Friday, April 23, 2010
Bang that Gavel
Hundreds of teenagers conglomerated this weekend to debate and discuss issues that have bemused even the greatest intellectuals of our time. The annual Bahrain Model United Nations was hosted over a three day period this week to witness Bahrain’s best teenage orators strut their stuff, and to tap and harness their dormant potential. The standard of sophistication, maturity, responsibility and critical thinking was extremely impressive and it only goes to show what Bahrain’s youth is capable of doing when it puts its mind to the task.
On issues ranging from curbing the repercussions of the recent eruption of Eyjafjallajokull to the eradication of the illicit rough diamond trade, student delegates battled it out with such conviction and passion that Generation X may go as far as to say that they feel secure knowing that the future of the world lies in our hands.
The Bahmun weekend was an invigorating experience indeed; I got to meet people from different schools, countries and even beliefs. A true epitome of the purpose was that despite our differences, we collaborated for a common cause.
It would be great if Bahrain could host more of these programs, seeing that it involves a great deal of student participation and spreads awareness. It also involves lobbying and merging resolutions and clauses, researching extensively on problems and solutions, considering the multi-faceted real-time solutions from all perspectives and having the courage to promote your stance to hundreds, standing nervously at a wooden podium, draped with the brilliant blue UN flag – preparing us for the future.
It was heart-warming to see that even though teenagers have had a bad precedent of being aloof and uncaring, so many of them had the courage to prove this common perception wrong. We, as teenagers, do care – and we believe we can make a difference. We have bright, fresh ideas for the world though sometimes find it hard to channel them effectively due to the dearth of such enriching conferences.
In addition, Model United Nations and similar events are eye-openers; a week back I was unaware that 1% of the world’s diamonds have been tainted with the cruel slaughter and gruesome bloodshed in conflict wars in Africa and now, I find myself well-read on the history of Blood Diamonds.
Thus, I feel glad knowing I was apart of this wonderful event, met lots of great people and contributed to the united step towards change. I had a great time and as an added bonus, got to look important and diplomatic in a black suit, with a personalised flag pin-badge!
On issues ranging from curbing the repercussions of the recent eruption of Eyjafjallajokull to the eradication of the illicit rough diamond trade, student delegates battled it out with such conviction and passion that Generation X may go as far as to say that they feel secure knowing that the future of the world lies in our hands.
The Bahmun weekend was an invigorating experience indeed; I got to meet people from different schools, countries and even beliefs. A true epitome of the purpose was that despite our differences, we collaborated for a common cause.
It would be great if Bahrain could host more of these programs, seeing that it involves a great deal of student participation and spreads awareness. It also involves lobbying and merging resolutions and clauses, researching extensively on problems and solutions, considering the multi-faceted real-time solutions from all perspectives and having the courage to promote your stance to hundreds, standing nervously at a wooden podium, draped with the brilliant blue UN flag – preparing us for the future.
It was heart-warming to see that even though teenagers have had a bad precedent of being aloof and uncaring, so many of them had the courage to prove this common perception wrong. We, as teenagers, do care – and we believe we can make a difference. We have bright, fresh ideas for the world though sometimes find it hard to channel them effectively due to the dearth of such enriching conferences.
In addition, Model United Nations and similar events are eye-openers; a week back I was unaware that 1% of the world’s diamonds have been tainted with the cruel slaughter and gruesome bloodshed in conflict wars in Africa and now, I find myself well-read on the history of Blood Diamonds.
Thus, I feel glad knowing I was apart of this wonderful event, met lots of great people and contributed to the united step towards change. I had a great time and as an added bonus, got to look important and diplomatic in a black suit, with a personalised flag pin-badge!
I don't need no SAT :)
The clock ticks away audibly, with every second the tension grows. Every sound is amplified – pencils scribbling away, etching answers on to paper, meticulously filling in random answer bubbles, making a pattern of some sort. Every circle makes a difference that can change lives and futures.
It’s that time again when the SAT fever is virulent and it seems about everybody is walking around shuffling about flashcards, sketching abstract graphs and reciting tenses and formulas. 2B Pencils are abundant, strewn over tables and found materializing from pockets, and abhorrent answer bubbles are revolving around dazzled heads.
