A Few Thoughts on (Mostly My) Education

I’ve been thinking a lot about my experience in school recently and about what I’ve learned, aside from the coursework. Mainly, I’ve thought about the education system, compared with the many years that I homeschooled, (which were the fundamental years of my education, and the years that really shaped how I think). Up until this past September, I’d been homeschooled for my whole life. Technically, I suppose this is my 4^th year of high school and combined with the fact that my parents actually started “officially” educating me a year later than normal, the result is that I’m taking a year of “normal” school at an age where I’m older than any of the other students I’ve met. Since I’m spending a school year in “the system,” I feel that I’m finally allowed to comment on what I’ve seen and experienced, and the problems I have with the school system. I could go into the question of whether standardized testing is an accurate way of evaluating a student’s learning (my view: it isn’t), and I could go into a discussion of the school system’s poor attempts to take different learning styles into account, but I want to write about something completely different.

I had a pretty great childhood, and I certainly don’t take it for granted. Ever since I can remember, I had a lot of freedom to spend time doing things that I really wanted to do. I could learn about what I wanted to learn, and explore things that interested me. As far as my parents were concerned, so long as I was learning and exploring, it wasn’t a waste of time. I was about 14 when I started to seriously focus on music and theatre. I disciplined myself to diligent piano practice, started taking lessons for flute and voice, began composing music, and co-founded a youth theatre company with two driven friends of mine. As you can imagine, this didn’t exactly leave a lot of time for studying the provincially-prepared course load of Math, English, Social Studies, and Science.  It’s not like I was completely ignoring those subjects though. I plodded along through a math textbook, read and discussed great Classic literature, discussed current events with my family, and learned a great amount about the environment around me, (the perks of having a botanist for a father!). But I invested so much time in my arts studies that there simply wasn’t time to fill the government’s requirements for what constituted an education.

Fast forward to where I am now. I’ve cultivated skills in the areas I plan to pursue after high school, but I don’t have the courses required to get into post-secondary. No problem, that’s why I’m doing a year in normal school, simply to crash my way through some 30-level courses. Sure, I may be older than my fellow students, but I don’t regret a single minute of my education prior to this year. The school system is very heavily oriented to getting students their high school diploma and pushing them into a good university so that they can get a good career and make good money. Teachers often talk about how you should get a good career in something you love doing, but how can you possibly know what you’re passionate about if you haven’t been given the freedom to thoroughly explore your interests? I see lots of students and friends finish high school, and then either a) come to a stop and realise that they have absolutely no clue what they want to do, and/or b) go straight into University, not in a program that they’re really excited about, but rather just settling for one that seems okay. Bearable. Something that sounds relatively interesting, and would appease the parents. There are exceptions of course, students that have managed to find something they truly love doing, despite spending the majority of their childhood in school, but they do seem to be the exceptions.

            I wish that wasn’t the case. During the K-12 years, at an age when one doesn’t have to worry about paying the rent, affording food, or affording your electricity, I wish that every student could have the opportunity (as I did) to spend their childhood discovering what they loved, not to pass a test, but to cultivate a genuine love of learning and to figure out what they really, truly want to spend time in their life doing. For me, an extra year of high school is a small price to pay for spending my K-12 years figuring out what I’m excited about and what I’m interested in pursuing. If the school system spent more time allowing students to figure out their interests, and spent less time on exam marks, I believe that we’d have many more happier people spending their time on pursuits that fill them with joy, rather than drifting aimlessly through years of their lives spending money and time on post-secondary degrees only to realise that they weren’t all that interested in them in the first place.

I don't like titling posts.

In this day and age, it still boggles me that people think you need money and a high paying job to be happy. You don't. You need to absolutely love what you do, and the happiness will come. The living will too.

Characters

Okay, sorry for another Oz-themed post.

