Well, it has been a strange and interesting week. On Monday, I had two tests. I took a Geography test and then went and took my driving test. I was nervous about taking the driving test, but it turns out that it wasn't so bad after all. I actually did good on my parallel parking, and I passed! The rest of the week, we had a guest speaker in writing. She was talking about First Nations history and residential schools, and how they are using writing and other forms of art as a creative outlet for their pain. At first, I was a little confused, because the class was supposed to be on creativity, and we were only being told about residential schools. I also didn't fully agree with some of the things she was saying, like how white people should allow themselves to feel bad when we are told about what happened in First Nations history. The reason I felt this was because we personally are not the ones who made the First Nations live in residential schools. The next couple of days though, I started to understand better. Something that she said was that just because you are of the same race doesn't mean you have to identify with the opressor. That meaning that just because we are white doesn't mean we have to identify with the people who had put the First Nations in residential schools and treated them badly, and who left the First Nations needing to heal from the emotional and physical abuse. What I understood was all she wanted us to do was listen. She wanted us to hear the stories of the First Nations so at least we would have both sides of the story of what happened. That fits in really well with Journalism because you can't let your opinions and personal feelings tie you down. You have to present information accurately, and give fair representation of both sides, without bias. So what I would say to people who find themselves hearing opinions different from their own is to try and listen. If you give it a while and you still don't find yourself agreeing or even on the same page, at least you tried and you know what someone else's view is, not just your own. You also may get a better collective view.

Another thing that we have been doing this week is decorating for the grad. I went for a few days, and the last I saw of the gym looked pretty good. I was watching my cousin's grad and it just was so boring and long. Everyone looked the same and it was pretty impersonal. I like the cap and gowns; they look pretty snazzy, but everything else just made me glad I go to a small school where we can put up decorations and have a personal thing about the grads as they are walking up to get their diplomas. I can't even imagine having three hundred kids in a grad class. That is just crazy. I was even wondering about the amount of kids in one of my college courses, the amount of kids being more than the actual number of kids in our school.

So this could be my last blog, unless our teacher decides to have us write some more, or I decide to write some in college! Who knows? Anyways, this has been fun, and tedious at times, but mostly fun. Who doesn't like to just have a place where they can write about what's bugging them? It's like free therapy! Hope everyone has a great grad. I'm going to miss this school, mostly because there are some pretty unique personalities found here, and I'm going to miss everyone when they go their seperate ways. You get used to people, and now I'm going to have to go off and get used to a whole new set of people! Anyways, good luck everyone! I wish you well, whatever you end up doing. I have a feeling I'll be talking to you again though :) Bye for now!