YOUTH ARE AWESOME
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.
Our friends at the National Music Centre invite you to delve into the darkest reaches of cinematic horror! Join them in the NMC Collection Crypt for a bone-rattling and spine tingling journey into the history of music in horror films. Movies throughout the ages and their accompanying scores will be exhumed, reanimated and dissected in this special Halloween tour of NMC’s vault of tricks and treats.
Tour starts at 6 p.m., but please show up a few minutes early.
The first snow fall of the year is here! We managed to escape the snow until the end of October, but unfortunately there’s no way to escape the cold weather that is coming along with all of this snow. Sometimes it is hard to dress for the weather yet still be fashionable, so here are a few of my essentials for the winter season!
1. Mini Backpack
Since you need to wear that huge and chunky winter parka, the last thing you want to do is also lug around a purse to carry all of your things in. Mini backpacks are a great way to be fashionable and functional, there’s tons of storage space without taking a whole lot of 
space. For winter try to find a more neutral color. I like to go for leather because you can never go wrong with it, but if you want to try something funky and cool, go for a knit!
2. Oversize/Baggy Sweater
Sweaters are great because they can keep you warm while still looking great! Choose a fun pattern and go for a men’s size to make it bigger. You can find them in any thrift store for an affordable price! Plus, you can easily accessorize this piece with my next winter essential.
3. Infinity/Chunky Scarf
To add some texture and extra warmth in your outfit, add a scarf. I like to go for a neutral colored chunky knit scarf or infinity scarf. Mixing the knit and chunky-ness of the scarf with the wool oversize sweater looks great!
4. Boots
I specifically said boots and not Uggs for a reason. A pair of boots can still be cute if you pair them with the right things. Boots have way better protection from water leaking through your socks than Uggs do. Yet again, get a neutral color and for some playfulness try something lined with fur and wear with leggings. You’ll be comfortable and still get tons of compliments!
5. Beanie
If you want to keep your ears warm but not wear a hood or those annoying, huge earmuffs, wear a beanie! Beanies can keep you warm and won’t mess up your hair as much as a toque. Once you go back inside, just comb your hair back if you’d like. I like to go for a black beanie with a cute symbol or catchy saying on it, to grab attention. It adds an interesting element to your otherwise neutral outfit.
Final Product:
So here’s the final outfit! You get function by using a backpack, you get color and pattern in the sweater, texture with the scarf, warmth from the boots and a fun and interesting element with the beanie. Don’t forget to go with a simple parka or a nice long fur coat and some mittens!
The winter always brings cold weather but that doesn’t mean it has to bring boring outfits.
Those bills may look pretty foreign right now, but they won’t starting next month. Yes, the Bank of Canada will be releasing $5 and $10 polymer notes on the 7th, which is the last remaining implementation. If you read my post on cashier observations from last week, you know I don’t treat those polymer bills kindly. Sometimes I admit I do shove those bills in my till just however because they won’t fold. (Ugh.)
Aside from that occupational annoyance, there are a bunch of things about them that caught me by surprise. These are everyday things, yes?
1) “Plastic bills” can be ripped – it’s proven, but hopefully it’s rare
Yes, yes, these bills are tear-resistant, and not tear-proof, but a tear is a tear. Despite plenty of promotions that state that these bills cannot be ripped as opposed to their paper counterparts, they do, just rarely. I actually tore out the bottom serial number the time I ripped it, so it was a relief that the torn part was still there for me to tape it (phew, didn’t have to take any chances of voiding a bill!). The bottom line is to treat them nicely and don’t harshly shove them into tills like me. 🙂
2) Yikes! Is this melty?
I’ve heard of stories where these bills have melted and then stuck together, and this picture takes the whole thing a step further. I mean, plastic does have an “easy-to-melt” connotation to it, but hopefully this doesn’t happen in large-scale situations.
