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Freedom of Speech is not Freedom to Propagate Hatred.

Art, music, dance, facial expressions and sign language are all prevalent forms of articulation we can use to express ourselves. Each of these are skills that can be acquired at some point of human development, and come easier for some than the lot. However, speech is a God-given quality gifted to the human race, which most of us are fortunate enough to inherit, that not only distinguishes us from all other living things but also creates a broad platform for us to communicate with each other in the best way possible. Because of this, speech itself has been the primary form of expression taught and encouraged over the years. In a democratic system, “majority get their way but minority get their say”. Our voice sometimes is all we have. The people took notice in this, and so came the birth of the first amendment , the freedom of speech amendment, since been manipulated by many to voice various forms of open and public slander. When speaking out, mostly on controversial issues we must ask ourselves, are we using our freedom of speech to make any sort of positive impact? Are we creating public awareness and mass education? Or are we simply using this right to be hateful? Always be sure to taste your words before you spit them out. Now our religion has instilled in many of us that “there is power in what you say”. However, many people use society’s idea of “actions speak louder than words” to magnify the idea that words are just words and until put into actions should not be taken so seriously -probably why people like Stacey Dash can say things like “gay people should use the bushes for bathrooms” and then turn around and claim that it was a joke, or why President Trump can constantly continue to tweet racial and xenophobic statements and be surprised at the backlash from the public. On the other hand, sometimes we must ask ourselves a different set of questions. Hate or unpopular opinion? Hate or personal belief? Hate or just a different standpoint? A different perspective on an issue is often received as a threat by the opposite party. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” yet, “Clothes make the man”: two popular phrases that absolutely contradict each other. We are all different people, thus we cannot always have the same opinions, but it is the way we convey this difference of opinion that differentiates us. Weak people cannot handle opposition, so they often try to go on the defensive side and point you as a villain. This is why you should always be sure to clarify yourself as much as possible, in order to avoid being taken out of context. Personally, I have always interpreted statements by analyzing the intent behind them, because unfortunately some people aren’t able to put together the best words for the message they want to convey, but society does indeed recognize some “off limit” words. Looking at the infamous derogatory “n” word, are you calling your AfricanAmerican friend that as a greeting or maliciously? And yet, does it make it okay? Being exposed to what we are exposed to every day, we cannot continue to play the victim to society and pretend we are oblivious to what is and isn’t considered wrong. There are always better ways to convey a message. We have been given the freedom of speech to say whatever we want to, so why do we insist on using this to spread hate? Why do we insist on being naïve and talking on touchy subjects without properly clarifying? If the world does not understand, why not make them understand? Do we not know that the laws allow us to explain ourselves? The dictionary is our limit, over 40 million words able to be put together, so why do we insist on putting together the most hateful? We have this right but we should never forget that there are always limits when we use our rights to infringe on others, promote calumny, libel or any form of hatred, this is where we are restricted.

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Verbal Fender-Benders

Many people tend to associate arguments with negativity. Yes, sometimes it does get ugly, but that should not give it a spot under a bad light! Arguments are stimulated by a clash of ideas; Depending on the parties involved and sensitivity of the topic, they could be insightful or brutal. Arguing is one of the best ways to gather perspective, especially for some people who have been confined to a specific kind of idea all their life, lead to believe that it is the only idea. The best arguments however, are with those who are open minded and are actually willing to understand that in some way there actually may be another side that makes just as much sense , or to understand why a person thinks in their way if anything. These are who i call the “intellectuals”.

Personally, I think my friends and I have reached the age where loud and aggressive arguments are simply unnecessary. A persuasive tone will always be more convincing than straight noise. The reason i’m so open minded is because of the type of friends i have. We are all so different, different cultural and religious backgrounds, different parental status’ and different individual experiences, which have lead us each to different views on everything. This has also made each of us a little bit more open to life and what ‘might’ or ‘might not’ be. Problems arise when arguments are made with the people who argue based on mere opinions as opposed to actual facts; rumours are opposed to the actual experience. Ironically these tend to be with the most aggressive people.Or the people who start the arguments but withdraw as soon as the other party starts to illuminate the holes in their points, the “it’s not even that serious” people, the “ don’t even care, you win okay?” people. These are who i call the “retreaters”.

