Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
After Vegard’s post on why he wants to become a teacher I have felt that I wanted to do a similar post, seeing as I am studying for the same goal. And tonight seems to be the right time for that post.
Why is this such a good time? Maybe because I am currently reading up on school politics for a debate tomorrow. Or maybe because I just chose my major last week. Or maybe both?
When I went to high-school I didn’t have the best of times. My first three years of it I was living in Belgium with my family, and I had some subjects in the norwegian school and some in the american school. I didn’t want to be in Belgium, and the people in Belgium didn’t seem much pleased to have me there either. It was hard, and I didn’t feel like I fitted in. I wasn’t the sweet and cute cheerleader-type of girl, and I wasn’t quite as outspoken as I am now.
I was good in school, but I didn’t want to be there. And the teachers didn’t make it any easier. I wanted a teacher who understood that everything wasn’t all right, but no-one seemed to notice. I went to quite drastic meassures to let it show, and I suffered from periods of depressions.
The third year in Belgium, while in 9th grade, I found somewhere to belong. People who I could concider friends. Things seemed better, but I was still fucked up. I didn’t want to be in class, or in the classroom at all. I did good in classes, but getting up in the morning was hard.
The first couple of years back in Norway were okey. I always did good in school, and I made some friends. But the last year of High School was bad again. I had gone through a lot, I was tired and felt alienated from everything. I didn’t want to go to class. I didn’t want to do anything. I wanted to sleep. I had friends, but I felt alone. I did good in school, and I had my plans and my goals, but I had a teacher who saw that I was struggling with even showing up enough to get my diploma.
This teacher is the reason I didn’t quit. He asked to talk to me, and I told him that I wanted to quit and take a year of, but I knew my parents wouldn’t like it. And he knew that the risk of me never returning to school was big. He helped me through it. He had an open door if I needed to talk, he let me take classes off as long as I did the work. He talked to my other teachers, and thanks to him I got my diploma.
I want to become a teacher to change the way school works. I want to become a teacher to help those who aren’t sure if they’ll make it. I want to become a teacher who isn’t afraid of asking a student what’s wrong, and how I can help.
The school-system is fucked up when teachers see students missing classes and not getting their diplomas without helping them.
The school-system is fucked up when students don’t want to go to school because of the way they’re treated by fellow students and teachers, and no-one does anything to fix it.
And the school-system is fucked up when students in trade-school have to learn Shakespeare, but can’t speak in english about their own profession.
A big problem in Norway is students who quit high-school, never to finish it. Good students who get tired, because the classes aren’t generated to meet their needs.
The teachers are supposed to be there for the students, not the other way around. And thanks to my one teacher who really understood that, I actually finished high-school and am now studying to be a teacher. If I can do that same effort for my students then I will concider my work a success.
Openly yours,
Frida
Hola hola hola, oatmeal and granola!
On the buss today, I heard of something that is nothing short of the most awesome thing ever. I dare say it even beats that time George Bush tried walking out a prop door (and while writing this word, I had a massive brain fart. I was unable to write door, i tried doar, dore, dor, nothing worked. Finnaly my good old pal Ferdinand helped me out).
Anyways. Apparently, in a town in Norway called Grimstad, a bunch of guys decided they wanted to do something to help make the world a better place. So they started a thing, called Mustachevember! Or Bartvember if you are Norwegian. The idea: The entire month of November, they grow a delicious, beautiful, untrimmed mustache! On their website, people can vote for the best mustache (costs 5 kr by SMS), and the winner gets crowned mustache-king! Apart from this, the addition of a mustache to a face everyone knows without a hairpiece, will surely cause conversation about the project. Woo!
These are "Les Bartenders", the runner up in the mustache king competition!
This initiative is sponsored by a bunch of corporations and stuff, and all the money they get goes to some charity. This year it goes to an organisation that works to prevent and uncover violence against children and take care of children who are subject to are subject to violence.
Once again mustaches prove to be a life-altering and wonderful thing. <3
Vegard
Hay.
Since last i speedposted outside of my exam locale, alot has happened in my speedy world.
At the moment, i am sitting at a slightly unconfortable chair in Oslo, waiting for my train home. I’ve been here this weekend for a globalization conferance held by the norwegian branch of the world social forum. It has been awesome.
I wish to share a tale I came upon. It is quite sad. Me and my special ladyfriend were sitting at a coffehouse, waiting for the buss. We were sitting in a sofa outside in the snow (but under a pull-out roof and heat lamps), enjoying a nice hot cup of delicious cocoa.
Inside of the store a man sat, by himself. He was enjoying a delicious pastry and a cup of coffe, obviously quite satisfied as he was singing to himself of his achievement. “Nice for him”, I thought.
So, there we are outside of the store in the sofa. He then comes out, and tells us that it looks like we are having a nice time, and that he never could have that when he was young, because he was too shy. Now he is all alone, all his family is dead, no children or grandchildren. Noone he can have a nice time with but himself. He said that if he could go back 40 years, he would do it all differently. Then he told us that he lives in an institution, and they have failed to make him better.
After this extremely sad note, he walked back inside the coffehouse and sat back down at his table. As we walked away I could hear him sing to himself “I am crazy, I am crazy”
Sometimes I hate what this world does to some people. I do hope this poor man finds happiness, because noone should live their last days regretting their life.
Vegard
Good Evening.
Yesterday, I was heading home. I had attended a memorial gathering for the night of broken glass, the night the 9th of November 1938, where a series of brutal attacks against Jews in Germany and Austria. We remember this, so that we remember never to allow Nazism and right-wing fascism to return, especially important when there are Nazis in both the Swedish and the Hungarian parliaments. That’s not what I’m blogging about, however.
On the buss ride home, I was listening to the radio. They told the story of a 16 year old girl in 1979, who on a Monday took a gun to school, and killed two adults, and injured several people. She showed no remorse, and when asked why she did it, she said “I don’t like Mondays; this livens up the day.”
The Boomtown Rats, an awesome old rock group, made this song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2I84-A9duY&feature=related
Funny world isn’t it, when such a tragedy inspires such a great song?
Vegard
Hello, my dearies.
I thought I would share with you the tale of the low attention span man.
In his childhood, he could never stick with an activity, because he got tired of football. So he started with taekwondo. He got tired of that, so he started wrestling. He got tired of that, so he started gaming. He switched games and/or characters constantly.
Then he got into politics. He attended lots of stuff, and eventually got himself some positions in boards. He also started a bachelor in political science. But he lost focus after one year, and moved away, leaving his political terms half-finished, for someone else to take over.
In his new city, he started an integrated master-program of English, music and pedagogics, which would leave him as a respectable teacher-man. He also got himself lots of new political positions here.
Right now, our hero is considering moving to Oslo. He has a grand scheme in which he will take lots of awesome subjects, like a bachelors degree in middle eastern studies with Arabic and an obligatory term in an Arabic speaking country, and come out the other end as an awesome teacher with a funny hat.
Oh, low attention span man. Will you ever finish an education?