The Speaker's List

So you wanna change the world?

Mon, 13 May 2013 17:21:00 -0700

What does it take to change the world? If you’ve been daring enough to think about this, you’ve probably realized it’s a daunting task: the world is a big place, things are complicated, and most problems don’t come with easy answers. Once in a while we hear about someone who has left a big mark on the world—think Martin Luther King, Jr., Aung Sang Suu Kyi, or Steve Jobs. As much as I want to change the world as people like these have, I know this is, in all likelihood, not going to happen for me (and most other people, for that matter).

So where does this leave us? While we could become paralyzed with fear or discouragement, I believe there is a better way out. And the answer is in paper towels.

Well, okay fine, maybe not just paper towels themselves. But as the video shows, change—even on a large scale—can start with something as simple as using just one paper towel to dry your hands. This is not a revolutionary idea, and no one is going to win a Nobel prize or gain world recognition for coming up with it. However, in its own small and modest way, this simple act can be one way for us to help “change the world.” Sure, we’re not solving global poverty or establishing world peace. But let me suggest that we shouldn’t be so focused on these big issues that we lose sight of what we can already do now in the way we live our everyday lives. Saving a paper towel here and there might not seem like much, but when many people do this, we suddenly find that we are indeed changing the world … one shake and fold at a time.

I Think, Therefore IB

Sat, 04 May 2013 03:13:00 -0700

Summer’s nearly here.

Key word there being “nearly”. Exams are looming near, and students are frantically trying to revise (or less desirably, learn for the first time) class materials in preparation. I’ve compiled 10 tips for IB students, from what I remember when I was in their position this time last year, as they prepare for their May exams. It would’ve made sense to make this a 7 tip article, since that’s the IB magic number, but I had too much to cover. I hope you guys find this helpful!

1. For English, write as many unseen commentaries as you can. Even if your teacher might not be able to mark all of them, it’s very helpful practice to get you ready for the actual exam. If you don’t think you have time to write the entire commentary, at least highlight, underline, and make notes on the commentary itself, and look over them again closer to the exam.

2. For the English P2, as well as group 2 language, it all comes down to sheer practice. Knowing the format of what you are expected to write on the exam is quite different from actually being to write it under severe time constraints. As with the first tip, try to discuss your answers with other students or teachers. Other students may be a better port of call because teachers may not have the time to see hundreds of students to discuss written pieces. Be each other’s harshest critics – they’ll appreciate it in the long run.

3. For science-based IB courses, print out previous examination papers dating back to maybe 2007. I would recommend organising these papers into their constituent Papers 1, 2, and 3, and doing a few of the same Papers from different years in a row. That is to say, instead of doing the entire 2012 exam, then the entire 2011 exam, it would look like: 2012 P1, 2011 P1, 2010 P1… followed by 2012 P2, 2011 P2, 2010 P2.

4. With science-based IB courses, you can actually mark them yourself – so make use of that! Try to be as harsh as you can with yourself. It might well be that the examiner would understand what you were trying to get at and award you marks, but don’t make those assumptions. Don’t be discouraged if your marks are not where you want them to be – a week (or however much time you have until the exam) can be a lot of time!

5. A further note on science-based IB courses – don’t leave the paper after having it marked without correcting your mistakes! Try to figure out where you went wrong, and if it’s a topic that you are completely clueless about, go back to your class notes. If you’re still struggling, it might be helpful to see your teacher and have a chat. They are usually more than happy to do so.

6. Before I leave science, the Study Guide for Biology is quite helpful. I would recommend borrowing one from the school if that is available. I’ve heard good things about the Chemistry one as well, but I didn’t use it very much because it’s less memorisation-involved that Biology.

7. Personally, I found it a bit tricky how the Math papers are marked. On the one hand, you obviously want to skip steps where necessary in order to save time and have time for all of the questions. On the other, recognise that marks are awarded for steps, and not only answers. When practicing, try to figure out what are the important steps that they look for in any question – the numbers will differ year to year, but the way the questions are asked and marked are generally the same.

