Let’s start from where I come from! My family originates from Ethiopia but I was born and raised here in Canada. For those of you who have never been there, this what one of the historical sites in Ethiopia looks like. I have visited my country multiple times and each time it’s just as beautiful as I remembered it. I love how welcoming the atmosphere can be while I am surrounding by such a rich culture. Definitely recommend this place for curious and wandering tourists.
Since I was a child, I had always loved reading books, especially the genres fantasy and science fiction. To be honest, I could read any book but my preference would be anything that isn’t dealing with in-real-life concepts because it is nice to read books as an escape from reality. Burying myself in a good read could possibly be one of my most indulging pastimes.
As well as science fiction novels, I do also love my science fiction movies. My favourite movie of all time would probably be the Matrix series because not only do these movies deal with high-tech concepts, but it deals with philosophical deep ideas such as what is real and what is not. Even as a child, watching this did make me question my life a lot and I do believe the Matrix Series did contribute to the mental growth of myself and it did influence the way I see the world today.
Another one of my common hobbies might as well be sports. I mainly play basketball and track and field competitively but I also do play this just for fun with my family and friends. There is actually a variety of sports that I do play which can range from soccer to swimming. As someone who has been indulging in various extra-curricular activities such as sport teams, I would consider myself somewhat of an athlete.
Since I have been exposed to so many different areas of interest for my future careers, it has been difficult to find a passion that would suit me best. However, ever since I was a child I discovered that I had a real interest for science (especially biology) and I guess thats when I decided I wanted to be a researcher. I have always wanted to search for cures and study medicine so that in a way, I would be indirectly helping people but still being able to make a big impact on the world. I also just think looking through microscopes are really fun.
The top three places I desperately want to visit have always been Paris, Tokyo and Dubai. Dubai looks like something out of my favourite science fiction novels. The tall buildings, the massive landscape, the futuristic-ness of the atmosphere. It is truly something beautiful. As for Tokyo, the colourful lights and the rich culture of Japan is what draws me. The neon lights give me a cyberpunk theme – another thing I kind of obsess over. The reason why I have been studying French since I was in fourth grade is because someday, I want to study abroad in Paris and immerse myself in the French atmosphere, if that makes sense. If possible, I would like to live there some time in the future. If I am not able to travel to everywhere, I would at least love to visit these wondrous places.
When I was in fifth grade, my teacher told the class about a poetry contest with competing school kids from all-across Canada (about 600 kids). She encouraged us to join, but I didn’t think much of it. With further persuasion from my parents, I reluctantly gave in. I tried my hand in poetry and much to my surprise, my poem, The Life in Nature, ended up winning second place in all of Canada. It gets crazier. I was motivated to try again in sixth grade and this time, I got first place for my poem A World of Peace. Both of my accomplishments were published and recognized in books. There is no online copy, so I keep the originals at home, but I will bring them when asked. (If possible, I may add these poems in separate blogs)
I think it would be a good way to end off my PechaKucha with my favourite quote. The main reason why I think I love it may be because of the rhyme and the simplicity but most importantly, the message. Everybody wants happiness, No one wants pain. But you can’t have a rainbow, Without a little rain. This was said by Zion Lee. I love this because it resonates with me due to the fact that it reminds me of how we can’t experience true happiness without first experiencing pain or sadness. Also, whenever I am not in the best mood, I remember this and I recognize that inevitably, there will be happiness sometime soon in the future and therefore, that will feel much more pleasant in comparison to the sadness that I would currently have. Recalling this helps improve my mood.
~Conclusively, these elements that occur in my life shape me to be the person who I strive to be in the future, as well as the person I currently am. Hopefully you learned a bit about me 🙂 <3 ~
Dear Naomi,
I love the way you characterized yourself in your about me. You wrote beautifully about your hobbies, hopes, ethnic roots, and beliefs while maintaining a smooth and steady structure throughout. You bring the reader close enough to understand but far enough to still wonder, and I look up this skill of yours. Also, congratulations on winning that poetry contest! Obviously, they could see how strong of a writer you are.
I connected immediately to the following line: “To be honest, I could read any book but my preference would be anything that isn’t dealing with in-real-life concepts because it is nice to read books as an escape from reality. Burying myself in a good read could possibly be one of my most indulging pastimes.” Fantasy will always be my favorite genre for this very reason. It is refreshing to take a break from reality and live in the ideal worlds of the books we read. To be honest, these imaginary worlds are much more exciting than our own.
For improvement, I feel that you could be more purposeful in your diction. For example, the sentence, “Another one of my common hobbies might as well be sports.” could be more concise if you omit the phrase “might as well be”, and wrote instead, “Another one of my common hobbies is sports.” Like this, there are a few phrases in your writing that could be deleted to enhance the quality of your sentences and overall ideas.
