No One is Above the Law

If I was on a consulting committee to a police force, I would suggest that all officers receive more training in regards to coping under pressure. With more confidence, officers can problem solve more efficiently and be able to prevent any irrational decisions. Furthermore, for officers that do kill unarmed citizens, I believe that they should face a one to two month penalty where they are stripped from their position. Within the given duration, these officers are obligated to participate in seminars that will provide additional training towards coping under pressure and that will educate them on how they could have done better in their certain situation. This penalty serves as a consequence and as a reminder that even though one may be an officer, he or she is still required to follow the law. If the officer kills another unarmed citizen, he or she should be stripped from his/her position permanently, because if this officer cannot serve his/her purpose as a responsible cop, then this person is obviously not qualified enough to be an officer. I will also suggest that these consequences be extremely strict and that those who face it, will not receive any sympathy from the officers' committee. It is absolutely important that everyone understands that an officer who kills an unarmed citizen will also face strict punishment because no one is above the law.

Look Backwards Before Moving Forward

"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

Steve Jobs

     


        The previous quote was said by Steve Jobs, an American entrepreneur, marketer, inventor, who was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple Inc. With his leadership and technology expertise, he has lifted his company to become one of the most revolutionizing corporations in the communication technology market. The business is  currently valued at 418.15 billion dollars and is recalled by Forbes Magazine as the "#1 World's Most Valuable Brands."


     
         This year will be my final year at Our Lady of Lourdes because as I finish grade 12, I hope to move onto my post secondary education. Beyond the dedication I put into my studies everyday, I often find myself thinking about the future. What am I going to do when I grow up? Will I have a family? What will happen to my mom and sister after I leave to attend University? Thinking about the future, I sometimes feel depressed with the idea that I am going to have to leave my hometown, my highschool, my family, and the many other things that I love so much. The quote above, however, brings comfort to my worrying thoughts and allows me to realize that there isn't anything to feel nervous about. We sometimes think about the future so often that we forget the significance of our present and the past. Furthermore, this quote provides me the realization that in order for there to be a future, you need to have a past and present. Even though the future is an abstract and ambiguous idea, it's within the past and  the present that will lead us to a brighter future. On this journey towards our future, it should be remembered that we don't need to travel alone because represented by our identity , are people who surround us with their love and their affection that has shaped us the way that we are today.  Today I will  remind myself to be brave and I will have faith in myself, so that tomorrow I can be prepared to face my future and the many obstacles it may have.

There's a Hero in All of Us

When we think of the term "hero", many of us would imagine a prestigious warrior that has a unique ability or power that allows them to help those in need. This heroic individual would then be described as an outgoing and charismatic person that is very prominent in society. Romero Dallaire and Dr. Bill Winegard, however, demonstrated to us a new understanding of "heroism."  These men did not possess any type of power or special ability that is peculiar to our society, instead, they were just normal people like us. What distinguishes them as a hero, is their passion to change the world. Even though they were not young, strong, or  perfectly healthy, these factors did not stop them from accomplishing their goals. They showed us that heroism is defined from a passion within, and not from an external ability or power. Passion is what drives determination and hard work, and if we can all find the passion to make the world a better place, we can potentially save the world from its many downfalls. We have the potential to do great things, but we first need to realize where our passion lays, because that's where  we can find our source of motivation that will inspire us to persist towards greatness.

There's more to Trick than Treat in Halloween

Halloween is an event that comes once in a year, and allows students and teachers the opportunity to wear costumes. This event has been debated for the past few years in schools, and is sometimes recognized as a event that does not correspond with Catholic teachings. As a matter of fact, it's been considered as a event that encourages devil worshiping. It is very obvious that many students enjoy celebrating Halloween, but what some schools don't recognize is that there are students that find Halloween as a source of self-expression. This may sound odd to many of our teachers and principals, but there are a minority of students who are very passionate about costumes of characters they admire. A great example is Cosplay, a gathering that happens once a year, where fans come to show off their costumes of their admired characters. There are millions of people who commit hours of work and dedication everyday to create a costume that they can proudly wear at this festival. Similar to Halloween,  the event allows this minority of individuals to express their passion and their interests towards being like a character which they consider as a role model. Halloween may not be significant to many people, but to this small group of individuals, it is an opportunity that only comes once a year where one can show off their dedication and passion towards an admired character. Halloween is more than just wearing a costume and walking from door to door to ask for treats. More than anything, it's a day that celebrates the diversity of our interests and our passion. Most importantly, it's a day of self-expression.

Life to Writing

Poetry is like melody, containing series of ideas that connect with each other. Even though the content may not have a proper structure, this flexibility allows the reader to feel the emotions and expression of the poet. Unlike other types of writing, poetry is a type of literature that allows the writer to express their ideas in individual statements, without having to worry about the organization. Together these ideas combine to create a rhythm that can bring amazement and awe to the reader. After having to write poetry for a week, I realized that the hardest component of poetry is self-expression. Most of the time I will write with very minimum self-expression because I am usually writing for  a Science course where I am expected to have a content backed up by theories and logic. Even though self-expression is difficult and new to my writing experience, I find it very interesting when I'm able to create a rhythm in my writing. It amazes me that beyond music, literature can have its own type of rhythm, its own type of "life" to it.

Meeting Eachother's Expectations.