Okay, I lied, I'm not sorry. :P

I've been thinking a lot lately about my character and who he is, what makes him "tick", per se etc. I think the characters in The Wizard of Oz are so wonderful, and so human. In my opinion, the reason that The Wizard of Oz has been around for so long and become a classic is because there's a bit of Dorothy in all of us, a bit of Scarecrow, and Tin Man and Lion, and we can all relate and resonate. I love the story, and I love the characters. Sure, they're larger than life, and somewhat caricatures, but there's beautiful, human elements in each one, and that's what I'm really excited and interested in exploring, finding and expressing.

Rehearsals etc.

Hi everyone!

Life is crazy. Seriously, I always seem to be busy, but right now, I think I'm busier then I've ever been. I'm sitting in rehearsal for The Wizard of Oz with a rare spare moment as they rehearse Munchkinland, one of the few scenes that I'm not needed for! Rehearsals are going very well, and it's very exciting! There's always multiple things going on in the theatre building where we rehearse, so we're rehearsing in the space in front of the stage as they paint enormous drops for the show on the actual stage (it's the only place big enough to be able to lay them out and paint them!). Right now, they're painting one for the Emerald City and it looks wonderful! I'm off-book for the stuff we're doing today and so it feels really nice and productive to work on character stuff without script in hand. It feels like it's slowly starting to have some shape. We have about a month and a half! Anyway, that's all for now, I think I'm called soon. I may post these periodically if I get some downtime during rehearsals...

Take care everyone!
Dan

Note: Although I'll type them when I'm at rehearsal, I won't be able to post them till I get to wi-fi, hence the possibly strange posting times.

School etc.

Good evening! How are you? 

I've really missed blogging. I'm happy to be back.

Things have happened. I go to school now. Which is, you know, different. My sister just came back from India, and just like she was a Canadian visiting India, I very much feel like I'm visiting a different country. I'm a Homeschooler visiting Public School.
So far, I've just had three days of orientation, so I can't really tell officially, but I think it'll be good, and I think I'll enjoy the experience. Certainly good preparation for university. It's sure a different sub-culture then I'm used to though. From what I've seen so far, junior high and high school students are... exactly how I expected them to be, from what I'd heard. Now, I know this makes me sound incredibly arrogant and "high-and-mighty", but I'd hoped they'd be a bit more, I dunno, mature or something. Of course, that's a generalization and it only takes a couple to stand out and act for the masses. Ah well, though. We'll see.

Other things. I have a new piano teacher. I haven't had a lesson with him yet (I will have by this time tomorrow), but I'm really looking forward to it! At the end of last year, my old piano teacher (who I studied with for about ten years) told me that she had taken me as far as she could and that if I hoped to continue studying piano, I should move on to a different teacher. So I did, and plan to study for my ARCT with him. I think I'll really be challenged, and learn tons.

Also, I went for a lovely walk with my family on the weekend to the nearby National Park, and saw this adorably tiny little Boreal Toad. It was so cute! Blogger isn't letting my post photos, but when it does, I'll add photos.

Take care!
Dan

went from "in a relationship" to "single" to "in a relationship"...

Hey folks,

You know what bugs me? When people on facebook post a live feed of all the current developments in their new relationship. It shouldn't bug me of course. It doesn't concern me really, or shouldn't concern me at least. And I swear that it's not that I'm bitter about being single. :) (I'm honestly not!) The issue I have with it is that relationships are personal. They're supposed to be about you and that other person. It's not that you don't have to share it with world, and it's not that none of us are interested. I just think it's good for you and your bf/gf to have some sense of privacy.

When you change your relationship status to "in a relationship" ten minutes after your first date, change it to "single" two days later, and then soon back "in a relationship" with the same person, I can't help but wonder what would happen if you put more energy into cultivating your relationship, and not as much into making sure the world knew about every advance and recession. Facebook relationship statuses make things look final. Seriously, you are not obligated to let us know everything about your relationship. It's okay! We won't mind. I would much rather you were happily focused on your relationship, and not spending your effort making sure that we are focused on your relationship.

