In case you haven't noticed, I haven't been doing a whole lot project wise. I don't want to give excuses about being really busy or not having any ideas for activities or programs I could do, but I really have no idea what to do. I am kind of stumped and need some ideas! I have my program plan from the Forum, but I feel like my desires for change have shifted, but I don't quite know what they are. Stay posted over the next month and I will post my complete plan for the next year and the next five years.
Thanks for putting up with me,
Shannon
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
International Youth Week
My goodness how time flies! I was just thinking to myself the other day that I should update my blog and then I realized that I haven't updated in almost two weeks! I can't believe it! I apologize completely for having such big gaps in between posts.
So last week was International Youth Week and I was lucky enough to participate in two events to celebrate the occasion. The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta hosted a speaker presentation and luncheon for representatives of various service organizations. I was a representative of Girl Guides of Canada. The speaker of the event was Dr. Robert Steadward, one of the creators of the Paralympic Games and a very influential man in the international sports world. He spoke about the importance of volunteering, especially when you are a young person. He has met so many people from Princess Diana and Prince Charles to Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. I found his speech very interesting and inspiring. After the speech there was a mingling session where the young people from different organizations could talk about their projects and why they are a volunteer. Then there was a lunch that was a lot of fun, the food was delicious and the conversation was fantastic. It is so special to be a part of the afternoon and I learned a lot about all of the opportunities for volunteering in my city.
The following day I went to City Hall to accept a Youth Excellence Award, again to celebrate International Youth Week. I was very honoured to be nominated and I give my heartfelt thanks to the person who nominated me. I am always very humbled to win an award and I know that by getting out into the community and telling my story I can try to open the minds of others and plant a seed of change.
I thought that after school finished I would have so much time to work on my projects and that time just has not come yet. I know it will though! I will try and be better with my blog posts next week.
Thanks for listening,
Shannon
So last week was International Youth Week and I was lucky enough to participate in two events to celebrate the occasion. The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta hosted a speaker presentation and luncheon for representatives of various service organizations. I was a representative of Girl Guides of Canada. The speaker of the event was Dr. Robert Steadward, one of the creators of the Paralympic Games and a very influential man in the international sports world. He spoke about the importance of volunteering, especially when you are a young person. He has met so many people from Princess Diana and Prince Charles to Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama. I found his speech very interesting and inspiring. After the speech there was a mingling session where the young people from different organizations could talk about their projects and why they are a volunteer. Then there was a lunch that was a lot of fun, the food was delicious and the conversation was fantastic. It is so special to be a part of the afternoon and I learned a lot about all of the opportunities for volunteering in my city.
The following day I went to City Hall to accept a Youth Excellence Award, again to celebrate International Youth Week. I was very honoured to be nominated and I give my heartfelt thanks to the person who nominated me. I am always very humbled to win an award and I know that by getting out into the community and telling my story I can try to open the minds of others and plant a seed of change.
I thought that after school finished I would have so much time to work on my projects and that time just has not come yet. I know it will though! I will try and be better with my blog posts next week.
Thanks for listening,
Shannon
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Provincial Banquet Presentation
Well it has come and gone, my presentation at the Alberta Girl Guides Provincial Banquet and overall I think it went quite well. I have never been too nervous about doing presentations, but I was for this one because the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta was attending and commenting on my presentation afterwards. I was lucky enough to sit to the right of His Honour at the dinner and he was very kind to me and was interested in my experiences at the Forum as well as what I am studying in school, other activities I do etc. I was very honoured to have the opportunity to speak to him and spread my message to the Guiding members at the event as well as the special guests. The dinner was good and as we got to dessert I was starting to get a little bit nervous, what if I forgot a page of my speech? what if my computer doesn't work? what if I sneeze? All of these questions were running through my head as they often do before I give a speech or presentation, but I just opened my mouth and began speaking. All was well for the first little bit but I felt like I was out of breath, stuttering, and looked like a nervous wreck. The sound of the video wasn't the greatest and I hope that everyone was able to hear it. I don't think that I went over my time limit so that was good and I think overall the presentation went quite smoothly. My funny parts were funny outside of my head and I didn't sound like the teacher in Charlie Brown. When I finished everyone clapped and I felt incredibly special when His Honour stood up and pulled my chair out for me before I sat down.
After the evening had finished I was quite surprised that so many people came to talk to me about my presentation and tell me that I did a good job. Apparently I made some people cry! I was not expecting that at all, I thought I sounded like a mess but I guess I was composed. The moment that effected me the most was when our provincial commissioner showed me a piece of paper that she wrote on while I was speaking that said "Future Chief Commissioner." The Chief Commissioner is the head of Girl Guides of Canada so I was very touched by this idea. I know that I will probably end up as some sort of commissioner when I am older, but I don't know if I would be able to do something that huge! I suppose only time will tell, but I feel very blessed that people are listening to message from the Forum and beyond and I am even more confident that I can make a difference.
I have a few exciting events happening this week that I will blog about later so check back soon!
Thanks for listening,
Shannon
After the evening had finished I was quite surprised that so many people came to talk to me about my presentation and tell me that I did a good job. Apparently I made some people cry! I was not expecting that at all, I thought I sounded like a mess but I guess I was composed. The moment that effected me the most was when our provincial commissioner showed me a piece of paper that she wrote on while I was speaking that said "Future Chief Commissioner." The Chief Commissioner is the head of Girl Guides of Canada so I was very touched by this idea. I know that I will probably end up as some sort of commissioner when I am older, but I don't know if I would be able to do something that huge! I suppose only time will tell, but I feel very blessed that people are listening to message from the Forum and beyond and I am even more confident that I can make a difference.
I have a few exciting events happening this week that I will blog about later so check back soon!
Thanks for listening,
Shannon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)