8. For Geography, make sure you know your case studies and terms, as well as certain IB definitions (e.g. hazard event, risk, etc.) as they often come up. Statistics are a nice way of showing off to the examiner the depth of what you know, which they will probably appreciate.

9. I have been told that there were various online resources for History students, but the ones that students in my year have used have all been shut down. Asking other History students to see if they have any recommendations might be helpful – you’ve got nothing to lose, but a lot to gain. I’m not sure this was History-specific, but I was told that the key is to read the question properly because a question asking “to what extent” will demand an entirely different answer than one asking to “compare and contrast”.

10. Get enough sleep the night before your exams. Chances are that you will only remember a very small proportion of what you crammed anyway, and the duration of these exams can make it a battle of attrition. Pack everything you need for your exam the night before (e.g. calculators, rulers), and eat a healthy, filling breakfast the next morning. Arrive a bit early to get yourself in place, and feel free to bring any notes for last-minute reading.

Finally, If you don’t do as well as you had liked for one of the exams, just move on and start thinking about the next one. And don’t feel defined by your predicted grades – this is your chance for a do-over!

Wish you all the best of luck, and, for the Star Wars geek in me – May the Fourth be with you!

An overheard conversation

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 06:06:53 -0700

My friends and I decided to take a trip to New York last week. One day, our adventures stopped at an afternoon tea room located in the heart of New York’s most exclusive Upper East Side. As we enter straight into the lobby, we were in awe of the beautiful magnolia flowers hanging from the wall, which filled the lobby with a nice scent. Then, while we were waiting for the elevators to go upstairs, we saw that someone had ordered a two hundred dollar worth (small bag) of macarons from a really famous macaron place, which we just visited earlier in the day.

When walking into the tea room, we were amazed by the classic, old-world décor, and the serene and stately setting. This place is known to provide its guests one of the most exquisite afternoon tea services, and we were not disappointed at all. The highlight of our trip this afternoon was to overhear the conversation between two ladies who lived in the Upper East side, and are usual customers to the tea room. We found ourselves listening to conversations that seemed like only appeared in movies. Their conversations evolved only around shopping, shopping and more shopping, with the occasional touch about their husbands. They complained about things like, “Chanel is not for me, because it is too common.” Or at times, they discussed an eighteen hundred jacket that they bought for their sons. They complain about the most intricate details in the leather of their handbags, and spoke that their personal shoppers will bring in the replaced one that evening. They are talking about the kind of lifestyle that many people want, but at the same time, it is unbelievable how much medication they have to take each day. To me, it almost seems a little ironic.

With money being the least in concern on their minds, they are taking an abnormally large amount of medication, and it seems like nothing is going to make them truly happy. They live within an intricate, and complex web of relationships, that even the most expensive materialistic desires will not soothe their worries. It was an eye-opener for me to see the realities that lie in their lives, and to appreciate that I have a loving family, things that I want to work for, and possibly even the fact that materialistic things do make me happy!

Clothes make the man

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 23:40:00 -0700

What should you wear to meet your head of government?

Justin Bieber was infamously dressed down last November when Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented him with the Diamond Jubilee Medal. (This photo - for better or worse - doesn’t capture the bright yellow high-tops that Bieber was also wearing.) Whether you’re a Belieber or not, most people would agree that this isn’t the ideal outfit for meeting the leader of a country if you can help it.

A Model United Nations conference is also generally a formal affair where delegates are expected to act and look professional, with the typical dress code being Western business attire or something along those lines. But is there more to this than simply dressing the part? According to this study on “enclothed cognition,” there could be.

The study published by the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University found that students who were wearing the white lab coat of a doctor performed much better on tests of selective attention and sustained concentration than students who didn’t wear a doctor’s coat.

And interestingly, students had to be wearing the doctor’s coat to glean its maximum magical powers. For students who saw a white lab coat of a doctor but did not actually get to wear it (known as a priming effect), the effect was nowhere near as strong as for those students who actually wore the doctor’s coat.

