My Two Cents about the Election

Like most people, I stayed up until the early hours of the morning last night watching the votes come in and saw Trump claim the 45th presidency of the United States. I have been doing my best to remain neutral throughout the election process since I'm Canadian and don't have any influence over the results anyways, but when I woke up this morning to a hoarde of angry people (both American and Canadian) that were upset at the result of the vote, I became very dissapointed. The result of the vote must be accepted because that's the political process in the States and it is not up for debate. The election determines the president. End of story. All these people that are angry should focus their attention on electoral reform if that is they change they want to see. But there is no longer anything they can do about Trump being president. They are stuck with him for the next few years and that is a fact they must come to terms with. I hope he does a good job, but now that is up to the government and the people he appoints to help him make important decisions. That is all I wanted to say.

The cygnets that were goslings

When I was on a walk today there were a whole bunch of swans down by the lake. They were really pretty and they didn't swim away when I came close. There were also these two little chicks that were yellow and greyish and they were so cute! I assumed they were cygnets (baby swans) because of all the swans that were in that area. So I took some pictures and then when I was leaving they followed me! Now this wasn't good because they were leaving their parents so I tried to get them to go back without touching them. At this point, they were on the sidewalk and a couple walked past. And guess what? The chicks started following them too! The couple wasn't even aware of it but the little chicks were literally running just trying to keep up! Eventually, they ran out of steam and started wandering around again, so I went over to them and tried to get them to follow me back to their parents. Slowly but surely, this was working until someone else showed up and determined that the chicks weren't cygnets after all! Turns out they were baby Canada geese! Unfortunately, there weren't any adult Canadian geese around so the goslings had been abandoned or had gotten lost. So the person that knew the difference between cygnets and goslings got a box to put them in and took them to the humane society. It really was the most adorable and funny adventure ever. 

My Leadership Workshop Series Experience

I recently completed a series of leadership workshops through the Lion's Den at Glendon College. It challenged my conceptions of justice that have until now been primarily moulded by my experience in air cadets. To be honest, I didn't change much in terms of my leadership style. Five workshops of a couple hours apiece simply do not have enough force to overcome seven years of training to act a certain way. In terms of the five practices we learned in the workshop series, I found that I often underutilize encouraging the heart. This is because in cadets the people that are successful have a high degree of intrinsic motivation and rarely require additional encouragement. As for the people that are not intrinsically motivated, they usually quit cadets because they don't get as much success as they would like. I do not think I would have changed my leadership style in cadets if I had taken this workshop series earlier. This is because the cadet organization has a unique culture, and people in charge are expected to act a certain way. For example, a flight commander is expected to know all their cadets quite well and inspire their flight to be the best it can be. The job of the squadron commander (the person in charge of everyone), on the other hand, is only supposed to have close contact with the flight commanders, and not the cadets. It is generally considered a good thing if the cadets are a little scared of the squadron commander. Because of these influences, my leadership style can tend to be slightly authoritative, and I do not appreciate group followers criticizing my methods in front of others. I believe that the leadership style taught in the workshop series may lead to more likable and friendly leaders, but I doubt that it would improve decisiveness or be the most efficient method of leading a group.

St. Patrick's Day

I'm an eighth Irish so I have to celebrate this wonderful day. I just got back from the pub night on campus in celebration of St. Patrick's day. Somehow, one of my friends got drunk after only two drinks and the other drank too many Screwdrivers, so I ended up taking care of two drunk people in one night. It wasn't too bad though because the first one was absolutely hilarious when she was talking about how she could feel the Earth moving and see sparkles everywhere. It's a good thing I wasn't drunk as well because if that was the case, we wouldn't have gotten back to residence in one piece.

Wanderlust

I've always wanted to travel. Spending the summer backpacking in Europe has been one of my dreams for as long as I can remember. It's even worse right now because it's March Break and my siblings are all having fun and going away for the week. I'd love to be travelling too, but there are at least two things in my way. First, it's not March Break for me. My spring break was back in February and was pretty lame if I do say so myself. Second, I'm a pretty broke university student so I don't even have enough money to pay for tuition let alone travelling during the summer. The summer is where I have to make enough money to pay for the rest of the year. Life sucks, doesn't it?

That Feeling when you Finish a Project

No, I'm not talking about school, but the feeling that you get once you finish something that you've been working on for a while truly has no equal. I just finished crocheting a blue blanket and I feel great! I even have a picture of it on the right. (Please excuse the picture quality and the abhorrent state of my room, I tried to crop out as much of the mess as I could.) It's the first time that I've actually changed colours when I was supposed to and is probably the fastest I've ever finished a blanket. Truth be told, I didn't get any other work done while I was working on it but hey, at least I have something to show for my time right?

