The Beanstalk Project

Have you ever wanted to create positive social change? How about develop your leadership skills?  Or connect with other young people in Calgary? Well, lucky for you, The Beanstalk Project is an initiative that engages youth to do all those things.  In fact, they hold various “un-conferences” for youth to attend to develop all their fantastic, world-changing ideas…

Drive by Shooting: A Video Adventure

The world is just a little bit too safe. This is how the Mongol Rally opens its description.  It then goes on to pose the following to prospective participants: What if you want things to go wrong? And indeed, this is the nature of the Mongol Rally, a race across the desert that is really…

Day 3 and 4: The Last Days

Here’s the final entry in my Olympic journey!  Enjoy…   We spent the following day walking around downtown Vancouver spending some time in Robson Square, which was packed!  There were people as far as you could see and once again I give a huge round of applause to the police and security in the area. …

Youth and Creativity

A recent article by author Jonah Lehrer (Proust Was a Neuroscientist, How We Decide) in the Wall Street Journal discusses the connection between youth and scientific innovation.  Check out my summary below…you might learn something new! Young Scientists & Innovation James D. Watson, at age 25, co-wrote Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for…

One of Youtube’s Many Wonders

We all already know that Youtube is pretty cool and awesome…and an essential procrastination tool!  But did you know about its Music Discovery Project and Playlist Creation Tool?  My friend showed this to me the other day and I have to say that it’s pretty neat. Yeah, that’s a bit of a mouthful to say. …

Joannie Rochette: Losing Those We Love

I think many would agree that watching Joannie Rochette skate beautifully and win a bronze medal was one of the most inspirational moments of the Olympics.  Rochette was stunned by her mother’s sudden death only days before she was set to compete in women’s figure skating.  Full of courage and strength, she decided to still…

What’s his name? Oscar!

Ever since the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics have come and gone, the television (or rather any channel not playing the Olympics) definitely felt the cold neglect.  Fear not!  The Oscars is coming to your TV, along with many celebrities and great films trailing closely behind.  What are The Oscars? The Oscars, more formally known as the Academy Awards, are…

There is Improv Everywhere

Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, IE has executed over 100 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City. They make all kinds of funny scenes in all kind of places. See for yourselves and leave…

Watch Your Words

Fifteen-year-old Ashkan Sultani hanged himself on January 12th, 2010.  The most tragic part? He did it because kids at school had bullied him to the edge. A memorial service was held today for Sultani.  He had moved schools because of the kids who had continued to tease him, but it didn’t help. Eventually, it got to the…

Socks for Shelter

Many of us from the YouthAreAwesome crew is involved in fundraising in our community.  The best ideas are the simple ones and this next idea is amazing.  Servants Anonymous has started a project called Socks for Shelter.  They are selling socks and the proceeds from the Socks for Shelter program will provide safe shelter, affordable…

The Olympics Will Never Be Over!

From the when we first heard about them to this day, the Olympics have been a hot topic.  Now that the Closing Ceremony is finished, and the events are over, does this mean that the Olympics in turn are finished? Over the past two weeks, people from all over the world have been supporting their…

Sorry? Did you talk smack about our Canadian Athletes?

‘Cause I can’t hear you over our RECORD BREAKING GOLD MEDAL COUNT! Well, the 21st Winter Olympics has officially closed. The flame is extinguished and the monumental task of putting on the 22nd Olympics has been officially passed to Russia’s Sochi City in an absolutely breathtaking – and hilarious!- closing ceremonies. Now, for those of…

The Chrysalids by: John Wyndham

To understand this novel the reader must have some basic knowledge about the cold war. The reader must also understand some misconceptions people once had about nuclear war. For example, some scientists once believed that only Labrador and New Zealand would be able to survive the radiation caused by a nuclear war. The story takes…