Peace.
Dan

News

Hi. How are you? Life is really good with me. Like, really good. I'm just really, extraordinarily happy right now. Not because of anything in particular, but rather because of a combination of smaller things that have happened or are happening in the future.

Things that have happened since I last blogged:

The Wizard of Oz. I auditioned for a large community theatre production of The Wizard of Oz. The audition went really well, I thought, and weeks later, I found out that I had a callback. Went to the callbacks, and then the waiting began. The day that my dad and I (and two good friends of ours) left on a backpacking trip, I got a text from my mom saying "call me!". I called home, and found out that the director had called, and I was cast as the Tin Man! You guys, you have NO idea how excited I am! It's 16 shows in December in the largest theatre I've ever performed in (it's got a balcony!). I guess this show is kind of this years "huge annual Christmas family show" so it's usually sold out and really popular and stuff. It'll be great. Tragically, the man who was supposed to direct it suddenly passed away, but the assistant director has stepped in to direct and the show is going ahead. This may sound silly, but I'm also pretty excited to do WoO because when I was younger, The Wizard of Oz was actually a really big part of my life. I was kind of obsessed with it for a number of years, and when I was probably about 9, I had this big elaborate plan to mount my own production of The Wizard of Oz. I had the script ready, I'd contacted many of my friends to be in the production, and had double-cast myself as both the Wicked Witch of the West and the Tin Man. To this day, I still don't know how I thought I could manage that. :D But it's kind of cool, years later, to be indeed be playing the Tin Man in a much bigger productions (we're going to have flying monkeys that fly, people!).

Backpacking. As I mentioned, I went backpacking with a friend of mine from Scouts, his dad, and my dad. Great trip. We didn't have the best weather for the hike we wanted to do, and consequently had to change our plans a bit, but it was still a great trip. Backpacking is amazing and I look forward to many more trips.

The Fringe. I had the pleasure of being part of the Fringe festival this year in a show that I wrote the music in. (I think I've mentioned it before. One of my friends "concieved it" and wrote the book, then another friend of ours wrote the lyrics and I wrote the music). We got good reviews (my first ever reviews!!) and our last shows were sold out. We even made some money! Hurray!

I got my learner's license. Finally.

I also have applied for 5 jobs and haven't heard back from any of them. That's an achievement, right?

My most recent big news is that I'm going to school this year. Which is a big change for me, since I've been homeschooled my entire life. The school I'm going to allows lots of flexibility, and is self-directed. I can work at my own pace, and I don't have to "sit in a classroom", but I likely will have to be there (I haven't got my time-table yet) for regular school hours. It's crazy, but strangely, I'm really, really excited. It'll be a change, which will be nice. Not that I was unhappy homeschooling by ANY stretch, quite the contrary, but I was just looking for a change of pace, change of scene and a good way to get these courses done. And I'm taking French, and possibly Italian and Spanish, so I'm very excited about that! It just feels really right for me at this point in my life.

Lots more has happened, but this is long enough for today. :)

This summer has been fabulous, but I'm looking forward to jumping into new adventures. And I'm looking forward to blogging again!

I don't know if anybody reads this blog anymore, but if you do-thanks! If you read that entire post, survived, and are still planning on reading my blog, you rock and I love you.

Take care,
Dan

Yes.

There's Rebecca Black, and then there's Savannah Robinson...



I think that's facepaint on Savannah. She's too good to be white.

You know, it's amazing to me just how much energy we as humans spend complaining about the weather. It seems to me that out of the entire world, it's the only thing that we have absolutely no control over. In fact, I'm beginning to wonder if that's not exactly why we do it. The weather is one thing that we can complain about and not have somebody say "Well, if you don't like it, then do something about it!"

questions part 2

It seems that whenever I feel inspired to blog, I don't have time, and when I have time to blog, I just...don't. Eh eh, eh eh, there's nothing else I can say.