For those of you unfamiliar with the nefarious SAT drill, it is a Standardized test taken in high school by teenagers thinking about applying to universities. It tests Math, Critical Reading and Writing skills and scores your performance on a rather gargantuan scale of 2400 – a score that heavily influences your applications and résumés.
So, for nearly four hours, just about seven times a year, hundreds of students crouch uncomfortably over creaking desks, their noses nearly up against their answer booklets, scratching out choices and guessing answers, armed with calculators, erasers and lucky coins.
Though the SATs give a general overview of your academic brilliance, it is no way representative of it. That’s the problem associated with ‘standardized’ tests – you are looked at like a dreary fish in the ocean, expected to have the same abilities, tested on cognitive thinking and effective communication and nothing more.
But we are more than just beings that can multiply three digit numbers and juggle around convoluted words; we have a farrago of talents and abilities that cannot have numbers attached to them.
When we apply to universities, we like to think that our acceptance is a reflection of our achievements not a reward for an impressive number. We like to be taken seriously as a competent, well-rounded candidate that has done more than rote-learning and astute manipulation.
There is more to a person besides their academic potential that can do far greater good in the real world.
The SATs have lost meaning along the way, with people suffocating themselves with piles of work, in order to score above the sacred 2200. True, academics are an essential piece of the pie but to be truly savoury, you’ve got to have the filling.
It’s that time again when the SAT fever is virulent and it seems about everybody is walking around shuffling about flashcards, sketching abstract graphs and reciting tenses and formulas. 2B Pencils are abundant, strewn over tables and found materializing from pockets, and abhorrent answer bubbles are revolving around dazzled heads.
For those of you unfamiliar with the nefarious SAT drill, it is a Standardized test taken in high school by teenagers thinking about applying to universities. It tests Math, Critical Reading and Writing skills and scores your performance on a rather gargantuan scale of 2400 – a score that heavily influences your applications and résumés.
So, for nearly four hours, just about seven times a year, hundreds of students crouch uncomfortably over creaking desks, their noses nearly up against their answer booklets, scratching out choices and guessing answers, armed with calculators, erasers and lucky coins.
Though the SATs give a general overview of your academic brilliance, it is no way representative of it. That’s the problem associated with ‘standardized’ tests – you are looked at like a dreary fish in the ocean, expected to have the same abilities, tested on cognitive thinking and effective communication and nothing more.
But we are more than just beings that can multiply three digit numbers and juggle around convoluted words; we have a farrago of talents and abilities that cannot have numbers attached to them.
When we apply to universities, we like to think that our acceptance is a reflection of our achievements not a reward for an impressive number. We like to be taken seriously as a competent, well-rounded candidate that has done more than rote-learning and astute manipulation.
There is more to a person besides their academic potential that can do far greater good in the real world.
The SATs have lost meaning along the way, with people suffocating themselves with piles of work, in order to score above the sacred 2200. True, academics are an essential piece of the pie but to be truly savoury, you’ve got to have the filling.
Turn it all off
We were trudging through what appeared to be the middle of the desert, squinting through the dust haze, with dogs trotting by our sides. The blurred vicinity resembled little more than a wasteland with lumps of plastic bags skimming the scarred ground, buffeted by the wind.
An eight year old boy walking with us in silence dutifully squatted down every few minutes or so and picked up a scrap of recyclable material that lay abandoned in the middle of nowhere.
By the end of the walk however, the boy was laden with a box full of things that could be easily sorted and recycled for future use.
I was rather startled looking into the carton; bottles, cardboard, paper and an array of other things had been procured from what I had imagined was a scarcely inhabited area.
Sure, the boy would have gone home and dropped his collection into one of Bahrain’s set of brilliantly coloured recycling bins. But if he could fill a box with litter from a relatively empty lot of land, what could we fill with the litter that lines the pavements of Bahrain and mars its natural beauty?
Recently, the World celebrated the ‘Earth Hour’ with participants plunging themselves into darkness for an hour. It was a worldwide message raising awareness about the amount of electricity we waste and how much more we can conserve. We experimented with Earth Hour at our house and to our surprise we realized the large number of hardly necessary lights that were switched on regularly.