3) Does it smell like maple syrup?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN_u1cIRwIw
I don’t know, I just smell MythBusters, and a hint of “inside gossip” that only Canadians will figure out. I’m dead sure this theory won’t make sense in other countries, just ours.
4) Design debates
Aside from the new material, debates emerged from the design of these bills as well. When the $20 bills were released, there were concerns that the maple window design depicted a non-Canadian variant. A previous draft of the $100 design was reported to have had an woman of Asian descent depicted on the backside before it was changed. The new $5 and $10 bills have received their share of scrutiny as well; the image of the International Space Station on the $5 was seen as archetypal and the depiction of the railway on the $10 revealed varied connotations. In a deeper scope, the controversies raised by these new designs reflect different interpretations of our identity today. Personally, I don’t see a problem will all of these issues – yet that doesn’t mean others aren’t entitled to have their opinions. What’s your say?
In a few weeks, our wallets will be full of these new sets of bills. I guess it’s good to have some sense of interesting facts associated with them, hey? 😀
Over the weekend, I was scrolling through my Tumblr when I came across a rather disturbing video. The video showed small aquatic animals, such as turtles, salamanders and fish, helplessly squirming around in sealed plastic bags.
I was completely appalled by this. Who in their right mind would ever buy or sell such a thing? However, upon further research, I found that they’re the latest must haves in China, where people are lining up to buy these terrible trinkets from vendors, selling them out of coolers near the entrances of subway stations.
The bags these poor animals are being held captive in contain colored water, infused with crystallized oxygen and other nutrients. The ingredients in the water can supposedly keep the animals alive for up to two months, when in reality, they’re really only living a maximum lifespan of two days, due to a lack of oxygen.
Animal rights activists are furious with these cruel key chains, and have started numerous petitions to ban them. Unfortunately, they are completely legal in China, where there is only a wild animal protection law, in which these animals don’t apply. This has many people questioning the country’s animal protection laws, and has them wanting an official national animal protection law put in place.
Perhaps the most putrid part of this whole situation is that it’s rumored that customers are being encouraged to microwave the deceased animals for a mere 15 seconds, before eating them as a snack. This is an outrageous form of animal abuse that needs to be stopped as soon as possible.
If you would like to help try and ban these horrible key chains, you can sign the petition, at:
http://forcechange.com/16023/stop-the-use-of-living-creatures-in-key-chains/
It’s one thing to attend We Day. It’s a whole different thing to be part of We Day. This year, I took on that role as a CROWD PUMPER! In short, I missed a day of school to scream and dance inside the Saddledome, listening to famous performers and mind-blowing speakers. Over 18,000 people (16,000 students) filled every last seat of the dome on October 24.
Unless you, too, were a crowd pumper at We Day, you’re probably wondering a couple things…
1) Who/what/where/why is We Day?
We Day is a celebration of a year of social action in young people. More importantly, We Day is the start of another year of young people taking action. To some, that could mean collecting cans or serving meals. To others, it may be saving the environment or raising awareness about water or education or poverty or any other issue. There is one common goal: changing the world for the better. Craig and Marc Kielburger, the founders of Free the Children and Me to We, made We Day a reality so that youth could celebrate and rekindle the humanitarian spirit. This season, the stadium-sized event is coming to Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Waterloo, Montreal, Atlantic Canada, the UK, and Seattle. Already, speakers and performers including Demi Levato, Magic Johnson, and 10-year-old Hannah Alper, have inspired students at We Days in Vancouver, Minnesota, Toronto, and now Alberta!
2) What/(who?) are crowd pumpers?
Hundreds (literally) of youth 14 years and older take We Day a step futher and volunteer to be Crowd Pumpers! After an afternoon bootcamp and an evening training session, all of us crowd pumpers filled the aisles of the Saddledome. Our goal? Pump up the crowds! When something powerful was said, we were to clap, cheer, stand up, and energize the stadium. In short, we were there to embody the spirit of We Day and spread it to all the youth.
