True Colors

OH MY GOSH! I got a bit off track. I completely forgot that I was going to blog about True Colors. I posted a blog about Kate instead of the true colors post. Shoooot. Well, anyway. I'll get back on track here...

The true colors test is a personality quiz. If you have any interest in taking it before I explain it, I've linked to a pdf of the quiz at the end of this little intro. Be careful not to scroll down to the second page of the pdf, the quiz is only the first page and results are further down. Preferable, print it out. It's easier to take on paper. Otherwise, type your answers into your phone or write down your answers somewhere. Come back when you figure out what your true colors are right here.

Okay, cool, you're back. What color are you? There are four colors; blue, orange, green, and gold. Once you take it, you can scroll down and read through the four personality types. You've probably read through the personalities by now. For a quick overview:

Blue people are very compassionate, caring, and in tune to emotions, both theirs and those of people around them.
Green people are very creative, independent spirits that think for themselves and like to question everything.
Gold people are organized, loyal, and value family and being helpful.
Orange people are spontaneous, competitive, and thrive in a spotlight.

That's a really quick overview, but there's a lot more that can be predicted by your true colors. How you thrive in a romantic relationship, a career, and what you value can all be predicted or laid out by your true color. The huge upside to this quiz is that it's scored mathematically for each category, so you can be a balance between a two colors, or even a complete tie between all four. That's very rare. I'm primarily blue, and then green is my secondary color. When I read the sheet about my "traits" based on my color, I was initially surprised, but then I started nodding my head. I realized how accurate a lot of the predictions for "blue" people were. A lot of the traits of blue people are things I am, or at least strive to be.

Learning your friends' colors can also be cool because it makes it easier to comfort them, or encourage them when they are facing a challenge. Based on their color, you can act as a better friend and try to cater what you say or do to get a more positive reaction from them. 

Now, if you try too hard, you're looking at Divergent-like factions from a dystopian society or something. I don't think you need to know everyone's color, and not everything lines up. Anyway, it's just another cool way to envision yourself and observe others, too. 

Happy quizzing!
Claire

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Kate

Kate is a wonderful and sweet person, and she has always been soft spoken but she is very funny when she speaks up. She’s a good leader and good with campers, but she’s also one kickass friend. I have had some good times over the last few months with her. Whenever she laughs at something, she makes people around her laugh, and the whole room seems to light up with happiness. That was a very sappy sentence, but I can’t describe it any other way. I’ve laughed so much with her to the point where I don’t remember what we were laughing at in the first place. She’s someone that you can purely laugh with and it’s the weirdest, most freeing thing ever. I think I’ll blog about laughter, just because it’s so bomb. Laughing is the chillest thing ever.

Anyway, Kate is just really good at making kids laugh, and listening to the little ones go off on tangents. She encourages all their ideas and thoughts, and they can ramble on forever once Kate asks them a few questions. It makes it easy for her to connect with anyone. She is an amazing listener.

(Here is a “Pro” tip from someone who’s not really a pro, but thinks this might be some good advice: listen to people. Treat every single person you meet like your equal, and value what every individual has to say. You can really learn valuable things from the most unexpected people.)

Another thing Kate is good at is being super organized. Her clothes were always neatly organized at camp in the cabin. She was good at keeping our leader in training group on task and gently reminding everyone of the big picture if and when we got frustrated.

There are a lot of other cool things about Kate I could say, but I think I’m going to stop here. At some point, I can not say more about these people. They really speak for themselves when you are hanging out with them. And after writing this many posts, it is starting to get tedious, but it is worth it to finish, too. And I will!

Anyway, stay awesome, Kate. You never fail to make me laugh, dear.

Claire

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Mac

Okay, this next post is about Mac! Mac is an awesome leader and always had his priorities right at camp. He truly focused on being a role model and a leader that campers could look up to, and he was careful that he acted fairly and included all campers in what he did. Mac is good at shifting between being a friend for little kids, and then maintaining an authoritative position. Sometimes, he’s surrounded by campers, playing a game, and other times, he is ushering everyone into the lodge for dinner and counting heads to make sure everyone makes it safely.

I wrote that last part before trying to tie Mac to my last post about impacts. That impacts thing was spur of the moment, but I think Mac is a strong example of someone that lives to make the small impacts, and affect one person at a time. He really tries to connect with every kid he can, whereas Luke makes a larger impact and knows everyone’s names. Both are amazing leaders, and have the capacity to fluctuate between impacting many and minute groups. But Mac takes pride in his focus on one task at a time, and I admire his ability to focus or care for, or set aside time for one child, or one person. He also expects the same in return from his peers, and asks politely if he has something to discuss with someone. He’s really communicative and very blue. OOOh! Now I have to take another break from writing about Leaders In Training and talk about the true colors test. Mac is very, very blue. And he’s a very good leader.

Stay awesome, Mac.

Claire

P.S. I’m gonna have to write about true colors next. It’s just a really cool quiz Camp Wapsie does, and I think you can take it online, too. I’ll look into it.

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Impacts

(This is something off-topic that I thought of while writing my last post, and I feel that it is relevant in my next post, too.)

I want to do something good with my life. I don't know what, but I want to make an impact. This post could sound very preachy, but I really just want to shed some light on the two impacts people can make. The big ones and the little ones. Both are vital to making the world a better place, and as my senior year gets closer, my future gets closer. College and careers get closer, and I have to decide what to do with my time on earth. It's a scary thing, and I don't really know yet what I want to do. I need to figure that out pretty soon. One way to start is consider the size of impact I want to make on society. Do I want to be in the New York Times, or the local Gazette for my work? Neither is better than the other, but I have to consider my options.

I'll put it in economic terms, as if donating to a charity is the impact being discussed.

Some people get rich. They act in big movies, gain hundreds of thousands of followers, donate millions of dollars to something they believe in. When you become a big, well-known figure, you have the ability to do something you love, be highly successful and valued for it, and you can have a huge influence on the millions that know who you are. When you have millions of dollars, you can donate some of it to a good cause you believe in and advocate for others to also contribute. That's a huge, huge, impact. That's the far end of the scale. We're talking Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie. Millions of people are paying attention to what they do.

Some people focus on a small task to succeed at or work towards. Volunteering at the local soup kitchen is much more small scale. Raising money for a dance marathon at school is small scale. Collected cans of food for homeless shelters is a small scale example too. In this case, you participate in small scale positive forces because you have a smaller scale of funds. 