However, it took more than just the physical experience of wearing the coat to have the effect. Students who were wearing the white coat but were told that it was a painter’s coat did just as poorly on the tests as students who didn’t wear any coat at all. So students didn’t have to just wear the coat; they also had to have the symbolic meaning from thinking of it as a doctor’s coat.

These findings have interesting implications, and can lend insight into why it can be hard to do homework in pyjamas. It’s known that what you’re wearing affects how other people perceive you, but the potential for your clothing and what you believe about it to actually affect your own performance - that’s pretty cool. More than dressing to look the part, our clothing can actually help us be the part. Think about that next time you suit up for committee session.

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.

- Mark Twain

The Effects of Social Media: Boston

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:01:23 -0700

There is a trend sweeping the nations—at least all the ones that are on the internet grid. Living in Canada, social media is not far from our fingertips as a computer is only a library away and almost 1 in every 7 people has a phone (perhaps more if you live in a urban city). Yesterday, Monday April 15, 2013 two explosions went off at the finish line of the Boston Marathon three hours after the race began, officially killing 3 people and injuring hundreds (many with lost limbs).

This piece of news has circulated around most news companies and the sentiments of many go out to the victims. Despite the fact that the event occurred only yesterday, immediately after the two explosions my facebook and twitter erupted in posts regarding the events. Often times I use social media to keep myself informed, but I suddenly realized how quickly out of hand this rapid spread of information can become.

If I hadn’t read articles by the Huffington post and other more reputable news agencies, I wouldnt have realized that the impact of the events at Boston to some extent were greatly exaggerated and overemphasized in posts by my peers and other poorly informed news sources: some describe the situation as a “massive bombing in Boston” or “massacre in Boston”.

It peaks my concern that information can be so easily skewed. How can one sufficiently divide between truth and opinion in social media? Only through critical analysis of our sources can we truly decide what is accurate or not.

When simple isn't so simple: economics, wealth, and the pursuit of knowledge

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 23:43:00 -0700

Imagine your teacher, professor, or boss has asked you to find an answer for the following question:

Which country is richer: Canada or the United States?

Take a moment to think about how you would approach this question — it should be simple, right? That’s what I thought, until I actually had to find an answer …

My first instinct was to look at Gross Domestic Product (the value of goods and services produced within a country), the most conventional measure of a country’s wealth. By this measure, the United States was far wealthier—nearly ten times—than Canada. Something wasn’t right.

Most obviously, I was forgetting about the population difference of each country. The United States is about nine times more populous than Canada, so it made sense to divide the total GDP by the population (what economists call GDP per capita) before comparing.

Easy enough, right? Wrong. My mind began to race, and I literally felt like I was falling down a rabbit hole—what about the age demographics of the countries? What if one country had more children or elderly people? Should they also be counted as part of GDP per capita? What about the exchange rate, seeing that a U.S. dollar is not worth the same as a Canadian dollar? What about the fact that everything—gas, clothing, food—seems to cost less in the United States? Shouldn’t all these factors (and more!) be taken into account when trying to figure out which country is richer?

To my dismay, it turned out there was no easy or simple answer. I thought someone must surely know the answer to such a seemingly simple question, but the reality was that no one could say for sure.

I was floored. I realized that I had always been taught neat, simple answers. Every question had a answer, and it was easy to simply circle “True” or “False” (or “a,” “b,” “c,” or “d”). Diagrams of cells were neatly colour coded, and atoms were neatly arranged in perfect circles. Borders between countries were neat, solid lines on a map.

The truth is, the world is a complicated place, and things are rarely either black or white, no matter what subject—economics, history, psychology, and even math, physics, or chemistry. There are few easy answers to questions, and even the most basic or elementary questions can lead you down a windy path with no obvious answer. This can be frustrating to some people, but I see it as making the world a more exciting place to be, with new insights and perspectives waiting right around every corner.