Attending a volunteering-focused event is one thing, but volunteering at a volunteering-focused event is another. Be part of something bigger 🙂 Live in the moment 🙂 BE EMPOWERED!
My message to you: volunteer. You never know where it could take you 🙂
Images from: http://metronews.ca/news/calgary/834177/we-day-alberta-nelly-furtado-magic-johnson-and-down-with-webster-rock-the-saddledome/#link-to-full-image-for-nojs http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Gallery+Over+students+celebrate+Saddledome+2013/9077722/story.html
As you may know, the latest Mac Pro was dubbed as Darth Vaders Trash Can due to the recent change in aesthetics and possibly specs.
Today we are going to compare the 2013 edition of the Mac Pro and the 2012 edition to see what Apple has changed.
I will start with the design of the product. The 2012 Mac Pro case had a white coat and a much larger body which over all played out to be fairly bulky.
Secondly the specifications of the devices. The 2013 edition has two different specifications, a cheaper version, as well as a more expensive Mac Pro.
For the purpose of this comparison we will be using the more cost effective version of the Mac Pro. The 2013 comes with a quad core processor with up to 3.7 Ghz while the previous Mac Pro had a 3.2 Ghz quad core processor. Ram is a sector in which the newest Mac Pro did well with, 12 gigabytes of DDR3 ram while the 2012 edition had only half of that.
Apple has done a good job on updating the graphics cards of the new Mac Pro. Upgrading to not one but two graphics cards, they are Dual AMD FirePro D300 with 4 gigabytes of video RAM, total of the two Graphics cards. Compared to last years specsm, these are spectacular as the 2012 editon only had a ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1 gigabyte of GDDR5 memory.
There as also been a change on the inside of the device, as most of the extra space seems to be gone, however there are also downsides to this. The new design does not allow for modification of the Mac Pro, due to lack of space and shape differences. And lastly the price, Apple has hiked up the price from what is currently $1200 for the 2012 edition to $3000 for the latest Mac Pro.
Overall, in my opinion the 2013 Mac Pro is over priced compared to the 2012 edition, but it does show potential in what Apple has shown us what they can do to create a high performance computer.
Webcomics that regularly update are rather fun—while it can be slow going (unless you are in the midst of catching up), your favourite can become something to look forward to during the week. These are just some of my own favourites; often good webcomics have links to other good webcomics or you can also browse sharing sites or lists.
Bad Machinery by John Allison
For me, Bad Machinery was a nostalgic return to that lovely old genre of children detective groups (I used to read a lot of those older series such as the Famous Five or The Boxcar Children)—but also very different, perhaps indicated by the presence of actual humour. It’s written in separate episodes so no need to start reading from the very beginning. Bonus: masterful use of all caps and somehow a very prevalent British-feel.
Updates: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Cucumber Quest by Gigi D.G.
In a world filled with rabbit-people, Cucumber has been destined to become the next legendary hero. He does so, with the help of his talented younger sister (Almond) and a wayward knight (Sir Carrot) at the behest of many, including the above featured BLT squad. Oh, and very cute art.
Updates: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddel
On the edge of the ravine that separates natural from manmade, is the Court, part school and part everything else. Arguably my favourite webcomic on the list, Gunnerkrigg Court has a lovely combination of beautiful art and well-drawn settings, an intriguing story line, and an engaging and ever-expanding cast of characters.
Updates: Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Lackadaisy by Tracy J Butler
Set during the Prohibition in St. Louis, Lackadaisy follows a struggling crime gang does their best following the death of their boss. This webcomic is quite attentive to historical detail—except for the anthropomorphized cats. The art, particularly the wealth of expressions, is amazing and only improves as the story progresses.
Updates: sporadically
Le Mime by Zarina Liew
The story of Le Mime is explored in a quiet and gently paced webcomic, Le Mime, which gradually creates an endearing cast of characters. And we get to see some powerful miming as well. They take it seriously.
