#24

I think that the couple that gave away $11.2 million are very interesting. They didn't care that they could make their dreams come true and travel, they wanted to ensure that their family was taken care of and then return favors to those that had helped them throughout their life. What the Large's did was amazing as they showed that no matter who you are you can make a difference.

#18

I found Tim's Story to show the truth about many peoples' point of view on life. Many people that we walk past every day are very self-absorbed and are only worried about how they look or how others think of them. I think that it is important to realize that we, that live in North America, are very lucky to have the life that we do. Though there are some people in Canada suffering from mental or physical disabilities that are pushed aside because able-bodied people believe that they are better. This is absolutely wrong. All these people want its to be noticed and treat like adults instead of children their whole lives. Tim was able to see past their disability and in the end he found his true calling in life and led a happier life because of it.

The rain in Kenya is the most incredible thing. When you are little, you run out in the rain and just love the feeling of the rain on your skin. Though now people worry about their hair, make-up, clothes, etc. We let the media get in the way of our innocence and freedom to run in the rain like when we are children. North Americans need to gain back their freedom and stop dwelling about what others think. The people of Kenya live life to the fullest even though they have much less in material things than we do. They believe that one day their life will improve, though along the way they don't sulk about the things they do have, they celebrate what they do have. Sometimes we all need to drop anything that we are doing to just run in the rain. 

The man that escaped North America as he was tired of living in the game of Survivor was a very moving story. He realized how cut - throat North America really was. People in North America are always trying get ahead of one another and think about themselves before they think of others. This is a sad way of living, but because of all of the competitions that we have in our society, we are all raised to try to get a head of of each other instead of getting along with our neighbours.

#21

We can apply the lessons of the zebras to our own lives here at home  to learn to accept other people's help and to be open to living as a community rather than an individual. If we stick together throughout the good and the bad then we will become one unit and be one large family.

#22

Other than my family, I feel the most connected to the amazing people that I work with during the summer at Camp Bimini. I have been going to Camp Bimini as a camper since I was five and over the last two years I have been able to work there as a counselor, kitchen assistant and a floater. This connection with these people is very important to me as they are like a second family to me. While you are at camp, no one cares what you look like, who you hangout with or how  much money your family has. Everyone is friends and accepts each other for who they are. Over the last two years I have become closer and closer with the Bimini family and it has already had a large impact on my life. As of right now, it has given me the confidence to speak in front of a large group of people, shown me how to deal with different types of children and given me a more positive out look on life. In the future, I know that I will continue learning from the campers that I meet and the other staff members that I am lucky enough to work with. I wouldn't even be able to guess what I may learn in the future as I know every time I go there I am blown away by the caring, loving sense of family. 

#16

I think that happiness can is one word, but has a different meaning to everyone. To some it may to be always around people, though to others it could be to always be alone. To me, happiness means to be living life to the fullest, being surrounded by people I love and to be free. Many believe that happiness comes to you and that if it was meant to be then it will happen, though I think that we have to want to be happy and put an effort forward in order to reach our goal to be perfectly happy with our life. I think that we can recognize being happy by realizing what things we enjoy spending time on, and trying to do those things often so that we can continue living life to the fullest. 

#20

I wasn't surprised by the results of my Personality Demensions as I had around the same results last year as well, though instead of blue being my lowest colour, it is now gold. I have thought about how I react to different situations and I now realize why I get along with some people and often disagree with others. I think that this process is very helpful to learn what areas I need to improve on and what my strengths are. I wasn't overly surprised by any of my friend's results as I was able to guess their top colour easily, though their lower colour's I had a harder time guessing.

#19

Pay it Forward was a very inspirational movie as it was doing simple things that would make a large difference in another person's life. I think that if we all took the challange to Pay it Forward to three people, we could all enjoy ourselves more and as we will know that we have made a difference. I do believe that it is a better way of living as if we all took part more people would learn to care about others and take the time to get to know one another, we will live for a longer time than the Roseto Mystery.

#17

I think it is sad that 90% of the people didn't stop for the man on the side walk yet it is very acurate. Every day we see people pushed aside and forgot about because they don't have the same style as us, they don't have enough money to afford the same lifestyle or they are too shy to introduce themselves. I think that it is a big problem that we need to overcome as we as humans don't care unless it will benefit us. We need to stop thinking about oureselves and help others every once in a while.

#15

I wasn't surprised by the results that showed that Nigeria, Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador was the home to the happiest people alive. I never thought that the United States, even though is one of the wealthiest countries, would have the happiest people. The United States is a country of material things that people think will bring happiness, but once they achieve it they realize that it isn't what will make them truly happy. Many people believe that we can learn a lot from the United States and how they gain their wealth, but I believe that the U. S. should learn from Nigeria, Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador how to be truly happy in life.

#14

I think that there is a lot of value in campaigns like this as they encourage people to go out of their way to be kind to one another. It can be a simple thing such as smiling or holding the door open for the people behind you but it can make a big difference in other people's day. I think that these campagins are worthwhile as once people see the difference that they can have in other people's lives they will probably continue to be kind to others after the campaign is over. 

#13

Kieth's story was very inspirational and it shows that by helping others we can find ourselves. His story is moving because he helped other people because he had the drive to do so. Even though he didn't even really have the money, he found a way to make a difference in many people's lives through simple acts of kindness. I think that if everyone began to slowly do things for others and expect nothing in return, we will be a closer and happier world.

#12

I think it is amazing that a 14 year old girl would think of this remarkable idea just because she saw a homeless man on the side of the street. If everyone was willing to give up half of their belongings or even just some of their time like this family has, then many others could have a better life. No one would have to feel hungry or die of curable illnesses, if we work together to have a better world, we will all benefit. We may not benefit by gaining money or belongings but we will be more of a community and enjoy our lives more.

