Stuck?

Suicide is nasty.
I just heard of a friend loosing one of his friends to suicide, after a long battle with drugs and alcohol.
I'm sad to hear that news. Suicide is so nasty. and it affects absolutely EVERYONE involved. ugh!!
I was chatting online with a friend earlier today, and I was going on and on about kids, and how awesome kids are. All anyone needs is LOVE! And we are in a wonderful place to support that! We have our resources. We are probably the most lucky people in Canada, and we don't even know it.
We just need to recognize greatness, and speak about it.
... I'm gonna cut and paste some of what I said in my MSN conversation with a friend earlier today...since I am stuck in the house, while it's storming and blowing heavy snow in our community...
Here it is.
________________________________________________________

haha. its true
you can't hide awesomeness
i just talk about it lotsa to make sure others see it too
and you're cool. you know awesomeness
the REAL kind
       some people tend to hide it for some reason
       but not you
ugh. just because some people are trying to "fit in" with the "cool crowd"
psh.
its called peer pressure
hahahah
you know it, i know it.
but i wasn't allowed to be exposed to those kinds of situations growing up.
      i chose not to
me too.
eventually, i chose not to too
my friends did though!
drinking at 13
grade 8
off of 1 beer!!
they'd steal from their dad's and drink it outside, and get drunk...

i just watched them
i couldn't believe
how much alcohol changed them
just from drinking THAT DRINK!
it honestly blew my mind at that age.
      yea its crazy, but in pang weed was more a problem than alcohol
seeing my best friend fall all over the place
it was gross!
yea its not a good sight
i ever didn't want to be like that
but i took care of her
and brought her home.

then she would get grounded for "sneaking out" the night before...
and then she would call, we would talk for hours on the phone
hahah...when she was bored
before internet was BIG!
lol
weed is big here too
gross
it's disgusting
seeing people on it.
eesh

but there's a reason for all that!
there's a reason people get high.
everyone has a reason
i always think of the song "i was gonna clean my room....but then i got high"
"i was gonna get up and go to school, but then i got high!"
hahaah
"my parents give me shit, and i don't know why!"
"yea, yea, because i got high, because i got high, because i got hiiight!!!" lada da da da da
i love that song

i have a love hate relationship with it
because its so true!!
and there are a lot of people who can relate to that here.
EVERYONE involved in drugs
they may mean well. but then they get caught up in drugs
and how good it makes them feel
if their life was shit
then they turn to something else
all kids need is LOVE!
a safe place to sleep. free from drugs and alcohol
rest. good food. and LOVE!
       "all you need is love"
        beatles knew what they were talking about
hahah. YUP!

we need to be reminded of that. as people.
every day.
because sometimes. we forget.
we get caught up in our own shit. that we forget the world still pays attention to us
hahaah!!

as outrageous and loud as i am. there are moments where i don't want to say anything at all. where i don't want to think. i don't want to get out of bed. and i don't want to see anyone!
but people still keep coming around, if i don't say anything. they are asking "ker, are you okay! what's wrong!!"
hahah. and nothing. i'm fine! but everyone else around me isn't
life for the people around me can be shit!
why should I be happy, when the the people I love aren't?

but we all live our own lives
and as adults, we have the power to change things
as kids, we have to take whatever our parents give us. good or bad!
but we also choose to do what we want.
and if all we want is to get high, as adults
than we affect ABSOLUTELY everyone around us
no matter what.

even the stranger sitting across the bar.
he sees it.
everoyne sees a drunk ass person
a person so high on a kite they can't even talk
but you wonder WHY all that is happening?
SOMETHING isn't right
peer pressure
a need to "belong"
a need to "escape!"
a need to "have fun!"
and drinking is fun! getting high every once in a while is fun!
its cool, on occasion.
but it's not the ONLY way to have FUN!
I have fun all the time!
hahahah. SOBER!
it's possible.
WHY NOT? why not have fun being sober?
it's not always BORING
hahah
but it just carries on...this term "BORING!"
it carries on, from generation to generation...
and FUN is so hard to pass on.
ugh. it pisses me off!
hahah
i think people need to give other options a try, like having sober fun.

you know what.
i wish parents in Nunavut, ALL parents. would spend as much time with their kids.
as much time as possible!
and teach them the good from their own lives
and keep the bad out!
we don't need the bad shit to continue
kids will have their own shit to deal with
but parents should provide nothing but LOVE and happiness!
like my parents have.
even hide it the hurt and pain.
don't show it to kids. because they will wonder!
and they notice!
kids are crazy smart!

