To Protect and Serve

On July 17, 2014 Eric Garner was accused by police officer Justin Damico, for selling cigarettes. Despite Eric claiming that he was not, and that he wished for less harrassment, the police officer locked his arms around Eric's neck and choked him to death. The last words of Eric's were, "I can't breathe." No indictment.

On August 9, 2014 Michael Brown was noticed by police officer, Darren Wilson, for jaywalking. Whether Michael Brown was threatening to Darren or not, he was shot 6 times to death. No indictment.

On November 22, 2014 Tamir Rice was only twelve year old when he was playing with a toy air soft gun, when then shot to death by police officer, Timothy Leohmann, because he thought the gun was real. No indictment.

        These tragic events were significant of the action of police officers, and their validity is questionable. It lets people understand that not everything the force does is correct and their mistakes can leave huge consequences. In my opinion, I believe that the best way to address the issue of police officers shooting the unarmed would be to think of better strategies when encountering the offender, and to provide stricter consequence for them. What I concluded from these recent incidents, is that the victims were all killed for crimes that could be dealt with a charge or a warning. All officers should take less drastic measures and try to communicate better, rather than put all their focus on a weapon. Of course, I'm not a police officer and haven't been in their shoes, but everyone should have the knowledge that killing someone should be the last thing on their mind.

        Also in my opinion, the force should become more serious when giving a consequence to a police officer. I remember in elementary school, an officer told us that if we were to ever commit a crime, it would be difficult to find a career and the crime would be implanted in the records for the rest of our lives. The fear that was placed in every students' face should be shown by the police officers as well. If an officer broke the law, it shouldn't be forgotten or left aside, that shouldn't be a benefit for being an officer.

        I am thankful for the safety the police provide. They protect us at all costs and risk their entire lives, but if one of them is charged with something and are not indicted, how am I supposed to put my trust in them? It's sad, I feel they are becoming more aggressive and violent in their actions and to be honest, I don't know how it could be better dealt with (because of the circumstances), but it bothers me a lot like an itch you can't get rid of.


Side note: RIP all of the victims that were put to death by the police and could have been innocent if given a chance to explain.

Facing the Future

         When I was younger, I remember constantly watching princess Disney films and loved when the protagonist would always seem to act as the "Damsel in Distress." I loved it because the dashing prince would rush to the rescue, fight the monsters in the way and finish with a kiss to win over the heart of the princess. They would look at each other with desire to be together, as if they had no other significant person in their lives that could fulfill the needs that this person met. I could sense they were in love as the prince swept the beautiful princess off her feet, and expressed in magnitude how much he adored her. She seemed extremely happy with everything and left the past behind, looking highly on their future of living happily ever after. From a young age, I longed for that dream to become reality in my life.
         I started to have high expectations for the future, searching for that one person that could be my everything. I dreamed of my high school life consisting of that one boy that would stare me down with his dark eyes and pull a confident smile that would catch my breath. I wanted to find someone who could share his secrets with me, and keep mine hidden from his friends, who support my dreams and goals, and keep me together when I was lost. I wanted prince charming to sweep me off my feet, so I could forget the past and live happily ever after. I could dream so much that I began to get easily disappointed. I tried to connect with people, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find someone who clicked with me. My self-esteem dropped to a low and I had the addiction of trying to become the princess I've always wanted to be. I thought that if no one wanted every part of me, I couldn't survive living alone. Pretty depressing, huh?
          Well, I know now that that dream could possibly happen in real life, but I couldn't make it my main priority. I realized that I depended way too much on something that will eventually deteriorate me, and I needed to gain independence for the sake of myself. I can't rely on someone to save me from every situation, but rather face the future with my head held high and know that it's okay to be alone at times. I have also realized that I am not entirely alone. I have a great group of friends and a supportive family, and in the end I'm in control of whether or not I lead a happy life. So, as Buddha says, "I'll walk the pathway myself," and know that things will look up eventually.

How Can You Remember What You Did Not Experience?

