A small mistake making a big difference

Jesus Colon is a negro. One night, he had finished work and was returning by train. In the subway, he saw this white lady, she was carrying a heavy suitcase, a baby and had two children following by her side. He was thinking if he should help, and he was thinking about how the lady would react. He decided not to help because since the lady was white and he was black, there might be racism, she might think Colon was trying to rob her or even worse. After that incident, Colon felt that he had failed and his identity had been banished. Since that incident, it had changed his identity. This also relates to the poem by John Donne, in the poem, it said we are all mankind and we are all connected and we should always help mankind. Colon failed to do that because he just ran away. This story also relates to the video by Jason Van Genderen. In the video, they showed the beggars, the white lady relates to the beggars because she was ignored by people and left alone, isolated on an island. To me, this would've been a really hard decision. I think that there is no good or bad when your in a situation like this. If you ask the lady, she might think you are willing to help or she might think that your going to kidnap. If you leave, it shows that your scared of the lady's reaction and it's alright to be scared. Like sometimes un school, people are scared to ask a question, because he/she is scared of the teacher's reaction, just like the lady in Jesus Colon's story.

In the poem by James Berry, it said "do we shut our eyes", that also relates to the video by Van Genderen when everyone were just ignoring the homeless people around them. The poem also said "What do we do with a difference? Do we stand and discuss its oddity or do we ignore it?". In Colon's story, he ignored the difference, in the video, everyone also just ignored the different people and they just think that only normal people live in this world, but their wrong. In school, different races and religions get on well, I haven't seen any quarrel about races. So in my school, it is the total opposite with this story. The painting by Picasso shows two doves different in color and still happy together. The picture was selected by me because the two doves are like Jesus Colon and the white lady, but their actions and their thoughts are the total opposite. They are both united but Jesus Colon didn't think that that was going to happen. Even difference can be united as one.

Painting from: http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-list/do-search/?search=picasso&page=2&cr=10

The will to fight for freedom

Aung San Suu Kyi was an Oxford graduate and a Noble Peace Prize winner. In 1945 June 19, she was the pro democracy leader of Burma and Burma got rid of the Brithsh, eventhough her father supported the British during World War 2. Sadly, her father was assassinated when she was 2 years old. in 1964, she studied philosophy and politics at Oxford University. She then went to work for the UN in New York. She is married to Michael Arns who is a Tibet scholar and they have 2 children, both of them are boys. She wanted the killing in Burma to stop and Burma needed a leader. She overwhelmingly won the elections. Then, the military dictatorship placed her under house arrest. In 1995, she was briefly released of house arrest. In July 1995-2000, she was freed from house arrest but there was a dillema, she could see her husband but never allowed back into her country and she realized her husband was dying. She then had a quote saying "Drops of water that make up the ocean.", meaning that nothing is too small.

This also relates to Daedalus and Icarus. Daedalus wanted freedom from King Minos and he built wings so he could gain his freedom. Aung San Suu Kyi had to make really hard decisions. I always have to make decisions and I think in my mind "this is such a hard decision to make". Now, after this story, I know that all my decisions are way easier than Aung San Suu Kyi's. I think that what Aung San Suu Kyi did was right. The fact that she could give people freedom is already heroic. I wouldn't be able to do that.

The painting by Toni Littlejohn is a bird heading up into the air. I chose this painting because the bird is getting freedom. The bird is like Aung San Suu Kyi because she also wanted freedom, same with the bird, it wants freedom.

Painting from: http://tonilittlejohn.com/gallery/show?keyword=Paintings&subkey=+Forms

Mankind and alien

The feeling everyone has on an island is isolated because there is no civilization on an island and you are separated from the outside world.

The poem by John Donne is telling us that no man should be alone by themselves, everyone should be with civilization. The quote "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind." tells us that even when one man dies, it affects him because he is part of mankind. "if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less". That shows that when a little part of Europe falls out, Europe gets smaller. Same with the one where someone dies, the civilization gets smaller.

The video by Jason Van Genderen also has the same message as the poem by John Donne. It shows that no one should feel left out even if your a different race, religion or from a different country. That is saying that he is an alien, but everyone is mankind. In the video, the beggars are on the street begging for money and everyone just ignores him and walks past him. I think they notice him but just ignoring him. Just because he is a beggar, different from everyone else, it doesn't mean the that you should just ignore them, how would you feel if you were a beggar and people ignoring you? The beggars feel isolated like how you would feel on an island, they are detached from the outside world. They showed the sign saying "This is freedom?", for everyone else but not the beggars. They are isolated away from civilization.

Van Genderen's video's theme relates to the story "The Island" by Armin Greder. This is because a stranger gets stuck on an island. Everyone there is different from him and he is treated unequally. No man should be treated as an outsider as he is too part of mankind. It relates to the video when the beggars were just waiting and everyone just walked past him. This also relates to Theseus and the Minotaur. The Minotaur is also part human but King Minos just wanted to put him in captivity because he looked like a monster. It makes the Minotaur feel isolated away. When I first came to this school, I was all alone on an island because I didn't know anyone there except one friend who was in the same kindergarten as me, Dzaim. When he wasn't there, I was isolated away from civilization and I was alone.

The painting by Edouard Manet shows that everyone is involved in civilization. No one is left out and everyone are united. I chose this painting because I am trying to tell you that this is how the world should be, eveyone together and no one should feel like an alien, on an island or isolated. We are all mankind and should all be treated like mankind.