It cannot be denied that Bahrain itself uses a colossal amount of electricity to keep the Kingdom alive and whizzing with life. If you’ve ever just sat out on your porch at night and leaned back and gazed into the heavens above, you would have realized that hardly any stars twinkle back at you. Instead, you stare into a cloudless, murky purple sky, with the glow of city lights and football floodlights dotting the horizon.
The World may not crumble into oblivion in 2012 or be conquered by zealous aliens with webbed fingers and green antennae but the Earth is undoubtedly dying, unable to cope with our profligate ways. We can’t boycott electricity or eradicate Styrofoam, but we can help, maybe by recycling all the papers we accumulated in the past academic year or walking to the shop at the corner - Small gestures to improve the grand scheme of things. So take shorter showers and save the world!
An eight year old boy walking with us in silence dutifully squatted down every few minutes or so and picked up a scrap of recyclable material that lay abandoned in the middle of nowhere.
By the end of the walk however, the boy was laden with a box full of things that could be easily sorted and recycled for future use.
I was rather startled looking into the carton; bottles, cardboard, paper and an array of other things had been procured from what I had imagined was a scarcely inhabited area.
Sure, the boy would have gone home and dropped his collection into one of Bahrain’s set of brilliantly coloured recycling bins. But if he could fill a box with litter from a relatively empty lot of land, what could we fill with the litter that lines the pavements of Bahrain and mars its natural beauty?
Recently, the World celebrated the ‘Earth Hour’ with participants plunging themselves into darkness for an hour. It was a worldwide message raising awareness about the amount of electricity we waste and how much more we can conserve. We experimented with Earth Hour at our house and to our surprise we realized the large number of hardly necessary lights that were switched on regularly.
It cannot be denied that Bahrain itself uses a colossal amount of electricity to keep the Kingdom alive and whizzing with life. If you’ve ever just sat out on your porch at night and leaned back and gazed into the heavens above, you would have realized that hardly any stars twinkle back at you. Instead, you stare into a cloudless, murky purple sky, with the glow of city lights and football floodlights dotting the horizon.
The World may not crumble into oblivion in 2012 or be conquered by zealous aliens with webbed fingers and green antennae but the Earth is undoubtedly dying, unable to cope with our profligate ways. We can’t boycott electricity or eradicate Styrofoam, but we can help, maybe by recycling all the papers we accumulated in the past academic year or walking to the shop at the corner - Small gestures to improve the grand scheme of things. So take shorter showers and save the world!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
2400 is the magic number
I haven't posted in quite a while.
I'm ridden with the guilt of neglect.
What with the endless tests, World Literature essays, lab reports, assignments, worksheets, presentations and community service, time seems scarce.
But as of now, I'm on Spring Break.
Well, not SPRING Break.
The other one.
The one when you don't party till four a.m. and then suffer from a mind crushing hangover.
It's the one you get when Easter comes along. A time to both relax and do some light revision.
Ha.ha.
Then they invented College Board who decided that it would be excruciatingly fun to administer a standardized test to all teenagers to ruin their prospects of ever attending a university that has its own hoodie.
So now I'm confined to a writing desk with a prescribed 2B pencil and a 800-something-page book.
If this carries on any longer, I'm going to be walking around with answer bubbles polka-dotting my view.
Now, I must go and practice.
Where's that pencil, I need to randomly jab options with, gone?
...And where has my lucky blindfold disappeared to?
I'm ridden with the guilt of neglect.
What with the endless tests, World Literature essays, lab reports, assignments, worksheets, presentations and community service, time seems scarce.
But as of now, I'm on Spring Break.
Well, not SPRING Break.
The other one.
The one when you don't party till four a.m. and then suffer from a mind crushing hangover.
It's the one you get when Easter comes along. A time to both relax and do some light revision.
Ha.ha.
Then they invented College Board who decided that it would be excruciatingly fun to administer a standardized test to all teenagers to ruin their prospects of ever attending a university that has its own hoodie.
So now I'm confined to a writing desk with a prescribed 2B pencil and a 800-something-page book.
If this carries on any longer, I'm going to be walking around with answer bubbles polka-dotting my view.
Now, I must go and practice.
Where's that pencil, I need to randomly jab options with, gone?
...And where has my lucky blindfold disappeared to?
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