Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth.
YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them.
Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.
Any views or opinions expressed on this blog belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people or organizations that the blog may be associated with, unless explicitly stated. All content is for informational purposes only.
In the wake of the Liberal landslide of yesterday’s provincial election, as it turns out, not everyone was able to exercise their right to vote–enough to spark one person to create the Disenfranchised in Quebec blog, and other’s harrowing stories made the news.
Most notably were five McGill students whom, even after providing utility bills and tax records, were denied the right to vote and ended up bringing it to court.
Out of the five, only one was given the chance to vote. Brendan Edge, a candidate in his riding for the Green Party, was initially denied the right to vote amongst a good deal of outrage. He ended up lucky, or rather, subject to a convenient conundrum: given the right to run a candidate, and yet not given the right to vote. However, four others met no success, for some fairly technical sounding reasons.
Brendan Edge, the only one of the “McGill Five” allowed to vote (image source)
The ruling was based off of “domicile”, a term which has caused more than a bit of confusion. In the Electoral Act, the definition of a qualified elector includes that one “(1) has attained 18 years of age” and “(3) has been domiciled in Québec for six months”. As it turns out, (1) is a prerequisite in order for (3) to be satisfied, as two voters were turned down, having turned 18 less than six months ago. The other two were denied for other, to quote, “not unreasonable” reasons surrounding domicile.
I find it disappointing that when Canada is having record low voter turnouts, particularly among the younger generations, that these motivated and proactive students are still denied, even after going to distances that most other voters would not.
Janette Bertrand et Pauline Marois, arm in arm (image source)
There seems to be some averse attitudes towards university students floating around lately, such as that PQ candidate Janette Bertrand’s story of the hypothetical takeover of her apartment’s swimming pool by “rich McGill students” (well, perhaps she some sort of point around setting a standard for reasonable accommodation but it was lost amidst her imagination and creative logic–and perhaps general xenophobia and battiness). Not to mention the controversy when one PQ candidate raised the alarm that university students were trying to take over, not just a swimming pool this time, but the election itself. Out of province university students do tend to be regarded as transients—come to study and leave right after, which is perhaps beneficial if you don’t want to get wrapped up in the local politics, but for those that intend to stay and involve themselves, this preconception may not play out in their favour.
Spring is in the air, and a hint of warmth begins to replace the cold, dreary weather. Spring is the perfect time of year for a weekend stroll outside, and 17 Avenue, which boasts a variety of boutiques and shops, is a fantastic choice for such a walk around. While one might think to head straight to their preferred fro-yo place for a sunny April snack, heading further along 17 Avenue one comes across Crepes and Cravings.
At Crepes and Cravings you can watch and anticipate your awesome crepe as it is being made
A great stop for those in search of a delicious, yet cost effective crepe (all of Crepes and Cravings’s crepes are under $10), Crepes and Cravings boasts fourteen varieties of sweet crepes; three varieties of savoury crepe; authentic Belgium waffles; and house made gelato, made with natural and local ingredients.
Stopping in, one might find the restaurant itself to be quite small and seating
The “Old Fashioned” dessert crepe
quite limited, with few and fairly small tables available. Bearing this in mind, in Paris, where crepes are largely popular, they are often a “to go” item that is eaten out of hand. At Crepes and Cravings, crepes can be ordered to go. While the size of the place would be an issue for a large group, for a date or with a group of three or four, it is not too much of an issue. Crepes are also quick to prepare, so even if the restaurant is a little crowded, the orders will be turned out quickly and one will not have to spend more than half an hour in such cramped conditions.
My personal favourite when it comes to savoury crepes, the Sicilian
That being said, the atmosphere is welcoming. Brian, the owner, has decorated the restaurant to give it a cute café sort of feel. Ultimately though, it is the friendliness and enthusiasm with which Brian greets his customers that gives Crepes and Cravings its welcoming feel, and from the way he introduces his business, describing the house made gelato and delectable crepes with pride, it is clear that he is passionate about his business; his dedication is the key to Crepes and Cravings phenomenal success as a local restaurant with amazing food.
