Idiosyncrasies

Posted on by maameee

“I tend to crack my knuckles when speaking to people I have just met.”

“She has a funny way of smacking her lips together when she is livid.”

“I used to smell library books as soon as I opened them.”

Have you ever wondered if there is a name for that peculiarity or mannerism about someone or yourself? Well, if the answer is “yes”, then its called an idiosyncrasy!

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an idiosyncrasy is “a peculiarity of constitution or temperament : an individualizing characteristic or quality”.

Idiosyncrasies are a tiny fraction of the huge slice of pie called life that make us unique and we should embrace them. No one is “normal” or “regular” in the eyes of “society” and I think that no one should strive to be normal or regular in life.

I am not a Kanye West fan but he has a quote which flitters into my mind every now and then. He said, “Someone will always be prettier. Someone will always be smarter. Someone will always be younger. But they will never be you.” It just makes you come to the realization that you are really, truly, undeniably unique in every single way. The world does not need uniformity, especially with character and personality with regard to its inhabitants. What the world needs and has thrived on for years is the individualizing quality of the human beings that inhabit it.

So, if you have that little peculiarity that makes people see you as eccentric or weird or unusual, remember that your idiosyncrasies make you you and the world is in need of that burst of flavor that you have.

By: Maameee

What a time to be alive…

Posted on by maameee

500 million amazing wildlife species killed by Australian bush fires… Check

World War 3 scares… Check

Plane crashes… Check

Impeachment trial… Check

Covid-19, Stock Market Crash, 2020 Olympics cancelled, Sporting events cancelled, Unemployment spikes, Shooting sprees, Cyclones, violent protests, instances of racism, George Floyd’s murder, more than 370,000 people dead, cases of the deadly Ebola virus springing up, earthquakes in multiple countries… and the list goes on and on. All these events have occurred within a seemingly long space of five months. Five horribly depressing, dreary, nerve-wrecking, gloomy months.

It’s not that these things don’t happen or have never happened. I feel as though everyone is anxious and bothered simply because all these things are happening within a short time frame without any breathing space.

Every article I have read since 1st January, 2020 has left a hint of sourness in my mouth or has filled me to the brim with anxiety. I still check the news, scrolling through the articles quickly hoping to avoid seeing another devastating bit of news.

Despite the gloomy start of this year, I still maintain the fact that this era is the best time to be alive. Just think about it. We have SpaceX, Apple, Samsung and Huawei giving us the best technology has to offer. We see AI robots doing jobs that were previously dangerous for humans to do (though they are “stealing” people’s jobs) and we’ve seen medicine and technology merge in incredible ways, breaking and superseding the understanding and myopic human views on limits. Its,… Its… AMAZING!

No one can convince me that the ‘good ole days’ were … The good old days. Imagine dying from infections and diseases simply because it wasn’t easy to be diagnosed. Imagine a world with no pain medication, no anesthesia, no phones, no WiFi, no electricity, no gas, no industrialization. Simply thinking about it is maddening.

So some people might argue that climate change, extinction of rare and invaluable species, cyber fraud, increased crime and new diseases are as a result of all these changes in our advanced, dynamic world. I must admit that those are very valid points but unfortunately, they cannot hold a candle to the points supporting the new era that we are living in.

There is no doubt that technology has done more good than bad and we need to focus on that aspect as often as possible.

By: Maameee

25.06.20.

Leadership and Age in Africa

Posted on by maameee

Hello!

I’m baack! It has been a while since I have posted on my blog and I do apologize about that.

For a while, the issue of old leaders holding power in African countries has long been an issue that brings about heated debate. Does age really matter when governing a country? Is it a question of age or influence?

I am a member of my school’s Pan-African club and I really love the discussions that we have regarding Africa’s development and growth as a continent. On the 22nd of September, we had a thought-provoking discussion on the topic of Leadership and Age in Africa.

Some of the questions that we debated and talked about were whether the age of a leader(s) does indeed play a role in the development of a country. We also talked about whether experience is necessary for governing a country.

Some members of the club argued that leadership has nothing to do with age but rather influence. Some members also asserted that having old leaders in positions of power was nothing to fuss about because they have more experience.

These musing were quite intriguing to me and I must admit that I do agree with those thoughts to some extent. I argued that all in all, the people choose the leaders so maybe, the fact that many African countries have aged leaders is due to the fact that the people chose them. Perhaps, the leaders are not to blame for Africa’s sluggish development rather the people.

The fuss over the age of African leaders is simply because the development of our continent is moving at an exasperating and slow pace and the blame and responsibility rests heavily on the shoulders of our leaders.

One statement made was the fact that older leaders were trying to use solutions of the past to solve problems in the present times we live in and there is so much truth in that. With that statement being said, most members of the club contended that younger leaders had fresh, innovative ideas with which they were going to use to solve the problems all African nations face and as such should be given the chance.

The discussion was enlivening for me and I spent the rest of my peaceful Sunday afternoon enjoying the solace and pondering lightly on the highlights of our discussion.

Works Cited

Noun Project. “Noun Project.” Noun Project, 2019, thenounproject.com/search/?q=leader&i=1267336. Accessed 22 Sept. 2019.

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Being an MYP student

Posted on by maameee

Heyy!!

Its been a while since I posted on my blog. I’ve been really busy with schoolwork and my personal project.

I just felt like sharing some of the experiences I have had with being an MYP4 student this past academic year. (2018/19)

Firstly, I would like to talk about how deadlines and summatives run your life. Even though summatives are a part of the learning process in MYP, they can become quite stressful when you allow work to pile up.

Also, as an MYP student, you must develop self-management, research, critical thinking, collaborative and communication skills. When you develop these skills, you become more efficient and methodical in the way you work and do your summatives.

Again, MYP students should pay close attention to the global concepts and explorations since MYP is mainly a concept-based approach to learning. The fact that we connect our learning to the real-life world is what makes the MYP worthwhile, in my opinion.

What to do, what to do..

Posted on by maameee

Hey guys,

Happy new year!!!!!!!!!( i know i’m late but..) Since it is the beginning of a new year, i decided to spice up my study routine a bit as well as my study desk ( i needed a change). So being the kind person that I am, I have decided to share a few tips with you.

Firstly, I made and designed a vision board. A vision board is usually there to remind you about your set goals. If you are wondering what a vision board is, it is just a board usually made of cardboard where you write down your milestones,  goals,  hobbies, attitudes you want to aquire and behaviors you want to improve upon in your life. ( I also wanted to say that if you are a christian,you should always pray before studying.)

I also cleared my learning desk. I came to the conclusion that having a neat and organized desk aids greatly in improving your urge to study, hence, I made sure to keep my “work station” in apple-pie order.

Thirdly, I used all learning styles I knew of while reviewing my notes. I discerned that it was better to use both the visual learning style as well as the auditory leaning style. Watching YouTube videos, reading well organized and colour coded notes as well as recording voice memos of subject topics has really helped me in my new study routine.

So, I would love to end this post by letting you know that when you fail to plan, you have most likely set yourself up failure. Anytime studying does not go as planned, just remember that the expert was once a beginner.