The Underdog Heroes (1): Trouble with a capital "H"

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 03:05:43 -0700

On the list of the one hundred most powerful women in the United Kingdom today, Baroness Hale of Richmond places fourth – after the Ana Botin, CEO of a large British Bank, Theresa May, Home Secretary and most senior female on the Cabinet, and Queen Elizabeth II, who needs no further explanation. This is rather unsurprising, when we consider who Baroness Hale is, both in respect of her contributions in the development of English law and representation of women in the Supreme Court.

Baroness Hale is an individual of many firsts. Generating most controversy a few years back was her appointment as the first female Law Lord in the then, House of Lords, and after 2009, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. She graduated from Cambridge University with not just any first, but a starred first, at the top of her class. Following that, she topped the list in the bar finals in her year. At thirty-nine years, she was the first person that young to be appointed to the Law Commission. She was also the first woman to be commissioned with that role. Professor of Law, Queen’s Counsel, Recorder, Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, Lord of Appeal in Ordinary, Chancellor of the University of Bristol, Visitor of Girton College, Cambridge, Honorary Doctorate from the University of Glascow. Baroness Hale has been respected for a number of positions that she has assumed in her lifetime, and I had the privilege of seeing her when she came to the London School of Economics and Political Science to deliver a public lecture.

There is one thing that stuck with me from what she said to us. This is paraphrasing, but she said that she is, first, a judge, and second, a woman. She emphasises that her role on the Supreme Court, while necessarily involving a consideration of the gender factors implicit in each individual case, is still one in which her role as an impartial judge takes precedence. This seems to be a desirable balance between the two spectrums of feelings towards her Ladyship. On one hand we have feminist advocates who would like to see her valiantly defend gender rights. On the other, we have critics who referred to her as “trouble with a capital ‘H’”, stressing the importance of maintaining an independent and unprejudiced judiciary. Baroness Hale has and will continue to play a significant role in the development of the common law, particularly in Family and Human Rights Law. At the same time, she will be a visual representation of the shift towards a more diverse and culturally sensitive judiciary.

Baroness Hale was ready and willing to admit that challenges lay ahead, with respect to other areas of diversity such as religion, orientation, social class, and professional background. These problems were accentuated by three recent appointments to the Supreme Court, all of whom were Caucasian and male. Nonetheless, it is a fight in which we must continue to engage, if we are truly to achieve a judiciary that is truly reflective of the needs of an increasingly cosmopolitan nation.

A very gripping experience -Geneva

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:47:55 -0700

A very gripping experience

-Geneva

Icebreaker: Speed Talk

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 00:03:36 -0700

When you’ve assembled a team, it’s important that people get to know each other in a few different ways:

As individuals:This is a group of human beings, after all!
As team members with specific roles: You want your team to know what each person is responsible for so that everyone understands the reporting structure, things don’t fall through any cracks, and people know what to talk about with whom.
As strength and weakness profiles: in order to have the strongest possible overall team, it’s helpful to know what useful knowledge, skills, and connections that people have that may crossover into portfolios of other team members.

It’s hard to have a cohesive team if people never get the chance to know each other on a more personal level. Some groups of people are more likely than others to do this naturally, but that’s what icebreakers are for. Icebreakers come in all shapes and sizes and degrees of awkwardness, but they should always provide the opportunity for a group of people to become more familiar and comfortable with one another - and have some fun doing it.

“Speed Talk” is a fairly structured speed dating-like icebreaker that (hopefully) includes laughter that acts as a catalyst in team bonding. In Speed Talk, participants are in pairs and are either asking or answering a set of prepared questions provided on slips of paper. Each 1-minute round consists of rapid-fire questioning (i.e., people must answer as quickly as possible). This works best with people seated on two sides of a long table. After the minute is up, one side of the table will rotate so that each person is facing someone new. This requires some careful thinking and set-up ahead of time so that the rotations go smoothly, people get to alternate between asking and answering questions, and nobody repeats questions.

Unstructured time afterwards is just as valuable, where people can continue to talk and quite possibly revisit interesting responses to use as conversation starters!