If going to try the Crepes, it is recommended that one try both a savoury and
A street view of Crepes and Cravings
a sweet crepe, perhaps splitting with a companion, so as to taste the full range of crepes that Crepes and Cravings has to offer. When it comes to savoury crepes, Crepes and Cravings offers crepes with a variety of meats: ham, chicken, turkey, Montreal smoked meat, Italian meat. For the vegetarians, Crepes and Cravings also offers a vegetarian option, which comes with “guacamole/hummus, lettuce/spinach, tomato, black olives, red pepper, cucumber, onions, artichoke hearts and feta” cheese ($7.38). Some notable varieties of the savoury crepe include the smoked salmon crepe and the Sicilian crepe. For those a fan of salmon, the smoked salmon crepe is an excellent choice: “smoked wild salmon with cream cheese, tomato, cucumber, capers, red onions, and dill” ($9.23) It is a savoury yet creamy dish, with the dill and capers adding a hint of flavour that blends smoothly in with the other components of the crepe. Arguably one of the best crepes, the Sicilian is made with “Italian meats with provolone cheese, roasted peppers, tomato, red onion, and black olive” ($8.54) and offers a rich, flavour-packed meal. The Italian meat is bursting with sapidity and is spiced to perfection. Combined with the tasty olives and gooey provolone, this crepe is sure to be many a diner’s all-time favourite. If something that is in a crepe is not to a customer’s liking, just let the cashier know and they will ensure not to add that ingredient.
When it comes to sweet crepes, it seems that this variety is largely favoured, as they provide the perfect balance between dessert and meal. Crepes and Cravings offers a range of choice with their dessert crepes, including the cherry cheesecake crepe which is stuffed with “cherries in sauce with cream cheese” ($7.86), the apple caramel crepe filled with “apples cooked and prepared as an apple pie filling, sprinkled with cinnamon” ($7.67), and for those unable to choose between gelato and a crepe, the waffle cone crepe “a crepe filled with banana, strawberries, chocolate, caramel, and gelato, served in a waffle cone” ($8.59). A classic choice Crepes and Cravings offers is the old fashioned which is filled with “fresh strawberries with cream cheese, strawberry jam, and chocolate” ($7.86). This crepe is very sweet, and the cream cheese adds a savoury undertone to the fruitiness of the strawberries and the jam. The chocolate sauce tops the dish off perfectly, adding a hint of richness to the filling, and whip cream on top of the crepe adds a final creamy touch; a mouth-watering end to a phenomenal meal.
Crepes and Cravings is open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Saturday, and from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Sunday. Stop by at 1013 17 Ave SW to give them a try, or call them at 403-228-6523 with any questions.
Ah, April Fool’s Day, the day where for once you can pull a prank without getting into too much trouble… or get even. Regardless, I always find that the things people do to trick others on this day are quite creative and amusing, since I personally don’t really have the creativity to pull off one myself. As far as I’m concerned, I’m starting to think people find it to be somewhat of a holiday. Here are just some of the many interesting things that popped up during this year’s April Fool’s:
Vegemite: Apparently the Australian based food paste is releasing a new energy drink, Vegemite iDrink 2.0, according to its post on their Facebook page.
Turtle Delivery: LEGO Introduced a turtle delivery system, delivering its new Ninja Turtles Lego Set with turtles. Note: Shipping times may vary.
Cats React: In adorable react fashion, the Fine Brothers uploaded a video featuring cats watching and reacting to viral videos, as per regular react style. Absolute cuteness overload.
Sizzling Bacon: Netflix’s new original series definitely looks like its going to be a yummy one. I mean, come on, sizzling bacon.
Vsauce: The ever awesome and quirky YouTube science channel released Noggin’ Blow, a video that talks about historical inventions in a creative funny way.
Google: This final one is my personal favorite and quite possibly the most creative one. Google Maps invites you to use their app to capture Pokemon (gotta catch them all), in an augmented reality sort of way. You have no idea how much I wished this was real.
Tell me in the comments if you had any favorite April Fool’s Day Pranks, or if you pulled some of your own. 😉
Chupacabra is Spanish for “goat eater,” a creature only found in Latin America and known for its vampire-like fangs which are able to kill and suck the blood out of livestock. According to several biologists, the creature referred to as the Chupacabra does not exist. Yet, the Chupacabra has been blamed for a coupe of animal and human related attacks in the United States and other parts of the world. Additionally, there are various descriptions of this creature, but most eyewitnesses who claim to have come in contact with the creature say that it is fierce and resemble the structure of a dog. In the past, supposed Chupacabras have turned out to be dogs or coyotes with health problems.
