Gratitude

Dear Family,

 I was finding it hard to think of a word that could encompass how I feel towards you. After all you give me so many reasons. I’ll start off by saying you people are amazing, you've been with me through the good and the very harsh. To me family isn't only blood relatives though; it’s the people that are there no matter what. As I went through High school it had always been a giant question mark for me, but due to you being intrusively clingy I have been able to live my life without feeling alone and maybe having some "occasional" laughter, and I couldn't be happier. I've had some of my deepest moments with you guys; you were there when I needed to talk, to yell, to sing or to be a complete idiot. I have had days where I've been in the gutters emotionally or mentally, and with one word, you pull me out and I’ll feel like a million dollars! Every time I see you guys; I smile no matter what happened that day. Most importantly you've shown me time and time again, I don’t have to fake who I am.

Then we go to my true family. Every time I see you guys it fills me with an indescribable happiness. I can be one hundred percent me around you. I know I have messed up. But every time no matter how mad or disappointed; you were always there for me. You've always shown interest in the things that I’m interested in. You have tested me when I think I things are too easy. I realize that everything I say may be a big vocal maze but every time, you are focused on listening and helping; when you can.  When I hear other kids talk about their family it’s like a complete one-eighty. Where there parents are divorced or they don’t get along with certain members of the family.  I’m glad I've never had to know what that’s like. The most memorable moments are the small things. My mom and I are watching a show on Netflix and then dad makes his appearance.  Next thing you know my sister is kicking in the door to join in on the already crowded couch. My brother walks out of his room to find us all heartily beaming at him. As the positive pressure pulls him towards us, he takes his spot on the rocking chair. We’re all watching and laughing, and I couldn't be happier. Lastly if it weren't for you guys; I wouldn't have found my passion and drive towards everything I do.

To me personally, I’ll never be able to say this enough. You have done more for me than I would have ever possibly conceived. So to you I say, Thank You.

I'll Take Some Freedom Please!

Complete Freedom in writing; sounds beautiful right? It’s wrong, but not because freedom of writing is a negative thing, it’s because of the complicated situation it puts a writer into. I’m writing this in response to the event that occurred last week. There was a kid that got arrested for writing a story about killing his neighbour's dinosaur; with a gun.  Just hearing that makes my mind go numb. When we were younger we were told to create freely, with whatever our petite minds could come up with but due to all the violence that has occurred recently, we have all become very sheltered into what is considered acceptable in today’s society. A man can write the most gruesome and vivid horror stories and everyone calls him a genius, but if someone even thinks about writing a sad or depressing story, everyone thinks there's something wrong, and starts worrying about them. In reality we as humans all find inspiration from different sources, and then we are critiqued on whether or not it would be acceptable to release it. Sometimes the most dejected, dreadful and gratified content can completely change how we see and understand literature; I mean whatever happened to freedom of speech. To answer the question if I haven’t already; I think the punishment that the student received is nonsense. When it comes down to it, you shouldn't stop people from creating, you should celebrate it.

This is in response to the video about Banned Books Week.

A group on YouTube known as OpenRoadMedia, collected a bunch of writers and wanted to get their opinion on banning books. The idea of banning books confused these artists. There was a slight bit of anger residing with these writers, most of them just realized how pointless the idea is. My favourite quote from the video is, "if you don't wanna read it, don't read it." Because that is the main reason people ban books. It makes them uncomfortable or they think it is dumb so, they share there opinion and make a big fuss; when really all they had to do was put the book down and walk away. These people think they are doing the world a service, but really all they are doing is giving another reason for people to hate and put down out of the box thinkers. If we as creators didn't fight back against banning books then we would never have the breathtaking literature we do today.

Hey It's Me

Hey, my name is Andrew. Normally one wouldn't start an introduction with something so relaxed as “hey.” That’s just the way I am. I am also 16, I  have brown hair and apparently I’m a short person's worst nightmare (because I’m tall). I’ll start off by saying that I am an artistic person, everything I do involves the arts. I draw in art class, I act in drama and if you catch me on the right occasion I’ll sing a song or two. I know what you’re thinking, "what about Math or Science?" Yup, I’m drawing during those too. The reason I’m so artistic really breaks down to the people such as my friends, my teammates, my teachers and those I’m teaching. When I was a kid I used to be quiet, I felt judged for everything I did because everything I did would be considered pushing the envelope. That can make kids uncomfortable if they aren't the same way. When I got to high school I hid that envelope, so it couldn't be pushed; until I got to the drama room. The room had envelopes bursting everywhere I looked. I found that it’s not all bad, if you can find people who are like you. Now whenever you see me, you’ll see “that” tall guy laughing and smiling with whoever he’s with. The biggest factor in anything and everything I like doing is being free to do what I want and be me.This brings me to why I took writers craft. I took this course because I wanted to be free to write about whatever I feel like. As well it’s an added bonus that I’ll learn how to add proper grammar, spelling and punctuation to proper writing. Lastly, I want to be able to tell a complete story and have it make sense and evoke a chosen emotion.

That's me. 

The Key to Success Response

This post is in response to "Angela Lee Duckworth: The key to success? Grit."Posted on TED's YouTube channel. The theme in this video is all about grit. The definition of grit is this: courage and resolve; strength of character. Angela wanted to find out what the common occurrence between kids who succeed or go farther in their studies, versus kids who don’t. She took in different types of data from completely different sources and found one thing in common; Kids with a strong sense of perseverance and courage (or grit) would strive farther than those who don’t, or even those who have natural talent. This makes complete sense, simply because if you want to gain something out of anything you must put time and effort into it. In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell says, "it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field." I believe that you are not going to get that by sitting on the couch; watching TV all day. The key to your success isn't in anyone but yourself, you have to make the choice to keep writing, drawing, singing, working and studying.

hi.