Updates: Friday
My Cardboard Life by Phillipa Rice
My Cardboard Life is for the most part a daily comic strip, although on occasion the author also creates short story arcs. The charm of My Cardboard Life is how the author takes advantage of the 2-dimensional paper world, which lends itself very well to puns. Bonus: also home to the Polar Bear, the lady-killer that he is.
Updates: often
Paranatural by Zack Morrison:
A clever rendition of Ghostbusters, only using 12-year olds, and well some other stuff too. Bonus: masterful usage of alt text.
Updates: Monday, Friday
If the answer is yes, science may be bringing you one step closer to realizing your long sought out dream. This past week, the highly anticipated trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released (eek, I am beyond excited). Throughout this whole frantic craze for superheroes, I have continuously wondered how realistic the reality of superheroes can be. Can anyone actually build Iron Man’s suit? What about genetically engineering a radioactive spider? And how about Captain America’s “super serum”? The answer, my superhero patriots, lies within science.
I was reading an interesting post on the science of superpowers. Through this article, I began to think about how the science realm can influence the realization of superpowers. Just last year, Dr. Ehab Abouheif and his team of scientists injected a hormonal treatment on regular ants to mimic the effects of a “supersoldier”mutation present in other species of ants. Within an ant colony, each ant has a caste/role to play. Some ants are provided enhanced traits to fulfill their specific castes. These traits are inherent, thus, scientists desired to inject the hormonal variety in ordinary ants. The hormonal injection was successfully injected into two “plain-Jane” ants to create supersoldiers.
Further development in these types of “super-injections” arises in Columbus, Ohio. Brian Kaspar, a biologist from the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital has realized the potential of turning a seemingly “scrawny” organism to transform into a buff, fighting machine. Maybe not so much the fighting machine part, nonetheless, Kaspar has developed an injection that would use a protein called follistatin. Follistatin eliminates myostatin, a gene that is responsible for hindering the growth of muscles. This would allow muscles in an organism to become larger by halting any opposing biological force. After six weeks of injecting the follistatin to stop the production of myostatin, muscles were found to be presumably greater. Dr. Kaspar hopes to hold trials for humans very soon.
With such technological breeches occurring, it may be in the imminent future that mankind sees “superserums” appearing steadfastly in the world. But the real question is, would you take this sort of serum? In the words of Steve Rogers, “Before I became Captain America…I was a civilian and I suppose there’s still a part of me that wants to enjoy the liberties I fight for in that same way…just like any other man.”
Are you one of those people, like me, who like to procrastinate and put things off till the very last possible second? Or maybe you’ve just been so busy that you haven’t really had time to think about your Halloween costume and now all of a sudden it’s only a couple of days away. Oh no! Not to fear! I’ve compiled a list of my four favorite inexpensive DIY Halloween costumes that take practically no time to put together. Without further ado, lets get into it!
1. A Bag of Jelly Beans
I stumbled across this idea on the popsugar.com website and I thought it was just the cutest thing…I had to share! All you do is take a clear plastic garbage bag and cut holes for your arms and legs to fit. Then, you blow up a bunch of small multi-colored balloons and fill the bag. When you’re in the bag and it’s all full of “jelly beans”, tie up the top of the bag with a ribbon and your done! For an added touch, you can draw a nutrition facts label on the back of the bag.
2. A Shadow
Ideally, a black morphsuit is the best way to go about this costume, however those can be expensive and hard to come by. For my variation, simply dress up in all black! It’s as easy as that. Don’t forget black gloves and a black hat and some black face paint. I will however just insert a little warning here about this costume; be VERY CAREFUL if you go out trick or treating as a shadow or even just go outside in the dark, cars will have a hard time seeing you! Bring a flashlight or wear a reflective band; something so that you can be seen.
3. A Big Kid
For this costume, simply throw on your most childish looking pajamas, throw on some slippers and grab a teddy bear and you’re set! Who doesn’t want to be a kid again, even if it’s just for a couple of hours?!