Picture of the live Chupacabra in Texas
Although there have been several renditions of the Chupacabra, the videos, photos, or even bone remains haven’t proved the mythological creature is legit. But apparently, a couple – Jackie and Bubba Stock in Texas – believe they have captured a live Chupacabra and hope the creature’s identity can be identified as well as studied. According to the video they posted of the live Chupacabra, it looks like a small, hairless dog and is gray in color with beady, black eyes. The couple had said they had seen the creature eating corn on their farmland and quickly decided to capture it. Before going public with their discovery, the couple decided to show it to a few friends and neighbors. As a result, they believed the creature to be the Chupacabra even though they were quite hesitant at first. At the moment, the couple plans to keep the creature and care for it until someone is willing to determine its identity.
Kimia Tonounialasl is a student at Sir Winston Churchill High School in Grade 11. She volunteers at Cards for a Cure, Zoo Lights, Carroll Place, and Youth Central. Kimia takes initiative at various projects, is well organized and develops a good relationship with other volunteers. From talking to Kimia I have learned that she is a truly kind, friendly person. This is the first year that she has entered the world of volunteering.
Please tell us a little about the Zoo Lights project?
In the program, we supervised the kids area and helped out with the activities while conversing with other volunteers and people at the project. What is your objective when you volunteer?
To help out others in the community. How will you know if you’ve been successful?
By reaching funding goals for charities. What is your favorite thing about volunteering?
My favorite thing is to meeting new people and make new friends. What’s next for you?
Trying more to volunteer at more and more places to volunteer and help out more people.
Special thanks to Kimia for allowing me to interview her.
When we are on the internet, it’s really easy to forget about safety and how, sometimes, the internet isn’t always the most socially secure place to be. At school, we had an internet security professional come in and speak to us about ensuring your own safety on the internet. How can you keep yourself safe? There are a lot of simple things you can do to make yourself protected from hacks, phishing sites and other threats on the internet.
1. Change your password often or increase the digits in your password.
Changing your password every month, or even year, makes it harder for hackers to access your account. It’s even better if you make your password longer than 11 characters. Passwords over 11 digits dramatically increase in difficulty. Of course, it doesn’t make it impossible to hack into your account, but it makes it extremely difficult for hackers to get into your account. If you change your password every month, on top of the long passwords, it makes it so that the hacker has to keep track of when you will change your password and what you will change it to. It takes a lot of effort to hack into an account like that.
2. Don’t use the same passwords for multiple accounts.
Hate to break it to you, but hackers know you’re lazy. We all want to be lazy, but sometimes you have to just do it. A simple shortcut is just to note down your password in a journal, notebook or diary. Many people also like to keep track of their passwords electronically, for example, on a word document or on a e-sticky note.
3. Keep your accounts as private as you can make them.
Many people like to have a lot of cyber friends, whether it’s followers on Instagram and Twitter or friends on Facebook. But is there a need to have such a large audience? How many of the 400 friends do you actually know on Facebook? If you narrow your “friends” down to just people you know, you don’t have to worry about suspicious onlookers of your profiles. This is one of the simplest things to do to ensure your safety. The point is, if you don’t expose yourself to the danger, you probably won’t have to deal with it.
4. Don’t post personal information, such as your phone number, etc.
First of all, why do you want to post personal information? Maybe it’s peer pressure or maybe it’s the new trend, but what benefits does posting your phone number and address give you? Posting personal information makes you a target for the crimes committed through the internet; it gives people a direct link to you. Do you want that? Also, giving people your birthday, age and other information about yourself gives people on the internet ways to know exactly who you are. Sure, maybe you said you were from Calgary, how does that make you vulnerable? Well, does your account give away your name? If so, did you fill out your birthday, age and school? If you filled out more than two of these things, then you aren’t safe. It is highly improbable that anyone has the exact same name as you with the exact same birthday and age that goes to your school. In this manner, people can find you. What’s the point of posting personal information? Does it really matter when you are putting yourself at risk?
5. Post your photos so that they are only visible to people you know.
Although posting a selfie with a background of trees doesn’t give away your location, your phone number or any other personal information, when you post that photo onto Facebook or Instagram, your photo leaves a trace. This trace can give people (who are determined to find your info) personal information about you, but if you limit people’s access to these photos, then strangers can’t access them. This also ties into keeping your account private, since, if your account is private, all of your photos, posts, etc. will be private. But, if you are a socialite, like many others, and like sharing funny videos or cool tips, then privatize certain parts of your account (just be aware that it is much more work).
