Recording - The Art of Exceptional Living

In the middle of quarter two, we have been listening to the recordings of Jim Rohn’s speech – the art of exceptional living. I was very grateful that I got to hear such a motivating and inspirational speech, since I’m already a senior in high school; the track really got me thinking about my goals in university even my goals in life. I believe this track can be recommended to all seniors or for those who needs to start thinking about their goals in life. From the recordings, I also like how he bluntly established statements and pierced the bubble of truths. To me, the recording is like popping all those bubbles, and introducing all the inner and conceptual truth that I already know but I never “want” to acknowledge, so him speaking and talking about all the truth that we need to come in terms of really had me actively thinking. The recordings were all based on very simple easy everyday concepts that we can do and meet every day to help us reach our goal, such as keeping a journal, establishing a personal philosophy and establishing daily habits. He also talked about what success and failure means to him. Success for him means a few simple disciplines practiced every day, and failure is a few errors in judgment repeated every day. I also loved the part where he established the statement about us often blaming other for our failures. It tells a universal truth that everyone knows already, but having him put the idea into specific words was really on point. 

Tell All The Truth But Tell It Slant

We have read quite a lot of poems and stories this second quarter. To me the most memorable and motivational poem that really reached out to me deeply was this poem called Tell all the truth but tell it slant by Emily Dickinson. This poem is one that opened our eyes to the idea that we should reveal the truth or reveal any truth, especially those that may be too overwhelming, slowly and gradually, or else we may unintentionally hurt the one receiving the truth. This idea was compared to a bright light. If you turn on the light suddenly in a place where it is dark, your eyes will hurt immediately by the sudden bright light, however if you open and reveal the light slowly or shine the light gradually and not directly, a little bit at a time, it may not hurt as much or even not hurt at all. 

I believe this poem is extraordinary important to the society today. We may often forget to think before we speak and reveal the truth to people too quickly and directly, thus hurting the other person. light. 

Success Is a Journey Not a Destination

Success can be a very deep and abstract word to define. It can mean by reaching a goal, or by being the best what one does. Whether it is the former or the latter, everyone has their own definition and opinion of success, while I myself, at the age of seventeen, defines success as a continuation process. Like the quote from Arthur Ashe, "Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome."

To the majority of the people, success means achieving a certain goal that one or others has set upon oneself. This kind of success can be drove by the outcome of the work or motivation, and certainly projects the idea idea of hard works pays off.

To other people, success means being the best out of all or at what they do. They do not just wish to achieve a good result, they want to be the best. This statement is especially true to the people playing sports, and attending competitions. For example, an individual competing as a swimmer in the Olympics. You do not only want to be good and finish the competition, you want to be the best, you aim to be the best, to make the first place, or to mark your name on the world's record. This kind of success brings you great happiness and a feeling of completness, however if you fail, you could be more disappointed than just reaching the goal, because the requirements are higher, thus when you fall from such a high place, your are more likely to experience emotional breakdown.

In addition, success to some people means achieving their goal or giving their best shot, to other people it is aiming to be successful by all means. These are all true, however, in my opinion, success means two things. Firstly, it is the process of failure to failure without losing enthusiasm of perusing your goal. It is also the action when you feel like quitting but remember what got you started and the commitment you have already made. One of my favourite quote and motto is "Don't stop when you're tired, stop when you are done", I think this fits perfectly with my statement.  Secondly, success does not just end once you accomplish your goal, or when you are the best out of the best already. To me, success is the ongoing process of challenging and renewing yourself. It is possible, yes, that you successfully reached your goal, and is the best already, however the idea is that you need to go beyond your goal. Don't let your goals confine you into a box.

In conclusion, I believe there are two forms of commonly accepted definitions and concepts of what success is. Success can mean achieving a goal, trying your best, and by being the best. However, in my opinion, I believe success is the process of not quitting when you want to, and remember what got you started in the first place. I also believe that success does not just end after you have reached success, because to me success means an ongoing process of challenging and renewing yourself, therefore, success is a journey, not a destination. It is a journey of thousands of miles but begins with a single step.

