blog #35

Santosh's story is terrible and amazing at the same time. The pain he must have felt when he lost his arm. The frustraton he must have felt when learning to use his left hand for everything. And the anger he must have felt when seeing the man who did this all to him, he was still able to shake this mans hand and make peace with him. I'm sure many of us would not be able to do this, I know if i were in this situation i would either want to run away or want to hurt this man the way he hurt me, but Santosh didn't because he wants no more fights, just more peace.

blog #33

I don't think me and my friends have ever really become a "minga". We have never really gone out and don't something great enough to refer ourselves as that. But i do think the leadership class could be considered this. Our class + the Me to We club to great things for out school, the community, and ever other countries around the world (Haiti and Sierra Leone). Raising as much money as we did for all sorts of activities and helping so many people i think i would refer to those groups as mingas.

Blog #32

Another inspirational story! I think when you have to go through what Lindsay did at such a young age the way she handled it is perfectly normal. I probably would have moped just as much as her. But to turn her sadness around in such a positive way is amazing. She stopped sulking about what happened and focused more on what didn't happen, and what shouldn't happen to anyone else. She stood up for what she thought was right and made a difference!

blog #31

what life ultimately means... I have never thought about such a large thing before. For Viktor Frankl, it was probably thinking he was going to die after losing everything he owned that made him think this way. Thankfully, i have never been put in this situation so this thought has never crossed my mind. When i do think about this is guess what he has said could be true. Everyone could be trying to figure out what is meant for them and what they are supposed to be doing with life without knowing they are doing so.

blog #28

I really enjoyed reading this story! something that i learned from it is that there are always negative things in your life. There is nothing you can do about that but whenever you are feeling sorry for yourself you should think how much worse it is for other people around the world and what would help them. Even though Joe had a rough life and i'm sure there many times when he wanted to give up, but instead he helped others and that gave him true happiness and actually ended up changing his life in many positive ways.

Blog #27

I think this is also a good story. Oprah did not have a childhood that is anything like her life now. Growing up with so little money that her family could not afford Christmas must have made her appreciate what little they had and work hard to change her lifestyle and others as well. I don`t have a problem with Oprah but I am not really a fan either. In my opinion her show is so successful because she talks about things that a lot of people are interested in hearing about and because she gives away all the free stuff.

Blog #25

I think IDCI can learn from this school because it shows that even the small schools can make a difference. Not many people have heard of our school but that doesn't mean that our staff and students can't come together to make a difference. And I think our school does this and some other schools could learn from us. From our undefeated victory at the stair climb to the money we raised to support Haiti to the money we raised to support IDCI's own Wade Kos.

Blog #21

This is a simple question. The zebras work together to survive in the wild. With out each other they would be a lot less likely to survive. If everyone would learn to work together for an overall goal, we would be able to help each other out when we need to. If everyone would think about We rather than Me then the world's huge zebra pack would be able to face challenges together and be much more successful.

blog #20

I admire Kim's story the most. This is because it is similar to Craig Kielburger's. Both their hopes for change happened at young ages. They both heard shocking stories and knew something had to be done about it. I think i like these stories so much because it is kids younger than me that start with little hopes for change but with their determinations their goals turn into huge successes. Craig with creation of Free the Children and Me to We and Kim with accomplishing six thousand signatures.

Blog #17

I think gratitude it the most important skill. When you are able to be grateful for the fortunate things in your life then you will be able to see the people who are less fortunate. When you are able to recongnize the suffering people go through you are thinking "we" rather than "me". When people think we they will hopefully start to help others and try to help other to become fortunate.

Blog #37

I think this poem ment so much to Mandela because it reminds him about the hard times he faced in jail. He always had faith and never gave up.
"My head is bloody, but unbowed".
In the prison Mandela may have been beaten for standing up in what he believes in but he always held his head up high.
"Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid".
This may remind him how terrible it was to spend all that time alone in jail yet he never gave up and never planned to.
"I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul"
This is the last line in the poem and I think it is self explanitory. Nelson Mandela will let no one tell him how to live his life. This is why he was and is still so successful!

Blog #16

Tim' Story:
This is the story i enjoyed the most! When i read this book last year this is the one i remember as one of my favorites. It is so refreshing that he begins with saying that he has never been a nice person. He says it is not in his nature to care about others as much as himself. When he goes to the school/hospital Tim expects to present his art and return to his old life of caring about himself. When he looks into the eyes of the patients he sees the actual people inside the damaged bodies. This makes him want to help the people inside to express themselves in ways they never could before; through abstract art. The reason why this story is my favorite is because it shows that selfish and mean people can go from caring only about themselves to caring just as much about helping others.

Blog #11

I think this is a huge deal. I have personaly not been put in this similar position but i would not be able to walk over an injurded, homeless man just in order to get to class on time. Did that 90 percent actually think making it to class would be more important than doing the right thing for a hurt man. The fact that they were studying a good samaritan lecture makes it even worse. I guess those people are going to the right place so they will actually learn what a good samaritan would do in a situation like this.

blog #30

Coach Carroll has a very committed leadership style! When he got fired out of the NFL he didn't let that bring him down, he just kept going and moving forward. He then helped a university football team become very successful. He had many successes in him life but I think the most amazing thing he did was going into the ghetto with underprivileged kids and helped them to learn other ways to live there life. Even when people advised him not to put himself in that dangerous situation he did. Not for him self, not for media attention but for the sake of the kids.

blog #29

I have seen this before and it still makes me cry. I can't believe this guy knows he will only be around for a few more months and the fact that he i not pouting and feeling sorry for himself is incredible. If it was me in his position i think i would be doing stuff for myself, stuff that i have always wanted to do. Instead of doing things for himself, he is doing things for others, trying to inspire other people. From what he was saying it sounds like he has always been the type of person that cares greatly about other people and for this to be happening to him is very sad but he is turning into a positive thing trying to inspire others people.

blog #24- safe schools

During the play i was on the english trip so i missed this. i went to the safe schools thing in London though. That was a really great experience, i learned a lot and found it really interesting, especially listening to the man talk about his experiences growing up, also talking to people from different schools and learning the type of things they are doing in their schools!

Blog #23- think pink

In my opinon i think the think pink day was a huge success! There was pink everywhere you looked. And a lot of people bought the shirts which is great. I think it really helped that our class went around to classes to tell them about the background cause then everyone knew what it ment. In a highschool, i think many people are able to relate to this, either seeing bullying or being bullied themselves! I was also more excited about this day because of the safe schools meeting i went to in london. That helped me to understand how important days like this are. I still where my pink shirt too!

blog #22

The places where I feel most comfortable is with people that I am close with. I am very comfortable with family but other than that the place where I am most comfortable would be with my close friends. I think I am so comfortable with them because I can be myself. There are other places where I interact with other people my age and older but I am not completely myself. When my best friends and I are together we always have a lot of fun without trying. This is where I would choose to be!