Breakfast is known for being the most important meal of the day. Many of us choose to eat this meal as part of our mornings. We have our typical continental breakfast of cereals, eggs, toast, and milk, however there are many variations of breakfast foods in different parts of the the world. The variety results from the multiple cultures and countries that populate our Earth. Have you ever wondered “What Does the World Eat for Breakfast? This quick and clean video might even give you some ideas to try out for breakfast yourself!
We have changed the way we gather our information. We have changed the way we process information, enjoy entertainment, and go about our daily lives. Most notably, technology has become an instrumental part of all of our lives. So, instead of writing a blog post with only about 500 words, I’ll aim for about 10,000. After all, I did learn this golden rule in school; it’d be good to put to use at least once in my life. There is a story being told, so keep your eyes peeled – literally and figuratively.
What does this reveal about our society? How accurate is this guide? Are these colors on par with the emotions you feel in relation to the color? It becomes more fascinating, and brilliant, the more you think about it. Source
#YAA29DayChallenge? I personally guarantee that if you do one of these “activities” a day, after 29 days, you’ll feel as if you’re living in a whole new world. Besides, what’s the harm in trying it? These are relatively simple things, sure to make a huge impact. It’s great sometimes how things work. Source
Do you notice the little narrative that was being told with the pictures? Although I didn’t actually write much, I may have told a better story than I usually do. So, I guess it is fair to say that a picture is worth a thousand words.
Ever since the 1960s, scientists have tried to figure out whether or not dolphins communicate with a language. The World Dolphin Project has created Cetacean Hearing and Telemetry (CHAT), a prototype dolphin translator, and works with Dr. Denise Herzing and her team. After 25 years of tracking a member of a dolphin pod, she finally succeeded in translating a dolphin whistle. They taught the dolphin a whistle that meant “sargassum,” a genus of seaweed, and now the dolphin has finally used it.
It is not known whether the dolphin said the word because it saw some of the seaweed and was trying to communicate with another a dolphin. However, the dolphin did communicate the whistle it was taught. The next step is for us to recognize the meanings of the natural communicational whistles of dolphins. After that, the World Dolphin Project will look into tow-way communication.
The actual builder of CHAT, Thad Starner, used algorithms to discover patterns in order to analyze dolphin communication through whistling. This device helps us recognize sounds and clues our human ears can’t pick up on (dolphin whistles are 10 times higher than the highest pitch we can hear). Starner has currently discovered seventy-three different whistles and has distinguished eight different components. Some of these whistles have also been recognized as mother-calf interactions.
For centuries, fiction books have been written about people having the ability to talk to animals. Now, they might be non-fiction. This is the beginning of our potential to talk to dolphins.
Why is it that when you’re asked, “Who are you?” it’s hard to find the words that summarize you ?
Because we are alldifferent. I was taught that difference was something that should be celebrated – it meant you were unique. But, for a long time, it was that same difference that made me feel misunderstood – alone.
I didn’t know who I was. I could list my likes and dislikes, what made me relaxed and what made me uncomfortable, all these disjointed facts that didn’t have any connection – Who am I?
One fateful day, I found out. I was an INFP. To many, those letters will be unfamiliar. So, I want to take this time to help you find out more about yourself.
How did I find out who I was? Through a personality test.
I know what you’re thinking: How can you trust those things? In fact, I had that same thought as I discovered this personality test, but I said: Hey, why not give it a shot?
I am referring to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (short-formed as MBTI). What separates this from newspaper horoscopes is that this has solid science supporting it. Essentially, a mother with the last name of Briggs and her daughter with the last name of Myers build upon the work of past psychologists to develop what we know today as the MBTI.
A The MBTI Grid
Above is a general overview of the 16 different personalities. The idea is that in all people, there are 4 Traits, represented by letters, that makes up their personality. They are as follows:
From each of the two choices, there is one that is your preference. This is how you form the four-letter combination that represents your personality type.
Why is this useful to know? How can you apply it in your life from now on?