We claim there are no absolute values and that everything is relative yet we believe our own opinions are right and absolute? Get angry when others do not agree? I think arguments could be the most beautiful thing ever if everyone was open minded. If everyone refrained from slander. If everyone would do their research on that said topic before arguing so hard. If we all shared what we each knew and at least tried to understand it. In what world we’d all be enlightened and knowledgeable. Isn’t that a world we’d want?

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5 QUESTIONS FOR AN AUTHOR

1. Was it hard for you to find motivation constantly?

No, it wasn’t. I’ve always known myself to have a very broad imagination, and this favours me extremely in my writing. I can’t find motivation anywhere, my arm, perfume, television, even my bed and pillows. This made writing easier for me than the lot, because i could go from writing about my wildest dreams to writing a whole biography of my toe, pretty weird, i know.

2. When writing in general, what theme or setting do you often find yourself writing about the most?

Non-fiction. I think as imaginative as i am i am more opinionated so writing my truth comes naturally to me. Like when i have debates or arguments with my friends, i’ve never been the type to keep quiet in the argument, My mouth literally starts pouring, and fortunately so do my ideas while writing non-fiction. As much as fiction is exciting with my crazy imagination to complement it, non-fiction definitely gets me going on a typical day.

3. Is there one subject you’d never write as an author? What is it?

Depression definitely. In modern society now, we know about triggers, many things trigger many different people, and some people don’t always handle these triggers the best way. Depression today has taken many lives, and statistics show the difference in suicide rates now and earlier, it has definitely grown rapidly. I am a strong believer that you can not write on a certain issue or from a certain other standpoint on that issue unless you do thorough research, or else that write up becomes mere stereotypes and what you ‘think’ you know about that topic. Depression is not something i have adequate knowledge of, can i acquire the knowledge? Maybe, but then i see it as telling other people’s stories, and i get that it’s the very media and papers that must create the awareness needed, but in terms of what i’d ‘write about’ as an author, i don’t think depression would ever make a main role or even a cameo. I’d definitely want to know about it as a member of society, and a friend or relative of a possible victim of it, but it’s certainly not something i’d want to put into official and published writing, i just feel like it’s not my story to tell.

4. What authors have inspired you to write?

John Green. Not only did his book ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ inspire me to actually start reading books, but it also inspired me to start writing things. It portrayed (to me) the motion that there is such a thing as writing out of the norm. Not saying that John Green invented out-of-the-box writing but he surely showed it to me, that writing about what you know, in the style that you know, in the way that you know how to, is also acceptable. You do not have to be of a certain age, health, or education to do so, as long as you are a social being with imagination and drive, you are as good as the next author.

5. Do you think you try to prove things in your writing to readers? Things that people in your life do not allow you to get through or things that you have voiced that you feel no one understands or even cares? Or do you not care and just write about whatever?

If you’re talking about ranting? Yes, most definitely i find myself ranting a lot in my writing! I rant in real life regardless, to myself, my friends, social media and everywhere really. Of course i find the chance to incorporate a rant into my work.

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CHAPTER ONE -SHORT STORY- DIARY FORM.

January 18th, 1984. 

Dear Diary, 

Its days before the 1984 senior dance and all the girls are anticipating over which guy they want to go with –including me and my friends. Agreed we aren’t the most popular girls at school, but we are all still optimistic that the senior dance will be our Cinderella moment. We’re going dress shopping tomorrow and I’m so amped! We planned to wear different-colored bustiers (mine is pink of course), matching miniskirts and our signature group leg warmers. Although my friends all want to do ponytails with scrunchies or get perms, right now I have my eye on the ‘Princess Diana’ hairstyle. We’ll probably look back in ten years and laugh at how much we’re stressing over this, but right now we have only one mission; Outshining the Rubies. The Rubies have been the most popular girls since grade school and I guess I won’t have a problem if they aren’t constantly harassing and shaming every other girl at school, but they are. It’s bad enough that Rea, the head of the rubies, just started dating my childhood crush Ryan. She’s such a Betty! Yesterday she even had the nerve to ask “Whitley is that really your natural hair?”, and when I said yes, she had the most irritating look on her face, replied “oh” and laughed, then continued walking. For her to steal the show at the dance too? Never. No one knows what her damage is anyways, she has been a bully since I can remember, but this year, my friends and I aren’t taking any nonsense from her. I’m so happy that graduation is this year too, although it seems so near, I’m determined to make the most amazing memories with the time left. WOW, Jenna just called me and told me that her dad agreed to drive us to the dance in his new Audi Quattro, That’s so gnarly! Today, on the other hand, was amazing; I aced all my tests, I got my first university offer from UCLA, and best of all, I think Ryan finally noticed me. Crazy that after 3-year’s-worth of horrible high school memories, it’s finally getting better, and I’m so down for that. Shopping tomorrow is going to be so radical! Can’t wait to tell you all about it, xoxo. 