Regardless, your PechaKucha was an amazing depiction of you, and I am looking forward to reading more of your work soon.
Sincerely,
Nazeefa
Dear Nazeefa,
Thank you so much for your response and thoughtful feedback regarding my post. I am glad that we share the same preferred genre. It is nice to know that someone else acknowledges and understands the value of fiction the way I do. I am also contented that you admired the way I expressed myself through this blog. That means a lot. As for your suggestions, I appreciate you thoroughly explaining what I need to work on. I will take into account what you said about my diction and choice of words since I also believe it is something I need to work on. Thank you once again for taking the time to read my piece and find my errors:)
Sincerely,
Naomi
Dearest Naomi,
You did it, your first AP blog post! I am so excited to see your growth in this class – and beyond – because you hold so much potential. I love that you went fairly personal with this and made it as true to you as possible; learning about your passions both in and out of the classroom really provided me with a deeper understanding of who you are and our overall group dynamic (and also makes me realize that Hunni likes sticking me with science-loving people).
I love seeing how you really seem to understand yourself and your desires – I wish I could relate, so I think I’ll just have to learn from you. You are a complex person seeing as you find enjoyment in sciences, humanities, AND athletics – if there is one thing I appreciate most in life, it is how different people are. Your approach to this presentation was executed well; while you did talk about yourself more broadly at times, you also narrowed it down to some specifics demonstrating what things really matter to you. I would love to see your published poems find a home on the blog because my life would feel incomplete without them.
My suggestion to you is one that I need to use myself as well – watch your GUMPS (grammar, usage, mechanics, punctuation, and spelling). While it didn’t distract from the overall flow of the piece, it would be great practice to actively look for these errors; the more you ingrain it into your mind, the easier it is to do it during other assessments. For blog posts, you have the luxury of being able to say your pieces out loud and catch mistakes before you post – use this luxury.
I am honoured to have you in my group and can’t wait to see you grow! I hope you incorporate some of the things you talked about in this introduction into your writing in the future because experiences make the best source material.
Love,
Nimrat
Dear Nimrat,
Wow. Your kind and thoughtful words really made me smile. Hearing this from someone I look up to really means a lot to me. When I get the chance, I will be able to publish the poems I had mentioned here:) I do agree with your feedback and I do notice the slight grammatical errors that I sometimes make and I strive to fix that. However, the intent of this blog was for it to be expressed in a casual, freelanced format. GUMPS would still be an important consideration in this case so thank you for helping me recognize that. I will now include your suggestion in my future blogs by revising my work a couple of times before I post it. I appreciate your other considerate comments regarding this piece.
With gratitude,
Naomi
Dear Naomi,
Your pechakucha managed to take several distant topics and put them together in a rather nice fashion. The transition between your favourite books and movies worked flawlessly. At the end, you also took several points and funneled it into the person we know as Naomi.
Two things: when you were talk about the cultural site, you really glossed over it. If that was explained in greater detail, we would understand how significant that monument was to you. Secondly, I think if you reorganised you presentation so that all the science stuff was together.
To Nimrat and your discussion on GUMPs, Mr.Smitham once said that if you make something “clearly wrong” it will look on purpose and be okay but if you make it in between, then it will look like a mistake. In relation to your discussion, if you want it to be conversational, be very deliberate of that if not it will look like ungood grammar. see?
Sincerely, IB.
Dear IB,
I am glad that you seemed to enjoy reading about my interests and the way I expressed them through writing. I do agree: my cultural background is a significant part of me and perhaps I should have elaborated further on that. My intention was to talk about different parts of me in an equal manner. Now that I begin to consider it, perhaps I should have organized it better by putting more emphasis on some topics such as that one. In regards to your comment about GUMPS, I do agree. I am working on learning how to properly refine and edit my work since now I know what to look for. Thank you for taking the time to read this and give me thorough feedback. I appreciate the information you gave me on how to further improve my writing.
Sincerely,
Naomi
Dear IB,
I am glad that you seemed to enjoy reading about my interests and the way I expressed them through writing. I do agree: my cultural background is a significant part of me and perhaps I should have elaborated further on that. My intention was to talk about different parts of me in an equal manner. Now that I begin to consider it, perhaps I should have organized it better by putting more emphasis on some topics such as that one. In regards to your comment about GUMPS, I do agree. I am working on learning how to properly refine and edit my work since now I know what to look for. Thank you for taking the time to read this and give me thorough feedback. I appreciate the information you gave me on how to further improve my writing.
Sincerely,
Naomi