4. A Crayon
All you have to do is dress up all in a color of your choice, paint a party hat your chosen color and make a sign out of paper that says Crayola on it. Done! I went as this for Halloween a few years back and it got a great reaction from people!
Hope this gave those of you who needed some help finding a costume some inspiration. Leave a comment if you have any other ideas for great last-minute DIY costumes!
Below are listed the easy to follow steps for these Spook-tastic nails!
Step 1- file your nails to the desired shape and push back your cuticles.
Step 2- gather your materials. Find some recycled paper to prevent getting your surface covered in nail polish. Grab a straw, white nail polish, red nail polish, nail polish remover, and of course top coat to keep your deign in all day long.
Step 3- on a flat surface such as a table spread out your paper. Apply your white nail polish evenly on all nails. Here’s a tip depending on how sheer your white nail polish is you may want to apply 2-3 coats.
Step 4- on a post it note or piece of recycled paper drop some red polish.
Step 5- pick up your straw and collect the red polish inside it.
Step 6- place the straw about 2 cm away from the nails and blow into the straw to start creating that bloody effect.
Step 7- apply top coat to seal the design and give it some gloss.
Step 8- rock your nails and remember every piece of art is unique if some nails don’t turn out the way you want to don’t be upset. Lastly have a safe and happy Halloween everyone.
Reference goes to: Bri Joyce on Snapguide
This week, we celebrate a fun day, October 31 – it’s Halloween & Trick-or-Treat time!
It’s fun to go around and collect free candy, but what most people don’t know is that originally the celebration on October 31 was something more serious and had a greater impact than the collection of candy.
So what is the historic meaning of October 31?
Well, it is Reformation Day, the celebration that Martin Luther translated the bible into German, and hence made the writings available to everyone, so that even common peasants were able to live freely and not under the bible’s interpretation of the Catholic church.
A friend of his staged an abduction of Martin Luther in a time he was wanted by so many people! Once he brought Luther to his castle in Wittenberg, Luther was safe, and there translated the bible.
Martin Luther sparked a revolution, and his act of translating the bible truly showed how much he believed in the cause, that nobody should be ruled by the Catholic Church, also shown by his famous act of pinning the 95 thesis on the church door.
One of the main points the Catholic Church made citizens believe, was that they could protect loved ones from hell by buying indulgences, and go up the stairs of churches with those indulgences, praying ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ on each step. Doesn’t sound too bad, but only poor people’s relatives would go to hell, and so the already poor had to pay the Church to ‘save’ their relatives from hell – a concept made up by the Catholic Church to create income. Luther strongly opposed this concept, and didn’t care if he made a target of himself by opposing these ideas.
Why do some choose fun and free candy over recognizing a contribution to our personal freedoms? Where does Halloween even come from?
I grew up in a family that respects the religion and the bible, and even though we do go out and collect candy, as well as hand out candy ourselves, we hand out candy whose wrappers have Martin Luther on them, to honour what made all our countries freer, especially impacting the freedom of religion.
Reformation Day also is a greater religious celebration (not just a day to remember Martin Luther and his translation and 95 thesis on October 31), celebrated on October 31, if it is a Sunday, or on the Sunday just before October 31.
If you want to learn more about Martin Luther and all he did, make sure to check out the 2003 movie “Luther’!
Ever since I was little, autumn had always been my favourite season. Harvest moons, snuggling in front of the fireplace with a warm cup of tea, the beautiful reds, oranges and yellows everywhere and the musky smell of leaves that fill the air, all bring immense joy to me.
1. Cozy sweater weather
A good sweater is definitely essential for autumn. Being wrapped in that cozy fabric just makes you forget all your worries. Every summer, I longingly stare at the mass amount of incredibly warm sweaters I’ve accumulated, saddened by the fact that it’s still much too hot for them. As soon as autumn comes around, I immediately break out my sweaters and happily wear them nonstop until spring.
