'All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.'

Everyone has a dream but only some people have the strength and determination to fulfill it. Some dreams are big and others small but all are worth fulfilling. Many people try their whole lives to live their dream but never can quite reach it. You can live your dreams if you have the strength and determination.

Bethany Hamilton, a Hawaiian girl was surfing at a beach on the north coast of Kauai, Hawaii when a shark bit off her left arm. At the time Bethany was only 13 but knew with all her heart that she wanted to be a pro surfer. During the days she was in the hospital all she could think about was, will I ever be able to surf again. Nobody thought she would even get back in the water, and never imagined she would attempt to surf again. With all of her strength and determination Bethany is now a Pro. Surfer. She is living her dream.

Cadel Evans’ dream was to win the Tour De France. He came from a small town in Australia and rode the Tour De France 7 times. In 2007 and 2008 he came second and in 2008 he was so close to coming 1st, but he never gave up. He continued riding the Tour and finally this year he won. Not only did his dreams come true but he made history, he was the first Australian to win the Tour De France and is among the five oldest winners of the race. His dream came true because he never gave up.

Fred Hollows was a very talented ophthalmologist. His dream was for no child to be blind from a sickness. He traveled to undeveloped countries to help restore children’s eyesight. He was amazingly successful as he fixed thousands of children's eyesight and now he has passed away but there is a foundation called ‘The Fred Hollows Foundation’ which continues his help to many children. Not only did he live his dream but he made many kids dreams come true to.

Living your dream is hard enough but these 3 people did more than that. These 3 people not only lived their dream but made history or helped others live their dream in the process. It may not be easy but it is possible and if you try hard enough you might just achieve more.

Society’s Uncertainty

Our generation
Is absolutely unacceptable
Integrity has morphed into uncertainty.
It is infection disguised as the hip manner of society
The ones who do not follow the trends and fads
Become invisible
Even if
The opinions of authority declare the contrary
It has reached the point,
Where wisdom isn’t enough

Fighting in Silence

Most people that fight for what they believe in do it by being an up-stander. Their are very few people that have been able to fight for what they believe in without saying a word to the person creating the conflict. During World War 2, in Nazi Germany a woman named Irena Sendler did just that.

Irena Sendler was the daughter of a doctor that treated jews. She grew up learning to help others no matter what race or religion. By the time WW2 started she was 30 and had very strong opinions about treating someone differently because of their religion or race. Many of her friends were sent to the ghetto and thousands of children, the ghetto was jammed full with deceases everywhere. What awaited them was death.

Irena Sendler knew 'The only way to save them was to get them out'. Almost everyday she would enter the ghetto with a plan in mind, to save as many life's as she could. Getting the children out of the ghetto was the hard part, not just for her but for the children. Many of the children weren't lucky enough to ride in a truck, the had to hide in a toolbox or a suitcase, anything that would hide the fact that babies of toddlers were in them.

Up until the day Irena Sendler got caught she had saved around 2,500 children from the ghetto. She stood up for what she believed in almost everday during WW2 knowing that one day she might get caught. She faught for her beliefs in scilence, a way that many people can't because the simply didn't know it was possible. Most people that silently fight don't get recognized simply because no-one knows what they did to help people one by one. They saved life's.

I think Irena Sendler was an amazing person, she fought for equality, something our world really needs. I know not everyone is stereotypical or racist but many people are and thats one of the many things that stop our world from achieving peace. Even though WW2 was a long time ago it still is worth something. Without people like Irena many people would be dead. I think Irena is an inspiration because she helped out as much as she could and did her part in saving the jews from the ghetto, something most people at that day in age wouldn't dare. Yes it was a risk but one worth making.

Peace Is What The World Strives For

Growing up I have learnt about war, watched them on T.v, and read about them. It might be interesting to learn about because they are a part of history we cant ignore. But do we really want another World War or any War really? I can't even imagine living through one. If there was to be a WW3, well everyone knows that wouldn't end well.

In WW2 many countries were at war, even in towns people were living an unjust life. Everyone was hoping for peace, peace that took many years to come. Even when it came the world wasn't considered utopia. The sad truth is that right now at this second somewhere in the world people are fighting, some of those fights are wars and some are just the regular fight with a friend. The point is that the world isn't peaceful.

If I was lucky enough to have the chance to create a 'New World' and choose just one characteristic I would, by far choose peace. I have been lucky enough to live in somewhat peaceful societies but I know many people don't have that luxury. Peace is what the world strives for, yet we haven't been able to reach that goal. There is always someone that wants more than what they are given.

If our 'world' started out with a goal of peace it would have easily been for-filled in a matter of years. Many people may have a different opinion on what the main characteristic should be if we could start all over. But I think peace is needed before you go into detail like organization and rules. I think one overall goal works best because rules, organization ect. fall into place whilst you are trying to reach your overall goal. Peace is what we strive for today, so why don't we strive for it tomorrow?

The image I chose is called 'Bird of Peace'. I chose this image in my eyes portrays peace because of the bird outline in white. I think that white is a color of peace when it is placed with many bright/ happy colors.

P, What could that mean?

The other day I was told to find my learning profile by doing a few tests. I was told to find my dominant hand, leg, ear, and eye. After doing that we were asked a few questions to find out what hemisphere of the brain is dominant. My dominant hemisphere of the brain is Gestalt (right). That means I can't follow instructions easily and I like to see the whole picture.

We also went through a chart to find our learning profile. Mine is P. I was eager to see what it meant. I read a sheet about profile P and it sounded just like me.

It said that I learn best through movement and looking at the whole picture. This makes sense because I need to be moving to keep my focus by doing things such as doodling. But luckily for me moving around comes easily so i don't often lose focus unless I am in a test or stressful situation. Strategies that help me learn are things like lazy 8's and Thinking caps from Brain Gym. Making lists and learning time management, pretty much anything more logic will make me more whole brained, which will help when I am under stress. I would like my teachers to know that durning class I may move a bit and doing things like games or skits will help me process information. Sitting at the back of the classroom is one of the best spots for me because whilst I am moving I won't distract others.

The picture above was taken from http://www.c2cinternet.org/gpage23.html . I chose it because it show how people dominant to the right and left hemisphere's of the brain function.

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.