My first week in Co-Op

Work experience

For my work experience I volunteered with the Surrey Crime Prevention Society. It was a great experience! I've always wanted to learn how higher authorities dealt with people who cause trouble. In addition of seeing our people interact with others, I also got to witness many things happen. The action I got to see was outstanding. I saw many arrests happen and I was a part of observing and reporting an incident. Many people would find this uncomfortable, but I love to see things like this. I've learnt so much from dealing with uncooperative people, drunk people, rude and crazy people and a lot more others. This was definitely an experience I wanted to carry on. Hopefully in the near future I will witness many other situations and become a police officer. I'll see you guys in my cruiser while I drive us downtown. 

Macbeth Post Mortem Monologue

I can hear the blood pumping through my ears, my heart is racing faster than any other exquisite feeling I have ever encountered. Why did I do this? Why did the thoughts of becoming powerful blind me from seeing the consequences? I have failed at so many things that have left me in this position of death. Sleepless nights of guilt and fear have left me shaken. I didn’t think too much of it. Killing Duncan seemed like a simple thing to do. Stab him, and the life of power and status would simply come to us like a bee to a flower.  How wrong was I. The blood I regularly saw on my hands was just a figment of my imagination. Horrible knowledge of killing a person has left me buried 6 feet underground. What surprised me the most was my husband. As we lived a wondrous life together he went behind my back and did things without notifying me. Uncanny things that left me wondering what went on in his mind. The loving caring man I had once come to known changed his appearance and became a devil of all cruel things. As I look back at it now and see the truth unravel before me, I am left stunned. My “lover” and his beliefs in prophecies are out of control. Twice he met with the witches. Twice! O me! Macbeth was always one who firmly believed in superstitions. His understanding of his title from the witches took his understanding of power to a different world. In addition to his emotion of feeling threat from Banquo, became unbearable. Finding out the death of Banquo was directed by Macbeth is leaving me breathless. It is not possible. No! My darling could not be responsible of such crime.

 O me! The death of Banquo! His reoccurrence at the banquet after his death is not possible! Me thought it was only just a guilt phase. I was left embarrassed of his atrocious behavior when in reality he was only stating the truth. I do not understand why he would do such a thing. I cannot take this anymore! His wrong doing of murdering Macduff’s family cannot be right. Why Lord! This is not my husband; this is a killer, a murderer! If I had only kept my mouth shut, if only I did not let the thinking of power and status come into my head like a disease, we would all be alive and living a peaceful life. Regret and guilt is all I feel. My death is a reflection of my stupidity. I feel full responsible of my horrendous judgement. O me, do I wish to redo everything! O  Macbeth, how will you get out of this?

   

LOTF Discussion Questions

1. Individuals are basically are evil and must constantly fight against their violent nature.

I disagree with this. Individuals have the power to control their emotions, if they are not mentally ill. It is not a strong urge that we have if we feel like doing something delirious. We are not evil, our violent nature only comes when pushed to the limit, but even then we are able to calm ourselves. We think, most of the time before we consider doing something deranged. For example, if someone has done something that has made you angry, you would not get your knife out to kill them, you would address this matter in a more respectable and mature manner. We are not evil; we don't need to constantly tell our evil side to compose itself.

2. Individuals will go along with any type of activity, no matter how violent, when pressured by their peers.

I agree with this. I agree with this, because this is a clear and true statement of many misdoings one attains from peer pressure. An example of this is mainly drugs or alcohol, or both. The only reason they fall into something that is unhealthy is because they want to fit in. Society has changed many teens’ perspectives of how one should look. Everybody is trying to find a place to fit in because everybody seems to know what they're doing, when in reality everyone is just as lost as the person next to them. Another example is that when chaos has erupted in a particular scene, the power of doing something bad spreads to everyone no matter your values or beliefs. Everyone gets lost in the chaos and blames the havoc of other people as an influence to their wrong doings.

3. The human race is destined to destroy itself.

I disagree with this, yet at the same time agree with this. The human race is a sensitive, but understanding race (most of the time). Luckily for us, there are a lot more good people than bad, making the good outshine as always and the bad overshadowing once in a blue moon. Our intelligent human race, although not the smartest when it comes to small unnecessary barriers, have evolved into a much better and more advanced beings. We have overcome obstacles that have led us to this day. Our driven nature has compelled us to strive and help one another while still being fragile with each other. I also disagree at the same time, because we have caused the most mass destruction amongst ourselves. For example, Hitler, he is one of the most well-known mass murderers of the Second World War. Murdering 11 million people, for a reason so irrational, has questioned our ability of sanity. A hatred so strong that has driven Hitler to murder so many people makes it seem that we are destined to destroy ourselves. But, we have morals that are set forth to tell what’s wrong from right. We have brains that tell us that people like these should be stopped. So yes, we can be killers or we can be protectors, the people who can tell the difference between good doings and wrong doings have made all the difference to stop such crimes from reaching its higher level of insanity.

