What did our leadership class say? Our opinions matter. Fun is enjoyment, amusement or lighthearted pleasure. Something we don’t need to think about… it’s obvious. It is the way we experience play, being authentic, and belonging. It’s happening when we might not even realize it. Fun feels effortless and creates itself. It’s a feeling of goodness, spending your time doing something for the single reason: it brings joy. Fun fills you up with happiness, laughter, joy, adventure, and relaxation. It’s where you feel most comfortable and things just become easy. Fun is a good feeling. Imagine a time you had fun. Your fun can take shape in all different forms. It may be a time like “When I was growing up my friends and I…” Or “One summer my family and I…” Maybe it was something like “As a kid I once did this really stupid thing…” Regardless. Could you see these as times when you had fun? So why is fun so important? The boost of creativity, imagination, energy, and productivity you acquire are all results of fun! Have you ever been around a young child and been amazed at their curiosity, creativity and happiness? It starts to make you wonder how they are just so happy? The answer is easy, they are able to find fun in the tiniest things and appreciate them. Have you noticed, they get excited when they successfully jump over a puddle or get to go to McDonalds. To them it’s enough… they simply don’t need much to make their own fun. It is our balance in life… we need it to stay on track. Fun follows those who appreciate it. This is a lesson I personally had to learn. My parents decided to change my world. They said “we are moving to Tsawwassen” and you have to change schools. I was happy to move but disappointed that I was leaving all my friends behind. I love fun and I always had it. Fun was something I really didn’t have to think about and just came naturally. However, when I moved to a new school and didn’t know anybody I realized I had left more than just my friends behind. I left fun behind. I started to realise maybe I never really appreciated fun and took it for granted and I had to learn it the hard way. This made me realize how important people are. To me fun is hanging out with friends, laughing, sharing stories, not worrying about being judged, and feeling free. I don’t have the answer, and I am still trying to figure it out. In life we all have that next step. Maybe it’s going from high school to college/university. Or career jobs in environments with new people. One way or another, we will be expected to adapt, and find new ways to have fun. A couple of days ago I sent out “A Fun Survey” to find out where fun lives in all of your lives. The next day I woke up to a flood of responses and it went a little something like this: Kiana B
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Recently in biology class we learned about the revolutionary new technology called crispr, which without getting too technical is a way for scientists to edit genes. This means a lot of exciting possibilities such as ending certain diseases that hide in human cells like HIV and herpes, creating an easy cure for cancer, ending genetic diseases, stopping aging, or even genetically modifying embryos, which will be my focus today. Although genetically modified babies may seem far off in the future, crispr and the possibilities that come with it are already becoming a reality. In fact we’re already seeing the beginning of gene editing in things like GMO foods, or glow fish (aquarium fish genetically engineered to glow). Even right now it’s routine to have genetic screenings for your future child while you are pregnant to let you know of any significant genetic mutation such as Down syndrome. Now, let’s start talking about genetically modified children. In the next decade or two scientists believe that after doing routine genetic screenings of your fetus similar to the ones we conduct now, some doctors would be able to genetically modify your fetus so that it does not have a certain genetic error. This would be done to fix issues like colour blindness, cystic fibrosis, or hemophilia. However, soon changing other features of your fetus like it’s hair colour, intelligence level, or metabolism may be done to enhance the child. This poses many ethical questions, starting with how ethical it is to change the genetics of one child and even discussing how changing the genetics of one child will affect their children, and future generations Of course, this is a blog and I love talking about my opinion so here it is. I believe that it wouldn’t be wrong to genetically alter children to make them more suitable for our rapidly changing environment, I would even go as far as to say that I have no problem with the idea of changing your future child’s hair colour or metabolism. However, I believe that one of the biggest problems with genetically modified children is that at least in the beginning, they are not going to be affordable. We already know that having children through IVF is expensive and I believe that genetically modified babies will be even more expensive at first. This would mean that the wealthy would be able to provide their children with these benefits most concerningly, intelligence. This could create an even bigger gap between socioeconomic classes, causing rich people to get richer and poor people to get poorer. One question I’ve been faced with is that if genetically modified babies are so smart wouldn’t they be able to help everyone not just the rich? Although this seems possible I must remind everyone that although ignorance is a common reason for prejudice against the lower class, that still does not mean that being given higher intelligence also increases your morals. As we’ve seen time and time again, billionaires, and now their potentially genetically modified children, will not tend to take into consideration the general population, even when that’s who they used to get to where they are. Let me remind you that I am not against crispr or any other genetic engineering technology and I love the idea of being able to increase people’s “fitness” for our world. I am against billionaires and capitalism hurting humanity through the use of genetic engineering and genetically modified children. Especially when I believe that genetic engineering is something that could truly improve humanity. I also know that not all of you will be in support of genetically modifying children and I am completely open and excited to hear your opinions! If you are interested and would like to learn more about this topic I will direct you to this wonderful YouTube video by “Kurzgesagt - In a Nutshell” which you can find at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY (they start specifically discussing gmo babies at 8:13).
