The Pleasure Principle .............. << previous // next >>

Tuesday April 2nd, 2002. - 11:50 PM

Inspiration sometimes comes from the most unlikely sources. Sometimes we don't even recognize it at first until even several years later. Why is that? Sometimes we come across something that immediately blows us away with talent, style, and poise. There are two things that you can do. You could: 1) Be inspired to try to reach for higher goals in life, in school, or just improve your personality/outlook on life OR 2) Become jealous and complain that it's so unfair how some people have it all and you were just left with stale bread crumbs that birds wouldn't even touch. I often choose to do the first option, although, because I am human, I sometimes sink to option number two.

The other day, I was reading someone's online diary entry. I marvelled her choice of words, her sophisticated composition, and her webdesign talent to make her graphics flow together so smoothly. I wish I was even half as talented. I am just so impressed with how many websites I have seen over the past month or two, beautifully created by young girls (roughly aged 12-16 especially). These girls have taught themselves all they know about webdesign and I'm just flabbergasted. It's incredible, really. There was this 12 year old who typed out all her website code by hand. She knew HTML, breathing it in and out. She made her own graphics from scratch, using a graphics program. She designed her layout in a most intricate way, with a professional-looking side menu, lots of DHTML, and even more important, she wrote a lot of thought-provoking content. She was so mature for her age, I thought. Wow...it just goes to prove that it doesn't matter how young you are. You can acquire the talent of a professional at a young age if you make an effort to learn.

I really applaud girls like the one I mentioned. I mean, it isn't easy to achieve such accomplishments, such as a polished website. It takes dedication, guts, time, love, and maybe even a little 'nerdiness'. These (dare I say) prodigies, really have a future going for them. It's also amazing just how modest they seem to be. They thank everyone else, and themselves last. They basically attribute all their achievements to the help they received from others (whether it was advice or encouragement).

I can't stand how a lot of the media seems to stigmatize teenagers and the youth culture. I believe that's a myth. The young today have a lot of talent to offer to the world, and they need a chance. There are a lot of simply amazing young people in the world. Sure, there are (unfortunately) substance abusers, but who's to say that they won't ever make something better of their lives? Who is to say that they do not have potential? People do make mistakes (major ones as well as minor ones). People can and do change. I think that the youth culture is too often associated with deviance. This slanted argument is irrational and suppressive. I think that it's dangerous. As you already know, the more you say something, the more you come to believe it, whether or not it is fact or fiction. It's not just the media who's stigmatizing the youth. The people, the community, the elders, and even the young do it to the youth. Afterall, there is no media without people. They reflect one another. They share ideas. Society is just as responsible for this problem. There is no single cause. There are several agents.

It really makes me feel proud to be a part of this generation, especially when I learn about such inspiring youth, such as Craig Kielburger. He lauched a program called "Free the Children Organization". His organization's purpose is to free the children from abuse, poverty and exploitation, especially in the low-income countries. It is also a program that strives to empower the youth so that they realize their potential. His story has inspired me, and if you do some internet hunting on his organization (and himself as well), I guarantee that you will also be inspired, if you have even half a human heart. An amazing guy on an amazing mission. It just proves that things are possible when you work hard and really believe in your purpose.

Well, aside from my motivational pep talk, I will sidetrack now and tell you about my most fascinating day. *Grin* Actually, it was just a typical day for me, in certain respects. First of all, the weather was forecasted to have some showers in the afternoon. Well, guess what? Mother Nature is a little mixed up! She sent us snow, and lots of it too! Sure, I like snow (when I don't have to shovel it), but not in April. C'mon...I'm looking forward to the warm weather for spring and summer. So, today it was snowing huge clumps of snow and it was crazy, because you couldn't really see well. Visibility was low. It's kinda funny too, because I wear this black wool jacket. The snow really is attracted to it, and so, there I was, walking inbetween classes, covered with flakes/clumps of snow. I was the walking abominable snowman. I'm sorry if I scared anyone on my way to class. I apologize now. *Smirk* Anyway, of course my jacket doesn't have a hood either, so my curly hair was lightly covered with these huge flakes of snow. *Aaachooo*

Anyway, today was a sad day in Maryville (yes, I made the name up...thank you very much!) *Mary bows even though it wasn't the most creative name* I experienced my last Psychology lecture for this year before exams. Also, I had my last Science & the Humanities lecture. I love those two classes so much. As nerdy as I sound, I will truly miss them. The professors were amazing!!! They taught in such a way that both inspired me, as well as engaged my train of thought. Anyway, the best professor for my first year at university is definitely my Science & the Humanities one. He was engaging, lively, interactive,incredibly intelligent/well-informed and inspiring. I have never come across a teacher/professor who was as interesting as he is. He definitely added to my positive first year experience with university. Anyway, I'm just really grateful that he was not only the professor for the course, but at the same time, he was also the tutorial leader.

