Mark S. Grade 12 English

 Being a Leader     Everyone has dreamt of being a leader at one point in their life. They've dreamt of making a change in everyone and becoming an idol for them. Drew states, " And I’ve come to realize that we have made leadership into something bigger than us. We’ve made it into something beyond us. We’ve made it about changing the world. And we’ve taken this title of leader, and we treat it as if it’s something that one day we’re going to deserve, but to give it to ourselves right now means a level of arrogance or cockiness that we’re not comfortable with".This means that we always believed that t o actually deserve to become a leader you need to change how the whole world thinks, but that's not true.  We have all changed someone's life and most of the time it's without even realizing it. Drew describes a conversation he had with a freshman girl who was in line with her parents to register for classes. The young lady had concerns and uncertainties regarding...

 Be More Gritty     In this Ted Talk, Angela Lee Duckworth argues that "grit," or "passion and perseverance for extremely long-term goals," is an essential predictor of success. This trait is more crucial for success than talent or intelligence (IQ) among school-aged pupils, military cadets, salespeople, teachers working in complex regions, and other circumstances. Angela Lee Duckworth realized that "IQ was not the sole difference between the best and the worst children" after quitting a high-powered position to work as a public school teacher in the New York City Public Schools. "After many years, I came to the opinion that what we need in education is a far greater knowledge of pupils and learning from a motivational perspective, from a psychological standpoint," Angela says. What if your ability to succeed in school and in life depends on far more than your capacity to learn quickly and easily? she posed as her first query. These inquiries bro...

 The Danger of a Single Story Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explores the potential negative impacts of a "single story" and traces the history of these myths in her Ted Talk, "The Danger of a Single Story." Chimamanda contends that while exceptional events frequently result from genuine misconceptions or ignorance of others, they can also be planned specifically to exclude other groups of people out of prejudice. People are "impressionable and vulnerable" when it comes to single stories, especially children. Chimamanda contends that the majority of the time, the media and literature available to the general public only tell one side of a story, which results in generalisations and assumptions about other racial and ethnic groups. I really liked how Chimamanda started her speech with a little bit of humour. In addition, I liked how she always explained her point of view through a real-life example that happened to her.   Chimamanda discusses the reasons why gene...

   Vulnerability?   When I started the video, I couldn't believe that I'd have to watch a lady speak for 20 minutes. However, as she started talking, I actually got really hooked as she said what vulnerability was and related it to real events. According to Brene Brown, the more we distance ourselves from vulnerability, the more afraid and disconnected we become. The opposite of being vulnerable is engaging fully and frankly with the world around us. The bravery to put oneself out there is vulnerability. It's the bravery to be honest, even when we know it could be painful. Hence, once we can accomplish that, we will be able to completely  appreciate all of the happy times in our lives. Then, after she explains what vulnerability is, she helps us define vulnerability in real-life events. These events included standing up  for yourself, saying no, getting laid off, trying something new, and many more. Watching this Ted Talk really helped me relate to times when I ...