Quotes

There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: fear of failure.

                In the summer of august 2009, I attended the LIT program at the YMCA camps of Kitchener and Waterloo. In the program we had to get our bronze cross in order to work for the camp the next year.  I wanted to work for camp Wabanaki ever since I was six. Every morning we would have to swim 800m around an island; in order to get our bronze cross we have to do it less than 18 minutes. My first few attempts fell short of 4 minutes, this really discouraged me because 4 minutes is a lot of time to try and lose of my time. I began not to try because I realized that I just fail; however I really wanted the job. During the last week I tried really hard, and on the second morning of that week my time was 17: 58, I made it in the correct time. Now I’m still working there three years later.

There is only one way to learn... It's through action.  Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey.  You need to learn only one thing more.

            When I think about this quote, it reminds me of my computer science class. As in the class I can only learn by actually making the code, so every lesson is a kind of journey. It’s more broad then that however, I’ am someone that loves to learn by actually trying it, so everything I learn is a type of journey. For learning one thing more part of the quote, I find it quite interesting because I just always want to learn something new in computer science as it’s the job field I want to be in, in the near future.

Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victors being severely tested.

            I can relate this also back to my computer science classes. In grade 11 I had taken my first computer science class, and I knew a lot about how things work but I never actually learned how to make programs that could actually do things. I received a great mark on that class and since I’ve moved on to the grade 12 computer science class. It’s much harder, and                I ’am having a much harder time because the difficultly level is much higher, so that is testing how well of a programmer I ‘am.  So in the beginning I was unknowing and somewhat lucky, but now I’m being tested with much more difficult projects.

When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.

            In the summer, when I was working for camp Wabanaki, we each got put on a skill for two weeks that we would have to teach campers. I got put on canoeing for two weeks, now I really didn’t want to do that because it gets boring really quickly, so even at the start my attitude about teaching it was negative. In the first few days I noticed that my lack of enthusiasm, reflected upon the kids not have a great time. When I realized this decided next time I ‘am going to be bursting with enthusiasm just to see if I could allow the kids to have a fun time canoeing; surprising the kids had fun and so did I. I improved my attitude towards what I was teaching and the results caused the surrounding for everyone to be better.

It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

            This can be applied to anyone’s life, as we all have dreams that we want to come true. Without any dreams, we wouldn’t have any real goals, as goals are a pathway to our hopes and dreams. Without dreams, life would just be grey, boring without anything new. My dream personally right now is to make it into University of Waterloo for computer science; however it’s quite hard to get into. I’ve been accepted at Laurientian, which just may be a pathway to actually get to Waterloo.

Mandala

     This is the mandala I've created. Its one that represents multiple things on my life. The big gyphon that is  the central object, is one that I created for my school, in yearbook class. This shows how much I like my school and my determination though school as I am not great at color, but this time it turned out fine. In behind the mythical beast you will see python,  this code is the first i created in my grade 12 computer science course. As I have big accepted to university for computer science, it is a large part of my life

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

In the poem Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson, there is many different images that Dickson portrays  to support her underlying concepts. Beginning with just a pre-scan of this poem we can see that the title has death in it, this sets the mood in our first read through the poem. The most dominant image that we can envision is death, as in a personified character the modern day people can envision. This Grim reaper is not what we normally expect though, he is more of a gentle person that is guiding the speaker to eternity. While the two are in the carriage, the speaker says, “I had put away My labor, and my leisure too,” (Dickinson); this implies past tense which means, from the beginning of the poem, the speaker has been communicating to us after dying, describing her adventure to the afterlife, with death being a personified character. Along with that line implying a past tense,it also does prove that she has died because without labor or leisure there is nothing, so it is a kind of metonymy connected to her life. Another connection that the author makes to death in the “house” that they stopped at, “We paused before a house that seemed A swelling of the ground;” (Dickinson) this house is a grave. These all connect to the central theme of her death because they all connect to death, in different ways, ending of life, burial and journey to eternity. (Both Pictures above represent how death is more of a guide in the poem then the menacing image that we all naturally envision)

Educational Pathway

"Books are the plane, and the train, and the road.  They are the destination, and the journey.  They are home." ~ Anna Quindlen

The quote above, written by Anna Quindlen, is one that is quite metaphorical. The quote has 3 types of different transportation methods, which is related intellectually to books. I believe that the quote pertains to the journey into and though academic reading. Planes, trains and the road are all used in a method of transportation, to your desired destination. Within this text they are connected in a intellectual perspective as your journey reading will high-en your intellect to your desired goal. The above quote can make a metal visual, of education as a road or pathway that one must go down in their life. As this venture I'm about partake in is academic reading and writing, it develops the idea that the reading will guide me to my desired destination and goals. As my larger life goal is to attend University of Waterloo in fall 2013, ENG 4U is the resistant wall that I must overcome to reach my destination. The above quote has thought me that education is just a pathway like any form of travel. A pathway that contains textbooks, made for our learning that lead us down a pathway to our educational goals; eventually to the home of our own.I will continue down this pathway though the last year in my high school career, into the major highway of education; university.