The reason why I thoroughly enjoyed Science & the Humanities was because unlike the usual science courses that tell you who discovered what and how, this course explains the societal implications and developments resulting from discoveries. It wasn't like a textbook that just said so-and-so discovered this-and-that, with wordy definitions. This course illuminated the connection between science, society, religion, art, historical contexts, philosophy, psychology, etc. Yes, I'll definitely really miss the course. Sure, the workload was challenging (i.e. lots of reading, writing, discussing in tutorials), but it was all worth it. I gained so much knowledge, insight, and inspiration. I think that any course worth studying should motivate a student to learn, and make learning seem fun and engaging.

Guess what? Near the beginning of March, I had to write this essay on Sigmund Freud's work "Civilization and Its Discontents". I thought that I did horribly on it. Okay, in order to further understand my disappointment, I need to backtrack and tell you my course history. In Science & the Humanities, I've always gotten an A or A+ on every assignment/essay/analysis. When I wrote the essay on Freud's work, I thought that it was the worst one that I had ever written for that class. I was disappointed in myself, and I thought that I would get a B or worse, a C. Well, I got my paper back today, and thank you God, I got an A!!!!!!! I'm overjoyed, surprised, ecstatic, and thankful. *SMILE* This is a really good thing, considering that this essay was worth 15% of my final mark. I also got back my Seminar Assignment (worth 5%) and I also got an A!!!! I'm so happy that my smile seems as fake as Barney's. You don't understand. I prayed and prayed and prayed to God to ask him to help me with this essay. When I wasn't satisfied with the outcome, I prayed to God that I was just being too critical of myself, and that I'd get a better mark. WOWWWW!!!!!! *SMILE* Now all I have to worry about is the upcoming exam worth 25% of my final mark. My exam is on Saturday April 20th. I want to kick butt on that too, but we'll see. I don't want to get overconfident. If anything, maybe it's even better to study when you're slightly less confident. It motivates you to study harder (at least this is the psychology of MY studying). I can't agree that it works with everyone in every situation.

Yesterday I wrote my Part 2 Social Science exam. I actually had two exams for Term 2 for that class. The first one was identification. I wrote that one last Wednesday. There were key concepts, names of important people, etc. and we had to not just define 5 of the 10, but we had to relate them in the context of the course, giving references to articles/authors/books studied in the course, and provide a social/political/economic importance, by explaining the nature of the millieu. I think that I did very well on that part. I haven't gotten the results yet.

Then there was the exam I wrote on Monday. It was an in-class essay. We had a choice of 3 topics that we could write about. I chose to write about E.P. Thompson's illumination of capitalism, alienation, exploitation, drawing evidence from his articles of the moral economy of the english crowd in the 18th century, and his article on child labour during the Industrial Revolution. I also added extra references to support my claims and critiques, gathered from other course sources/material. I also linked the issue to current problems and critiques of capitalism (how it affected society positively and negatively). I think that I did very well. Then again, writing (and in particular, essay writing) is HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE. What may seem like a kick-in-the-derriere essay to one marker may be a je-ne-sais-pas essay that isn't appreciated by another marker. I just hope that my tutorial leader (who does the marking - no, it's not the professor who does it for that social science class) likes it.

A few days ago, I enrolled in a summer course. I'll be fulfilling (ahead of time) one of the psychology requirements I need for my major. I chose Social Psychology. It's going to be challenging though. Why, I hear you ask? My summer school is from May 6th to May 27th. I have to go to university Monday to Friday from 9 AM to noon. It's going to be a lot of reading and studying, but then hey...I still have a summer vacation, so it's all good. Taking a summer course will lighten my Fall/Winter course load, which is another reason why I'm doing it. Plus, I will have to take a psychology statistical methods course in my Fall/Winter term, and I want to be able to concentrate on it. I'm not terrible at math, but certain types of math courses are trickier. Also, I've never taken a math course at university, so I don't want to be unpleasantly surprised.

Well, I think that I will conclude this diary entry. I am getting lazy and frankly, I don't feel like typing anymore. Until the next time, take care and always remember to spread the sunshine! Bye for now!!!

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TRIVIAL TIDBITS ABOUT ME: RIGHT NOW

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EYES: Sparkly black eyeliner all over and black mascara

NAILS: Silver glitter nailpolish (I'm going to repaint it maroon or sparkly punk pink)

LIPS: Slicked with clear lipgloss

HAIR: Down, natural - curly/wavy

THINKING ABOUT: What love means to me and how much I need it

WISHING: People verbalized their feelings of love more

SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD: "Don't Let Me Get Me" by Pink. I love the music video for that song too! I like the sly crack at Britney Spears too...haha...It's all in good fun.

SONG I'M LISTENING TO NOW: "Wanna Be Where You Are" by M2M. They have the one of the sweetest voices ever. Simply beautiful and relaxing!

LAST PHONE CONVERSATION WITH: My boyfriend - it was a cryfest at the end.

NOTE TO SELF (This isn't meant to be understood by everyone, solely Mary Shaw and her twisted mind...*Smirk* I haven't gone bonkers...It's just in a code format): The pleasure principle (Sigmund Freud's credit) - Tell me what I want to hear...

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