Procrastination is my Sin

Ever heard of that poem? My dad told it to me when I was younger. It goes like this:
Procrastination is my sin
It causes me much sorrow
I really ought to try and stop
In fact, I'll start tomorrow!
I think it is a very accurate depiction of my life right now. I have two term papers that are worth a heck of a lot of my grade, but they aren't due until the first day of exams. The problem with this is that I have exams then and I can't afford to be finishing papers when I need to be studying for exams. I know it's really bad to procrastinate and that I should just snap out of it, but Netflix is infinitely more fun than writing a paper about something I don't really care about. I'm sure you've been in the same situation before.

Bedtime Thoughts

You know when your mind wanders all over the place right before you fall asleep? Last night mine came up with this sentence; I wonder whether the weather on Wednesday will be windy or wet. Quite a tongue twister, right? It's crazy what our subconscious pops out sometimes when we least expect it.

The week of Hell right before Spring Break

Everyone loves spring break. But the week that leads up to it can be awful. All the professors choose that week to have papers due and mid-term exams. Sometimes you just have to push through and then the reward afterwards will be worth it. So, ready for a week of no sleep, staying awake because of coffee, and mental breakdowns? Me neither.

Zumba Problems

At the beginning of this school year I got myself a gym membership because it was only $20 for the whole year. Why not, right? Anyways, I've been going to a couple classes a week pretty regularly and the Zumba instructor is always late. Sometimes ten minutes or more! And when it's only a 60 minute class that's kind of a lot. It always makes me a little irritated because Zumba is the one class that I want to start on time because it's the most fun. I wouldn't really mind if Pilates or Spinning started late, but I guess it's just one of those things. I think if I can make the effort to get up off my lazy butt and go to the gym, I should be able to expect the class to start on time. Just a thought.

When things go wrong

Sometimes things just don't go the way you planned. For example, tonight at cadets we were supposed to wear our tunics but someone messed up the announcements so half the squadron showed up in summer dress. As a result, everyone had to change into summer dress and everyone's blue shirts looked gross because no one ironed them. For me, that set off my last straw because I wasn't having a very good day. Anyways, that's my quick update and I hope your day was better. Life is life, and shit happens.

Coco Avant Chanel

So I went and saw a movie at the French Alliance today. It was called - you guessed it - Coco avant Chanel. It's about Coco Chanel before she was famous. I'm not going to get into why I went and saw it because that's a long story, but it was pretty good. It had English subtitles so when the actors were talking a little too fast I still understood what was going on. The movie inspired me to go after my dreams and do whatever I want but I know that's unrealistic because you need money in this world to get anywhere and do anything, which is pretty depressing when you think about it. And don't even get me started on happiness, because the harder you try to achieve it the faster it will slip through your hands, like trying to pick up more sand by spreading your fingers wider. All we can hope for is that it will find us all on its own someday. Do me a favour and let me know when you figure out the secret, will you?

Exams

Just finished a huge psychology exam. Now I can finally do something other than study! Phew. Guess it'll be a little short lived though, I'm about to start studying for my G1 test. I've been putting it off for so long that I could have my full license by now. Anyways, I've got to start on it. Hope you can do something more enjoyable.

How could someone not support the air show?

Recently, this article was posted on the Toronto Star. "It’s time to end the celebration of death and kill the airshow: Fiorito" So, being the pilot that I am, I decided to send the author the following reply:

Hello, 

You are probably getting plenty of emails about your controversial article about grounding the air show. Since I read through your article and learned your opinion, I would appreciate it if you would hear mine. As a pilot, I must disagree with your stance and would like to better educate you about what the airshow is for. I am not affiliated with the airshow in any way but have been an audience member for several years and it inspired me to follow the dream of getting my pilot's license. First things first, the CF18 Hornet is not "an instrument of death". It has plenty of other purposes in the air such as intercepting potentially dangerous aircraft and protecting Canada in general. Secondly, about the thunder pig, these planes only fly around Toronto for three days a year. They represent much more than just the amount of noise they make. The airshow is a celebration of the wonder of aviation. Have you seen the precision the Snowbirds use in their routines? How about the new technological advances such as the Harrier jet that can hover like a helicopter? Breakthroughs like this need to be celebrated and known by the general public. And, even if you don't believe that, is it such a big deal to let aviation supporters have some fun once in a while? It is true that the Harvard makes smoke and noise. That being said, people who buy the tickets to sit in the closest seats should have the common sense to realize this and plan accordingly. In fact, there is probably a note about it somewhere in the fine print when someone buys a ticket. The T-33 Acemaker. You are correct in stating that Ace is the title awarded to pilots with kills in battle, but you fail to realize that these kills are for a reason. Otherwise we would not have won the war and your life today would be very different. Air show crashes are always possible at events like these, as well as when anyone goes flying. But let me remind you that driving is more dangerous that flying, and pilots are put through much more strenuous tests and requirements to get their licenses to make aviation as safe as possible. The world of aviation is also very safety-oriented and whenever an accident happens there is an extensive investigation to determine the cause and prevent recurrences. Additionally, the fact that you are in a higher tax paying bracket has absolutely nothing to do with how much you support the forces and, in my opinion, should never be included in an article for a prominent newspaper. I would appreciate it if you did a bit more research and included a well-rounded perspective before writing your next article. 