Some sample questions:

What was the last TV show you watched?
You have 15 seconds to rant about your least favorite teacher of all time.
What’s the #1 recurring item on your list of New Year’s Resolutions?
What is a characteristic that you do not posses?
What does NATO stand for? (If you don’t know, make something up!)
What is your earliest memory, and how old were you?
What do you do when you’re at home and sick?
I AM A GENIE. What do you wish for?
Name a famous person whose first or last name begins with the letter K.
What animal do I most resemble?
What is the first thing that comes to mind at the mention of…
- Armadillo
- Justin Bieber
- November
- Goldilocks
- Timbuktu
How do you respond when telemarketers call you?
What’s something you wanted as a kid, but definitely don’t want now?

Money money money

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 08:56:40 -0800

School may be on your mind all the time. Getting into the best schools may also loom over your shoulder as you get closer to graduation. However, getting into those schools is no free ride. With the exception of some publicly subsidized schools, university costs a fortune and sometimes you can get stuck with debt that will no doubt have you working 24/7 in a race to pay it off.

So how do you change this pattern of money madness and inequality?

1.) Start saving:
Pretty self explanatory, if you can, try not spending on Starbucks coffees and going out to eat. Save where you can and you might just be able to pay for some of that tuition!

2.) get scholarships:
Apply apply apply. Finding them is easy just getting down to those applications is the hard part! It doesn’t hurt to just apply and see what happens!

3.) student loans:
Go to your dream schools website and see how much the ballpark tuition is. Have that number in mind and keep your bank credit rating in the good books!

Good luck getting those As, and even if you don’t get into that dream university you can always say you saved enough to pay for your own education and that is an achievement any parent should be proud of.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Speaker’s List!

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:26:11 -0800

Actually, it’s more like “happy belated birthday”, since the Speaker’s List’s first ever post was last Monday, February 11th. It’s hard to believe that a year has gone by already. Many things seem the same – I’m still using the same computer to type up blog posts, still enjoying MUN and learning new things at every conference. Yet, at the same time, a lot of things have changed, both small and big. From learning to type my blog posts on Microsoft Word first, after having my computer freeze on me halfway through my last post, to just getting off a five-person Skype call with all five of us living in different places, change is everywhere.

But that’s just change in the short-term – what if we look farther back? What happened in the world on February 11th fifty years ago? One hundred years ago?

February 11th, 2011: Egyptian revolution results in Mubarak stepping down following over two weeks of protests.

February 11th, 1990: Nelson Mandela released from prison in South Africa after twenty-seven years of imprisonment.

February 11th, 1973: First batch of American prisoners of war are released.

February 11th, 1942: The Battle of Bukit Timah of WWII is fought in Singapore

February 11th, 1929: The Vatican and the then fascist Italy sign the Lateran Treaty

February 11th, 1916: Emma Goldman, political activist, imprisoned for lecturing and advocating the use of birth control

Thinking about the past allows us to remember what the world used to be like, and how far we have come since then. Don’t get me wrong, looking forward and thinking about what’s to come, how to be more inventive and creative – that’s all well and good. But it is only through reflecting on how we got here that we can be sure not to stagnate, or worse yet, repeat past mistakes. And besides, it’s always kind of interesting to have these facts in the back of your head. Who could’ve guessed that Thomas Edison was born on this day, 166 years ago?

Rest. To refuel energy for the long journey

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:06:04 -0800

Reading break is almost coming along, and if you are like me, you must be exhausted from the responsibilities that take up all of your day and night throughout the past month and a half.

At school, you have all sorts of roles and responsibilities: completing assignments, engaging in extra-curricular activities, maintaining your efficiency at workplace, and continuing the positive relationships with professors and teachers. It is surprising how one can take on so much, and how much time and energy it takes to accomplish all of these tasks.

Buried under the duties, have you once taken the time to daze off into the clouds and allow your mind to rest? Over the past few months, I have to admit that the answer to this question would be no.