 There many ways to meet an instructor's expectations while following your own interest. Through communicating with your teacher, you can provide them an understanding of your interests which they can incorporate into their assignments. Every teacher's expectations are different and it is very important that you communicate with each individual instructor about your personal expectations. Through proper communication, both parties are able to understand each other's needs and can try to meet them in assignments and tests. As a manager of my own education, I ensure assignments meet my needs by this similar communication method. Assignments are meant to benefit you and if they are not meeting your needs, you need to stand up and speak with the instructor. It's your education, it's your knowledge, and it will be your future that you are standing up for.

Dr.Seuss

Theodor Seuss Geisel known as Dr. Seuss is a beloved children's author. He was born in 1904 in Springfield, Massachusetts. In his lifetime, Theodor has written and illustrated 44 children books. In grade 11, I was given the opportunity to research about him for my English seminar. From my research, I discovered that he had incorporated implied messages in his books, where he would have subliminal messages about the political issues that took place in his lifetime.  Even though we only recognize him as a children's author, Dr. Seuss was once a newspaper writer who wrote a lot about political issues. Using the skills from his newspaper job, Dr. Seuss is able to creatively communicate to both young and adult readers

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

Dr. Seuss

As a child, I used to struggle a lot with letting go of things. I remembered when I was 7 years old, I would always cry once I woke up in the morning. I cried in the morning because I would miss my mom who had to work early at seven o'clock. It was very problematic for me to let go of things when I was young, because it would always conclude with me in tears. Finally, when I was thirteen years old, I was privileged to attend a vacation trip with my mom to Vietnam. Coming back from the trip, I would cry every single night because I would miss all my relatives that I had previously lived with for a month. Recognizing that I cried a lot, my mom decided to phone my relatives and let me talk to them. In our phone conversation, my aunt ( closest relative to me) comforted me using the same quote but in Vietnamese. This quote taught me to be grateful of everything that God has given me and motivates me to live a life with smiles not tears.

My Mom

     Hey mom,
For the past few years we have gone through a lot of tough obstacles and road bumps. We have been given many chances to take the easy path and flee away from the horrible lifestyle but we stayed and we persisted. We survived through those challenges knowing that we would stay by each other's side. The pain you went through to raise me will always be something that I keep deep in mind. You have made me the person that I am today, and everyday I walk out that front door, I remind myself that I am blessed to have a woman like you in my life. No matter how old and mature I am, I will always be your baby boy. I love you and I will always love you. Thank you mom for all that you have done and will do for me.
Toby Le.

Acceptance

In my opinion, there is no need for censorship of what is written in any type of literature. Writing by itself, is a type of art that allows one to express their thoughts and emotions.  You can even say that it's  similar to painting because both forms of art require a creative mind to write or paint something sophisticated. Self-expression is a large component of our lives, and is a reflection of our identities. Throughout history, many people have struggled to accept the contents found in different books because they failed to have a appreciation of the author's art work. Similar to a painting, there will always be people who will find an art work beautiful and there will always be people who will not. What people need to do is understand that different literature exemplifies  different interpretations of the world. These interpretations may not correspond with your perspective of the world, but it could connect with someone else's life. Appreciate literature for the way that it is and have acceptance of its diversity.

Key to Success

In social science there is a concept called nature versus nurture. The concept questions the origins of  one's trait and hypothesizes whether it's one's environment or genetics that makes an individual  the type of person that they are. On the other hand, this TedTalk video demonstrates that beyond the uncontrolled world that surrounds us and the genetics that we were born with, we do have the power to attain success in our lives. This power comes from within us and is what the video calls "grit". It's a type of strength that is generated from our minds and is found along with our passions. Personally, I think the key to success is similar to the idea of trying to crawl out of a really large hole. Metaphorically, the hole represents all the disadvantages in our genetics and in the world that surrounds us. As for the individual that's in the hole, he represents the desire for success. His goal is to crawl out of this hole before it fills up and buries him underneath. Even though the idea sounds  traumatising ,  it shares a huge connection with what it means to be successful. Success is about struggling and having to break through obstacles that are in your way. More than ever, it's a feeling that is very uncomfortable and demands something better than nature and nurture, it's perseverance . People tend to get discouraged so easily by the hapless things  in their lives that they sometimes forget that the key to success is not made of  the things that surround them, but it's the passion that is inside  them.  A famous motivational speaker named Eric Thomas once said, "when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful." We don't need to search for the key to success, it's already in our pocket.

 

What's up With me

          My name is Toby Le and I'm currently taking Writer's Craft in order to improve my writing skills. Beyond the need for improvement, I'm also here to improve my creativity. Aside from school and sports, I'm also a pianist  who has been playing for over 10 years now. Granted, I'm not the type of pianist who plays classical music and is in some sort of level system. In the past 10 years I have divided my attention towards different types of music, from jazz, pop, blues, to the classical Mozart. In the10 years that I have been playing, I mostly enjoy improvisation. When I improvise I feel a sense of freedom to express my thoughts and emotions. By taking this course I hope to be able to express some of my thoughts into words and incorporate it into to some of my favourite improvisations. This writing course will enhance my chances of having a successful career and will allow me to express my thoughts into words and eventually lyrics. Surely I am here to learn and to improve, so be sure to challenge me.