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.