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THE HURDLES OF HARVARD

(Play is set in the Harvard Admissions room, with 6 members of the admission committee seated around a rectangular table, all deciding on the final round of acceptances. 

Staff includes:

- Nichole Young and Gary White, the chairman and deputy chairman of admissions (respectively), both middle aged and Caucasian, the most experienced members on the table. 

- Earl Q, Rex Tan and Trent Blue, three mid-thirty aged Caucasians, have all worked in admissions for a few years. 

- Newcomer, Tim John, a 40-year-old African American. 

Each application is displayed on the smartboard and read out by a different staff member. 

ACT 1 

Nichole: Okay! As we all know, this is the last round of acceptances for the September 2018 incoming undergrads and it has been a great set of months. I’d just like to thank the whole admissions staff for their dedication always. You are what makes Harvard well, Harvard. Thank you, let’s get started. 

Gary: Thank you Mrs. Young, and thank you everyone again. You all play very important roles in the upstanding of this university. It truly is always a pleasure working with you all in picking the finest from around the world. Now, let’s begin.

Earl: We have 21 students left, only 4 slots available.

Gary: Okay, reference letter analysis. First person? 

Rex: Khan Chi, Journalism, SAT Score of 1450/1600, reference letters from principal, local government chairman, CEO of CarringtonWrites, and The New York times editor. 

Nichole: CEO of CarringtonWrites, so that letter is from Blake Carrington himself? Fascinating, what does it say? (Rex scans through trying to find the vital information) 

Rex: it says Khan was a summer intern… uh …. Reliable, smart, lots of initiative… he said he sees Khan as the next him, wow. 

Gary: Take him to the left pile. Next. 

Trent: Serena Waldorf, Aeronautic engineering, Perfect SAT Scores, reference letters from CEO of Shell, Bass Industries, principal, and it says here that her grandma went to Harvard Law, and wrote her a letter of recommendation. 

Nichole: what does the CEO of Shell have to say about her? (Trent scans through)

Trent: The best high school intern yet… Harvard will be lucky to have her… and a bunch of her other skills. 

Gary: Ha! This is Harvard, she would be lucky to have US! (Everyone starts laughing) Gary: Pile to the left. Next. Tim: Erin Miller, Film Studies, SAT score of 1300/1600… 

Nichole: what makes him stand out from the others then? Tim: Uh, I see he has slightly more letters of recommendation than most, he has 15 and applicants like Michelle Lee and Rachel Adams have 4, the lowest number on the list. 

Gary: Are the 4 references from very notable people?

Tim: Principal, Minister… Organizations… nothing extraordinary here. 

Gary: Put Erin Miller, Michelle Lee and Rachel Adams on the right pile 

Tim: Are you sure sir? Gary: We have 4 slots left. This is Harvard and their applications don’t cut it, I’ve been here for 21 years I know the kind of applicants I’ve seen. These do not cut it, maybe they’ll get into Princeton or Yale, Next. 

Earl: Renee Howard, Law, 1250/1600 on her SATs, Letters of recommendation from her parents. Says here she’s a legacy, her parents are both Harvard law graduates. Reference Letter from Judge Judy herself, says she was an amazing intern… 

Nichole: Judge Judy herself said something nice about someone? Wow, I’ve truly seen it all. (Everyone starts laughing) 

Gary: This is nothing. Remember about 7 years ago, when an applicant was endorsed by Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres personally? 

Nichole: I do! Renee is fascinating, take her to the left. Rex: Next person we have is Jenny Humphrey, Fashion Designing, 9 Letters of Recommendation, one from Donatella Versace herself! 

Nichole: 23 years of being here and it still shocks me every time how these 18-year-olds get affiliated with the most famous people. 

Gary: This is Harvard, Nichole, they better. (Everyone shakes their head in agreement) 

Gary: Left. Next person. 

Trent: Vanessa Abrams, Criminology, Her SAT scores are 1100/1600… 

Gary: Right pile. Next. 

Earl: Wes Scott, Human Resources, 1350/1600 on her SATs, 8 letters of recommendation, one from Michelle Obama herself. 