In both of these examples, contributing to charity isn't the only impact you have. You have a job, a daily career to follow. But the career you follow could also be an opportunity to make an impact and support yourself, too. The impact my teachers make is to help students. A larger scale version of my high school math teacher is a college professor that teaches hundreds more students and teaches at a higher level of learning.

Stay awesome,
Claire

P.S. I'm not sure what the point of this was. Just to make people think. Think about the impact you want to make and make it a positive one, kids. That is all. I think it ties to the next post because Mac acts on a small-scale.

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Luke

Luke is just awesome. He is outgoing and caring and will make a wonderful counselor or teacher or actor someday. He’s just one of those people that’s guaranteed to succeed in whatever he puts his mind to. At camp, he learned the names of most of the campers each week. There are over one hundred campers every week, and somehow he recognized and knew all their names by the end of each week. It was impressive how hard he worked when he wanted to accomplish something. When we had to serve meals to campers, he’d be saying hello to campers left and right, joking and guessing at their names and asking them how their day was going like he’d known them his whole life. He made everything a bit more fun than it seemed possible. During meals when we were serving tables, the two of us competed to get more dishes and pitchers of water out to tables. We’d walk past each other and point at which tables needed more bacon, extra butter, another platter of pancakes. It was some pretty creative teamwork. 

In addition to being a super hard-working person, Luke has a sort of magnetic personality that seemed to draw all the campers to him. He was loud and spoke his mind, and he can play a plethora of instruments and sing very well. That served him well at camp, where someone is always singing or performing something. Camp is a place to explore new skills and showcase your talents without the pressure of a critical audience. And Luke really believed in that. He helped an older camper learn to sing a pop song, and played the chords behind her on guitar, and he also spent tedious time helping a group of young campers learn the Cup Song rhythm, and helped them sing along to it. Another way he seemed to attract clusters of campers was with his attitude. Aside from being talented himself, he is outgoing and always willing to talk. One week, he met this really chatty little camper very early on in the week, and the two of them bonded and spent their mornings together talking about all the things they thought about but never said. They spent so much time together, and still months later, Luke talks about how much fun he had with just one camper. He had a huge impact on a kid that was self-conscious and normally wouldn’t have made many friends. Luke chatted with him a lot, and found a small, quieter group of boys that included him. It was a win-win, and Luke was a super bomb counselor for setting up a group of friends like that. Slightly off-topic, but he can also really sing. Actually, I said that earlier. He can sing. Besides the point. Luke is pretty awesome and I think he’ll be an amazing counselor someday. He leads by example and he’s competitive and determined. He’s versatile, but he could do so much good in the world, and I hope he follows a path where he can really make an impact.

Stay awesome, Luke.

Claire

P.S. My next post isn’t going to be about another LIT, I’m probably going to veer off and talk about small scale and large scale impacts. It’s important. I’ll come back to the other LITs later, though.

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Lauren

Today I’m writing about Lauren, I think. She’s energetic and hilarious, and she never let her emotions show unless they were positive ones. She is a tough, closed off person if she’s upset, but by the end of LIT even she was attached to Camp Wapsie and shed tears on the last night. During our time at camp, Lauren bonded really well with the counselors and camp staff, and sympathized with the hard work the counselors do. One week, after LIT was over for us, Lauren went back to visit the counselors and meet the LITs from session 3 at the end of their week. She found a counselor that was busy cleaning a shed of tools and stayed for an hour, helping clean out the shed and reorganize it, so the counselor could go home a little sooner and catch up on sleep. This meant the world for the counselor, who let her sign the wall inside the shed for her help.

Lauren also had the noise and energy level to rally a group of kids. One night, she and I had to occupy a group of two dozen older campers while the counselors cooked dinner and set up a group game. The counselors told us to take the kids on a hike for a few minutes and the game would be ready in a bit, and then the kids could eat dinner after the game. Lauren and I took the lead with hiking sticks, singing a loud song about going on a nature hike. We stopped abruptly many times and made up stories about the trees and tracks in the dirt, and then added the stories into the verses of the song. We had so much fun that by the time we got back from our little loop around camp, dinner was ready and the counselors were worried that we’d gotten lost. We ate dinner before playing the game.

Anyway, Lauren is just really good at engaging kids and making something arbitrary really fun. She’s full of energy and spirit and can put a positive spin on any situation.

Stay awesome, Lauren.

Claire

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Ryan

Writing about Ryan is going to be entertaining. He’s such a child at heart. There's something to be learned about people like Ryan. He was a little less mature when it came to leading campers and directing them in activities, but he's charismatic and goofy and makes kids laugh. He worked in the TP village with me during the last week, with the younger campers, and he had so much fun and led them really well. He’s not as assertive, but would push kids in the right direction positively. He is also known for his originality. He created a dance move called the “spin-whip,” similar to the “whip” which became popular over the summer. He did it as a joke when he whipped off of a bench while we were cooking dinner over a campfire, and we laughed and called it the spin-whip. He proceeded to do it all the time and he always landed awkwardly, sometimes toppling over. He did it anyway, because it always made us laugh. He’s also a very caring person, and was a shoulder to cry on for multiple campers and LITs. He’s a great listener, and will let you talk uninterrupted for a long time if there’s something on your mind. Ryan is a loyal, caring friend and leader. He’s the only LIT I knew before this summer because we’d met at camp the summer before, and quickly bonded. We were told we looked alike, and jokingly became twins, swapping sweatshirts and trading small jobs to confuse people despite looking completely different. He managed to make the most arbitrary tasks more fun, from dish-washing combined with dancing, and cooking dinner with singing and games. I hope he makes CIT because he’s funny, warm-hearted, and adds to the camp spirit by making everything a little less serious.

Stay awesome, Ryan.

Claire

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Natalie

Natalie was always a very serious person. She kept everyone on track and wasn’t afraid to be disliked by a few campers to ultimately keep everyone happy and safe. She was energetic and super involved every day, even when she was exhausted at the end of a long week. She had lots childhood memories and experience at camp from her years as a camper. Despite the fact that her extra knowledge could have ranked her above the rest of us, she was super down to earth and helped us grow. She taught me my way around camp, since I’d never been a camper before. Of all the LITs, Natalie was possibly the most grown up. Even though she’s the same age as I am, she was the one that walked me down to the clinic when I was stung by a hornet, because I didn't know my way around camp yet. She knew where everything belonged in the kitchen, and she was tough and hard-working. On nights when we had to wash dishes after dinner, Natalie would take on the dirty jobs, wiping sauce off hundreds of plates, scraping gunk off of cooking pans, or spraying down dishes with scalding water before loading them into the washing machine. 