It shocked me when I realized that I completely forgot my mother’s birthday, which is a date that I never ever forgotten in the past 20 or so years. It wasn’t until then when I realized that I have been so busy during this time, that I had no energy left to let my mind rest or to spend quality time with my family. Even until now, a few months later, I can still not get over this incidence, and it became a lesson for me.

If there is anything to take away, it would to understand that sometimes, rest can be equally, if not more, important than work. It is really hard to believe, and many (including myself), sometimes forget about this important concept. Please take the time to have a restful break, there is nothing that important to stress over.

Event Planning 101

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 23:07:00 -0800

I’ve planned a few events over the years - conferences, fundraisers, social events, you name it. I’ve planned small events and large events, casual events and formal events, events attended by children and events attended by seniors. I’ve worked with diverse teams, made mistakes along the way, and also enjoyed successes – and this post is for you to learn vicariously!

1) More work now is better than even more work later. Invest time in the early stages of your event planning for your team to strategize and communicate thoroughly. For example, spending the time early on to create a streamlined registration system can save you a lot of time and stress later of working with a system that may have been easier to set up but requires more manual inputting closer to the date of the event. In other words: do it right now, or pay dearly for it later.

2) Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. What will you do if that thing goes missing, or that person gets sick, or that weekend is when another conflicting event is taking place? It’s a good mental exercise because you can’t plan for what you haven’t thought of. Then see to it that pieces are in place so that you could actually carry out your contingency plans if you had to. Thinking through worst case scenarios can help you put your best event forward. Oh, and the minute you stop believing in Murphy’s Law is the minute that it’ll come back to bite you.

3) Vision is futile without execution. Having vision is great and it’s important; it’s what can set your event apart. But what will set your event apart is how your vision is actually carried out and communicated internally to your team and externally to your event attendees. How are you going to make that happen? Well, it takes pathological planning and excellent execution - no shortcuts. You should also periodically revisit the vision you’ve dreamt up as you go on in the event planning process, as self-checks of whether you’re still working towards making it a reality.

4) Marketing is about a lot more than numbers. (This point isn’t as applicable to private invitation-only events.) Don’t get me wrong - your event isn’t going to sell itself. However, you shouldn’t just be blindly promoting in attempt to get as many people as possible to attend, whoever they might be. Make a conscious effort to attract the right people for whom your event is meant. Publicity is also about expectations management, like how a fancy wedding invitation and venue is a signal to the guests for what the event will be like and its dress code! It’s up to you to get your event attendees on the same page as you.

5) Taking care of both the details and the big picture is a delicate balancing act. This is no easy task, and that’s why members of an event planning team all have to be on board with what the big picture is and they all have to be attentive to details and how they help build that big picture. Communicating frequently and well is crucial to making this happen.

Good luck, and happy event planning!

Rethinking broadened horizons

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 23:22:00 -0800

At the Opening Ceremonies of a Model UN conference, it is fairly typical for delegates to be challenged to “broaden their horizons,” and it is equally typical for them to be commended at the Closing Ceremonies for having successfully done so. Indeed, things like MUN and International Studies can open your eyes to countries and people that you previously didn’t even know existed, and present the opportunity to grabble with diverse and interesting global issues - and this is great! It’s a big world out there, and it’s waiting for you to change it. However, I’d also like to encourage you to explore what’s happening in your own backyard. What are the local issues where you live?

I’m glad to have had opportunities to spend immersive periods of time in communities with unique challenges. In my province of British Columbia in Canada, I’ve stayed in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside inner city neighbourhood and on a relatively remote First Nations reserve, partnering with various nonprofits and charities in each community and discovering surprising beauty amidst brokenness. I still have a lot to learn about them, but I do feel that these communities and their challenges are very poorly understood by many people who also live in my area.

There is a certain glamour and excitement to jetting off to a far-away country to visit orphanages and build schools. I think these can be invaluable experiences (also expensive experiences!) that expose you to new parts of the world close-up, allowing you to make a contribution. But while you go do that, don’t overlook or forget what’s happening in your very own backyard. You don’t have to travel much of a distance to find poverty, exploitation, and oppression.

