How Helen Found Her Way

          Creative writing is a skill that I believe is essential. Children should be taught at a young age how to express their thoughts, and then put these thoughts into words. For most, the writing process is quite simple. For most, writing is inspired by life experience, which is gained by interpreting what we see and hear. Helen Keller's case is an unusual one. At the age on 19 months, she was struck with an illness that robbed her of all vision and hearing. From that day on, it was obvious that she was going to have to be taught in a radically different way.

          Helen's illness not only stripped her of her vision and hearing, it stripped her of her ability to express her thoughts to the world. For most children, language is generally picked up quickly, as well as the ability to associate certain words to certain qualities or objects. Language skills are also developed through interaction, which was virtually impossible for Helen Keller. She had to find an alternate method. Over time, she learned to interpret and make sense of the world around her through basic hand gestures and symbols. This was a very long and arduous process. Finally, she learned to associate words to objects and to form basic sentences, an astounding feat for someone who is blind and deaf.

         Now that Helen had learned simple communication, she wanted to express her feelings to others. This proved to be quite difficult. How could someone possibly form elaborate sentences that adequately  document their experiences when they barely have a grasp of the concept of words and language? This is relatively easy for kids nowadays, because they can effortlessly put a name to their feelings and opinions, unlike Helen. With the help of her teacher, Annie Sullivan, Helen learned alternate methods of communication, which helped her transform her ideas into intelligent sentences. As she reached adulthood, Helen finally began to make sense of the world around her.

          Helen Keller's story is an inspiring one to say the least. "Story of My Life" is her way of informing the world of the struggles of growing up with a severe disability. Her experiences were drastically different than the experiences of most children, especially when it came to writing. Her against-all-odds dream of telling the world her story finally came true.

The Truth About Trolling

     

      While mindlessly browsing through humorous "memes" that had gone viral, I came across the following:

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       Now for the most part, I find this to be somewhat accurate. However, the creator of this meme omitted a fourth type of truly honest person: the anonymous internet poster. In most forums in the online world, users have the option to remain nameless and faceless, hidden behind an online persona. This persona can inspire the poster to express their true beliefs and grievances without the fear of being judged or criticized.
       Often, this illusion of anonymity can cause the user to say things that he or she would not normally say in public, such as their views on more controversial topics. A great example of this would be your run-of-the-mill angry YouTube commenter. These interesting specimens LIVE to stir the pot and draw attention to themselves, usually with some off-colour comment that no one would dream of saying out loud (also known as "trolling"). These comments often have absolutely nothing to do with the video that they supposedly just watched, and often contain somewhat skewed opinions on race, politics, etc. More often than not, there are usually a slew of (also anonymous) angry posters who then comment with their retort. This eventually escalates into a full-out debate filled with outrageous obscenities and statements that are just not very well thought out. On these threads of comments, posters can simply hide behind their computer screen and completely disregard the feelings or opinions of their fellow YouTubers. Blatant racism and sexism is often displayed, and nothing can be done about it. A quick trip to YouTube can show you just how anonymity affects how people express themselves online.
     In the real world, actions often have consequences, and words can hurt. Online, these words are still hurtful, but there are little consequences for the person saying them. Take these anonymous blogs for example. It is much easier to state your views on something and not be worried about what your classmates think. This is because the internet acts as an effective buffer between people. If you make a comment that offends a certain classmate, you don't have to witness their reaction, which makes these comments easier to say. With these blogs, users have the freedom to blow off steam without the worry of being judged for who they are.
      Having a sense of anonymity online has both its ups and downs. One has the freedom to express their innermost opinions without scrutiny. However, one can also fall victim to hurtful comments including racism, sexism, or homophobia. It is the user's responsibility to take these comments with a grain of salt, because more often than not, these comments are intended for shock value and not much else.

Rant: High Schools These Days

As I was browsing through the infamous MRU Confessions page one day, I stumbled upon an interesting post that really got me thinking. The author of the post was sarcastically expressing their displeasure with high school curriculums. The post went something like this:

"Thanks to high school, I don't know how to pay bills, buy a house, or do taxes... but thank God I know how graph a polynomial function." 

Now I realize that MRU Confessions isn't what you would call a very cerebral and thought provoking forum, but this disgruntled person's post resounded with me. In my opinion, high schools (at least where I'm from) aren't doing a good enough job preparing adolescents for the "real world". Now I realize that some of this knowledge should be learned in one's own free time, but schools should really be focusing more on these topics, because this type of knowledge is essential to function in today's society.

High schools have a very one-dimensional way of evaluating a student's intelligence. Students are expected to simply memorize information and then regurgitate said information onto a piece of paper. High schools need to realize that not everyone learns this way. Too much emphasis is being put on simply "getting the right answer", and there is not nearly enough emphasis on alternative methods of learning or analyzing problems. This "memorize and repeat" theory is really hampering students' ability to think outside the box or to look at problems from different points of view. I think it's a shame that students who don't buy into this system are viewed as "unintelligent", even though they might have more worldly knowledge than most.

All that being said, I am not bashing the actual subjects that are being taught, it's just that the way they are taught isn't the best. I don't think teachers are the problem, more so the curriculum itself. I think that there should be classes that teach the topics about general world knowledge that I mentioned above. I think this would really assist young adults to become a truly rounded and effective member of society.

Yes, I realize that I am not really providing a solution to this problem. I am just venting to myself about a topic that I think needs to be reconsidered. That is all, bye for now.

Man Vs. Farm Animal

Hey there ladies and gents.  

It is I, Cool Sloth, and I would like to take this time to share with you an unusual event that occurred recently in my homeland. (Note: If you are reading this dry-humored blog in hopes of getting a good chuckle, I'm going to have to ask you to lower your standards a wee bit).  

Okay, now that that's over, I'll get to it. The following escapade took place just this past summer. This is my story. *Cue Law and Order sound* 

One July night, a few friends and I were driving along a gravel road on the way to a "social gathering", if you will. Everyone, including the driver, was very excited to arrive at our destination, and this resulted in our speed being a tad excessive. We zoomed over a small hill, and what we found on the other side was a bit more than we bargained for. A large cow had decided to park itself right in the middle of the road. There was no way of stopping in time, so me and my friends (and the cow, I'm assuming), braced for impact. The cow let out a desperate "moo", but to no avail. Next thing you know, bumper met beef. 

Oh yeah, let me remind you that we were in a small-sized car, so the cow had a considerable size advantage over us. It hit the windshield and proceeded to do an airplane-style barrel roll over the roof of the car. I'd say this whole thing occurred in about a third of a second, so you could imagine our alarm. The cow then rolled over the back window and off of the now totalled car. Let it be known that no one in the car was hurt in the least bit, but unfortunately, I can't say the same for  the cow. The only thing I could say was that the poor animal was in the wrong place at the wrong time. To this day, my friends and I still feel sympathy for that cow. It only wanted to mind its own business and munch on some grass, but instead, it ended up finding a one-way ticket to the butcher shop. May it rest in peace.

I don't know about you, but I think stories like this are hard to come by. In fact, I'd say that they're about "medium rare". 

First Post

Hello world, here's my first post, hopefully many more to come.