         The past two days consisted of two intriguing speeches from General Romeo Dallaire and Dr. Bill Winegarde. Both experienced the same environment of living through traumatic wars, and strive to preach peace for our humanity and good will through different perspectives. General Romeo spoke for the child soldiers that were forced to be a part of the Pakistan war. He gave a comparison of our peers and loved ones being in the front line of the battle field, ready to pull the trigger and let the innocence fall apart. He concluded that this was unjust, and for this suffering to continue is beyond horrible. Dr. Bill, on the other hand, speaks out for the unfairness of  surviving veterans. He believed these people should be taken care of properly after the post traumatic stress of the Great Wars, but the differing views of the government stood in the way. "How can the government pay billions for troops to go to war, but not spare billions for them to receive proper care?" This was a question he presented to the audience at the memorial, which led to a standing ovation as people began to realize the sad truth and severity of the situation.
          The thoughts I have from this experience are that these two individuals are passionate for our human race to be treated with care and acceptance. It is true that there are child soldiers carrying guns like we carry cellphones, and there are homeless veterans witnessing strangers they sacrificed their lives for walking by them on a daily basis. I believe there should be better treatment for the participating soldiers, and others should not be forced into the battle field. As someone who loves to ponder History, I've learned a lot about war and its results; not one of the facts is pleasant to hear. If I were to ever be a part of it, suicide would be an option in my mind too, because the  events are that crucial. It is impressive and incredible how soldiers today still manage to breathe through it all. One may argue that some choose to participate, such as the many soldiers in both Great Wars, but keep in mind they had to receive a profit and they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Child soldiers are like machines that can only run and say yes to everything. Their little fingers manage to grab enough of the gun to pull the trigger and have enough will power to move on to new people to kill. When the guns fired off at the Memorial, many of us jumped out of the seats, while many child soldiers try to survive through multiple gun shots and bombs. The fact that some of these children have to face bullets through their bodies is horrifying enough for me.
            When Dr. Bill said, "We take peace for granted," it may seem like a typical saying, but we have to look more into his underlying meaning. There are people, including myself when I was younger, that yawn at the word Remembrance Day because it is unappealing to them. It's set every year on November 11, and all I thought about it was that I had to wear a poppy and sing the national anthem at school, I didn't realize how ignorant I was about the purpose of Remembrance Day. I believe it is right to take some time out of the day and respect those who gave everything to us, often by sacrificing their lives. There are times when we are stressed with our lives, balancing work with studying and then trying to find time for ourselves, but without the freedom these people were ready to die for, we would not be as free and privileged as we are today. These events that occurred and are still happening now aren't some romanticized shooting game or like an epic war-like TV show (e.g. The Walking Dead), it is a gory and vile atmosphere that make many look at the world differently. For those people who think it would be an adventure to go out in a battlefield and fight enemies, they agitate me because not every soldier is an Achilles that can demolish everything that breathes. Even so, he fell down in defeat and witnessed many of his peers slaughtered to the naked eye. Words cannot describe how amazing these soldiers are and for their bravery and wise beliefs on this world, I say, "God Bless."

Photo of soldiers from WWI taken by a local French couple who sold the photos as postcards for the troops to sent home.

Artist, Sebastian Errazuriz showcased the suicide rates vs the killing rates of US soldiers during the Iraq war in 2009. This statistic states that twice as much soldiers committed suicide than got killed during the war.

 

Halloween Rant

             Halloween comes once a year and consists of too much candy to share, anticipating fear from haunted houses, and horror films friends have dared each other to watch late at night. The costumes, however fill the dark streets with imagination from horrific, bold costumes to adorable baby costumes. The creative part with costumes is that anyone can make anything into a costume - literally anything. For example, if you search on Google for couch costumes, I'm sure the perfect couch costume will be out there for you.

I'm in awe right now.

              Halloween can give you an option to buy your whole costume right from a store (for the lazy people like me) or buy bits and pieces from craft stores to design something incredible on your own. Costumes can show off an artist's best potential and passion. 

              Other costumes may not be as creative, and just completely typical, but at least these people want to participate in the fun, and isn't that what Halloween's about? Well, I feel that some people take it too far. These people take the 'fun' of dressing up, and form it into a perspective of making fun of culture, race and religion. It seems that since it only comes once a year, it is alright if they pretend to be an Islamic terrorist or Adolf Hitler for a day. 

             It may be not a big deal to those certain people, but to others, it is scarring and traumatizing to even hear about. Imagine suffering through an event, and then suddenly seeing strangers, dressing up as the people participating in the event just to receive candy and possibly get drunk at parties. I would be offended and angered by the ignorance and immaturity of these individuals and hope they would stop. To me, they take away the pleasure of dressing up and instead make it some sick joke. I'm fine with people dressing promiscuously such as being a 'slutty cat', a 'slutty nurse', or a 'slutty maid'. Even dressing up as a stripper doesn't bother me, but again, if someone decides it's okay to dress up as a 'slutty nun' or a 'slutty Native' I feel this takes it to a whole new level. These people are prominent figures in our society, and to sexualize them is derogatory and degrading. 