Caiti S What is procrastination? Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something. Why would I write a blog about procrastination? Well it's simple I had all year to write this blog and here I am 5 days before I have to turn this in. Almost everyday for the past year I’ve had this blog on my mind asking myself “when do I want to work on this?” This might just be me, but It’s the worst having the same thing to worry about for months on end. It makes it even worse knowing that you're the reason why this thing isn’t getting done or that you're the reason why you're stressing so much about it. If I think about it, I’ve made it worse for myself just by delaying it. At the beginning of the year I said to myself I have 9 months until this is due so I can just wait till the last minute. That was the worst decision I’ve made this year. Everyday after I get back from school my brain has a reminder telling me to work on this blog, and who would’ve guessed ... I said “I’ll do it tomorrow” every time. This isn't the only thing I’ve procrastinated on and it definitely won’t be the last. I promise you everyone has procrastinated. No one has never not procrastinated. Have you ever been asked by your parents to clean your room and instead of doing it, you just said “I’ll do it later”. That right there is procrastination. Or have you ever been so tired lying in bed and you tell yourself “5 more minutes'' instead of getting up? That also is procrastination. I believe that there are two types of procrastination. This idea I actually got from a Ted Talk I saw about Procrastination by Tim Urban. It's a great Ted Talk and it’s funny at the same time while you learn about procrastination. Tim Urban explains that the two types of procrastination are the “Deadline Procrastination” and the “No Deadline Procrastination.” Now the deadline procrastination is a lot harder to deal with because it’s on your mind a lot and you know you need to do whatever it is you need to do. But you're always holding it off. But with the non-deadline procrastination, you don’t ever have that worry because there is no deadline so you always just keep holding it off forever and ever until there is one. Tim Urban explained the deadline procrastination like this. In our brain we have two things: “Rational Decision Maker” and the “Instant Gratification Monkey.” The Rational Decision Maker part of our brain always knows what needs to be done but whenever you decide to do whatever it is you need to do, the Instant Gratification Monkey takes over and says, “hey let's do this instead.” An easier way of understanding this is to imagine it like two sides: the Rational Decision Maker has a side called “whatever makes sense,” and the Instant Gratification Monkey has a side called “easy and fun.” Sometimes these two sides overlap and the two agree sort of like a Ying and Yang. But sometimes there's a conflict and the procrastinator just wants to do whatever is easy and fun and lets the monkey take over. Later when the deadline is closer, the procrastinator realizes it and all of a sudden the Panic Monster wakes up. Keep in mind the Panic Monster is always dormant until he has to wake up to yell at you “Hey the deadline is soon. You have to do something.” The monkey is also scared of the monster and runs away when he wakes up. Normally the Panic Monster and the Rational Decision Maker work together but sometimes usually when the Panic Monster takes over, you generally can’t seem to get any work done and usually just sit staring at a blank page. But the Rational Decision Maker will make sure the work gets done now that the monkey is gone. And once the work is gone, the Panic Monster goes back to sleep because there's nothing to panic about. For the non deadline procrastination there is no Panic Monster because there is no deadline to worry about. And generally you have the Instant Gratification Monkey that takes over for the most part but once he gets bored and goes off to do whatever he wants, the Rational Decision Maker will take over. However sometimes though, that might be too late and whatever you want to get done just goes away and you can’t do it anymore. That’s not a deadline, it's just forgetting about the thing you want done, or it’s just not important anymore and doesn’t need to be done.