Along with being strong and assertive, she was very caring. Just because she was tough and knew how to assert herself around the campers didn’t mean she wasn’t attached to Camp Wapsie. She loved camp unconditionally and, after many years as a camper, was sad to leave after LIT knowing she might not make CIT. For all of us, LIT could be the last year we get to be part of the innocent fun that is Camp Wapsie. For Natalie, that hit harder than the rest of us because she’s been coming to camp so long. She was tearful when we all said goodbye. She was strong, patient, and a kind person.

Stay awesome, Natalie.

Claire

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Michael

Michael is super cool but lives really far away. He lives in Chicago. I hope he makes CIT so he can come back to Iowa and we see him again soon. He was always a good, mild-tempered LIT that held together the group and was tolerant and patient. In his last week of LIT, he was assigned to work out in the horse stables. It’s a job that a bad LIT complains about all week, because it smells, it’s hot, and you are constantly in the sun, swarmed by flies. Michael was an outstanding LIT, and managed to take full advantage of his time out there with the horses. He took care of the horses, carefully taught kids how to ride a horse and took a lot of campers on their first ever horse ride. He was patient, and he sat in the heat everyday, ignoring the flies and making the most of a job that is usually dreadfully dull. There’s a story to go with Michael. He stepped up to the plate near the end of our time at camp, when there was a horseback riding emergency.

It was a sunny afternoon, our last week at Camp Wapsie, and us LITs had a free afternoon. We had asked our director if we could ride horses that day. I’d never ridden a horse before, and didn’t really want to at first, but decided to try it. Michael helped everyone pick out a horse and set us up with helmets and gear to ride. He taught us how to mount a horse and helped us all start to learn, since most of us hadn’t ridden before. We rode around the corral for a bit, and then the horse caretaker had Michael lead us out of the corral to trot around camp a bit. Everyone plodded along after Michael on his horse. It was sticky and hot, but we were enjoying ourselves. And then Luke got kicked. His horse got to close to the horse in front of him, and Luke got a hoof to the leg. In the moment, Luke’s face drained of all color and he looked like he was going to pass out. His leg was bleeding, and the impact of the kick had put him in a shock. He was still on his horse and dazed, unaware that his leg was gushing blood. The rest of us were trying to figure out what was going on, and Michael took charge. He helped Luke off his horse, and Luke was limped off to the clinic, held upright by our LIT director and the horse caretaker, leaving Michael in charge. Michael led all the LITs and our horses back to the corral and we tied up all the horses and put away gear. What followed was an afternoon of nervous waiting. Luke had to go to the hospital to make sure he didn’t have any broken bones and didn’t need stitches. We sat in a circle in the patch of shade by the corral and we waited and discussed what to do. Our LIT director had left with Luke, and no one told us what to do. We worried for Luke, but Michael, being the one with the most knowledge of horses present, reassured us he would be okay and told us it wasn’t anyone’s fault. Michael showed leadership when we most needed it, and held our group together.

He’s also just a cool guy and I hope he makes CIT because he made us all laugh and is really good at boosting the mood in any situation.

Stay awesome, Michael.

Claire

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Conner

Conner doesn’t think he’s worth what he is, but he’s super awesome and one of the best people I’ve met at communicating his thoughts. The principle thing I like about him is that when he gets irritated about something, he isn't afraid to speak up about what the issue is, and he’s always been sort of badass for standing up for himself. He just doesn’t take any crap from people. Whether it’s younger campers not following directions, older campers acting out of line, or his own peers not working for the team, he confronts them patiently and politely and is more assertive than I ever could be. He asks for what he wants or finds a way to get it, and he will rise to the top someday.

He was great with the older campers during LIT. I can only describe him as chill. He would play Magic the Gathering, the card game, with kids at a picnic table. Because Magic is a game for quiet-minded people, Conner became good at engaging the quieter campers that didn’t want to swim and splash, or play a game of Nuke ‘em. He seemed most approachable when he was hunched over an array of cards. He would sit down at a picnic table at the edge of the pool and slowly garner the attention of over half a dozen kids that had cards, or even just wanted to watch. And he showed genuine interest in what kids had to say to him.

The final thing I like about Conner is the conversation. I’ve had many chats with Conner since camp ended because he stays in touch and video chats with anyone he can if he has free time, even though he lives over an hour away from most of us. We’ve talked through multiple frustrations and advised each other on school issues and discussed where we want to be in the future. Our paths are very different, but he’s a wonderful person to talk to. Conversations about the smallest and largest details of life has kept Conner closer to the rest of us despite living further away.

Stay awesome, Conner.

Claire

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Taylor

Taylor made me laugh. She was pretty pretty quiet in the first few days, and spoke quietly when she voiced an opinion. Then on Tuesday of week two, all of LITs packed up food and canoes, and went on a canoeing trip. That night we pitched tents in a campsite at the end of the mapped out trip and sat around a fire telling life stories, and Taylor truly opened up. The rest of our LIT session, she was cheeky and bright and had more to say. She wasn’t as afraid to speak up for herself and she generated some good ideas throughout various situations. She was good at taking charge and making everyone help with a cookout, too. That skill helped a lot when we were hungry and tired at the end of a long day. Taylor would assign a role to each person cooking that night and got the food made more quickly.

My favorite memory of Taylor was from week two. (Context: the LIT boys’ cabin, Alpha, was nicer than the girls’ cabin, Chinook. Alpha had been remodeled earlier that year, with nice tile floors and new windows. Chinook was an old bathroom, with insects in the window sills and squares of carpet covering a concrete floor. To top it off, the boys got a nice wooden stool to use to climb into the upper bunks, so they didn’t have to vault into bed at night and risk hitting their shins on the metal bars.) At the end of week two, the girls had had enough of it. There had been light talk of taking the stool and seeing if they noticed, but there was never time to actually do it. Then late Friday night, I went to the bathroom with Taylor so she could take a shower without walking in the dark. On the way back, we peeked into the fully lit Alpha cabin, and all the boys were asleep. We found our counselor, Jordy, at a picnic table talking to other counselors. He gave us the go ahead. We crept up to the back door of Alpha, creaked open the screen door, grabbed the stool, and ran giggling all the way back to Chinook. We kept the stool the rest of the session, which was only fair, not that the guys really cared anyway. Still, the glee in Taylor’s voice when we stole a chair at 12:30 is unforgettable. How this memory adds to Taylor’s character, or teaches a valuable life lesson, I’m not really sure. But it’s a story that shouldn’t go unshared purely because it was so fun, even in our sleep deprived state. Taylor is thoughtful, hilarious, and a smart leader.

