Jackie's blog

It was AMAZING!!!!! I've never felt so empowered and inspired in all my life. The staff were amazing, the workshops were FUN and the group discusssions were very interesting. We met people from all around the country. We learned about other youth groups and what they do. I learned many new things. But what I think affected me the most was the people we met. They were so friendly and open. It was a very moving experience. When I left, I felt like I had a new family (spread accross Canada lol). I made some friends that I hopefully will keep contact with for a very long time. It was an unforgetable expereince. It changed my perspective on a few things. Yeah, there were some negatives including the hours I spent hugging a toilet with a terrible flu. But not even the flu stopped me lol. I just took some pepto and gravol and off I went to do some workshops! I wasn't going to miss any of it, even with the flu. I think that Skills Link did an amazing job. YOU GUYS ROCK!!! You worked with the youth and participated in a way I would never have imagined. You all can do great things with your life and I think this conference proved that you have the ability to do amazing things. I think that the tension we felt at the beginning of the year with the new Skills Linkers and the Old Yippers vanished and now I think we are all one. We finally formed one friendly group....but unfortuantly it is the end of your term. You are all invited to come to YIP at any point even if its a visit. And we hope you all come to the forum. Anyway, back to the TYPS conference, we are all looking forward to next year's conference and plan to do anyhting in our power to go. Maybe next year YIP will have a better bragging session. I will never forget the Olympics....with Taylor crawling all over the floor to catch the little kids lol Unforgetable Moments!!! I'll miss you guys!!

These are the working groups for the youth forum we are having in March.

Research Team:
Bobby
Archie
Caleb

Media Liasons:
Jackie
Bobby
Archie
Michelle

Poster Design:
Chris
Paul
Taylor

Poster Distribution:
Cayla
Nicole
Brooklyn
Brianna
Nicole
Julia

Solicitators for Prizes/Donations:
Marcel
Bobby
Meaghan
Nicole

Master of Ceremonies:
Julia
Caleb
Amanda
Michelle

Greeters:
Archie
Tyler
Ainsley
Jackie
David

Program Design:
Meaghan
Kelsey
Amanda

Videographer:
Justin

Photographer:
April
Meaghan
David

Note Taker:
(tape)

Decorating Team:

Brianna
Archie
Brooklyn
Amanada
Ainsley
Jackie

Talent Liason:

Julia
Amanda
Meaghan
Ainsley
Michelle
Archie
April

Bloggers:
Jackie
Brooklyn

Facebook Adminstrators:
Meaghan
Jackie
Cayla

Today is the day that everyone should remember the soldiers that fought and/or still fight for our freedom but as well as the freedom and rights of others. I go to a school where we wear uniforms but today i went against the code and wore a red shirt under my uniform shirt. I got into some trouble with some teachers. I don't understand why I cant show my support and respect for the military. Also, today before the assembly at my school, I went to religion class. My teacher went on and on about hoe war is bad. I was insulted! I still am insulted. I have many family members who are proud to fight for people's rights and freedoms. It's not right for any teacher to force their beliefs on us. They need to respect what we believe in. I don't believe in killing innocent people but when people are harming others in merciless ways then we need to stop that. Another thing I noticed is how disrespectful some people are. Today at the assembly, I couldn't believe how many people talked during the minute of silence! It's only one minute! These soldiers died to save our lives, our freedom, our rights and OUR COUNTRY! Show some repect. Other than the people who were ignorant and disrespectful. I was glad to see so many people put an effort into showing these soldiers that we care. They need to know that we care. We need to show them our appretiation more than just one day a year...

Youth are under more pressure than ever. How am I supposed to know what I want to do with the rest of my life? I'm only 17 years old. In Grade 12, they expect you to know so many things and if you don't they look at you as if you're seriously ill. They expect you to go to university or college but then they expect you to just magically come up with thousands of dollars to pay for it. So like me, many grade 12 students apply to scholarships but that takes many hours of your time and you might not even get the scholarships. So you get a job and start saving up like I have but we only make student minimum wage and that's not enough for university. So you get a loan but then you can go into serious dept. So people chose not to get a further education but then they can't get good jobs because they only can make miniumum wage. I'm one of the lucky ones, my parents are helping me out because we can afford it but what about the kids that can't afford it? What if you were brilliant but couldn't go to university because you couldn't come up with the money? But think about it...kids have to work and spend hours applying to scholarships, so when do they have time to do school work? If they don't get good grades then they won't get accepted to any universities or college...What are we supposed to do? I'm seeing my friends crumble into pieces because they're so stressed. And this pressure is only the after high school pressure. There's still many other types of pressure that youth are faced with. For example, stereotypes, relationships, peer pressure...and sex. Like it or not sex is a pressure. When my mom was a kid, all they were worried about was getting pregnant but now you have to worry about STDs, AIDs and getting pregnant.

Slowly...and painfully...youth are being pressured...one day we're going to explode...do you think that is one variable to youth violence and rebeling?

The debate was very interesting for me. Now this blog might be a tad long so make sure you have tons of time to read it. It might also be bias but this is only my point of view of the debate so please don’t get mad at me for saying something. I didn’t say anything mean but if you’re a conservative fan please don’t get mad. This blog will help inform others who could not be present at the debate. I tried to get down all the important points but one can only write so fast. This was the first debate that I've ever went to and I thought it was very informative and I think everyone especailly voters should go to at least one debate. Enjoy!

At the beginning of the debate, every candidate was allowed to make a 10 minute opening statement. The NDP party representative, Sandra Willard spoke about how she became a politician. She stated that she grew up on a farm and was a small town girl. When she saw problems with the care for the elderly she thought she should do something so she became a politician. Then she went on to talk about how the NDP part will help us. She said that they will put “you and your family first”. I couldn’t help notice that she dissed the Conservatives and Liberals time and time again. They want to focus on health care and increase the number of doctors and nurses. She stated that they are committed to taking care of the environment. “The world is in a desperate situation even though some are living comfortably,” she said. The NDP are against NAFTA which is the North American Free Trade Agreement. If you do not know what NAFTA is then you really should check it out. I personally think it is terrible. She also mentioned Tommy Douglas, an NDP who brought about healthcare.