2. Halloween
Whether you’re trick-or-treating or not, Halloween is always lots of fun. Having a scary movie marathon with your friends, baking spooky Halloween treats, dressing up in costume, carving pumpkins, or even just handing out candy are all fun festivities that I love. No matter what age, Halloween will always be awesome.
3. Seasonal drinks
Autumn just isn’t complete without pumpkin spice lattes, apple cider and maple tea. There’s something about the combination of sweet and spicy, which just screams autumn and immediately warms you up.
4. Leaves
The distinct colors and smells of all the autumn leaves fill the streets every year, signalling that fall has finally arrived. Looking around at all these magnificent colors, walking down the street and listening to the sound of the leaves crunching beneath my feet really makes me enjoy nature just a little bit more.
5. Bonfires
Getting cozy around a fire pit and roasting marshmallows will always be the perfect fall activity. With the heat of the fire tingling your face and the cool, brisk air all around you, it’s the perfect combination of hot and cool to feel both snug and refreshed at the same time.
There’s a new type of teaching method going around: Self-directed teaching ourselves.
Yep, that’s right. Instead of just learning and memorizing what the teacher tells you, you go and learn whatever you like on your own, with help from classmates as well. I recently discovered and learned about this new method of teaching through this article. This alternate way of teaching has been shown to work as with the case of a class of students who had Sergio Juárez Correa as a teacher at José Urbina López Primary School.
Sergio Juárez Correa is a teacher at the school who was unsatisfied with the way things were taught to classes, having to go through government-mandated curriculum. To him, it was boring and concluded that it was a waste of time. The test scores were poor, and even those who got good marks weren’t fully engaged in what they were learning. In 2011 he decided that this had to change, and started to search for new teaching methods.
Eventually he stumbled upon a video about the work of Sugata Mitra, a professor of educational technology who conducted experiments where he gave children access to computers. The children without any instruction managed to learn a variety of things, from DNA replication to English. After doing more research he was utterly taken in by these ideas, and on August 21, 2011 decided to try this method out.
He began by giving the students a simple question to solve by writing this on the board:
1=1.00
1/2=?
1/4=?.
At this point he could have explained the concept of fractions and decimals, but instead he walked out of the room and let the students figure it out among themselves.Eventually within a few minutes after a few mistakes and discussion the students had found the answer. With this self-directed method, Juárez Correa’s students eventually went on to have the top math and language rankings in Mexico.
This isn’t the only time this method has been used. Sugata Mitra, the man Correa had found a video of his work on experimented with this method as well. He left a computer in the slums one day to see what the kids would do with it and found that to his surprise they quickly found out how to use the machine. Eventually he decided to load a computer with molecular biology materials and set it up in a village in southern India. Selecting a small group of kids aged 10-14, Mitra told them there was interesting things on the computer and told them to take a look, and then left them alone. After 75 days of the children working out how to use a computer, Mitra returned and gave a test on molecular biology. About one in four questions were answered correctly by the kids, and after another 75 days they started getting every other question right. That’s basically elementary students knowing how to do high school level curriculum, which is amazing.
The educational philosophy behind this method is one where it applies logic or the technology age to the classroom. The access to infinite information through computers and the web is changing how we think and communicate. This teaching method works under the principle where if you’re not the one controlling the learning, you aren’t going to learn as well.
They applied this philosophy in Finland by changing the countries elementary math curriculum from 25 pages to four and shortened the school day to an hour focusing on independence and active learning. By 2003 Finnish students climbed the rungs of the bottom rankings to reach first place among nations.
Personally, I think that this kind of teaching method is better than the way things are taught normally. A lot of the time I find that in school I just go through the motions of learning and memorizing what I’m told, only to forget most of it later. I ask myself a lot of the time about if what I’m learning will ever be used in my life, and I find that the answer is mostly no. If instead of learning the curriculum and learning whatever I like or am interested in with the help of my classmates, I can’t help but think that I could learn a lot more and actually like it, because I’m sure all of you have those days where you really don’t like what you’re learning. With self directed learning, the possibilities are endless. That’s just my opinion though. I know that some people probably wouldn’t be able to self teach themselves if they had the chance to because they’d rather just learn and do what they’re told to. This type of teaching method is starting to appear in schools worldwide, and it’s entirely student self directed. I’m not saying that today’s education system is bad, but from the article I read it seems that this way of teaching would benefit students much more.