Stay awesome, Taylor.
Claire

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Jordan

Jordan was always the quiet one. He had little to say, but there's no less to say about him. Dark hair always framed the top of his eyes and his face was sort of hidden. He is one of the LITs I have lost touch with since school started. But if I think a little, a lot of memories surface of him at camp. He was very quiet in the first week, but by the end of the second week he had opened up and we knew him better. He never had much to say, but the few things he did say were perfectly timed and hilarious, and if you didn’t hear what he said, you missed the whole joke. Not only that, Jordan was one of the best hoppers from our group. As LITs, we had to help with some of the work around camp, and that included dish-washing the dinner dishes, and serving platters of food during meals. We had to hop tables about twice a week. Jordan was particularly good at weaving through the masses of campers with full platters. He worked at the canoe docks and kept kids busy while they were waiting for a boat, and he’s really good at picking out the quiet kids and chatting them up. He looked most comfortable outside, especially on the docks that final week. He starting ordering around the kids and telling the little ones to put away their life jackets after they went out in the boats. He was great at engaging possible troublemakers with turtle races. He was quiet at first, but when he spoke up he surprised us all.

Stay awesome, Jordan.
Claire

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Camp Wapsie

There’s something that I’ve been avoiding blogging about because it is such a huge part of my life. But when I’m truly out of inspiration and I don’t feel like writing about another role model or life lesson, camp still comes back to me. And for good reason.

This past summer I spent three weeks at Camp Wapsie working as a Leader In Training, or LIT. LIT is one step on the path to becoming a camp counselor. I learned to be a better leader, to work with kids and to make their camp experience better. Camp Wapsie is a place with lots of campfires and games, with almost no electronics in use, and only songs and love. It’s a place for campers to be kids, and camp staff to let their inner child run free alongside campers.

While I was there, I met a lot of pretty amazing people. There were fourteen of us, seven boys and seven girls, in LIT together for three weeks. We not only went through the same scary challenges, but we celebrated our small victories together at the end of each day. We learned so much about each other sharing our meals, stories, tears and jokes. Our counselor, Jordy, put us through exercises where we were forced to see things in new ways - fit everyone on one square foot platform without touching the ground. Cross an invisible maze made of tape. These might sound like familiar activities to anyone that’s been to a leadership retreat before. We learned to problem solve. But then we pushed ourselves even further and grew as a family, helping each other through small and large issues in our lives. We sat around fire after campfire tell stories and discussing fears and hopes for the future. Words can’t describe how much I love those people.

As Thanksgiving nears, we will be receiving letters. I believe all fourteen of us applied to become Counselors In Training, or CITs, next summer. It’s weeks of rigorous work to learn about being a counselor and spending time with campers. There are two four-week-long sessions, but the groups are smaller. Not everyone will return to camp next summer, because we were one of three groups of LITs. We’re competing against each other, plus about twenty-eight other talented teenagers, and only half of us will be accepted. I truly believe all fourteen of us deserve another month at camp next year, but we can’t all go on. Last year, my letter of acceptance to the LIT program was written on November 21, 2014. That’s less than a week away. So I’m going to write, on this blog, about each person in my LIT session wishing them the best of luck and reminding them of all the things they taught me during my three weeks with them. I will do my best to keep them all about the same length, though I could write an whole paper about each and every one of them.

Stay awesome,
Claire

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Alexis Isabel / Distorted Feminism

Disclaimer: I'll make this quick. I am a feminist.

This is for the frustrating people out there that only side "halfway" with feminists or refuse to label themselves as feminists. There are some huge misinterpretations about feminism, especially when people read out of context social media posts, and people shy away from the word because extreme feminists send inconsistent messages. If you're reading this and you have qualms with the idea of feminism, take some time and go read through some more educated Twitter profiles. It's probably one of the fastest ways to debunk alternate ideas of feminism. 

The number one feminist I follow on Twitter is Alexis Isabel. Her Twitter tag is @lexi4prez, and she is also associated with feministculture.com. Both are intelligent, accurate sources of information about feminism. Feminism is about equal rights, and Alexis tweets intelligently about the subject. She's passionate and bold and if you want an idea of what feminism really stands for, check out her social media.

Stay awesome,
Claire

Alexis Isabel on Twitter and Instagram.
Visit feministculture.com for more information on feminism and equality.

Leslie Knope

Leslie Knope is the main character of the show Parks & Rec. At the beginning of the show, she is the Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation. She has a small job in a small town in Indiana, and she's extremely passionate about what she does. She tries to lower speed bumps, and build parks, and make her town a better place. Her enthusiasm is conveyed as over-the-top and unnecessary for her small everyday tasks. She has no idea how little those around her actually care, and she is determined to change the world, one tiny change at a time. As the show goes on, her career path takes her a lot of places and it's hard to tell if she actually succeeds overall. There's a lot to be said about Leslie Knope that would spoil the entire show, but I am going to avoid all those aspects and focus on the basic characteristics of Leslie Knope.

• She's passionate. When she's given a task she takes it seriously and gets the job done at all costs. She's a really awesome, dedicated employee.
• She's a feminist. No way around it. Throughout the show she faces some stereotypical and frustrating misogynists and she never backs down. She fiercely wants to empower women and be a leader for other girls in her community.
• She cares about her community. Like, a lot. She cares about the people in her community a lot too, even if they don't care about her. She is often overlooked, but she always tries to address and account for everyone's perspectives.
• She loves breakfast food. Especially waffles. And therefore, Leslie Knope has earned my respect. She never fails to make me laugh and I admire her passion for breakfast food and her job.

If you just read through this entire post about a TV character's characteristics of a role model, please the show. Parks & Rec is guaranteed to make you laugh and Leslie Knope has some smart things to say.

"We have to remember what's important in life: friends, waffles, and work. Or waffles, friends, work. But work has to come third." ~Leslie Knope

Stay awesome,
Claire

Megan

This post is about my childhood best friend. I'm not sure why but I'm a bit nervous about this one. I'll just jump in though.
Her name is Megan, and she is super awesome. It feels like I never see her anymore, because we live an hour and a half apart. She's my only friend I'm still in touch with from living in the Quad Cities when I was young. I moved away when I was seven, but because our families were so close, we remained very close as well, if not grew closer. I haven't seen her in what feels like years, when it's probably been less than a month. (We also video chat.) There are a number of things I need to thank her for teaching me when we were younger, and as we've grown up so far away from each other...