Here are more information about success.

Thanksgiving Satirical Cartoon

(Important Notice: This satirical cartoon is from: here.)

I'd like to share this Thanksgiving satirical cartoon, although we are still a month away from Thanksgiving, and although I'm not a U.S. citizen, just merely a student in American Literature class. This little cartoon is basically about the U.S. government sucking in the money from the U.S. citizen, and wasting it away on irrelevant things.  

McGill University

(Important Notice: This picture is from here.)
The university that I would love, note the word love, to go to is McGill University. McGill University is not only ranked highly among the other universities in the world, it is also where the interest of my future lays - Faculty of Law.

McGill University situated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Canada is not only where I'm from, but the ultimate place where I would want to continue my studies in. McGill University is the only university in Canada that is ranked in the top 25 universities in the world. View here for more information. 

McGill University also specialize in Faculty of Law, which I am very well interested in after my undergraduate years, however since I could not major in a law program after I graduate from my undergraduate years I would like to spend my undergraduate years majoring in the Faculty of Science, which McGill University also specialize in. Visit here for more information about McGill University. 

Dr. Heidegger's Experiment

(Important Notice: The picture above is from here.)
In a blink of an eye, the first quarter is coming to an end. We've read almost a dozen of stories this quarter and recently we've been reading an allegory story Dr. Heidegger's Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne. You can read the story here.
The story is basically about this old man called Dr. Heidegger who invited four venerable guests, Mr. Medbourne, Colonel Killigrew, Mr. Gascoigne, and Widow Wycherly, to be the subjects of his newly experiment - the Fountain of Youth. Before the story started, the author, Hawthorne, gave each guests a short description about their background life, which was all negative. Mr. Medbourne represents greed, Colonel Killigrew represents waste of health and lust, Mr. Gascoigne represents hypocrisy, and Widow Wycherly represented vanity. Dr. Heidegger offered this "magic" potion that can give you the opportunity to experience youth a second time, however he did warn each guests that the effect of the potion may all just be an illusion, just like the effect of drinking wine. So the guests all took the bait of drinking the potion, and once they saw the effect - becoming younger, they not only started to imitate and mock old people, they also started to repeat their past mistakes. For example, the three male guest all started to fight over the widow. In the end, they spilled the magic potion - Fountain of Youth, and the reality came rushing back. The four guest ended up obsessing over this potion. On the very next day, they went on a trip to Florida to find this potion.
This story is basically mocking weak human nature, and the moral of this story is basically about how some people will still make the same mistake even when they are given an opportunity to change it.
Overall, I'd say that really enjoyed flipping through this story. It lured me to read the next sentence and get to the bottom of the whole interesting plot. For more information on Dr. Hiedegger's experiment, please visit here.

2014 About Me

Hello, my name is Michelle. I love to take photographs of anything and everything, so my favourite websites would be "We Heart It", and "National Geographic".
Here are the my favourite sites: "http://weheartit.com/" and "http://www.nationalgeographic.com/"

In the beginning of the quarter/semester, I am welcomed by the wrath of the infamous science fair, and since I took Physics class, I am required to make a project based on that. I haven't made my mind on what I want to do, but I would possibly do something about converting potential energy to kinetic energy.
Here is the site for my potential science fair project: http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Phys_p037.shtml#procedure

Lately in my American Literature Class, we have been reading the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano. So I looked up on him on the internet, and found our more about Olaudah Equiano. From the articles that I have read, I learned that Olaudah earned money through working as a deckhand, valet and barber for the King, and in three years, bought his freedom. In London 1786, Olaudah became involved with the movements of abolishing slavery, and in 1789 Olaudah Equiano published his autobiography "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano" This autobiography not only became popular, it also helped the abolitionisht. These all made Olaudah Equiano a wealthy man.
Here is the site for more information about Olaudah Equiano: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/equiano_olaudah.shtml