Speaking from personal experience, I would say there are three main uses:
1. Understanding who you are and being proud of your strengths and weaknesses
2. Finding a profession that is well-suited towards you
3. Appreciating both the diversity and similarities in people
I didn’t know who I was. After reading the INFP profile, I had an epiphany: all of these scattered facts about me started coming together like connect the dots. I felt not only relieved, but also more powerful. I could feel proud of where my strengths were, but also recognizing what my weaknesses are. As you nurture your strengths and learn from weaknesses, then you will become a more well-rounded person.
For each personality, they also give a list of preferred jobs. This is extremely important because a main concern for young adults is: What do I want to be when I grow up? If you’re facing this moral dilemma, you’d be happy to know that there are particular professions that each personality excels in. For example, INFPs excel in jobs such as being a writer, psychologist, and social worker. What a coincidence: being a writer.
Everyone is different, but there are also similarities. I knew that everyone was different, but it was that difference that made me feel solitary, like a black sheep in a herd of white. However, I felt more connected with the world after I found out that there are literally like-minded individuals out there who face similar conflicts. Now that I also realize that there’s 15 other personality types out there, I appreciate how they each contribute to making the world better in their own unique way.
Enough talking, it’s time for you to discover more about Yourself.
Life is a continuous journey of finding one’s self, the more you know about who you are, the more confident you are to proclaim: This is who I am and I’m proud of it. Only then will the insults and doubts fade away; from that shell emerges an individual of boundless potential. -Richard Lee-Thai
Below I will provide links to useful websites that I personally used to figure out my MBTI personality:
http://personalityjunkie.com/more-type-profiles/ A more detailed and scientific explanation of each personality type, along with information about Dominant, Auxiliary, Tertiary and Inferior Functions (recommended if you’re interested in psychology or just a deeper understanding)
̣̣̣http://www.personalitycafe.com/ An awesome online forum where you can connect with your personality group and also interact with other personality types.
http://www.celebritytypes.com/, A website where you find the personality types of famous people and compare it to your own. (J.R.R Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings was an INFP! So was Shakespeare, Edgar Allen Poe and J.K. Rowling just to name a few.)
Of course, there is a lot of depth to the conversation of MBTI personalities. If you’re interested, there’s a lot to explore beyond these links. I hope this has been helpful to you in some way, it has been for me. I would love to know what personality type you got and if you resonate with it and why.
Everyone in the history of humanity has had some sort of goal in life; something they have yearned to achieve. Just as we all have goals for ourselves, every person has a purpose in life, even if we aren’t completely sure what exactly that is. At this point in our lives, we are still young and have plenty of time to make our big achievements. However, that’s certainly no excuse for not starting to move towards what we want or to waste time not making a difference. We are young, but youth can have an impact and can take huge steps into what is to become.
A great way to know if you’re on the right track or are just wasting you time is to ask yourself questions. Here are a pile of examples for your pondering.
1. What is the biggest thing that you want right now in life? Is this realistic to what you will want in the future?
2. Are you doing anything to prepare for the challenges that you will have to meet in the future?
3. Is there anything that will stand in the way of your achievements? If so, what can you do to overcome it?
4. What are the financial implications of your goals? Do you need to start saving up now in order to be able to handle costs when they come into play?
5. How much effort are you willing to put into getting to where you want to be? At what point will you want to give up?
6. What factors are you in control of and which are up to fate and circumstances?
7. Will you be a hinderance to others during your working up to your goals? What can you do to avoid hurting those around you?
8. What is your capacity to be decisive and determined?
9. Does your goal pose any sort of moral issues?
10. Does your goal leave the world a better place? (Although cheesy, this one’s important. You really shouldn’t be working towards something that causes a negative impact on the world even if if benefits you.)
So are you on the right track to finding success in your endeavours? Just remember, you can never start thinking too early!
Hi guys! Long time no see. I could credit my absence for April Fool’s Day, but that’s a bad excuse. Honestly, I’ve been having pretty bad writer’s block. I know, I know! There’s so many things to write about, but none of them had piqued my interest.
But, since it’s three months into the New Years, I figure I give you an update.