1. Friendship can be found in the most unlikely places. Megan, you were a straight up turd when I first met you. I mean, we were toddlers, but you were mean. Our parents were co-workers though, and we worked very hard to forge a friendship that has lasted years. I grew on you, and you grew on me, and once we found some common interests we clicked.

2. You never outgrow your imagination. When we were kiddos, we both loved Harry Potter. We fought over who got to be Hermione when we played in your backyard. We had wand battles in the yard and performed duels in your swimming pool, fighting off dementors and Death Eaters - or little brothers. It was intense. Even as we grew up in our separate cities, I kept my wand and a little wizard charm you made me at a summer camp. Still have them. And I know that you're one of the rare people that even at our current age would gladly break out the wands again. We were friends when we began discovering how to create for ourselves, and had I not been so evenly matched intellectually, I would have been pretty bored as a child.

3. It takes a lot of practice to be good at something. You started figure skating at a young age, and for your tenth birthday I was able to come visit and join your birthday party. It was an ice skating party, and I had a wonderful time landing on my butt and watching you do pirouettes and jumps. A little over a year later, I had an ice skating party of my own on a smaller scale, and I kept falling and wishing I was as talented as you are. Since then I've watched you sustain a concussion and a back injury and still find a way to continue doing what you love. You struggled during your time off, and missed your passion when you weren't allowed on the ice. And you've struggled on the ice too. A lot. So many times I've heard that you are struggling with a jump, but a month later, it's always a different kind of jump, because you are so hard-working and make so much progress.

4. Be proud of your figure. This last one is a little more difficult to explain without sounding very direct. Let's imagine the picture perfect, Olympian figure skater. Thin, ballerina thin. Light and tall and slim to glide and spin smoothly. It's an advantage to be this shape because jumps are easier. Everything is smooth and delicate. Megan, you have beautiful curves and strong broad shoulders and you are stronger than the delicate dolls on ice that I see on TV. You've worked twice as hard to accomplish those moves because you aren't as flexible. You're committed and strong and the perfect oxymoron of tough and delicate, fiery and cool.

There's so much more you've taught me, but these are the most prominent lessons. You also taught me to curl my hair, and you gave me my first mascara. You planted my love for Target. Yes, the department store Target. And you've taught me more important things too. Having known you for over 10 years, there's a lot more to be said. But this is what I've got. Thanks Megan.

Stay awesome,
Claire

Señora B.

School has been in session for just over two months now. Earlier this year, I was applying for a summer program. It's a really big deal for me and I'm really excited about it. But I needed two adult recommendations for the application. I asked one of my old language arts teachers if I could fill in her information as one recommendation. She knows me quite well and is a good writer. But I was on the fence about who else to ask, and I finally went to my new Spanish teacher. I'd only known her about a month and a half, and she was still learning her students' names, practically. But Spanish is one of my favorite subjects and I had a good feeling about asking her. She said yes, and I filled in her name and sent in my application. In the weeks that have followed, I've become more and more glad I asked her to write about me.

It's about 7:15 on an ordinary September morning. I stop in to ask a quick question about the Spanish homework, and as I'm walking out the door saying thank you, she asks 
"Claire, what do you want to do?" 
Wait, what? I think.
"What kind of career path are you considering?" she clarifies.
I back up into the doorway and adjust my backpack, and answer that I'm not really sure yet. We talk for another twenty minutes about career paths, about how open my options are. This time when I leave, I say gracias, and I mean it a lot more. I am still amazed that after less than a month of school, I've just had an elaborate discussion about career options with my new teacher.

The longer I spend in her classroom, the more I admire her commitment to her students. She takes a serious interest in helping her students succeed in all that they do. She's currently helping a student apply to live abroad for a year, and gladly agreed to be one of my recommendations for an application very early in the year. And she teaches English Language Learners, ELL students. Her commitment to helping them learn English and showing them how to live in the U.S. is amazing. She quite often has left in the middle of class to translate for a counselor and student, or to put in a request to change a student's bus route. She has bikes in the corner of her room waiting to be repaired for ELL students to ride in the spring. She asks for old shoes and coats to pass on to students who have never lived in Iowa during the winter. And by teaching ELL students, she's really teaching every subject imaginable. Students come to her asking for help on their math homework, their physics, their biology. And she tries her best to help each one of them. She has been arranging tutoring between her Spanish and English students so both can gain some knowledge in the other language. She is a hero for those kids learning a new language in a new place surrounded by a new culture.

Gracias, Señora Bruce, para ver tanto potencial en mí.

Stay awesome,
Claire

What is commitment?

This is a post for my dad. I wrote about my mom a few weeks ago, and since then I've been procrastinating writing about my dad. He's an equally amazing parent but I know words can't do either of them justice. He's a surgeon at PCI, and the best father I could imagine being graced with. Thank you for everything you do, Dad.

Commitment is getting out of bed at 6 in the morning every day. It is coming home between 7 and 12 every night, and not knowing if and when you'll get to eat dinner. Commitment is working 365 days a year, quite literally. It is going into your office after opening presents on Christmas morning, so you can work on various charts and documents for a few hours. It is getting up at 2 in the morning because someone fell off of a roof. (Or leaving in the middle of dinner because someone slipped on ice. Or missing your kid's band concert because someone doesn't know how to use a table saw.) It is working all day long to help people when they're at their worst. It is patiently addressing other people's problems every day, and listening to their complaints.

And then, you come home. On those few weekend mornings that you can sleep in, you still choose to get up early to take out the dog. Then, you go out and get breakfast for everyone, or make coffee cake, or whatever you feel inspired to make. You keep working hard even on your days off. You do everything you possibly can to attend important events for my brother and I. Even at the end of your most exhausting work days you are able to see so much potential in me, and encourage me. After your long days, you still listen to my brother and I as we tell you about our own days. You still care and ask about everyone else's challenges and successes, with no regards to how hard you've worked. When I was younger, you used to be able to help me with my math, and my science, and you walked me through so many steps I didn't understand. After having worked for 12 hours, you could still muster ample patience to help me at the kitchen counter. Now that I'm in calculus and physics, it's a little harder to refresh your memory and help me with my challenges, but you are patient. You encourage me to find independence and strength in my own endeavors, and manage my time wisely. I know you're excited to watch me learn and grow, but I also know you'll have my back with wise words of encouragement when I'm struggling.

Dad, you work really hard, and don't ask for much recognition for everything you do. I hope this short blog post will suffice. Thank you for working nonstop to support our community and our family. You are a one of a kind person, and a one of a kind dad.

Stay awesome,
Claire

Civil Rights

I'm writing about a friend again. I'll try to keep this short, but today I'm going to talk about Sydney. She needs some recognition. 