If you want to read more on Sergio Juárez Correa and what he did to teach the students and about this teaching method, check out the article here. I strongly recommend you check it out, there’s a lot of things I found very interesting about the article. Maybe it might even inspire you to do some self directed learning on your own.
PARKLUXE 2013- The runway where my dreams came to life.
My intention before attending this event was initially to create a Vlog, but today I decided to share with you my short and vivid experience of living in the world of fashion. If you recognize my writing or know me, you’d know that I am in love with the entire performing arts industry, whether it is modelling, acting, singing or dancing: I’m in! About one and a half weeks ago I attended PARKLUXE with two of my co-bloggers: Lily and Louisa! PARK was a fashion show promoting local artists and rekindling culture.
But in my own words I wouldn’t say that was all PARKLUXE was about. Personally, it was about art, connecting with people who have the same interests as you, making contacts, getting noticed and even better naturally fitting in to your designated spot on this planet. Okay, okay.. maybe the last one was a bit of an over exaggeration but that is definitely how I felt. That fashion show was somewhere I felt confident, it was a place of comfort, and a place where everything felt destined from the moment I walked in. In the first five minutes of my arrival, the photographers had already snapped five pictures of me! Not to sound self-centered but I love being in front of the camera, its an internal type of happiness. For me this event took me to a different world, one of sophistication, of talent, of art. I loved getting dolled up and attending the event, in some ways I even felt like I was apart of the industry.
That night lit my inspiration candle that had seemed to fade away for a while, and has now brought me back on my feet. I learned that dreaming isn’t enough, you must work to achieve your dreams. To be honest, if you sincerely love your dream it shouldn’t even be an issue because your dream should be what inspires you to breathe and smile. That night I realized that the “arts” is my personal place of comfort, I’ve always loved performing and if I ever wanted to truly be apart of such a brilliant industry it was going to take a lot more that just day-dreaming and fantasizing about living my dream; I’d actually have to utilize my time to the best of my abilities in order to take time out for what I aspire to do one day, being in front of the camera to act and model.
Parkluxe taught me that their are millions of people out their with the same dream as you and a question arose in my head…what makes me more special then all those with the same dream as me?
The answer of course was the amount of dedication and determination I am willing to put into achieving my dreams, and that goes out to everyone with a dream- no matter what it is. If you want to achieve you must be willing to go the extra mile and sacrifice the insignificant things in life in order to obtain what really matters to you.
Perhaps one day in the near future I’ll attend another one of these amazing fashion shows and this time be walking the runway instead of watching… 😉 And I truly encourage you to work hard to accomplish your dreams, because they are truly what make your heart smile.
Thank you PARKLUXE for making my first fashion show so insightful and memorable. 
You haven’t experienced awkward until….
– You try to tickle a person who isn’t ticklish
-You accidentally touch someone’s hand on transit
-You keep singing once everyone has stopped
-Your voice cracks in front of everyone you know
-You put an item in someone else’s shopping cart, instead of your own
– You trip and fall onto your crush
– You accidentally sing in public
– You forget that you are wearing a skirt, then doing something questionable
– You wave at a complete stranger, thinking it’s your friend
– You stare into space, but you’re actually staring at someone
– Breaking trains *cough cough Audrey*
– You do something questionable to a stranger, thinking that they are someone else that you know
– You take a selfie in public
– You reach for the speakers in the grocery store, while trying to Shazam
– You spill food in a restaurant
– You talk about someone, not knowing they are right next to you
– You are the only one laughing at a joke you made
Creds to Audrey for helping me out with this post!