Gary: Impressive. Left. Next. 

Rex: Rebecca Philips, Aeronautical Engineering, Perfect SAT Scores and 18 Reference letters, says her dad owns Aric Airlines too. 

Nichole: Left. Next. Staff 4: Dequan Richards… 

Gary: Oh God, Dequan, really? (Whole room goes silent) 

Gary: Right pile. (Everyone looks at each other) 

Tim: What do you mean by that? 

Gary: I think we all know why… 

Tim: (Tim being new, confused and naïve asks) No actually, I don’t.

Gary: Tim, Harvard just isn’t for people called ‘Dequan’. Maybe he’ll get into Howard or even UCLA. 

Tim: But you didn’t even look at his application. 

Nichole: Perhaps we should move on, we are running out of time… 

Tim: No Gary, please tell us, how does his name being Dequan disqualify him from Harvard. 

Nichole: Wow, it says here he got perfect SAT scores, Business student and he has 17 letters of recommendation. One from the governor, senator and Tesla CEO Elon Musk himself. Incredible. 

Gary: (Mumbles quietly) Wow. 

Tim: Oh well, he’s not good enough for Harvard anyways as his name is still Dequan right? (Mumbles) Racist. 

Gary: What was that Tim? 

Tim: I think you heard me. (Whole room goes silent) 

Gary: is anyone not going to say anything? 

Nichole: We’ll sort this out later. 

Tim: No, this man has been here for 21 years? Who knows how many qualified African Americans he has done this to? I’m honestly horrified. 

Nichole: Tim, I promise you we will talk about this later, we have a deadline to meet. (Tim stays quiet) 

Nichole: Please. Trent: … Well, next we have Connie Thompson, performing arts, 1300/1600 SAT scores, worked with Julia Andrews on Broadway, Letters of recommendation from 7 people including Meryl Streep and Shonda Rhimes. 

Nichole: Nice! Left, Next. Rex: Sean Willow, African American studies…. 

Tim: (Coughs and speaks mockingly) Gary isn’t this the part when you barge in and disqualify this person immediately? 

Gary: …and mind telling me why you’d think that? 

Tim: Well he’s majoring in African American studies…? 

Gary: Don’t start with me kid, I can get you out of here with a click of a finger. 

Nichole: Gentlemen please, not here not now. Continue please. 

Rex: Okay… SAT scores are 800/1600, 4 recommendation letters. 

Gary: With those SAT Scores? Who is even writing him the recommendation, my God. 

Everyone: Right! Next. (Everyone starts laughing) 

Earl: Is it bad that I love people like this because they make our job so easy? 

Everyone: You can say that again! 

Nichole: How many years of me doing this and I still feel guilty declining people.

Gary: It’ll pass. 

Tim: Oh, of course you’d say that. 

Nichole: Ha-ha…okay (trying to break the tension) let’s just move on, shall we?

Trent: Sheba Tay, Telecommunications, 700/1600, re… 

Earl: How did she even have the heart to apply to Harvard with those SAT scores? 

Gary: Well, often in that case, their strengths usually reside in other aspects in other aspects they feel could balance that out. 

Trent: Says here both her parents and both her grandparents went to Harvard, she is a complete legacy. 

Gary: That’s your answer. Left pile, next.

Earl: Ann Costa, Psychology, Perfect SAT scores, only 3 letters of recommendation. 

Nichole: Hm, only 3? Anyone renowned? 

Earl: Not that I see, no. 

Nichole: If only you could get into Harvard with grades alone… and the guilt returns… right pile. Next. 

Tim: Riah Richardson, Sociology, 1400/1600 SAT Scores, 6 Letters of recommendation. 

Nichole: Who do we have that sticks out? 

Tim: (Scans through all the names of the reference letters) Uh…nope…nope…nope…Oh! The chairman of Zuckerberg foundation. 

Nichole: anyone else that’s high up there? 

Tim: Not necessarily. 

Gary: To the right, next. 

Rex: Elvis… Nichole: Presley? Next. 

(Everyone starts laughing) 

Rex: (giggles) Pratt actually. 

Nichole: Close enough. (Everyone laughs again) 

Rex: Elvis Pratt, Cellular Biology, 1400/1600 SAT Scores, 5 letters of recommendation, including from CEO of Bill Nye the science guy himself, says here he was the youngest summer intern from grade 10. 

Gary: Right. Nichole: Are you sure? 