Sydney is one of, if not my best friends, and one of the most aware people I've ever met. Her blog for this class is about civil rights, and she has so many brilliant opinions to share. I like her writing because it breaks down issues that I've had a hard time comprehending in the past. And she writes with a lot of passion. Once she breaks down a difficult issue, she's amazing at arguing a point. This is true in her writing and in person. She's a passionate and caring person, whether it's about a recent legal movement or where she sits in orchestra. 

In addition to showing passion for what she believes in, she is compassionate to others. She has adopted three sweet Boston Terrier girls, and she volunteers at the hospital, teaching toddlers and children about having new siblings. She really enjoys and cares about kids, and babysits for a family very regularly. She's always sharing stories about these cute kids that she gets to hang out with and how hilarious they are.

Sydney is a role model. She is compassionate and caring, and she has been found outlets for passing on her wonderful attitude to the kids she teaches at the hospital and the kids she babysits. And she's a fighter. She cares about multiple recent issues revolving around the rights of all people, and I know she'll continue impacting those around her with her words and actions for a long time.
I think I did an okay job of keeping this kind of short, but I could go on. She's a pretty amazing person.

Stay awesome,
Claire
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Check out Syd's blog, Civil Rights and Social Justice.
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Homelessness

Here's something new to try: sleep outside on a cold October night. Sounds pretty crappy, right? Try doing it every day of the year, through winter storms and heavy rain and sweltering heat. Homelessness is a real issue that many people prefer to ignore. Us lucky sheltered citizens tend to feel uncomfortable when we see the tired souls on the corners of streets with signs, and many assume homelessness solely happens to people with drug problems, or that it is something people bring onto themselves. The homeless must be lazy, right?

Quite on the contrary, many homeless families are homeless by circumstance. It's a hard life that happens as a last resort. The homeless are often at the end of their line, and have tried everything to keep a home and job. Many are mentally ill. Some are even war veterans with PTSD, who have served our country only to end up on the streets. It's a difficult life, and there's no way to glorify it.

Last night, I took part in Homeless Night at my high school. About 120 high school students raised and contributed a minimum of fifteen dollars to register. Everyone brings their cardboard boxes and starts setting up in front of our school, some as early as 6:00. Everyone has to be set up by 9:00 pm, and the whole event is monitored by chaperones. Some pretty awesome box forts pop up, with lights and tarps and lots of cozy blankets and sleeping bags. And then we get cozy. Everyone spends the night and packs up by 6 am to go get breakfast. This is, of course, a glorified one night version of homelessness. Even so, we are all cold, cramped and tired at the end of the night. No matter how awesome our forts were, how many snacks we packed, and how cozy we were, we felt the wind through our layers of clothes. It was easier knowing there were over 100 of us freezing in boxes together. I can't imagine trying to live homeless alone. Participants listened to the testimony of a teacher whose father is living homeless on the east coast. I got less than 4 hours of sleep. This was my first year taking part in Homeless Night. But I'm already looking forward sleeping out again next fall.

I'm proud to say that my school school raised over $2500 for our local homeless shelter, and we're also collecting canned foods this month to send at the end of October. I learned a lot about the difficult lifestyle of the homeless, and I am proud to contribute to their comfort in these coming cold months.

If your school doesn't have a Homeless Night, plan one. Start a canned food drive. Or next time you see someone shivering on a street corner holding a sign asking for help, hand them some cash, or buy them a pair of socks, or treat them to McDonald's. It's just another meal to you, but that meal could be all they eat for the day, or the week. Homelessness is real. Let's address it.

Stay awesome,
Claire
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Read about Kid President's #Socktober initiative here!
Find your nearest homeless shelter.
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A Pet Peeve.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people complain with no intention of suggesting a solution to the problem.

Sure, there's a certain relief in venting to someone about something frustrating. But after you vent, you move on. You let out your emotion and regain the ability to solve the problem or move past it. When you are faced with a real problem and you constantly complain and think about how frustrating it is, it's poisonous. It isn't good for your mental health or the health of those who listen to you complain.

Some things aren't as simple as Shia Lebouf makes them seem, sure. Not everyone can just do it, because some problems are much more complicated. But to earn credibility and for people to want to care or listen to your problems, you must take steps to try to solve those problems yourself too.

I think we see this with a lot of politicians as the 2016 election heats up. Some of the people running to lead our country seem to talk a lot and not say much. They sound like they're trying to meet the word count minimum for an essay. I don't yet have a certain political view to assert because it's difficult to decide who I would vote for. I agree with the opinions of multiple candidates, but which one of them will truly act and make the best decisions for the country I call home? A lot of the debates just sound like rich people complaining, and the applause they receive is from people who already agree. They are applauded for repeating what their supporters already believe. Of course, whoever is elected should match the views of our country. Politicians must assert their views strongly so people can side with them. But candidates should be elected because they are smart, open-minded and ready to solve problems for millions of people.

Prove to me that you are determined to solve problems for our country, not just talk about them. Then, and only then, will you have my vote.

Stay awesome,
Claire

Invested In Every Student: Why Mr. Kline Rocks

Jason Kline, also nicknamed JKline, is the principal at Kennedy High School. He's worked here two years going on three. He's active on Twitter, records announcements daily, and shadows classes every chance he gets. When he's not doing official, district stuff to keep our school running, he's invested in the students.

Mr. Kline had some pretty big shoes to fill when Dr. Wilcynski left. My freshman year was also Mr. Kline's first. Everyone LOVED Dr. Wilcynski. Mr. Kline was stepping up to the plate to bat right after Babe Ruth hit a homerun for seventeen years. There was doubt in everyone's hearts. The first year, he adjusted to his new environment. He had over 2000 names to learn, a new student body and new staff members to direct. He began building a Twitter presence, and learning our names, and still maintaining a high school. He started a blog called Cougar Chat and already began investing time to write and recognize athletes, scholars, and clubs all over Kennedy High School. He was working hard from the start. Under his administration, I had a wonderful freshman year. 

Sophomore year brought huge changes to Kennedy High School, however, changes that were exciting for everyone. Mr. Kline pitched the idea of SMART Lunch, an 80 minute lunch period for the entire student body, as opposed to 4 slots of ABCD lunch that rotates students in and out of 4th hour with 20 minutes to eat. Instead, there would be an open campus for juniors and seniors with passing grades to leave for lunch. Underclassmen and those that stayed could enjoy two 40 minute slots of "tutorial." Tutorial was time to catch up on work, eat, socialize, ask teachers for help in their classrooms, and attend club meetings or recreational sports. Students and staff adjusted when the year started, and everyone loved it. Everyone loved Mr. Kline. And with good reason. SMART Lunch meant it was easier to participate in clubs and sports, made homework more manageable, and students that rode the bus could participate more in school life. Everyone was winning, and Mr. Kline was to thank.

