we day

WE DAY 2013!

I think that my attendance at WE Day 2013 will have a positive impact on our school this year because I believe that if I go, I will be able to take information and bring it back to the school and try to make a change, locally and even globally. I believe that this is a huge opportunity. I love going to events like these because when I come back from them, I implement what I have learnt so that it’s beneficial for our school. I haven’t been involved with ME to WE but I have been included in other community/school events. I went to the ‘YRDSB OUR VOICE: THE WAY FORWARD’ conference. This conference was very beneficial because it was a student-lead conference. It allowed us, students to use our voice and speak up. At the conference, I realized how important it is to use your voice in a positive way to help people. You don’t only need to use your voice; you can get your message out in any way, media, arts or verbally. I learned that student voice is important because, we are the ones who are the future to making our world a better place. When I went back to school, after the conference, I had a tiny activity planned with my class about bullying and speaking up. With my teacher’s permission, I explained the activity to my class and they did the activity. Even though there were 2 months left of school, I could see that my classmates were starting to speak up. Even though I only had an impact on my class, it’s better than nothing. Also in May, my school had a workshop for grade 7’s and 8’s about mental health. The workshop had taught me a lot about mental health and it made me want to do something for all the people who suffer from mental illnesses. The workshop had many great ways to become aware of mental health and how to help someone who has been diagnosed. We had 2 speakers and workshops throughout the day. These workshops made me think of how I could get involved with helping people who are suffering. Overall the workshop had given me a lot of information so that I could use it in my school. In the summer I went to OELC (Ontario Educational Leadership Camp) for student leadership. At the camp there were many activities that were challenging and that taught me many new things. I learned that, to be a leader, you have to take responsibility and face challenges to reach your desired goals. At the camp, I learned some fun activities that will help me in understanding the ways to become a successful leader. WE Day is an event that I have some knowledge on. It is an amazing opportunity for me to go to so that I can bring the information that I learn back to the school and apply it to my life. I would like to see events that give students the chance to become aware of problems occurring in the world, such as world hunger, clean water, education, etc. When students become aware of these things, they would have the chance of helping out and that would help the problem reduce. At Blair Ridge I would like to do some assemblies with motivational speakers that would talk about the problem. The more we get students aware of these issues, the faster and easier it would be to start helping to prevent the problem. If I could go to WE Day, I would be more able to make a difference locally and globally. Some things I could do locally would be, teaching my family and friends about some of the issues and later on I can start to develop workshops about those issues to teach my school or even other schools. I can also volunteer at organizations that help out with the issues. We can even write letters to people that have a lot of power, so that we can alert them about what’s happening in the world. If someone actually did something about the issues, there would be a greater chance for having the issue decrease, worldwide! At our school we can do a bake sale and donate the money to WE Day or Free the Children foundation. We can also do something BIG! We can go worldwide and help build schools in other countries such as, Africa. We can go to other countries and help out by doing some things to make a difference in their eyes. I know that if I make a difference in someone’s day, or life, I would be extremely happy and I would just try and continue my work and even work on expanding it. WE Day is an event that I was informed of by my idol, Demi Lovato. Demi Lovato has performed at WE DAY last year and this year she will be performing again. Demi has done many things to help make a difference in the world and in people’s lives, much like the WE Day people. She has gone through so much and has taught me many things. When she talked about her experience at WE Day in 2012, she said she was proud to be in a room with 20,000 people who have made a difference. Ever since that I have been trying hard to make a difference, whether it was small or big. In August 2013, Demi spent her 21st birthday in Kenya during a ME to WE volunteer trip. I knew that I wanted to make a difference in the world because of her and ME to WE. Demi has been in the ME to WE organization for about a year and she has made a big difference. I want to do that as well, and I truly believe that if I go to WE Day, it will be beneficial for our school. If I go to WE Day, I hope that I would be able to make a huge difference in our school, community and even in the world!