Exploring Self Realization, Art, Health, Cyber Bullying And Life Experiences In School

Self Realization and Actualization

Discuss about the Motivational Talk on Self Realization.

I attended a school talk on Self Realization and Actualization. It was a one of a kind opportunity. The whole talk was aimed at finding our true purpose and living a wholesome and fulfilling life. During the talk, we were all given a simple task. To ask ourselves this simple question: Who am I? To be true to myself, I couldn’t answer this. However, I knew that I am much more than a single role. Much more than I let people see. The speaker went ahead to assure us that we are all eternal souls capable of doing and achieving any milestones we set for ourselves. This made me feel strong and powerful, like I could really ace that class that I’ve been really failing at. Self-belief is important. According to Bandura (1986),” Self-confidence is one of the most influential motivators of people’s behaviour in their everyday lives.”

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” ? Pablo Picasso

I always loved art. Even as a child, I was fascinated by the graffiti paint that was painted all over my neighbourhood walls. I loved the splash of colour and how it all blended together to create something amazing. I still have the graffiti themed jacket that my mother got me as a child. The Annual Art Exhibition at school has always been one of my favourite events to attend. Art has a way of speaking volumes even in pin drop silence. Artists express themselves through their work. You can read pain, joy, pleasure and all other emotions just by studying an artist’s work. Art is a powerful tool that influences society and can be used to raise awareness on important day to day problems. Dewey (1934) found that “… the magic of the artist rests in his ability to move these values from one field of experience to another and by his imaginative insight make these objects momentous.”(p.118)

This exhibition made me realize that so much so can be done through art to create awareness on various issues affecting our society: crime and violence, student riots, drug use and abuse, street killings.

 June 23, 2018. Health and Fitness

“Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have.” ? Winston S. Churchill

The Health club organized a pretty cool showcase on tips on how to keep healthy and fit and still maintain a good student class life balance. Physically activity holds utter importance especially amongst today’s younger generation who is busy enjoying the luxuries of mobile, laptop and TV at an alarming rate. They aren’t active and spirited on a daily basis. Emphasis was put on how much physical fitness attributed to good grades in class and increased brain activity which is important in tests and examinations. Tomporowski (2003) found that “Children respond with greater accuracy to cognitive tasks after participating in a session of physical activity”.

The Power of Art in Society

“So many books, so little time.” ? Frank Zappa

That’s the founding quote of the school’s Book Club. Clever, right? We meet every Wednesday evening and discuss a new book each week. Very interesting topics go on there. You should pass by one day. Martha suggested we try something different that Wednesday. Something like crossword puzzles, just to see how well our vocabulary had grown over time. So, we decided to make it more fun by teaming up and having a prize for the winning team. I love words. Sudoku I don’t really get the hang of. But crossword puzzles, there is something about words that fascinates me. If you probably guessed that my team won, you guessed right.

Puzzles take your mind to a new world, a world of words, a world of bliss and different perspective. It’s like relieving all the English lessons that you have sat through all your life, even the A-Z lessons from Kindergarten. Crossman (1983) found that “Puzzles are such great and familiar academic tools which reduces the need to explain directions, saving class time.” July 7, 2018. Talk on Cyber bullying and Social Media Influence.

The influence that social media has placed on our day to day lives cannot be underestimated, neither can it be ignored. Social media is a force to be reckoned with. We have had a few cases of cyber bulling in the school. It’s really disheartening that a person would go so far as to seriously bully another over the web. This was the reason the school arranged a campaign against Cyber Bulling and irresponsible use of social media platforms. And you wouldn’t believe who was in attendance; a senior manager from Facebook. He shed more light on the dangers of cyber bullying and informed us on the possible channels to use to report such cases. Social media should be used to create positive impact on the society, not to create disastrous situations. All the students were in attendance since it was such an important topic to listen to and participate in. I have read of really bad cases online and I feel that more should be done to stop cyber bullying. Social media platforms should be used for the good.

“Prepare well! Take two inks; you may never know when one pen will stop writing!” ? Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

It’s that time again. Time to take the mid semester exams. This is the time when the school library is always full. And so silent. Shocker. Tests are designed to test your intelligence, your remembering skills and your resilience. I wouldn’t say that this is my favourite week of the school semester. Neither is it my worst. I am not afraid to take tests. Besides the History test. I am pretty bad at History. During the exam week, there is minimal activity in the school. The guys don’t spend all their time at the basketball court. The girls miss their cheerleading sessions. It’s purely books. And more books.

The Importance of Maintaining Physical Fitness

I don’t have much to say for this week. Other than I have to get back to studying. I suck at failure.

July 21, 2018. The beautiful assignments that we all live for

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out without fear for newer and richer experience.” ? Eleanor Roosevelt

I think bucket lists are usually meant to last till you die. Things you want to do before your timely or untimely end. What’s on your bucket list? Is there a long list of places to go to, things to eat, and new experiences to live through? I know what’s on mine. We had this assignment last week: “Things to do before you finish school.” It’s like a bucket list, but one with a small time frame. We had a few days to complete and submit our lists. I saw Jane’s list. One thing stood out. She wanted to learn how to speak and write in Mandarin before we completed school. Interesting, huh?

This assignment made me realize that time is a borrowed concept. That time passes by so quick we barely realize it. We are just a few semesters away from graduation. How amazing. But what next after that? Do I get to see all my friends ever again? Or will I bump into Jane ten years late at a grocery store, barely recognizable?

Point is, I want to have fun in school, have good grades, make great memories with my friends, have amazing relationships and not forgetting, eat without getting fat. Isn’t that what we all pray for?

“All things, beautiful or otherwise, must surely come to an end.”- My friend Jane.

I feel like I want to keep writing this blog for some time. It has been a wonderful experience. Penning down my thoughts and experiences. I feel like an accomplished artist. Is this how Leonardo da Vinci felt when he finally completed his prized work, The Monalisa?

I wonder how much I’ll score. Remember I told you I suck at failure. I have put so much effort and emotion in this blog. Results for the mid semester exam will be out by next week. I feel a little nervous. This blog will be graded and added to the final mark.

I have my book club meeting later today. We plan to read and discuss one of Nick Vujivic’s books. He is a great writer. Very inspirational. You’re all welcome to attend.