By the end of the year, SMART Lunch had shifted slightly, though, and Kline took some big hits on Twitter. Administration chose to close the foyer during the end of SMART Lunch and students needed a pass to get to a classroom. It was to control the noise level, but Mr. Kline got tons of criticism on Twitter from students trapped in the noisy cafeteria. I'll admit to being one of those irritated students. Additionally, SMART Lunch was cut short 20 minutes to make time for more class, so we had fewer snow days to make up in the summer, and school had to start five minutes earlier and end five minutes later. Oh, the pain of waking up five minutes earlier. Mr. Kline took more hits, despite it being a decision of administration as a whole. Even teachers were irritated, but it was necessary. Being a high school principal means making difficult decisions, and Mr. Kline made his fair share of hard decisions that year.

Enter junior year. Present day. SMART Lunch remains shorter this year, at 30 minutes per tutorial, one hour of lunch to use accordingly. There is still an open campus, and the foyer has been open for students to come and go after lunch. Thank goodness. That was irritating. Now that everyone appreciates SMART Lunch, we turn to whether or not JKline is truly invested in every student. He attends every football game, but only one cross country meet in the season?! *Gasp* He doesn't participate. Yes, but he tweets about the team victories, and he celebrates every. single. sport. in an elaborate paragraph at the end of the week on his blog, Cougar Chat. He tweets about National Merit Scholars, Debate Team, football victories and dive team videos, and he is so cool when you talk to him. His focus is definitely football this year, but we're 7-0 baby! How can you not celebrate that?! The student section is flaming, and when over 200 students are there, Kline should probably be there too. And he missed the game this week because he was at his brother's wedding. He still tweeted and kept up with the game, and he's been encouraging students to add emails to a Battle of The Stands to win our school $25,000. The only reason we are in the lead is because Kline is so present on Twitter. No other school in the city of Cedar Rapids has such a strong social media presence as Kennedy.

Now that we all have some perspective, stop hating on Mr. Kline. Next time you feel that he isn't invested in all students, as his Twitter bio claims, check up on his weekly blog. He is one heck of a role model, and he is still learning and growing like the rest of us. He has risen to the challenge of a huge, new school and implemented an entire new lunch system with grace. He is raising a family of 1800, and a family of his own. Cut the guy some slack and thank him for all he's done next time you see him.

Stay awesome,
Claire
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Follow Mr. Kline on Twitter.
Read Cougar Chat, "from the desk of Principal Jason Kline."
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Equality

My friend is a role model - this will be quick, I promise - and she needs some recognition.

Rachel writes about equality in all its forms on her blog, Cup O' Equality. At first thought, a blog about equality sounds like recycled newspaper articles from yesterday. Equality is a very talked-about subject these days, in many forms. But Rachel really writes her own opinions, and when you talk to her, you'll realize it's what she believes and she won't bend her views to accommodate people that are really wrong. She tells it how it is. She's spunky and determined, and she's a future leader. Thank you, Rachel, for being refreshingly real and educated. Keep writing quality blogs, and advocating for what you believe in, far beyond the screen you type on. I see your opinions shine through in your blogs and in ordinary conversation and it makes me happy knowing you'll change the world someday.
(probably tomorrow when you post another awesome blog.)

Stay awesome,
Claire
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Rachel's blog, Cup O' Equality.
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Amy Schumer is Awesome

Amy Schumer is an increasingly popular comedian and outspoken feminist that has become recently popular. She's so funny. And she advocates for women. A lot of her jokes have been interpreted or seen as controversial, but she manages to make them funny because her opinions are right, and she is fighting for women with her stories and clever words. She also speaks about how hard it is to speak out in general. She's a strong feminist with a positive body image despite being labeled as overweight by many critics.

Here's to Amy. She has awesome, edgy humor. She stands out because she defies the stereotype that feminists don't see the humor in anything. Her feminist rants are hilarious, but still get the message across every time. Her fans are learning how to support gender equality, and see themselves as more beautiful. May she continue to inspire, as she is an spunky, hilarious, and confident role model for many.

"I say if I'm beautiful. I say if I'm strong. You will not determine my story - I will." -Amy Schumer

Stay awesome,
Claire
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Some of the best things Amy has to say here.
Amy also has a show called on Inside Amy Schumer on Comedy Central.
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Musical Interpretation

Let's talk music. In our messy world of criticisms and pop culture, a plethora of songs and topics are commonly sung about. Love, violence, becoming a parent, drugs and adventures. It's all out there. 

If you asked me to pick a favorite artist, it might be Ed Sheeran. Or Troye Sivan. I also really like Sam Smith, and Jake Shimabukuro, and Dodie Clark, and Halsey. Oh, and Florence + The Machine. The audiences for each of these artists varies in size. Some are better known for making video makers on youtube. Some are famous for their music and overplayed on the radio. And the majority of you will have no idea who Jake Shimabukuro is. He's famous for his ukulele skills. But so is Dodie Clark. It's hard to find the theme in what sorts of songs I like. When someone sings about love, in various forms, it tends to move listeners. I think growing up and coming of age are topics that inspire me in song form too.

(I also love the type of music that makes you want to get up and dance. Groovy, funk stuff. Earth, Wind & Fire is one of my top Pandora stations for dancing to. In case anyone wanted to know.)

Yet, the other day, I was talking with my good friend, and he likes a very different set of songs. It's not the stuff that makes you cry or moves you in your chest, at least not the way I see it. Then again, he plays football. The songs he told me about are intense guitar pieces that the team listens to before a game. Not really my thing. And yet, the passion with which he told me about Shinedown and Seether was impressive. I tried listening on Pandora. I really tried. It made me appreciate the message behind the different songs that my friend likes. He seems to like the songs that drive him and make him feel stronger when he's doign something he's passionate about.

For another quick musical profile, another one of my good friends shares my taste in Halsey, and Sam Smith. She has  begged her mom for concert tickets to Halsey. But I'm not sure we like the same songs for the same reasons. I think she likes the adventurous tone of Halsey's songs. Even if she's just driving home from school, Halsey makes it seem like the ride of a lifetime. And Sam Smith sings a lot about love. Songs about love, whether it's heartbreak, or a crush, or a terrible breakup, validate how we feel, even if we won't sing it dramatically like our favorite artists.