4. Rules and punishments are absolutely necessary if we are to maintain a civilized society.

I agree with this. Rules and punishments are there for a reason, not because it’s fun to put people in a position where they are in trouble, but because there are people out there that want the best for the society. If there are people who do not want the same, they should not be welcomed to participate unless they have learned their lesson. In order for society to grow and develop on its own, there should be people who will put in the time and effort to do what’s best for everyone else and their community. An example of this is a person who allegedly murdered someone. A person, who has no use of benefiting the society and will only do worse, must learn that their emotions are to be kept to themselves and that harm is not welcomed. We have help these days and there are many things you can do to ensure you are healthy, but if this person thinks he can get away with something that is not acceptable, he will most definitely be punished for his absurd behavior.

5. WE are our own worst enemy!

I agree with this. The complexity of our brain and emotions lead us to think the most insane and unsettling thoughts. We have such a diverse thinking that when clashed with others, can influence our own opinion. We constantly battle with ourselves to be the best, to be successful, to be the person that everyone wants to be friends with that we lose our own mentality of what life actually means. We are our own worst enemy. We tell ourselves that we are not, but the most struggles we face in our lives are with ourselves. We can be cruel savages when given the chance, when we choose to take this opportunity, means the end of our innocence.

"I Am"...poem

I am a teenager

Hey,
I'm not a delinquent
Or an underachiever
And I don't live in a jail cell
Or eat pizza 24/7
Or own a gun
And I don't know
Everyone in Sullivan Heights
Although I'm sure they're okay people
I have Netflix not Blockbuster
I speak proper English not text language
And I pronounce it totally not totes
I can proudly do the Pythagorean theorem without looking at my notes
Success not failure
And that an IPhone is truly an amazing representation of our society
A locker is where we put our books in, a janitors closet is where the janitor, and only the janitor keeps his mop bucket
And it is pronounced "crazy" not "cray" "crazy"!
Teenagers are the rulers of the world!
The fashion trendsetters!
And the next  best generation!
My name is Iraj and I am a teenager!

Macbeth Themes/Motifs: Connections to Contemporary Society

Ambition: Individuals can become corrupted by the pursuit of money.
Ex. Entrepreneurs are willing to manipulate and deceive their customers to make profit off of their products.













Ambition: Status
Ex. "Popular" kids in school may show off their wealth to showcase power and status, making them look superior than everyone else. Their behavior to present their superiority can affect others and themselves negatively.











Fate and Free Will: Fate
Ex. A stranger tells you are destined to great wealth. You win a lottery ticket the next day.















Fate and Free Will: Free Will
Ex. A guru tells you, you will become wealthy. One day, an earthquake happens while you are at a bank. Reminiscing what the guru told you, you steal money from the bank.











Appearance and reality: Don't judge a book by its cover
Ex. A beautiful girl at your school with the perfect personality, perfect smile, and perfect grades is actually depressed.















Appearance and reality: Individuals can be submitted to the dangers of the cyber world
Ex. A boy you met online has swoon you over.  From always knowing the right words to say, to his amazing body in his profile picture, he seems to be normal aside the fact that he is actually a 40 year old pedophile luring in teens.

Macbeth: Superstitions & the Supernatural

Examples of Superstitions:
-Friday the 13 is an unlucky day
-A rabbits foot brings good luck
-To find a four-leaf clover is to find good luck
-Garlic protects from evil spirits and vampires
-At the end of the rainbow is a pot of gold
-To give someone a purse or wallet without money in it, it will bring the person bad luck
-Warm hands, cold heart
-Cold hands, warm heart

The roots or origin of these superstitions are in the early 1500's, when witch craft was a great fear.

The real question though, is why do we believe in superstitions? When we understand that our destiny is in our hands and we have full control of it, why do we still resort to the idea of superstitions when something unlucky or good happens? The answer is quite simple, we just do. We are either too lazy, too timid or are unable to really understand that we have control.

Firstly, for the lazy people who believe carrying around a rabbits foot is the easiest way to maintain good grades, then you're sadly mistaken. Unless you are genius, that will most likely not happen. Coming back to the idea of carrying a rabbits foot to get good grades, we believe that the universe will bring good fortune into our life without having to do all the hard work. Its the easiest way out rather than having to study for our exams or taking responsibility.

Secondly, we are too timid to believe that we are responsible for much of the things that happen in our life. We do not have the courage to take responsibility for our actions, so why not just blame the bad report card on the black cat that I walked over last week? These superstitions are so called "answers" to many of the bad or good things that occur in our life.

Lastly, inability. Our inability to feel in control. People hate to find themselves in a position where they are lacking control, so in order to fill that void we take control of not walking under a ladder or opening an umbrella inside the house. By doing this, we have created the desire of management. This allures people to think that superstition beliefs have an impact on their life and that they have the power to control most of the influences that surround them.

In conclusion, we have trained our brains so much to think that these superstitions are real, that it programs itself to prove our beliefs true. Not only have we prioritized our brains, but lets be honest we all have had those stories to tell when something bad happens on Friday the 13th, or when you found $20 on the floor after you found a four-leaf clover. Reminiscing these stories over and over again and hearing it from different people over and over again can really influence the way you think about these beliefs. It is a way to make ourselves feel safe, to not blame most of the fault on ourselves, but on some crazy belief. We have a lot of power over our lives, but that much power can prove to be a scary thought, thus, the creation of superstitions. We believe in superstitions not because they are true, but because we need it as a form of a safety net.