Now, most of my resolutions were academic based, and rightly so – I’m graduating in a year and universities are beginning to look at your final grades in Grade 11. They included things like getting higher final grades (in my sciences especially – I am not gifted in my sciences), figuring out what I wanted to do in university, etc. But I actually ended up changing my resolutions somewhere around February. My academic goals, while they definitely still existed, were no longer my biggest fear. I started focusing on figuring out what I wanted to do, and not what my parents or teachers expected me to do in university. They became more centric around my mundane desires like “go to 10 concerts” or “travel more often” followed by a list of cities or countries. I realize now that in my youth, while preparation for the future is important, finding happiness in your adolescence is just as important. I actually succeeded in some of my resolutions, such as “become more body positive” and something simple like “be more confident” (even though, as simple as it sounds, I can speak for the most of us when I say it is not). I started off the year worrying about how I looked, using my Instagram likes as a measurement to how pretty I was, and it was hard to slowly wean myself off that – something I’ve been trying to achieve for years. I no longer worry as much about my physical appearance (but I still do occasionally – we all do, don’t we?), and started using the motto “fake it ’til you make it” for everyday self confidence. I challenge myself, and you, if you’re shy, to become more confident. When you feel like shrinking, draw yourself up to your full height and walk as if the world was meant to watch you. When you feel like your voice will come out meek and small, make it loud and powerful (there is this TED talk that I highly encourage you watch), and when in doubt, just imagine a little Charlize Theron sitting on your shoulder, offering you her words for a successful power walk:
This was a pretty cheesy post, I have to admit, but I think it’s important teenagers don’t try and tear themselves apart to ensure other people’s happiness, because when you tear yourself apart for other people somewhere along the way you end up losing yourself.
That’s my little heart to heart ramble for the week.
Today I attended the Art and Culture Youth Vital Signs and Calgary Foundation discussion. Art and its role in development in our city in regards to youth was the topic under the scope.
One of the things that was repeated during the conversation was the derogatory view of arts in general. In our society, academic subjects like math are believed to be more important than arts. In our school board, when there are budget cuts, it is the art programs that suffer the most. Many parents make it clear that art should be a hobby and it can’t be something you make a living on. It is sad that a 100% in Math is not the same as 100% in Art for some people.
The origin of this lower rank of art discipline seems to arise from the lack of awareness that youth (and parents) about careers in creative fields. This issue can be handled by educating parents about the value of art in our society and the bright careers it provides. Youth should be provided with more opportunity to engage with development of city with art.
It would make sense to allow local artists to represent what Calgary really is on public art spaces rather than expensive brand named artists. Calgary has great art displays all over it, however it is lacking the reflection of its people. If people get involved the value of art will be well felt and there awareness will overpower ignorance.
Lately, I have been obsessed with the Divergent series by Veronica Roth. Since I’ve already read all of the books and seen the movie, I feel like there’s not much more I can do to relive my favorite moments except for actually be in the book itself. This got me thinking; What would it be like to have factions? Would we be more at peace if we were separated in this manor? I believe if we looked past the complex meaning behind the factions, (no spoilers, but if you have read Allegiant I’m sure you know what I’m talking about), I believe that using the factions in our modern society would work very well.
In this Trilogy, everyone is separated by factions. You are born into one of the five factions and at the age of 16 can either change into another one or stay; these factions all have different jobs and tasks that they do to sustain our earth. Abnegation are the selfless who help the poor (factionless), and are the city leaders, Erudite are knowledgeable and smart, so naturally they are teachers, doctors and scientists, Amity are very friendly and peaceful, they farm and grow crops for food and sometimes even become caretakers in hospitals, Candor believe and strive for truth and justice,so they are typically lawyers and politicians, and finally there’s the Dauntless, who are thrill seekers that tend do to jobs that call for being brave such as soldiers, police officers and firefighters.
If our world worked like this in each of our own cities, I feel like it would be a lot more efficient and easier to find work. Since we would all know where we stand and our roles in society, we wouldn’t have to worry about conflicts based on fairness of work and such, since you get to decide what you want to do. Everyone would love their job since they chose it themselves, therefore work would get done fast and effectively. Finding a job right now in our world is difficult, and as the years pass, it is just going to get harder. Unless you joined Dauntless and failed initiations or happened to be factionless, you would be guaranteed a job. Maybe it wouldn’t be a high paid job, but it would still be a job none the less.
Because each faction has different personality traits, it would be evident if you didn’t belong. In other words, if you chose a faction but didn’t have the right personality, chances are you’d end up factionless or in a low paid job. In addition, the only people that are allowed to communicate with members of other factions are the leaders. Peace and harmony would be a result of this excommunication, and personality seclusion because people with similar personalities and ideas would work together and not talk to others with butting opinions and traits, that could cause conflict.