Maybe Model UN and International Studies can broaden your horizons in another dimension besides just learning about issues in different parts of the world; maybe you can allow yourself to be stretched to think critically, be compassionate, and seek justice - both near and far.

So while you get excited about making the world a better place out there, what about right here?

A variation on an old favourite: “Ban Ki-moon is coming to...

Tue, 25 Dec 2012 06:01:20 -0800

A variation on an old favourite: “Ban Ki-moon is coming to town”

You may not have seen this little gem from the UN Correspondents’ dinner in December 2006 after Ban Ki-moon was sworn in as the Secretary General of the United Nations. Consider it a gift from us to you.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Project Connect!

Happy Holidays! -- Now what?

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:13:15 -0800

For many of us, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief now that exams are over and school is wrapping up for the year. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been catching up on some much needed rest and sleep, not to mention TV shows that you’ve fallen behind on, Christmas shopping that needs to be done, and catching up with family and friends. From all of us at the Speaker’s List, we wish you an enjoyable and much-deserved break!

Here are some thoughts to keep in mind during this holiday season:

Relax and rest - Take time to just sit back and not do anything. Don’t feel guilty about not doing homework, reading your textbooks, or even doing chores around the house—there will be time for all of that; just remember to relax and enjoy the break for what it is: a break.
Reconnect - Maybe you’ve gone to another place for school, or perhaps just gotten too busy to keep in touch with some friends and family. This is the one time you have a perfect excuse to call up, Facebook, or email that old friend you’ve always wanted to see again. Meeting with old friends and acquaintances can be incredibly refreshing.
Read a book - Okay, I know you think I’m crazy to even suggest reading a book. As a student, reading another book is probably the last thing you want to do… But seriously, consider picking up a book that you’ve always wanted to read. Find something you want to read and delve in—you’ll be surprised by just how much fun reading can actually be. There’s nothing like cozying up to a book and a cup of hot chocolate on a cold and wet day.
Reflect and resolve - December also marks the end of the year, so why not take a few moments to think about what’s happened in your life in 2012. While I’m not the type to reminisce and sentimentalize over these sorts of things things, I do appreciate thinking about what goals, accomplishments, and changes in my life over the past year—it helps bring clarity and focus to how I can continue to grow and learn in the coming year. New Year’s is also a great (if not cliche) time to set new goals and resolutions… maybe we’ll have another post on that soon!

Here’s to a great holiday season!

"How do I keep in touch with what's happening in the world?"

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 04:56:00 -0800

Let’s face it. We’re busy students with a lot of priorities. Exams, essays, sports, music, family, friends, we always find ourselves lacking time. And while some students are constantly up-to-date with recent developments in global issues, others (including myself) can find it difficult to do so.

Take a look at these issues – how many of them can you discuss in detail, mentioning their most recent developments?

The acquisition of Canada-based Nexen by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation in the quest for oil
Political instability in Mali in light of the recent ousting of Prime Minister Diarra
The potential referendum in the UK for leaving the European Union
Hugo Chavez’s chosen successor for Venezuela
The results of the Leveson Inquiry and potential implications on the Freedom of Press
Putin’s speech about ending corruption and improving living standards
Morsi’s regime and the Egyptian constitutional referendum
The new international outlook on the Syrian crisis
Heightened conflict between Israel and Palestine because of the UN’s recent recognition of the latter as a non-member observer state
North Korea’s most recent rocket launch and its threat to national security

And yet the list is by no means exhaustive. As the number of global issues increases day by day, how are we to keep track of these developments and become globally aware?

Take 30 minutes out of each day and scroll through the articles that you find most interesting in a newspaper that you find most comfortable reading. If it is your first time reading about a particular issue, open up a new tab and Google it! There are ten minute Youtube videos of Israel and Palestine that summarizes nicely the decades upon decades of conflict that has ensued. Wikipedia will also help give the general gist of a given topic, so you might want to consider using that resource as well.

