Introductory Blog Post

Hala's #1 Blog Post:

Part 1:

I have always been a very international person. Meaning I have moved around a lot in my life. That  comes with its disadvantages. Every time I have moved around I had to adjust to the environment around me, and depending on where that is, it wasn’t always as easy as it sounds. Being a muslim girl from Palestine has been quite the journey for me. Especially having to live in a closed off community in Canada where the citizens are not international what so ever. Seeing racist and people right in front of me really opened my eyes as to how the world is suffering. This brought me to writing and public speaking. I have always had a passion for public speaking, and have won competitions in the past. After my experiences I realised I could use that talent to spread awareness. I started writing poems and speeches, and the more and more I wrote the stronger I became. I also believe that what makes my pieces unique is the way I deliver to my audience and the tone an volume I choose. This has always been a interest of mine and is definitely something I very much care about. 

Having language in my life has opened up all these opportunities for me to be able to creatively write the way I do. By having it in my life it has helped me touch so many people, and open their eyes on important world issues. I know this because when I presented my poem last year, a lot of people came up to me and told me how much they were impacted by my poem. 

Studying language does not just get the brain working and thinking, but it also allows people to become very self-aware and more mindful. Language is such a creative and analytical subject, and it is a great tool to use to vent your inner thoughts. Studying language also helps with communicating a point across with a certain type of audience. There is so many different forms of text that can be used when trying to communicate to an audience. Language helps you communicate to a wide variety of groups. For example, the speech you write for 5 year olds, is going to be different than the type of speech you will write for a group of professional business owners. 

Since english is my second language, I have in the past felt like I was excluded due to the fact that my english wasn’t as strong as the others when I had just moved to Canada in grade 4. The students in my class were able to get the marks that they wanted, in the language subject, with ease, but with me it took extra work. I felt as though I was out of place, and I couldn’t really communicate my ideas to my class in the way that I wanted to. This restricted me from showing my teacher my (literacy brain). 

Part 2: 

I have very high hope for this year, since the pressure is on, and university is just around the corner. I will take my experience from last year and what didn't work for me, and the areas and need to improve on, to help me achieve the level I want to be at. Last year I had a problem with procrastination. I did my work on time and most of the time it was my best work, but it would be very rushed and cause me a lot of stress, since I did keep it until the last minute. This year my time management skills will be top notch. I will do this by completing homework and assignments as early as possible to make time for other assignments that might pop up. If there is a big project I will work on it bit by bit everyday so it doesn't all accumulate on me at the end. This will be a very key point to improving my grades and hopefully will stay consistent throughout the year. This way I will achieve good grades and be mentally healthy as well. 

Looking at my goals I know I want to go into the politics/law realm. I feel as though this course will be my push into going into that field. I know I will also really need to have strong public speaking skills, that will have to be something that this course covers. Looking at the Course Outline, I know that we will cover all my necessary topics. I will also need to learn to be very persuasive with my writing. For example the following questions will help me with my persuasive writing:

-   “How do people express their allegiance to a particular community through language?”

• “In what ways are authors powerful?”
• “How is language used in political or social campaigns to persuade audiences?”
• “To what extent does language influence cultural identity?”

The following will also help me get to know how I can connect my language to politics and society:

• “How does culture influence literature?”
• “How can language empower or oppress a group of people?”
• “How can a text empower or marginalise certain communities?”
• “How is language used as resistance?”
• “Does the media dictate what we believe? Or do they reflect our beliefs and cultural values?”
• “What does advertising and popular culture reveal to us about our society?”

Covering these topics and more throughout the 2 years will help me tremendously in my future years of exploring law and politics. It will help me be empowered with my words, and get my message across to the world. I will have great fulfilment in life to know that my words have impacted someones life, and to do that I have to know how to impact people with my words.