Maybe it’s just because I really want the book to be real, or because I would love to be a part of Dauntless with Tobias, Christina and Tris or maybe even live peacefully with friends in Amity, but I think that the faction system would be an effective way to run our world. Of course it would have its flaws, but doesn’t our current way of life have them as well?
As a little bonus for making it this far, in this very long blog post, take the quiz here to discover which faction you belong to!
At age 17, Zahra is one of the most involved volunteers within our community. Not only does she volunteer with her high school on a regular basis, she also assists with an after-school girl’s group, where she helps empower girls at a young age. Zahra inspires to delve into the field of sciences this fall. With this path, Zahra hopes to continue to inspire volunteerism on an international basis.
Over the past week, I was fortunate enough to interview Zahra. See my interview with this diligent volunteer below:
How did you get involved in service work (volunteering) in the community?
I moved to Canada just when I was about to start High School. Obviously in moving to a whole new country, I didn’t know a single person here, let alone have a friend. So I joined my school’s James Fowler Volunteer Club hoping to meet new people, make new friends, and be involved in my school and community and definitely bringing positive changes however I could.
Tell me about the kind of work you do with after-school girls group. What is your role? What kind of activities happen? What are the girls like?
Anything and everything fun any 4th or 5th Grader would ever want to do is the kind of things we did at the program, both boys and girls! We started off the afternoon with a snack time when we shared the roses and thorns of our day, which is when we talked about something good or bad that had happened. Then, we would decide on an activity such as bracelet making, crafts, physical activities and games. But the best thing about these activities is that we would always imply the main purpose behind this girls group, which was to empower each other into becoming confident about who we are as girls in the classroom, in our families and in the society. We would discuss the virtues that we have, and appreciate each other’s strengths and work on our weaknesses. My role was to engage the girls in these activities, be an active part in the group and encourage them to be proud of who they are. The girls were absolutely amazing. They were kind, understanding and accepting of each other, very creative as well, and also they had a mature perspective on what it means to be a girl in today’s society where there are issues to be dealt with and the expectations to be lived up to.
What kind of influence/effect do you think you have (with the group and/or in the community)?
I wouldn’t call it an influence, but rather a call to the people in the society, especially teenagers with our energy and zeal, to come forward and make the difference we are so well capable of. Being part of a group like GirlStart really made me feel like I was playing my part in helping girls to become confident and optimistic about themselves. There are so many other causes we can all devote ourselves to, to make this world a better place.
I heard you are really outgoing, how do you remain so positive?
Well, like any other person, all my days are not my best; I have my own share of bad days. But that’s the thing, I have this need to look at the brighter, bigger picture, no matter how difficult the circumstances are at the moment. This faith that tomorrow will be a better day and even hoping the best from people around me, keeps me going. Also, I think there is always something positive you can take out of situations even when it doesn’t seem all that promising.
Among her other volunteering projects, Zahra actively volunteers at such projects, like Comic Con.
What continues to inspire you to volunteer?
When I see people do random acts of kindness like carrying a senior’s grocery bag or giving up your seat in the bus for a mother and a child. For some reason, it makes the world seem like it’s filled with helpful people, who want to give back to their society and they have hope to make the world a better place. These small acts of kindness make me believe in the potential we all have inside us, and the empathy we feel for people around us.
What other kind of volunteering work do you do?
With my school’s Volunteer Club, I take part in any event that happens in my school simply because I want to be as involved in it as possible. I am also a volunteer with the Youth Central, so I volunteer at various events involving children and seniors. Also, I volunteer in my cultural community where I help organize events and help out with various activities. I have volunteered with the City and the public library as well over the summer.
What are your plans for your future? (in terms of both educational/career and volunteering)
I want to go on to my post secondary education, hopefully this coming September, in the field of the sciences. I have volunteered in my community for some time now, but now I want to take it to an international level and volunteer on field, gain some more hands-on experience of the “real world.” I aspire to become a Public Health Officer someday in the future and serve in developing countries, raising awareness about health issues and tackling the challenges in the developing world.
I was not only impressed with Zahra, but I was inspired. Zahra is a semblance of what our generation of youth can accomplish.