But, being high school and university students, you probably already knew all of that. So, for those of you who have read this post up to this point, here’s a quick and easy shortcut to reward you!

If you’ve got some time on your hands, visit the Economist webpage, and select “World Politics”, one of the headings near the top of the page. Once you click on it, you will be directed to the weekly “Politics this Week” article. Read through the article to get a condensed understanding of what has happened in the week around the world. You will notice that each of the issues that it discusses are linked to other articles, to which you may refer for more detailed information. This will allow you to select from what you find most interesting or relevant and research accordingly. Reading the article each week will effectively take 5-10 minutes each week, and seems to be doable, to say the least. It might be important to highlight that this should act as the bare minimum, though – if you have those extra minutes, use it to read the daily paper the “old-fashioned way”; you just might find yourself enjoying it. Merry Christmas, and happy reading!

Happy Human Rights Day!

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 10:00:56 -0800

Today is Human Rights Day, marking the 64th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The world’s most translated document, the Declaration was written in the aftermath of the Second World War to reaffirm the international community’s belief in the value, equality, and dignity of every human being.

This year’s theme is “My Voice Counts” — what will you to make your voice count?

“International law is clear: no matter who you are, or where you live, your voice counts. On this Day, let us unite to defend your right to make it heard.”

- Ban Ki Moon

Why does winter holidays seem so close, but yet so far?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 21:25:23 -0800

Whether you are in university, college or high school, you must be busy studying for your upcoming finals. At this point, if you are like me, feeling that winter holidays seem so within reach and able to grab and take hold of, but yet there is so much to do before you can officially rest, then hang in there because you are almost there.

While you are studying, make yourself a cup of marshmallow hot chocolate to drink by your side, light up a scented candle as you are reading over the last few pages of lecture notes and prepare some chocolate chip cookies to take a bite as you are flipping a page. These gestures are small and simple, but it really helps to change your mood during studying time.

And just think about how much you can sleep in, how much you can play and talk with friends as soon as your exams end. To make all that worthwhile, hang in there and then, completely, relax.

Lessons from MUN, with Marination

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 13:06:00 -0800

The last Model UN conference that I attended as a delegate was three years ago in university. Since then, I’ve had a taste of the famed “real world” and realize that there were important lessons MUN helped me to learn - things not quite as obvious as the skills of public speaking and researching. Upon reflection a few years later, here are five things I’ve learned and am continuing to learn…

1) Real change is hard. A resolution is essentially a change game plan. Truly changing something about yourself is no piece of cake. Changing another individual is hard, and changing an entire institution is definitely hard. Understanding the barriers to change and having the humility to appreciate why the status quo is the status quo will get you a lot further than blindly storming into a new direction and thinking that everyone else will follow.

2) Examine attribution. People have reasons for the decisions they make, the things that they say, and the way that they behave. These reasons may not be immediately obvious and they may not be good or justifiable reasons, but they exist and they do matter. Similarly, both good and bad situations arise from a combination of factors. Sustainable solutions go deeper than the symptoms of the problem, and require the sometimes messy process of identifying and addressing systemic issues. Wiping blood off the floor is definitely not equivalent to stopping the bleeding.

3) Perception is everything. At the risk of oversimplifying, a Model UN committee is a collection of representatives of vastly different perceptions that stem from diverse foreign policies, individual biases, and much more. Drafting and passing resolutions are an exercise in finding some sort of agreement among members of a body who perceive a topic differently. The closest we will come to knowing reality is our perception of it, but I believe that reconciling different perceptions begins with a special type of empathy.

4) People matter. The connection, conversation, and camaraderie that Model UN sparks can be enduring and valuable, lasting long after the thrill of winning an award fades. Meeting awesome people will be one of the best things that MUN can give you. In fact, meeting awesome people is one of the best things that life can give you.

5) Keep hope alive. An exciting thing about Model UN is that it provides a glimpse of a world that might be. A resolution is hope on paper, and delegates are embodiments of hope. If something really matters, never surrender to that which is merely difficult but still possible. Change is hard, but it’s worth it.