So here's to music. Let it continue to move us, whether it's to face the day with a different attitude or just get on our feet and move. If you've read this far, you should comment something you like to listen to.

Stay awesome,
Claire
---
Ed Sheeran.
Troye Sivan.
Sam Smith.
Jake Shimabukuro.
Dodie Clark.
Halsey.
Florence + The Machine. 
Earth, Wind & Fire.
Shinedown.
Seether.
---

Stories are Cities

Jordy Brown is a writer and teacher. He graduated from UNI this past year, and is currently student teaching in Dubai. He presented his poem Stories Are Cities at a TEDx event last spring, and it's one of the best extended metaphors you will hear. For a quick summary, he talks about how we build cities in our minds. It's huge analogy. Each city consists of skyscrapers of knowledge, and streets and cars. Some cities have walls and some have bridges. Tears are the rain in these cities, but they clean the streets. It's a brilliant connection between individual people, and the cities that make up our brains.

And then the poem takes a more serious turn, and Jordy explains how our mental cities connect. As people, we share our skyscrapers of knowledge and our values and rules that govern our minds. But roads, stories, are how you really connect two cities, two minds.

I think Jordy is telling us to connect over stories. You won't fully appreciate someone else until you've heard about their experiences, and you can connect theirs to your own. These connections are important because fight against the connections that cause two cities to turn and attack another city. Stories forge connections, avoiding "... giant mushroom clouds of insults, slurs and hate...". I think Jordy's message is ultimately a positive one. Stories are what connect us, and the way to avoid issues between people is to start asking to hear each other's stories. Tell your story, listen to the stories of others. Break down the walls the safeguard cities, and build bridges instead.

Jordy's poem is something more people need to hear and realize. In a world full of judgement and angry opinions, we need to begin to listen to each other and appreciate each other's experiences and differences. "No city is the same..." 

Stay awesome,
Claire

Check out Jordy's poem here!
To read about Jordy's student teaching adventures in Dubai, check out his blog. 
His blog also ties to his poem as Jordy learns about the values of people from different countries and cultures. He's also student teaching 4th graders, and even the young minds he's coaching are teaching him.

In My Chair

Eva Devirgilis is a makeup artist, stylist, and also an actress. Recently, she's started speaking publicly about her job as a makeup artist. She has had hundreds of women sit in her chair to have their makeup done, and begin their appointment with an apology. In her TEDx Talk In My Chair she addresses the women who apologize when they sit down. Most women apologize when they sit down. Whether it's wrinkles, weight, nose shape or the curve of a face, almost every woman to sit down apologizes. They don't see their own beauty. Despite Eva's knowledge of makeup, she uses makeup to make women believe they really are beautiful, with or without makeup. Even if the effect is temporary, Eva tries to transform the attitudes of her clients, both with words of encouragement and her makeup skills. While on stage, she uses her acting skills to represent the different clients that sit in her chair. First, are the many women who lack confidence and see only flaws. And then, she becomes the women who don't apologize. To clarify, Eva isn't one of the women who is confident in a makeup chair. She too sees her flaws. But the women who don't apologize when they sit down to be pampered are faced with illness or death. An old woman celebrating her birthday, or a mother who just finished a round of chemotherapy and got her new wig.

Eva encourages those women to do two things. First, use makeup as a resource to feel beautiful and to feel confident. This is something we should all feel okay doing, too. Many people are seen as too "made up" or "trying to hard" when they put on makeup for an ordinary day, but if it's what makes us feel comfortable, go for it. Disregard the opinions of those who only notice your appearance. Wear as much or little makeup as you want, as long as you are happy.

And second, Eva reminds all women to love themselves. Every woman that has sat in her chair, every woman that wears makeup or leaves the house with none on, love and embrace your own appearance. As a makeup artist, Eva changes the appearance of so many people on a daily basis, and empowers them with makeup. But so many go home and feel unchanged the next day. She's looked into the eyes of women who she envies the appearance of, and had them apologize for a trait she would love to have. 

Eva is a trailblazer, a role model in her profession, and a role model for all women. Love yourself, treat yourself, and don't apologize when you sit down for your next appointment. You aren't difficult, you are fabulous. And once you know it, remind others of their own beauty, too. If you are in the small group of confident women that loves your appearance, set an example as Eva does and try to empower others.

Stay awesome,
Claire

See Eva Devirgilis' presentation here.
For more about Eva, check out her website here.

Exam Results

Background: I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate is a spoken word by Suli Breaks. Suli is a spoken word artist that has created a multitude of poems with important social messages that challenge everything from the American dream to the hurt of social media. His spoken word about exams perfectly explains how hard it is to be successful in a hypocritical society, where our test scores seem to determine our fate. Suli has been on multiple TV interviews and is successful on YouTube as well. He shares his writing, favorite books, and articulately discusses his opinions on camera, even when improvising.

It's my junior year, which entails lots of big decisions, tests, and thoughts of the future - for me and for my peers. PSAT, SAT, and ACT exams loom ahead, and entrance exams and college applications aren't far behind either. Many kids will be applying to schools that hold the path to their dream career, and all that stands between them and reaching that dream path is doing well on the ACT. Or getting a 5 on an AP Exam. It's scary. Tests really can change our course in life, and many students find themselves taking a different path after high school because they didn't do well enough on the ACT to go to their dream school. Or their standardized test scores weren't high enough to take advanced classes in high school. They never realized effort trumps talent. They were made to feel unsuccessful simply because of a number from a test. 

In his spoken word about standardized tests, titled I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate, Suli Breaks explains how hard it is to be successful when test scores have such an impact on our lives. Students are taught that college and getting a degree is the only and best option. Suli tells otherwise. And he addresses the students who don't score well on tests and are made to feel lesser because they don't test well. Just because you get a C on a test doesn't mean you don't have an A+ brain when it comes to art. Maybe your focus is math, not grammar, but it doesn't mean you don't have talents in a different subject. And in a society where education seems to dictate everything, Suli Breaks reminds us to not measure ourselves and others by exam results. Numbers can't represent people, and we must decide for ourselves to not let scores decide our paths. For many successful, happy students, this is all familiar. But for many more, Suli's words are a wake-up call, and those people are rising to decide their own paths, instead of accepting their test scores and mediocrity. Suli is a role model not only in this writing, but in many others. I encourage anyone reading this to go check out all his other work on YouTube. He's a talented, outspoken person that shares strong messages.

Stay awesome,
Claire

I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate by Suli Breaks here.
More of Suli's work can be found on his YouTube channel here.