_______________________________________________________________

Anyway, that was my whole speel on that. I went on and on like a big roll of toilet paper. Until I ran out, and realize, there are already lots of people who already have the toilet paper too, and I can stop going on WAY TOO MUCH! HAHA!!

It's my problem with Passion.
My passion is kids. A brighter future. and being happy in the PRESENT.
WHY NOT?
Why not be happy?
Do things to make yourself happy.
Learn to Sew, design, embroider, stitch, kamiliuq, amautiliuq! for your nieces or nephews, your children, your mom your dad, your grandparents, ANYONE! Make something for someone you love, with your "own two hands" like Ben Harper and Jack Johnson sing about...

Do what you love, and LOVE WHAT YOU DO!
The best products are when they are made with LOVE and CARE! :) and, MEANING!

Taima.
I quit. LOL.

Anyway, I honestly hope you are doing okay.
I would love to hear anything from anyone reading. If you feel like sharing, or saying anything at all, I'm here. ONLINE.

hehe. I love Facebook because it takes advantage of every opportunity the Internet has. Personal messages, public messages, instant messages. Communication!! SHARING KNOWLEDGE! wonders, and care.
As for bloggers, its good to share a piece of my mind, at any given moment, and know that its here. Full of passion, and ready to reflect upon, go back and read a couple days later, YEARS later.

OKAY. now I'm really done.
tah taa for now!

Kerri

It's a HUGE DEAL! Education in Nunavut...

It is another one of those nights.
I'm up in the middle of the night, I cannot sleep because my mind just won't stop!
It's so annoying sometimes.
Right now, I'm thinking about the importance of movement, the act of doing something!
Anything!
And just the act in itself motivates thought, and how locomotion relates to intellect, and how amazing it all is. Ahh, do I ever love learning!

Today we started another course in NTEP, the study of movement, and the importance of physical activity, with elementary students, and ultimately everyone else, as they grow up.
It is so interesting, so far I find myself looking forward to seeing how this 12 day course goes!

A change of scenery

I'm up late again, pondering my latest move. I've just arrived into Rankin for reading week, a week off of classes at my first year at NTEP. I am really loving it so far and really can't wait to be a teacher! But I am so happy to be home right now. I have absolutely everything I need here, seems this is exactly what I needed right now. I need to ground myself, and touch base with my home, my dad, my house, my history, my story.

My niece is here, sleeping beside me. She is my joy. She makes me laugh! She found 3D glasses with bold black frames in my room, looked at me and said, "look atchak I'm like you!" lol. Later on, I asked her to put something away, and she told me she'd put it down on the dusty table, since I am in the process of cleaning out my bedroom in my parents house. :) put a smile on my face.

As I look around the community, my mom's house...
I wonder, deep in thought, why change is so hard to bring about? Why?
I can't live without change, I don't think...
I find it hard to sit still, and live a routine life.

And then there are those that don't want to change. They're stuck in old traditional ways, without moving forward.

Then there are those that want to change things for other people! Without their regard! Like the PEDA movement! They want to band the killing of seals! Even going as far as going naked, protesting that they'd rather go naked, instead of wearing fur! I'd like them to come up north for the winter, and ask what they'd have to say then!

And then, a piece I wrote, called "realizing a dream and researching a next step."
I wrote that we have no time right now to venture through tradition, in the busy modern lives of today...
and yet I hear so many people say they are bored with their own life.
Maybe their history is harsh, and they don't want to venture through that again, but I think it is really important that we all look back at where we've been, realize where we are now, and then decide what to do next.
I, personally am amazed at some of the work I've done as a young individual, only because I was supported 100% of the way.
I'm being asked to write a piece right now about my perspective on the sealing issue and while I think many otheras have a stronger opinion, I will be inspired by how I once wrote before, and write my very own perspective, on how I wish that prople would just take the time to understand, and realize and accept that there are differences, but differences aren't bad! And that change is inevitable!

Anyway, I'm sleepy now, and should wake up early to get started on my school work. Have to send an email to Leigh, my current English professor at NTEP. Gotta submit late assignments again! Ugh. See, its that difficulty of bringing about change. I have to get out of the habit of procrastinating, and start planning ahead! I have to be prepared all the time if I want to be a good teacher! Sheesh...

Dreams - the kind you have while you're asleep!

Ever have a dream, while you're asleep, and wonder what it means?

I find it extremely interesting...
There's a blogger that tries to interpret dreams, and I link her blog below...

But in my own personal experiences - I try to figure it out myself, first.
Every time I'm looking after my niece and nephews, or any children, I always them whether or not they had a dream. Usually while we eat breakfast, or just as I wake them.
Children's dreams are especially interesting.

