How Do We become What We Are Today?

Every move we take, every choice we make, it all makes a difference good or bad. Jesus Colon was at the subway station very late one night right before he made a decision that changed the way he thought about things.

Jesus Colon walked aboard a train one night. It was late. A woman with two little children a baby and a suitcase in her hand was also on the train. When it got close to Colon's stop he saw the woman with the two children, a baby and a suitcase get ready to get off. he asked himself, do I help her? he wondered what would she think? what would a black, Puerto Rican man past midnight approaching a white lady look like? would she say yes? he was to worried of what she would think so he walked straight past. This connects to 'No Man is an Island' by John Donne because in Donne's poem the line 'No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main' relates to Colon's story because he felt different and ashamed of his differences, he felt like an island, though really he is a part of the continent because he realized he did the wrong thing and he will never do it again. Colon's story for me relates to everyday things like just smiling in to hallway to someone can really make a difference.

Colon still to this day regrets the choice he made in the subway station and said that he would never not help someone again no matter what the response might be because at least you tried.

No Man Is An Island

No Man is an Island

By John Donne

No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

I think that both the visual poem created by Jason van Genderen and the written poem by John Donne above have the same message. The message being no man deserves to be alone or forgotten, each man is part of the world and there loss or suffering will make us weaker as a whole. Fatmire Feka's speech

Donne's poem really expresses the interconnection between everyone and how one loss or bad thought makes everyone weaker. The line ' any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind' really shows how when one man dies or one man suffers even if you don't know who they are it is horrible to know that you have so much and they suffer.

Van Genderen's visual poem's message is to help others because if you just sit back and watch you will get weaker. In the video there are little clips of homeless people in Sydney and New York and that to me really expresses the message many people go without while other have everything they want. Life may be unfair but no one should ever have to suffer.

10 Objects That Represent Me

A flag, a camera, an origami crane, a silly band music note, my iPod, Vegemite, Japanese doll, a shell, a friendship bracelet, and a packet to sour Razzles, How could all these objects represent me?

My flag that says "Aussie Aussie Aussie" and that represents me because I come from Australia and I lived there for 10 years. When I look at my flag, all of my memories come flooding back, I remember having my dogs running up and down the hallway and my cousins laugh. I miss my friends, my house, and the clear blue skies.

My camera: I love taking photos and then looking back at all the fun times I have had. I got my camera for Christmas in 2008 and ever since then I have had a passion for taking photos. On that Christmas day I took a photo of every plant at my grandparents house and I was so happy that I had received that camera because I'd wanted one for so long. When you look through a camera lens you see the world differently almost like everything is perfect for that moment, or you see into the essence of a moment. When you press down the button and look back at the photo and you feel amazing that it is possible to capture a moment that tells a story.

An Origami crane because I always make origami things and I love how many amazing things you can do with paper. A few years ago I brought an origami book and had learnt how to make some basic things then when I moved to Malaysia, I met a girl called Sari who was Japanese and she always taught me how to make a different thing every day on the bus and soon I grew to love origami and made something daily. Fold by fold you slowly start to see what you’re making and once complete I undo it again and start over to memorize every fold.

A music note silly band because I play the clarinet. I started the clarinet when I was nine and I played with my school band in Australia and I had lessons weekly and when I moved to Malaysia I couldn’t do band for 6 months and then I started up again and playing the clarinet was so important to me because it was the only thing I have stuck at my whole life. The day I brought my clarinet I played it all day trying to remember what I had learnt in Australia.

My iPod because I love listening to music and listening to all the latest songs. I saved up for my Ipod touch for 6 months earlier this year and I remember the day I bought it, I was so excited, all the waiting was worth it. Most of my friends and I like Justin Beiber, but I appreciate all kinds of music, it all depends on my mood.

A jar of Vegemite because it is one of the foods that not many people eat it. I have eaten vegemite ever since I can remember and it is one of the things I have liked my whole life and all my friends in Australia have eaten it since they were little too. I also like Vegemite because it reminds me of when I was little. I ate a vegemite sandwich for lunch nearly every day for five years and yet I still love it.

A Japanese Doll because I collect them and I love the way they look. One day I was shopping and I saw these modern Japanese dolls with personalities and I loved them so much that for my birthday I got a few and somehow now I have 9 so when I see one while travelling I buy them if they look a bit different from everything else.

I picked a shell because I love the beach and go there every Christmas and I also collect shells whenever I go to the beach, I went to Sabah this summer and I stayed at a Backpackers Island for a night and they had some amazing shells, so my dad and I picked a lot up so that we could make a jar of shells from our trip so we could have great memories.

I picked a friendship bracelet because I love my friends and they are always there for me and I also think that they are like tying your friendship together. I like my friendship bracelet because I made it with some of my closest friends and whenever I see it I think of them and all the fun times we had in our sleepovers.

The final object I chose is a packet of Sour Razzles because they’re my favourite kind of candy and even though I have only had them once in my life, I still find them amazing because first they are candy and then after you have chewed on them they turn into gum.

I’m a person who treasures my friends because they are always there for me.