...

Questions! (Or rather) Answers!

(Anon.) "If you were sent to a deserted island and could only bring 3 items (none of which can be a boat or other means of getting off the island) what would you bring?" 
Hmm. This is really hard. I suppose I could go with practical things such as a knife, flint/steel and a tarp, but I am also inclined to go with a package of pencils, a giant stack of manuscript paper and great reading book to ensure that I spend my time productively. I am torn. Creativity or survival? Hmm...


(Anon.) "If you had to pick one, and only one, person who was your ultimate role model..who would that be?"
I honestly don't know enough about anybody yet to say...

(Anon.)"If you could pick any career and money/time wasn't an issue...what would you do?"
What about talent/skill? Would that be an issue? If I just suddenly jump to any job, I would have to say that of a Broadway actor. I can't think of anything funner than getting to sing and actor in front of an audience every time and get paid for it. People do that, you know! Crazy. But no, seriously, if I could just jump to my dream career it would be (and the moment), to live in NYC alternating between an actor in shows and composer (writing classical music and new musicals, which of course would be running on Broadway), with a side career as a vocalist/keyboardist in a great little indie folk/pop/rock band.

(Anon.) "If Lady Gaga, Patti LuPone, Bernadette Peters, Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenowith all asked you to sing on stage with them at the same time..which one would you choose and why?"
Oh gosh, these are HARD questions. I'm kindof inclined to say that Gaga and Patti are both people I would just love to spend a day with, but I think that I would love to sing onstage with Bernadette Peters. So I think, I think my pick is Bernadette. I would just love to met Idina and Kristin.

(Logan) "What's your view on prostitutes? Such in Paris it is a legal job, I know I think it is revolting and should be illegal. However to some it is entertainment and good money. So you wanted questions so I am asking a question!"
Hmm. Good question. My first instinct is that of course I disagree with prostitution absolutely, and think it should be illegal. But the problem is that that really won't do anything.  Same with abortion. You can make it illegal all you like, but if people really think it's the answer, they'll seek it out illegally and dangerously.  I absolutely don't have an answer. I don't believe that either are morally right, but don't think that simply making either illegal will change anything. I have no answer.

Part II will come.

How are you?

Ask me questions!

Hello everyone!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate it-if not, I hope you had a wonderful whatever-else-you-celebrate!). I know I did.

For fun, since it's been a while, let's bring back the old Ask-me-questions thing! So ask me questions in the comments below and I'll answer them!

Expedition- Day 2

 I honestly don't remember exactly where this was. We saw this kind of view regularly.

August 15th, 2010
We’re at the Waterfalls Campground today. We had heard that it was a beautiful site, so we decided to spend a good day here. So today’s hike was a mere 4.5 kms.

We followed the creek for most of it (hiking South), until it split, one part going East and one going West. The West section comes down from a huge waterfall, which is where the camp gets its name (surprise). The campground location really is beautiful. Standing near the camp looks down over a hill, with the water fall on our left and the creek at the bottom.

Today was leisurely. We spent most of the afternoon playing in the water, washing our shirts and faces and hair. My feet feel wonderful after all the cool water. Surprisingly, the water is the perfect temperature, and not as frigid as one might imagine from a mountain stream. For drinking and cooking, we filter all our water. We have three hand pumps and to pump enough water for meals (for the 9 of us) takes about an hour. I’m getting used to the weight in my pack (about 40lbs) and really enjoying it. It’s really so far a remarkable trip.

Waterfall

 More waterfall.

 A really lovely pool in the creek, which was nice and deep and cool, perfect for wading.

The waterfall.

 I have to remember to ask my dad what these little flowers are. They were growing all over the hill.

 

My pack on the table.

 

A casuality.

 Ah, yes. Here we are. The Green Throne Privy (That's what they're actually called in the pamphlet). Yep, these are the toilets on the trail. Don't expect privacy.