#11

My leadership quote was "Don't go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson. My quote showed that to be a leader you can't always go where someone has been before, you need to believe in yourself enough to trust your heart and go in a new direction. This was appropriate because this class is all about finding a way to lead others in the right direction using our ideas to make a difference. This shows that you have to take chances to succeed in life.

#9

 I think that we have a lot to learn from Kim Phuc's story. We can learn that we can't bomb villages and cities where people live and expect there to be no consequences. Many people were killed by the first blast, though if they survived, they would die from their burns. Kim Phuc was a lucky girl that a photographer was there and captured the pure fear and pain that she was feeling in that moment, as she then was able to get the medical attention she needed. No one should be given medical care just because they were on the front of newspapers, everyone should be given a fair chance at getting much needed medical attention.      

#8

Marc Keilburger's journey to join the Me to We philosophy of life was different from his younger brother's Craig because Marc had always dreamed of a job with the Canadian government making a lot of money. Though while in first year university Marc was a page, fetching water when one man stopped him and asked him if he would like to go to Thailand. At first Marc declined the man's offer as he wanted to stay in school focused on making his dream career happen, though over time he gave in and soon was in an AIDS hospital helping those with the disease feel comfortable until they died. This changed Marc's outlook on life and he found that he wanted to help people. Marc returned to Canada, never forgetting the friends that he'd made and continued on with his schooling. Once the time of graduation came around, Marc faced the decision of what job offer to chose. In the end Marc chose to turn down all of the job offers and join his brother and the Free the Children organization. Marc's story is close to Craig's as they both realized how much poverty there actually is in the world by travelling to other countries. I don't think that either story is more 'impressive' than the other as they are both making a positive change in the world, working towards a common goal. Even though they got to where they are now from different paths, they are still making a change in the world that will help many people. 

#10

The Roseto Mystery was a very strange community of people that lived very long healthy lives because they did everything together. They didn't eat a low fat, low carb diet, they smoked and drank alcohol, but they still had amazing heath. I think that we can learn from this mystery to do more things together as a family. I believe that if communities actually spent time together and didn't care about how many friends they had but how well they knew their friends then everyone could have a longer life. Today society is full of texting, emailing and facebook to communicate, we don't have to go over to some one's house to talk to them we can use technology to talk to each other.

#7

For the positive word poster, the word that I did was dream. I was very happy with the way that our poster turned out as it was creative with the colourful boxes symbolizing that there are many different dreams that you can have and they can a become reality if you believe in yourself and try. If I were to do it again I would make the sayings make you think about what your own dreams are and help you think about how you can make them happen.

#6

The gender game was an interesting activity to see why we would want to be the opposite gender and the pros and cons of just waking up one morning and discovering that you were the opposite gender. I don't think that this game was akward for the girls as much as it was for the guys as they said little throughout the game without being told to speak their opinion. Also, there are a larger number of girls in the class compared to guys so the girls were more comfortable because we had more people to agree with our opinions and ideas that we had talked about.

#3

I think that Craig's Story is inspirational to say the least. It shows that no adult can stop a child that has a dream as strong a Craig's. Even when his parents asked him to stop as their home had turned into a zoo, he wouldn't stop. Craig had found a way to make a difference in life and love what he was doing, and his parents understood that this was something in life that he needed to do. I think that Craig has started a change that will continue to grow with our generation and will help poverty end. I think that the part of Craig's story that meant the most to me was when he went to Asia with his mentor for seven weeks to see the poverty, child workers and the lack of education. It shows that even though Craig was fighting for these children's rights, he never expected it to be as bad as it was in reality, showing that a picture can never truly capture the pain and struggle these children feel.

#5

I enjoyed the question game about the U.S.A., hockey teams and colours because I was the leader and knew all of the tricks in the fixed game. I could see the rest of my group becoming more frustrated as I went through the questions and they kept asking me to skip the question when they didn't know what the trick was. I think that we did this activity to show that we aren't more important that the next person, and we all need to treat each with equality and respect for us to get it in return.

#4

During the playing card game I had an ace. During the game I was greeted by everyone with friendly hellos and people desperately wanted to be my friend, it quickly evident that I had an ace just because of the card that I held, most of the people in the class hardly knew me and I was still being treated like their best friend. I think that the purpose of this exercise was to show that every where we go in life there is status levels. Humans judge others by how they look, talk and who they are friends with, though this is superficial, we all do it and stereotype others. From this activity I learned that we shouldn't judge someone just by what they look like, one person isn't more important or better than the next.  

#2

A leader in the world that I admire is, Craig Kielburger, the founder of Me to We and Free the Children. I admire him because when he was 12 he saw a newspaper article about a twelve year old boy just like him that had been murdered when he had tried to speak out about child labour. Most kids his age would've been saddened by the article but would never actually think that they could make a change, though Kielburger jumped into action and now has changed many lives for the better. Craig makes people see the problems in the world that need to be changed, and shows people how some families have to live their everyday lives with minimal water and hardly any education. He has also educated many people, old and young about how lucky they are to have a home, school and family, the simple things in life that we take advantage of. I admire Craig for starting the change that will continue for years to come.

#1

This semester, I hope to become a better leader by becoming more comfortable speaking infront of others, being more involved in planning events and having more bomber spirit. I will do this by volunteering for various events that happen throughout the semester, and school year. Also, by being in leadership I think that it will allow me to meet many more students that attend IDCI and will help me have a better year, letting me work with students I wouldn't normally get the chance to. Another goal I have for myself this year is to be a part of Me to We, I hope that I can accomplish this goal by living by the Me to We philosophy and showing the new IDCI students how together we can be the change. I know that this year will be what I make it to be, so to make it the best, I will sign up for many clubs to become a bigger part of the IDCI community.