If you don't get lost, there's a chance you may never be found

I picked the quote 'If you don't get lost, there's a chance you may never be found' because i agree with the meaning of it. Basically the meaning is, if you don't step out of your comfort zone you will never live life to the fullest. Another way of saying it is, if your don't try new things your life will never change. I think that the only thing that stands in the way of taking risks is fear and even from my past experiences fear can sometimes take over. To me this quote takes a big part in life because your decisions make up your life no matter what it is about.

The picture to the left is called 'Fear', I picked this painting because fear is the one thing that can hold you back from taking risks.

Connecting with Others

I agree with Matt Harding’s essay 'Connecting With A Global Tribe' because people all around the world feel a need to connect with each other on a human level. I think that a lot of evidence is shown in his youtube vidieo 'Where The Hell is Matt' because people from different cultures joined in with his silly dance in a similar way. I think that Matt's idea of connecting with others by dancing is very smart because most of the time when you are dancing you are the same as every one else and the differences leave while you are dancing.

The painting above is called Love Hands and I picked this painting because to me it represents to cultures coming together as one.

Compliments Create Happiness

I think that the 'Compliment Guys' (two students at Purdue University) are doing something good for the students in there university because receiving compliments boosts your confidence and makes you happy no matter what it is about or who says it, it’s the fact that someone spent the time to complement you. I also think the fact that there nearly everyday puts a smile on peoples faces.

The picture above is called 'imaginary happiness' i picked this picture because to me this painting is filled with happiness and happiness is what you receive with compliments.

The Giver

I chose, would you want your future to be decided by others? Why or why not?

In a way I think it is slightly good to be given your job because other wise as what happened to Jonas he got given a job that he would’ve never picked. He is getting so many benefits like seeing colour, snow and sleds. In this way people choosing your job is good.

I also think that you shouldn’t have your job picked for you because you can end a with a job that you dislike and have to live with it the rest of your life. Even though most of the people in Jonas’s community like the job that they are given I think it is because they think that everything the committee of elders do is correct so they might get a job and dislike it but think that they were given it for a reason.

Overall I think that people in Jonas’s community should have the right to pick there own job because people should have the right to use there mind and at least have some freedom.

Void

"The International School of Kuala Lumpur provides an exceptional education that challenges each student to develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge and understanding to become a highly successful, spirited, (silence) socially responsible global citizen."

I think that adding silence before " social responsible global citizen" creates void because it says 'highly successful, spirited' before the silence and it creates a question in the listeners mind. Highly successful, spirited what?????. I think the tension it creates is unexpected because there is just a long paragraph and then suddenly there is a pause and creates tension.

{The End is Here}

Dear Will,

I have a few questions to ask you. The first would be what is life like in the White Mountains Also how did your relationship change with Henry it seemed like you became better friends although you had to get along to be able to reach the White Mountains. Another would be did you think you would ever make it to the White Mountains after the tripods started to follow you

I can tell you now that I wouldn’t have survived the journey because it would be so horrifying to know that any second you could be captured and your dreams would be demolished, and you wouldn’t have a mind of your own.

Before I have to end this letter I would like to say that Henry, Beanpole, and your self are lucky to have arrived safely, as Ozymandias said only 1 out of twenty kids make it to the White Mountains.

Regards Riley

REVIEW THE BOOK:

Overall I liked the book except for a few chapters such as The City of The Ancients and The Capping Day. Besides those chapters I enjoyed reading and finding out what would happen next. I also didn’t enjoy the ending because it was only two pages long and had barely any description when it could have been a little more detailed and it would have made the book so much better.

Freedom

Will has discovered that life in the castle with the Comte and Comtesse is quite good infact it is so good that Will is starting to think that being capped isn’t so bad. He could become a knight and be able to stay with them and live there forever and not go to the White Mountains. Although life under the tripods, and not having the freedom to think doesn’t make life worth living. ‘What value did courage have, without a free and challenging mind to direct it?’ Will couldn’t bear the thought of not having a free mind. After realizing that Eloise had no true feelings towards Will he knew that life at the castle wasn’t a possibility if he cant think freely and enjoy it what is the point of even having it.

6th grade so far

So far in 6th grade I've learnt many skills, the most useful would be learning French because there is so much you can do with a language like learning the history of the country and the culture and customs of the people in France as well as respecting them by speaking there language because it makes it easier for them to understand.

My greatest challenge yet would be trying out for ISTA because through the process I had to also fill out a question sheet which helped the possibility of getting in a lot so I spent 3 nights working on getting the best answers possible finally I came to the conclusion with the best answers I'd come up with. When the day came for the audition I was so nervous because I had no idea what it would be like, but in the end it all worked out and the hard work payed off because to my surprise I got in.

Throughout the rest of the year I would like to work on my acting because it can be a useful skill for many things. Communication would benefit a lot from acting because you have to communicate with the audience. You can also benefit with learning to use your diaphragm, which is good because you can talk louder without screaming.

I positively contributed to the 6th grade community when I helped out with the breast cancer fun raiser that Zarina did by making ribbons and I worked at the stand for a bit. I also tried my best everyday to do everything with my very best effort.

My first goal for the New Year is to always remember my planner to all of my classes. The main step I will take to reach this goal would be to check my locker before every class to make sure I have my planner in my hands for the next class. My second goal is to always be on time for every class. To reach my goal I will talk less with my friends and always aim to get to class early so I wont be late.