Thank you 

And guess what the author's entire response was to this wonderfully written letter?

I'm not moved by your opinion, sorry.

I can't believe some of the people in this world. If you were just as outraged as me by his article or response, please feel free to email him at jfiorito@thestar.ca although I don't know if you'll be able to talk some sense into him. 

Ahh midterm exam time!

I just had a math exam and I don't think I did as well as I wanted to on it. :( I studied as much as I could, given the circumstances but I still don't have all my school notes and those are vital to my success. I'm really glad I don't go to a semestered school because I would have way more exams now if that was the case. As it is, I'm taking two semestered courses (one is functions and calculus and the other is online) and I only have two exams. I think I would die if I had more than two exams right now. My life is just really hectic and I don't have any base to work from. So I gotta go right now though because I have a term test (tomorrow) to study for that I haven't learned the material for yet... Yikes! I definitely am the master of procrastination. :P I hope all of your lives are less stressful.

Done moving, but now I'm lost...

Ok, so we've finished moving to our new apartment but in the process I have managed to lose all of my school books and now I have an exam first thing tomorrow morning. I've tried finding all my binders for the past week but still haven't found any. There are also boxes just everywhere and there is hardly any floor space because of all my dad's junk. I am screwed for school. I just hope my marks don't suffer too much because I'm in grade 12 and they really matter. The last thing in the world I want to do right now is to have to take a 5th year. I also lost my ipod :( and it's at a time where it would be really helpful if I had it too. So many times this past week I've freaked out and the neighbours are noisy sometimes when I'm trying to sleep. I hope your lives are less hectic and you are all enjoying your Halloween candy :) I know I am.

So buzy!

This week has just been hectic. Even though it's the long weekend it has been anything but relaxing. On Friday I went out to Stratford with my family, and had to squeeze in finishing my physics assignment because that was due Saturday. (It's an online course) Then on Saturday as well as today I woke up at 5 to go off gliding for the whole day. Yesterday when I got home my legs were so sore from pushing the gliders around! And of course my Mom had a thanksgiving dinner which I had to go to, and all that time I had to work on my lesson plan for cadets which was supposed to be done last Tuesday. I just managed to finish it now... Procrastinating really sucks :P. Then tomorrow I'm getting up at 5 again to drive for an hour and a half to go gliding. It's a holiday tomorrow so I'm not skipping school, :P don't worry ;). Oh, and when I get back home I'm having thanksgiving dinner with my Dad. This year he decided to get a duck. This should be interesting because I've never had it before. I'm excited but kind of scared at the same time. Anyways, I hope your thanksgiving weekend has been great so far! Bye for now. :)

Waiting for the weekend

I can't wait for the weekend! It's the long thanksgiving weekend so we get Monday off and Friday is a P.A. Day! I can't wait because on Friday I'm going to Stratford. I'm seeing Romeo and Juliet. It's actually quite convenient because my little sister is reading it in school. Then on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I'll be flying! I hope the weather will be nice so I can get in a lot of flight time. I still need four hours to be able to fly with passengers. I've got a lot of work until then though. For one, I have a lot of material to get though in the online physics course I'm taking, and I also have to make a lesson plan for the class I'm teaching at air cadets next week. I also have to update the ground school blog I made, which you can find here: Ground School Explained and my other blog, Fabulous Fall Fashions if I manage to have the time. I hope your thanksgiving weekend is great! Until next time. :)

My ground school blog has kicked off!

My blog called Ground School Explained really kicked off with a head start yesterday. After only one day it already has over 100 page views! Wow. This is really much more than I had anticipated, especially after only one day! I will be updating it more often now that I see how popular it is. Here is the link:
Ground School Explained

Enjoy!

School should be more effective

I find that the whole idea of school takes up much more time than it should. For one thing, you have to get there, which takes time, and then there's time between all your classes, that's really being wasted. Then when you're in class, time is wasted when the teacher does the attendance, the teacher teaches at the rate of the person who doesn't understand, and then they give you homework to do when you get back home. And remember, they give you homework to do after you've spent 7 hours at school all day. Is there really not enough time to teach the kids everything they need to know? Personally, I was home schooled for 2 years when I was younger and felt like I was learning hardly anything, then when I went back to school, I was ahead of everyone. Maybe each student should take a learning and IQ test at the beginning of each year, then put into classes based on those results. That would be beneficial for all parts of the spectrum because the kids that pick things up faster could learn at a faster pace while the students that need a little more explanation will get it. And also, what's the point in teaching all the old ideologies in the sciences? Why teach that electrons are little balls of matter circling around the nucleus and have certain positions when they don't have certain positions and are actually waves of energy? Just teach us what we need to know to understand the world. Now, I'm not saying that school should be stopped because it wastes so much time, because it is crucial for getting a good job in this world. Still though, after a couple hundred years of practice, you think we would be more efficient at it now and each person wouldn't have to go though 13 years of school plus whatever university/college program they are following. Just some food for thought. :P