Painting from: http://dev.laptop.org/~arael/preview/famous_paintings/famous_paintings.xol/painting/Edouard_Manet-800px-Edouard_Manet_036.jpg

What items are in me?

It wasn’t easy to find 10 things to represent me as a person, but having thought harder about it, these are the ten things.

Most of the items have to do with sports because I enjoy playing sports. I have included a shuttlecock as badminton was the first racket sport I played, which I started when I was five. You can count this as a team spor,t but I'd rather play singles. When you are alone on the court, you can see if your skills are better but in a team, it is more about teamwork, although skills are important too. After I hit a shot perfectly on the net of the racket, it feels that the shot is unstoppable.

My second racket sport I played was tennis. That's why you can see a tennis ball on the floor, but I started late in tennis, about 3 years ago. To me, tennis is my preferred racket sport today although when I first started, I didn't quite enjoy it, as I struggled with backhand. I prefer tennis than badminton because for tennis, you use your whole arm and in badminton, you only use your wrist. So tennis you use more strength and it is easier because a wrist can't make you hit that hard.

The other sport I enjoy is soccer, which is why I chose a soccer ball. On the soccer ball, you can probably see a little red and yellow picture stuck onto the soccer ball. That is the soccer team I support, Manchester United. I have supported this team since I started to like soccer, which was two years ago. Soccer is a sport which requires a lot of teamwork and sometimes, when you pass to the opponent by mistake, and they score, the team has to understand that no one is to blame - not the keeper or not me for the horrible pass. So sometimes soccer can be frustrating, but nevertheless, I enjoy it. I still have lots of room for improvement as I am not very good at it.

On the floor, you can see a piece of paper colored in black, because black is my favourite color. I like the color because it represents darkness and mysteriousness. However, that does not mean that I like everything black as, sometimes I think lighter colors look better on some items. Since the color black is dark, it makes the other lighter colors stand out and the colors shine out.

You can also see a pack of UNO cards. I like to play UNO with my friends or siblings when I am bored. My friend taught me how to play UNO when I was about 5 years old and I have enjoyed it ever since. I am glad he thought me how to play, otherwise, I don't think I would know how to, till now. A packet of Doublemint chewing gum is on the floor - I like it too. You can see a book which I read and enjoyed a lot. My friend from my previous school introduced me to Stormbreaker, the first book, and since reading it, I have consciosuly made it a point to read all his books, including the other series. The author is Anthony Horowitz. My favourite book of his is Crocodile Tears. This book is the last book in the series. It is about this fourteen year old boy’s parents passing away, but he never got a chance to meet them. He then replaces his father and becomes a spy. I started reading the first series last year.

Last but not least, I enjoy music. There is the Guitar Hero game which was given to me for my birthday a year ago. I do not play it often enough, thus I am not very good at it, but I do enjoy it. It is probably the best wii game I have played so far. The other, is the clarinet - I started playing the clarinet since I joined ISKL. When I first started playing the clarinet, I found it to be quite easy after learning the first few basic notes. Now, as it gets increasingly more complicated and I join the intermediate band, I realise that it is not so easy after all!

Now, by describing 10 things related to me, I am sure you have a better understanding of myself. What 10 things best describe you?

Why I chose this quote

I chose "Undertaking the journey with spirit" as my heading because it tells us no matter what, we have to complete the journey with spirit. It also has a bit of courage in this quote when it tells you not to give up and complete the journey. To me, this quote means that if you want to arrive at success, you have to undertake and continue the journey with the good spirit you have.

The reason I chose this image was because it tells you to to have succes, you first need a journey. It shows that you can never get success without a journey.

Resources for this picture: http://ecofirst-helmy.blogspot.com/2008/12/smart-partner-plan.html

“Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.”

Alex Noble

website:http://thinkexist.com/quotation/success_is_not_a_place_at_which_one_arrives_but/221775.html

Matt Harding's video

When he danced with the children in Africa, although they were poor, they still looked as if they had everything they needed. He then travelled to different place such as Australia, India, Zanzibar and many other countries. Wherever he went to dance, most of the time people would join in the dance and if he was alone then of course no one. So this video shows us that there is globalization everywhere in this world.

When Matt Harding said "Globalization is forcing our brains to evolve" I would say that is true. When people travel all around the world to different countries, they will surely see different cultures, that is globalization, and forcing our brains to evolve into different cultures. Which is why what Matt Harding said was true.

I chose this picture because it shows globalization. It shows like everyone is united together on the earth. This picture is by: http://socialcash.typepad.com/

Compliment Guys...Happy!

On the question, it asked when was the last time I received a compliment, so, the last time I received a compliment was when my mom told me that I am improving in badminton. That compliment made me feel really happy and makes me want to improve more. It gives me more determination to improve. The last time I complimented someone was when I told my cousin that he was really good at doing card tricks. It made him feel happy and he thanked me for saying that compliment. I really think compliments make people more determined so it is a good thing.

The reason I chose this picture is because as you look at it, for me it makes me feel happy as it is colorful and when I look at it, it makes me feel like I have just received a compliment when I did not.

Resources:

This picture is by Verna Weatherly and Ralph Auf der Heide.

http://www.garde-rail.com/exhibits/shiny.html