Now I never thought of procrastination like this until I saw that Ted Talk. It actually really helped me open my eyes to different things. I now know that whenever I’m about to procrastinate or that I am procrastinating, I’ll remember the Ted Talk or even this blog. And instead of waiting to do something and making it worse for myself, next time I’ll get it done sooner. I’m not the only one who should be doing this though. I hope that this blog helped you get a better understanding of procrastination as much as It did for me. Just know that the next time you get a deadline for something, it’ll be best to do it sooner rather than later. Austin M Tim Urban's Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator Stress over an exam or important assignment is normal, but what happens when it gets to be too much? Or the stress you’re facing is constant and overwhelming? Prolonged and excessive feelings of stress, anxiety and exhaustion can often lead to burnout if not managed properly. Burnout is defined as a state of being physically, mentally, and emotionally drained and symptoms can range from mild to severe. There are three main symptoms associated with burnout which include : ● Energy depletion or exhaustion (mentally, emotionally and physically) ● Increased mental distance, negative thoughts or cynicism related towards your job or school ● Lack of motivation and reduced efficacy when completing tasks Pushing yourself too hard, not making time for self care, and not managing stress levels can all contribute and push you towards burnout. However there are many warning signs before you completely burn out, they signal that you need to slow down and take some time for yourself. Some examples of warning signs include : ● Fatigue, low energy ● Insomnia ● Trouble concentrating ● Higher levels of irritability and frustration ● Little to no motivation, even if you are behind on deadlines ● Negative thoughts or mindset If you are experiencing any of these, that means it's time to take a much needed break to prevent them from worsening. It is important to remember that school / work are not everything, and you should not have to sacrifice your mental well being or health for school. You may feel guilty or increasingly stressed about taking time off but once you are headed for burnout there is not much you can do besides reorganize and rest. For me it was hard to take a break and I was constantly thinking about falling farther behind on assignments. Once I realized that I would rather hand in work that was overdue but well done, rather than rushed, incomplete work on time, I decided to take a break and come back in a better head space. Especially for grade 11 and 12’s this year, there is an overwhelming amount of pressure to get good grades and put school first. You may be compelled to keep pushing yourself and think that you’ll feel better once you get this done, but this mindset can be detrimental to your mental health. If you are feeling burnt out you are not alone, and there are many things that you can do to alleviate your symptoms and get back to normal. Recovering from burnout will not happen in a day, you have to be patient with yourself; self care looks different for everyone but doing things that you enjoy doing can really help you get back to normal. Here’s what I did : :
1. Rest and Relaxation In order to start feeling better it is time to take a break and enjoy some self care. There are many ways to relax such as listening to music, reading a book, or watching your favourite movie. These are all excellent ways to relax and take your mind off of stressors. 2. Reorganize and Prioritize After rest it is important to start organizing your schedule in a way that will allow you to get work done without heading for another burnout. To catch up on missed work, you can write out a list of assignments with due dates to figure out what needs to be done first. Making a to-do list helps me remember what needs to be done and can help me stay on track, especially if you have the tendency to procrastinate like I do. 3. Time Management Time management skills are crucial to avoid overworking yourself and to ensure you are getting things done, while still enjoying free time. If you are a big procrastinator like I am, this will only hurt your chances of being productive during the day while still getting enough sleep at night. Keeping a planner or to-do list can help organize your day so you aren’t constantly stressing about what needs to be done. 4. New Habits To avoid another burnout you may have to change some of your day to day habits and focus on incorporating healthy new ones. For example if you are consistently going to bed late and drinking too much caffeine, it may be time to start regulating your schedule by going to bed at a certain time every night and only drinking coffee in the mornings. Not only can new habits prevent burn out, but they can also re-energize your life and help set you up for success. Abbey S. |
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