thing Mom asks is if you're hungry, when we all sit down to have dinner together and my parents force food on you, or whenever you and my dad hang out in the shop together, fixing things and being all manly. We couldn't be happier to have you as a part of family, and you should know you're always welcome to our slightly dysfunctional home when things are getting slightly more than dysfunctional on your side. I'm sorry for being so hard on you sometimes, I can't help but want the best for you and for you to achieve your dreams. Your hard working personality and devotion to everything you do inspires me. Thank you so much for always being there for me and being supportive and understanding when I struggle. Thank you for pushing me to do just a little bit better whenever we go racing, and coaching me at wrestling tournaments, trying to coax out my best performance. Whenever I want to see my best side, I know it's whenever I'm with you. Thank you for being my everything, and above all, my best friend. Happy year and a half baby.

Love you with all my heart,
Ducky

Censoring the Masses

This week's topic is the censorship of writing, a practice which I frown upon with the biggest scowl I can muster up. The censorship of written works is akin to the censorship of thoughts and feelings. The only people who agree with such are dictators and other people who wish to control the masses. These people are afraid of independent thought and would like to avoid having alternate thoughts being considered by the people under their power. Unfortunately, this is the alluring quality of published writing, all of the different ideas and ideologies that have been expressed for your consideration. To some this is scary, as it threatens their own ideal little world in which they would hate for people to disagree with them, but to me, it is beautiful to be able to tap into a little piece of many people's minds. In life everyone has different opinions, so we need to accept that, and accept everyone's thoughts in the form of writing. While I definitely want all books to be published, I can definitely understand the banning of or decision not to publish a certain writing if they are really against general morals, for example a manual on how to dismember a cat, or books that spread hate. In all honesty though, people who would write something like that should be censored from the world anyways, and so should their writing.

Love and peace and warm, fuzzy kitties, Kar <3

First Post : True Grit and Determination & A Little About Me

Let me tell you about grit. I have it. REAL grit. I can push myself through any workout. No matter how tough, no matter how much my arms shake or how many times I puke, I WILL finish that work out. I can push myself through any race situation. The half-way flags may just be coming out, and I may be tired, but I will NOT pull in to the pits and give in. I WILL push through the next 10 laps, and continue to race over the pavement at 280km/h hour with my body in an anaerobic state. I WILL finish the race, at 98% of my max heart rate, and I WILL try to win.

That grit? I can't use it when it comes to a school setting. It simply isn't important enough to me. Just because I know I can do the task at hand really well, doesn't mean I'm going to do it with that same passion that the person who isn't so good at the task but wants a good mark will. Actually, I may not even do it at all. I lack motivation to do these things, as to me, they don't add up to the big picture.

That's why Angela Lee Duckworth has a hit a major point in her research. I was always that kid that was smart but didn't perform so well. I wasn't motivated. I feel like there are a lot of kids out there like that, and that it is very important to develop that grit for school and work in these children. The only thing that motivated me when I was younger was seeing the "stupid" kids do better than me. That was infuriating and I absolutely positively could not have it be like that. So to have today's kids grow up to be successful, we need to teach these kids to push through the things they don't want to do and to be motivated towards doing well in the future.

In this blog post I am also supposed to introduce myself.  Well, I do a lot of supposedly cool things, at least that's what people tell me. I am a photographer with a registered business, who has had her photos published in a variety of Canadian and American publications. I am a motorcycle racer. I have been racing for 5 years and have road raced motorcycles with three different organizations and in three different racing championships, including the most presitigious national championship, the CSBK Canadian Superbike Championship. I have raced all over Canada, including the provinces of Nova Scotia, Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario. I am an equestrian. I have been riding horses and competing in shows of different levels since I was four years old. I currently ride and compete on a quarterhorse mare that I lease named Misty at a 'A' level jumper barn in Puslinch. Apart from these three very major things in my life, I also wrestle on our schools wrestling team, snowboard, paint, and draw, all fairly well.

Apart from the things that most people know me for, who am I really?
I am Karolina Pelc, I am 18 years old, and I am a grade 12+ (yuck) student here at Lourdes.
I love animals. I have two Indian Ringneck parrots, a very large Spanish Mastiff dog, and a teeny tiny black cat at home. I love food. I also love to sleep, and work out, and I love music. Sometimes I get really tired of having to live up to all the cool things I do, and sometimes I just want to be that normal girl that comes home from school and sleeps for a few hours, instead of that busy photographer girl who comes home from school and has 8,653 photos waiting for her to edit from her last shoot. But that's life.