Eva Olsen

last monday an amazing person came to our school. She is a women who was brought into concentration camps, who was bullied by Nazis, and who was fed nothing but a measly peice of saw-dusty bead. Her name is Eva Olsson, and she survived the Holocaust. Survived the Holocaust! Can you believe it! When I heard we were going to get to hear her speak I was so excited and astounded. Eva Olsson is a remarkable women, and when she spoke to us she gave us so much knowledge and lessons to think about in such a short visit it was increadible. 

Eva had so many stories and lessons, one is to never use the word hate. I think this is one of the biggest lessons she had. Hate started WWII. I think that in our school we use the word hate so much without really realizeing what it means. Nobody really hates anybody or anything at our school we just use the word as a faster way of saying dislike. My dad always used to tell me not to use the word and now i fully agree with him. Hate is so strong. Hate is when you dislike something so much you act out so harshly and wrongly. Like the Holocaust.

 Another lesson was to never give up. Eva was in concentration camps and was fed close to nothing and was living the worst she could possibly live but she didn't give up. If she didn't give up in such horrible conditions why do we give up so much on such small things? Of course it's easier to just give up, but if you don't and you stick it through I guarantee that whatever your doing will be better, and you will be much happier when it's over. Can you imagine what would have happened to Eva if she gave up? She would probably be dead, or worse. 

This women suffered unthinkable torture, pain, and agony, yet she still has the power to come up to a stage and retell it all. I am so surprised thats he could go up there and do that without crying or even looking really sad. Even though it must be so hard to think about it all and remember all the pain,  she does, for the good of us and everyone else she talks to. Eva Olsson is a selfless, honourable, admirable, and strong willed hero. I don't think I will ever forget her and I hope her wisdom and lessons live on forever, and every young person gets to hear about the Holocaust from her perspective.

Teams

In case you don't know already, there is no 'i' in team. Last week we went to Norval team building day and realized that this really was the case. In the morning we had a few activities. First we did an Inuit blanket toss where someone goes in the centre of a sheet and then they are flung into the air by everyone else. Anyone who goes into the centre must have full trust/confidence in the group. I'm pretty sure that just about everyone went in the centre, even though some people were really scared at the start.

The next thing we did was an activity where one person puts on a harness and gets attached to many different strings. The goal of the event was to make the person 'hover' around and pick up 'treasure'. This requires excellent communication, because each group has a different string and in order to move the person we had to figure out when each person pulls hard on their string. I think we did it very well because everyone got to each 'treasure' and they did it pretty fluently. Our team worked together and figured out how we would get everyone around and it worked.

The final activity was by far the best. In this one we had to climb a fifteen foot wall with nothing but each other and our bodies to help. Our team collaborated very well and figured out the best way to climb the wall. Our team worked well for about three quarters of the time but then there was an accident. One of our team members went up to climb, but had to come back down. The people at the top of the wall let him go but the people at the bottom weren't ready and he fell down the wall and hit his back. If we would have had better communication we could have caught the person or eased him down.

I think a good team requires a few things. First is communication. Communication is one of the most important things because it is key for each member to know exactly what they are going to do and exactly how it is going to plan out. The next thing is confidence and trust. To succeed you must trust you're group and have confidence that they can do whatever is necessary. If you didn't have trust and confidence the team would never go smooth and not much would be accomplished. The last thing is that teams need to listen to everyone's ideas, collaborate with each other, and include everyone. You can always get better ideas and have a better final product if everyone works together and everyone helps equally. So remember, two heads are better than one, and many heads are better than two.

LITTLE BUT MIGHTY

Smiling. Now I know you might think this is a strange topic for me, but I am not talking about smiling in pictures, I am talking about smiling in general throughout your life. Just that openening of your mouth in a happy and pleasant way, means so much and does so much and is known all over the world. Nobody really ever thinks anything of it but it could really brighten someone's day. You don't even do it on purpose most of the time it just happens as a instinct. I don't know about you but when i smile it actually makes me feel happier, and it could also make someone else happier.

If someone was down in the dumps one day and every one started smiling at them I bet you they would be much happier and might even smile themselves. Another thing is if someone tells a joke or does something nice, and you smile, your making them happy in a sense without even trying. Smiles are one of the few things that people understand all over the world and respond to. For example that story we read about the children who were playing with the boy who visited Kenya and their only communication was through smiles and laughter. So many times I've walked through the school hall and someone I barely know flashes me they're pearly whites. It really does make me happy and more positive. It also has a greater effect because maybe I'll then do it to someone else and it will keep going and that one act of kindness will help many people.

Ms.Gallagher once talked about a "random act of kindness day" I think it's a good idea and should definetly be continued and happen quite often. Just because there is a day specifically for kindness it doesn't mean we can't do it all the time and every day. Wether it's a smile, holding the door for someone, or cheering someone on it all counts. So smile, I know it sounds weird coming from me, but smile because little things like that can make a big difference. :)

p.s. I DO smile!!

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity." This quote says that our technology has become such a part of our lives that even our personalities and personal traits are decreasing. I agree with this fully because recently there has been the start of so many new websites like facebook, msn, twitter, etc. These sites almost take control of some of the users. Many people I know use those sites every day constantly, and spend all there time on it. They don't go outside, hang out with friends(in person), or have many verbal conversation.

Videogames also contribute to this. Videogames will keep children indoors even if its the nicest day out and contribute negatively to their body weight. They could also become socialy akward. I am a victim of video games sometimes, not the wheight and akwardness, but the keeping me indoors part. Dating sites will reduce interactive dating, and people get 'addicted' to them. Texting is another factor effecting this, people do it all the time and it promotes slang and improper spelling/grammar.
Do you think as technology increases the negative effects grow? If so, our population will be feeling the effects of a severely rapid technology growth.

Statistics

The statistic that surprised me the most was the one that that said 11 million children die before their fifth birthday, each year. That is about a third of Canada's population, and approximately the same size as Ontario's population. Thats huge. Every day about seven times the amount of kids in our school die before they really get to experience life. These kids will never get to go to grade school, middle school, high school, or college. They won't experience adollesence, teenhood, or adulthood. Also they won't be able to skateboard, ride a bike, drive a car, read, write, play sports, play music, basically everthing you do for fun and things you can not wait for.

Do you know how old age five is? It is kindergarden. Kindergardeners dying every day. For what? because they were born into a poor country? Because our goverbment won't pay a little more money to help? Our government spends 17 billion dollars a year for pet food, and 19 billion dollars a year is what is needed to save these children. How stupid is that.

Our pets can survive on leftovers and scraps, yet we spend all this money on them when children are dying every day. Pets. So to our government pets are more important than lives. Lives that haven't experienced their full potential, not even close to their full potential. They are brought into this world to suffer and starve and then die before age five. If we would spend that money we would stop all this. We would let these chlidren live their lives. Think about it.

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