Expedition- Day 2

(Nothing much happened on August 13th, as we just drove to Jasper. So we're starting on Day 2)

August 14^th, 2010

The vehicle loaded with our stuff!

 

We started the big Jonas Pass trail today. We had to pack up our base camp and move vehicles to the ending trail-head, and so by the time we left the trail-head, it was 1300hrs. We hiked about 8 kms to the Poboktan Campground. The trail is a typical mountain trail, muddy, rooty and constantly going uphill!

 It follows Poboktan Creek almost all the way and so the sound of the water is always nearby.

We made it to camp in good time and had the whole evening to enjoy the campground. The creek nearby is lovely, and the perfect temperature for soaking my feet after a day of hiking as my Plantars Facisitis always makes them painful.

 Cooking supper.

Our campground is really quite nice. There are 4 tent pad sites, a main area with a fire pit, two picnic tables, a bear pole and a “green throne” privy” (I’ll explain just exactly what that is in another post. :P )

The bear pole consist of a wooden pole nailed horizontally between two trees, with four loops of wire hanging from it. On each line there are two clips, one at the top, one at the bottom. You clip your bag of food to the bottom clip, and use the pulley system to host it to the top. The (formerly) top clip is now at the bottom, where you can clip it to one of the trees, leaving your food hanging at the top. It’s a simple, but very effective system.

The bear pole at work.

Our camp.

These are our tents. They are very light, and very small. They fit two people. Just.

We spent the evening enjoying the creek, and planning out the next day, an as it was our first night on the trail, figuring out exactly all the things involved when we get to camp. 

Jasper Expedition- Prologue

So, this past August, I went on a backpacking trip to Jasper National Park with my Venturer group. Our Company had been together as a group for the past 4 years, and so this was the final trip as a group. We'd been working up to it for a long time, and so
we were as prepared as we were going to be.

Our timeline looked like this-

August 13- Drive
August 14-18- Jonas Pass trail
August 19- Rest day
August 20- Day hike
August 21- Small day hike and driving home.

I'm planning on posting one post per expedition day every now and then. So hope you enjoy!

When will this stop?

I have to get this out.

 Perhaps you’ve heard about the four teen suicides in the past 3 weeks. Haven’t heard of them?

“Tyler Clementi a freshman at Rutgers University jumped to his death last week off a bridge a day after authorities say two classmates surreptitiously recorded him having sex with a man in his dorm room and broadcast it over the Internet.
Seth Walsh, 13, committed suicide last week after years of being bullied. The police interviewed several of the students who teased Walsh but determined their actions did not constitute a crime, news reports say.
Asher Brown, also 13, shot himself after being harassed at his middle school in Houston. According to news reports, his parents said they had complained to the school authorities, but the bullying continued. The school reports that no complaints were made.
Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old in Indiana, hanged himself Thursday after being bullied. He never told anyone he was gay, but his classmates acknowledged that he was teased because students assumed he was.”

(quotation from http://voices.washingtonpost.com/blogpost/2010/09/suicide_of_gay_teenagers_four.html)

But this really isn’t even a gay issue. It isn’t even just a youth issue. This is an issue, because people all over the world, (although especially young people), are being told, sometimes indirectly, that whoever they are, whether they’re black, white, gay, straight, male, female, Christian, Muslim, is wrong, that they don’t matter, that they are something that can be laughed at, something that doesn’t have to be taken seriously.

Who you are is NOT WRONG. I don’t care what your “friends”, adults, Churches, classmates tell you. You are NOT a mistake, and you are exactly what God wants you to be.

People notice little things. If you think that somebody isn’t going to notice being called a retard, faggot, nigger or slut, think again. Let’s step up to the plate here, and make a change.

I honestly don’t know what I’m going to accomplish by writing this. Most of the people who are reading this probably aren’t guilty of intense bullying. But as long as we stand back, and take the attitude of “not my problem”, this problem will honestly be all of our problems.

Peace.
Daniel