             I agree to the idea of costumes, it brings a community of innovative individuals who bring forth inspiring ideas. However, there is always a limit to everything and people should use their common sense to determine their costume types and have fun eating lots of candy. 

Poetry Conclusion

               I'm one of those students that pulls out a groan when a teacher announces poetry as an assignment, and when I'm faced with a blank piece of paper glaring back at me, my brain tries to abort mission and uses procrastination. The reason for this is that poetry makes me over think a lot about what I should write. I like order and punctuation when it comes to story telling, but poetry is a whole other element where capitals don't have to be there and phrases can be in a form of a tree; it really freaks me out. However, I have come to the conclusion that poetry is simply beautiful to read and take in. Ironically, I have a playlist of different kinds of poems that I could just listen to for hours and have a different view with each replay. This is because poems are mysteries that I love to unravel, and though it may frustrate me after hours of pondering, the end moment of clarity results me in awe. Even if someone thought my interpretation of the poem as ideally wrong, I can still stand with my opinion as correct because poems are all about different interpretation.  One of the things I learned about poetry is that there is a process of hours of just thinking; thinking of the right words, thinking of how the words should be arranged and thinking of the point/goal you want to bring out. It's really exhausting, especially trying to make a haiku! I underestimated the stupid process of forming that poem while I sat  in front of a blank page, frustrated because I missed one syllable on my second line. So for someone to be able to continuously create poems that blows my mind is someone who is talented. In conclusion,  poetry is what brings out the inner depth of our desires, problems and hopes. Outrageous analogies can be used and still be considered a piece of art. It's another way to understand something important without having to read a long article. It's something to be worth looking into it and I hope I would be able to use them as inspiration when I write stories. I believe poetry will prevail for many years and I feel fortunate being able to read through many, but I still don't expect my poems to be written exceptionally well, and that is completely fine.

       On an additional note I would like to mention one of my favourite poets, Shane Koyzcan

.

       He's a Canadian poet who usually writes with issues he has dealt with in his life. Goosebumps travel in every part of my body every time I hear him voice out compelling verses. There are so many poems that I enjoy listening to, but I'll show you my current favourites.

To This Day
My Darling Sara
Instructions for a Bad Day

       Here some intriguing poems and lines I found while browsing online.

Goodness, I really enjoy poems.

Meeting Expectations in Concerns with Assignments

         To be honest, one of the ways that'll make assignments catch my interests along with meeting the instructor's expectations is to leave the topic chosen open ended. That's right, generic assignments are quite amazing because  I receive an amount of variety within my choices, resulting a great imagination running through my head. I get this bubbling form of excitement when I ask a question about a project about whether a specific theme is needed to gain a good mark, and the teacher would just reply, "It doesn't matter." Cheesy as it sounds, I feel like I had the ultimate power to make a simple project, a mind-blowing, extravagant and fabulous piece of work that should be published on New York Times.  For example, during my third year of high school, my English teacher assigned our class a project about telling a biography of an author and explaining their writing styles. At first, we only had a choice of classical authors, which was fine, but then she later announced that we can pick any author. That gave the entire class presenting a variety of writers, from those that I still can't remember their names to known children's book authors such as Dr. Seuss. Each one of the presentations showed that writing can come to many styles and still be loved and inspired by many around the world. I remember doing the assignment with pure contentment and making sure I showed my author justice, which I did having marks of straight A's. I ended up loving that assignment, and it was most probably because my teacher gave the option of any author. I know there are projects that have to be very detailed because if not, it cannot relate to the subject (e.g. Chemistry labs), but the ones that can be open ended, I would love to keep open ended. I want my imagination to keep running its fuel and those projects would be great as my gasoline.

An Author and a Quotation

F. Scott Fitzgerald

         

            Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald, or known as F. Scott Fitzgerald, was born in St.Paul, Minnesota on September 24, 1896. He was a classified as an author who wrote five novels (one of them uncompleted), including one of the highly acclaimed classics of literature, The Great Gatsby, and published many short stories. His stories are fictional with themes of youth, despair and the Jazz Age. His style of writing became so phenomenal in his time, he was considered one of the best American writers of the 20th century. He was writing his fifth novel when he passed away on December 21, 1940 with the cause of a heart attack. 