Gary: Yes, he’s good but for science at Harvard? He should be getting 1500-1550/1600. Maybe… 

Everyone: (mockingly) “Princeton will accept him” (Laughs) 

Trent: Next we have Terry Dion, Music, 1200/1600 SAT Scores, Son of Celine Dion actually, letters of recommendation from 8 people. 

Gary: Left. Trent: You don’t want to know who the letters are from? 

Nichole: It’s Celine Dion’s Son. Celine Dion. Harvard doesn’t keep its honorable name for just accepting no-name geniuses. 

Trent: Okay then, next person is Robet Yatson, International student from Indonesia, Politics, he’s also a son of an ambassador, 5 letters of recommendation and perfect SAT scores. 

Nichole: Impressive, left. Next. 

Earl: Moren Recks, Comparative Literature, Perfect SAT Scores, 6 letters of recommendation. 

Nichole: From who? 

Earl: Uh… The most intriguing person here is Stephen King, the writer. Says here Moren was hand chosen to interview Stephen King at a school function and was noticed by him straight away and called for a private meeting afterwards.

Gary: Great, left. 

Tim: Next is Yip Keller, Immunology, 1500/1600 SAT score, 3 Letters of recommendation. 

Gary & Nichole: From who? 

Tim: I don’t recognize anybody’s name, just the principal, a university lecturer and… 

Gary: Nothing extraordinary then, Right pile. 

Rex: And that’s all, we’ve officially viewed everyone’s application. (Everyone starts clapping) 

Gary: Thank you all, 30-minute break and we shall continue to the left pile and pick the top 4 candidates based on their extra curriculums and personal statements. (CURTAINS CLOSE)

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Marital Manslaughter -Flash Fiction

I was high school valedictorian, attended Harvard undergrad and Harvard Law, I have a damn PhD, I’m a renowned $100 an hour attorney for Heaven’s sake! A life goals. God, I’m someone’s life goal, so why the hell am I squatted in my car right now stalking my husband? I’m the smartest person I’ve ever known, doing the one thing I always laughed at my friends for, reducing my worth over a man not nearly half the person I am. We have the same friends, so I know all his friends -whose house are we in front of? Probably a colleague, right? Right? He’s coming out of the car now. Oh Lord, I can’t believe I’m doing this. A day before the biggest court case of my career and all I can think of is who is about to answer that door. Okay, that’s it, I’m calling my girlfriends… Wait, where did he go? He’s coming out! Oh, wait, those are his parents.

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The Long Way Down

Every morning as I wash my face, I look into the mirror and stare at my lip, for some reason, with an expectation that the scar there had disappeared overnight, but it hasn’t and it probably will never. I don’t have many scars, fortunately my skin heals miraculously, I mean besides the three grill looking marks on my leg courtesy of our old heater, but that’s an entirely different story, perhaps for another day. I once had a bicycle, a cute little ridley bike, pink with ruffles on the side and rubber coating the handles. I had a weird obsession, fidgeting with things, and not the cute one-year old phase of picking things up innocently and dropping them, but the annoying two-year old phase of destroying things knowing its the wrong thing to do, which, looking back now was pretty shameless of me considering the fact that this incident i’m about to tell you about happened to me when i was far from two years old. I had picked the safety rubber off my bike handles, which just left the open steel, and due to the bike being parked outside, the steel had developed some rust, and was even a little bit worn off.

I’d say 7, yes i was definitely seven because I had just received the prestigious grade 2 math award my school gave. My mum never allowed me ride my bicycle downstairs without her supervision, but that day she did, as a reward, for my reward. Prior to that day, my older brother had always helped me carry my bicycle down the stairs since I didn’t have nearly enough strength to, but that day I did, at least i thought i did, and if you think you can, you probably right, yes? No. Well, not in my case at least. I wasn’t any stronger than the last time I tried, which was sometime during the previous week, and when i look back now the reason i thought i was is beyond me. We were going down the stairs and I asked him if i could carry it down myself this time, and as a responsible big brother, he said no, we continued to argue about this for several seconds, and till this day he swears that I dragged it out of his hand but I know he let it go out of anger.

Unfortunately, he let go when the wheel was just about to drop to the next step. From here, everything went downhill, literally. The rust on the steel handle latched on to my lip and proceeded to fall down the brick stairs, with me attached to it, this carried on for about three seconds till it finally reached the ground, and we both fell, now detached, with one party bleeding profusely (If you’re wondering, it was me, i was that party, not the bike). My upper lip had literally split into two, and i felt excruciating pain. My loud scream caught the attention of my mum. She rushed me to the hospital, i got stitches and the rest is history. This is one of the only moments of my childhood that i vividly remember, experience was clearly a painful teacher. 