            This is the quote I chose, said by F. Scott himself, and to me it represents one of the purposes of literature. When an author writes something that you can relate to on a deeper level, it can lift off a weight, that has been causing you to struggle, from your entire body. It doesn't matter if it's a novel, a short story, a poem or even a sentence, words have the power to change your entire mindset. I know when I read some novels, I would sometimes just reread a sentence so I can scream in my head, "Yes, I thought this as well!" or conclude, "Wow, someone actually understands my feelings." That is what makes a great story, in my opinion; a story that can connect with me and help me understand that I am not alone and isolated from anyone. I, instead, belong to this world and I'm pretty satisfied with that.

               

            

Gratitude Note

Dear Mother,

It has been said for years now that mothers always put their best efforts to raise their child to be the best they can be and for you there is no exception. You are the definition of selflessness; the one that'll risk their own life for the sake of the child and sometimes I feel guilty when you go to extremes for me. I remember the one time I had a terrible flu and in the middle of the night all I needed was comfort. I went up to you selfishly at three in the morning, I was exhausted and felt myself swaying back and forth dramatically. You abruptly woke up from my groans and I thought I was going to be yelled at to go back to sleep, but you didn't complain, not even for one minute. You grabbed me to your bed and began to soothe me. You whispered to me it was alright and held me gently close all night and that was all I needed to know that I felt love, that I was loved by you. Sometimes we'll get into feuds about certain things that will distance us but I could never in my right mind say that you weren't an amazing mother. We're both growing and learning about ourselves and each other and I hope when I start to become an adult that we'll continue not only our relationship as mother and daughter but as friends as well. I love you dearly mom and I hope that my love only grows more.

Kimberly

Censorship: What is Acceptable to Watch?

            The great thing about writing books is that the author can choose what to write about. Whether it's about cheesy romance to horrifying and dark themes, an author can have the will to write what catches their interests. It's amazing on how something so simple can bring a powerful impact on society but this is because a writer's work can bring controversy. An abundant amount of books can bring such a good morale and have flawless writing, but still be considered as banned to some high school and post secondary education systems for such reasons like swearing and  sexual themes involved in the story. It may seem ridiculous to some and especially to some of the authors that wrote the banned books but to me it seems alright. Different cultures have different perspectives and that includes finding the books that are morally right in their eyes. Who has the right the right to judge whether or not that book should be banned or not in their systems? So if the "Harry Potter" series was decided in some random city that it should be banned then let it be banned. But that shouldn't stop some people from reading it. They don't have to be taught about it but, if some truly believed that Harry Potter is a good book to read, then they should be able to read it.  Overall my point is that it doesn't matter if some people disapprove, of someone's writing. Not everyone is going to be pleased with the writing style or the message behind the plot. Therefore, in my opinion, the authors should continue writing what they enjoy writing about it, not caring what is crossing the line and watch the controversy begin.

Persistence=Success

                      Hello, my name is Kimberly Chung and I enjoy many things in my life such as petting cats, eating my mother's cooking and folding the laundry. I also enjoy listening about people's stories about life and asking questions about life and especially writing about life. I could go on forever about how wonderful it is to spread your thoughts and imagination on just a sheet of paper and using a writing utensil. Though typing my stories are fine, I get the most fun out of writing it down 'till my right hand is about to fall off. Writing romance fiction is what I prefer to write about but sometimes I would jot down ideas about economic issues and write daily journal entries about my life. Writing, as you can tell is my passion and lead me to wanting a career with it, particularly becoming an authors or journalist which leads me to my comments on the video, Persistence=Success.

                   Having a goal of journalism or writing stories as my career is hard to achieve. I felt as if I have to be a talented writer to be noticed by a huge audience, but to Angela, her video says different. The hardest thing anyone has to face, in my opinion, is being persistent in your goals. Extreme as that sounded it could be considered as as people trying to be persistent to graduate, people trying to be persistent in keeping friendships that are falling apart, or even people trying to be persistent in living in this confusing world. Unfortunately, it is true what she states in her speech, some people don't succeed and give an end result of giving up. It is hard being persistent when all of these problems occur and these problems could be unbearable to some people. These people, including myself, should realize that failure is always a part of this journey or known as the 'marathon'. We shouldn't compare ourselves to others that reached their goals because they had difficulties as well. Angela mentions that just because a person could have an great I.Q, doesn't mean they succeed right away without having grit. This brings more confidence into my writing because I could make mistakes during my writing process and not be as good as some amazing writers, but with the mindset of believing in my work and learning from those mistakes, perhaps I could go far and be proud of my hardworking success. I'll keep you updated!  .