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The Dictionary of Dreams

If dreams were lightning, thunder was desire. I heard this line off a song, first listen and I wondered what on earth it even meant. A normal teenager would just listen and bop their head, but me being an extremely curious person, wrote it down and decided to see what it meant to me. I put the like terms together, “lightning” with “thunder”, and “dreams” with “desire”. Thunder is a direct result of lightning so as desire is a direct result of our dreams and aspirations. “In your dreams” “a dream come true”, two sayings used over the years to express a great desire for something seen at that instant only to be possible in our dreams. Dreaming takes us to a universe that defies everything nature intends, takes us to wear most of us can never go in a lifetime, creates what most of us can never make in a lifetime, and shows us what most of us can never see in a lifetime. I once had re-occurring dreams for a whole week, each night’s dream continuing where the last night’s had stopped, it was honestly the freakiest thing ever, since then i have always been intrigued by dreams and why exactly we have them. 

Growing up my parents told me that dreams were one of God’s ways of communicating with us, many people have mutual dreams, the more self-explanatory, simple dreams, like death known to symbolize new beginnings, sexual dreams showing a sense of physical fancy for someone, falling which tells us we’re letting go of something held onto it for a while, and even being naked in public, fear of embarrassment, although some people believe that dreams are triggered by deep thoughts before bed or even eating late.

My sixth grade English teacher explain once in class how he believed that the whole concept of dreams was are mind portraying our personal heaven and hell,  Dreams showing a world we want and nightmares showing us the world we don’t want, and waking up during the nightmares are our minds way of telling us to go forth and rewrite it and these are the dreams that we remember unlike the rest. However some dreams tend to be more complicated than a lot, like dreaming about being chased by a three headed fox around a bowl of cereal escaping only to be trapped in a black hole with Angelina Jolie, what do these type of dreams of mean? Do the characters of setting have actual meaning?

Desire, communication or foreshadowing? Do dreams actually translate to any of these, or even all? The question continues to linger in my head.

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Co-op Interview

It was the semester’s cooperative education program fair,

where all the co-op students are given the spotlight to                            

showcase what their experience has been like visually                            

through their presence and presentations

I had the pleasure of interviewing a close friend,            

Akua Asare in grade 12, an aspiring Mid-wife                                              

who has spent the whole semester at the Etobicoke                                

General Hospital for her co-op placement. She was                                  

more than willing to answer the questions I had for me                            

to get a more realistic and vivid experience of the life                              

the life of a co-op student

Did you take the 2 or 4 credit program? How hard                                            was it to balance your life, and would you have rather taken the other one?                                                                                    

“I took the 2-credit one. It was hard, like, very hard for me                    

initially. Going from school everyday after a tiring class                          

then coming home at like 7 having to start all my homework                

then. On some days sleep was a stranger.”    

How did you like your older co-workers? What was your best and worst

experience with one?

“They were okay, I guess. I only like a few really, because only a few

particularly cared about me, the rest were there solely to do their job. My

worst experience with one was with this nurse, she yelled at me in front of

so many other nurses and patients for tripping over myself and it was      

extremely embarrassing. I hid in the bathroom for like an hour, but my

best experience was also with this same girl, that same day. A man had

fallen from the 5th floor to the 1st floor and the whole hospital was in

chaos mode.  She came to find me and involved me in a lot of protocol

and procedures, my guess was that she felt bad because I was the only              

student that she called to participate in all the commotion.”

What happened on the most memorable day of the program?

“Definitely when a surgery had just been completed and I followed a

nurse to do her post-op procedure and unknowing to anyone, the patient

had asked his friend to bring him lot of heroine, and so he did. We

walked in on him taking like his 3rd shot, and he started seizing right there

and then. It was so surreal. I never saw him after that though.”

Do you regret taking co-op? Would you recommend it for

other aspiring midwifes?

“No, I don’t regret taking it. It’s probably one of the

highlights of my high school life. I recommend it for everyone,

no matter what career path you aspire to follow, although I

do think that if you’re going into technology and engineering

it would be much harder because of your school work load,

but I think it’s still doable and necessary for everyone. It gets easier

and more exciting with time.”

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