One time, my niece said she dreampt that she was chasing a siksik (ground squirrel) and trying to hit it with a rock. The day before, we had gone berry picking and she was trying to follow her brothers while they went "siksik-siuq" - looking for siksiks. I told her to stay close by because she was so young and litto, and I was afraid that she would be left behind by her older brothers, or fall and hurt herself. We went for a walk and picked up cool flowers instead.
But it was interesting when she told me her dream, because I guess she really wanted to go with her brothers. Her oldest brother asked "did you catch a siksik?" and she said "YEA!" with a huge smile and expression on her face.
I loved it!

Good dreams are awesome, and can be so funny. Others are wierd...but nightmares are the worst!
I always get nightmares after watching a freaky movie...wondering what I saw in the movies can really come true! haha...hense, the title of this blog.
Even after watching "Twilight" I had a dream several weeks later, about vampires in Rankin! ew, I really don't like watching freaky movies. I can't...lol.

I've also had dreams a couple of nights before leaving on an International trip.
Like, a couple days before I was supposed to leave for my 2nd phase experience with NYAP...I dreamt that I missed the plane and didn't get to go. I dreampt that I got stuck in Africa, and wasn't being taken care of well. I was so worried about this new experience, these dreams discouraged me to want to go.
I asked my mom the night before I left, if I can just stay at home for the summer, instead of travelling half way around the world! I was so scared...
My mom told me to go on the flight. I disagreed and told her that I wasn't packing...but she packed with me and told me that it was going to be a life changing experience...and it certainly was!
Sometimes I look back at pictures and say to myself "did I really go there? Did that really happen? or was it all just a dream?"

Anyway, dreams are quite interesting.
I found a blogger through the "Google Blog Search" who interprets dreams.
Feel free to check it out!
Analyse Dreams

Taimaqai...for now.
Kerri

"Gifted Hands" - Its gotta come from somewhere...perhaps our parents!

I said in my last blog, that I find it hard to write when I have nothing really on my mind.
Well, this week is a completely different story.
I don't know what I was going through last week, feeling a bit overwhelmed perhaps, with new assignments and new classmates...just starting out the new year, and adjusting to it all.

Anyway, as I said, this week is the total opposite of last. It is a new week! And I am bubbling up inside, full of excitement and the joy of learning! Life is a journey, and we are all in for the only ride of our lives!
We should take in what we want, and ditch everything else we don't need!
Let the best things in life change us, for the better! Self empowerment is incredible! Once you allow yourself to experience it.

Last week, on one of my down times, I watched a movie called "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story".
Cuba Golding Jr. is in it.
He acts out this role beautifully - a role about a black boy "who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds: A broken home, poverty, limited opportunity, and scholastic and behavioral problems."
You can find more information on the movie by clicking the "Gifted Hands" above, or by doing a google search, I simply typed in "Gifted Hands - movie with Cuba Golding Jr." and found that description from the first link provided. Here is another link with Ben Carson's Bio.

Anyway, this movie is totally inspirational; it's phenomenal!
What I got most out of this movie, was the fact that this little boy went from being one person, failing and having no self-esteem, to becoming a world renown pediatric neurosurgeon!
His defining moment in his career was doing the first separation of Siamese twins, joined at the head in 1987. That is what this movie focuses on. How this boy went from being on the disadvantaged end of the stick, to becoming on top!

This man, Ben Carson, went from being one person to another. And it was becauseof his mother's support and encouragement!
She made this possible.
At the time, just after the civil rights movement in the United States, Ben himself did not believe he could amount to anything worthy.
His mother, however, thought otherwise.
With just a Grade 3 education level herself, his mother continuously encouraged him to do better and reach higher for his dreams. In the movie, it shows that his mom would make him read books, and write a report on them each week! She would make her two boys read, instead of watch TV (which was very new and "in" back then too).

In the movie, the mother quotes
"You have the world inside your head. You just have to open it up, and find it!"
That quote honestly made me cry, because that is exactly it!!
If, when I become a teacher, can share that quote with my students, and invite them to share their thoughts...then the world of opportunity has opened up to the students!
We each have very powerful minds! It amazes me!
My question was then, "How do we spark the minds of curiosity?"
Everything that is known now, is because someone researched it. It all starts off with a question. A simple, "How?" or "Why?" or "What?"
We need to get things going here...and it all starts off with a question.
But HOW do we get the minds of Nunavut Students to open up, and actively think about the future?


Well, I think it's quite simple, in a sense.
Personally, I believe that each person have something to offer.
I believe people are just people!
No matter what title they have, no matter how much education they have, not matter where they come from. We are all the same, in the sense that we all breath air to live, and we all need to eat food and drink water. We are different, in the sense of how our minds work...and how we comprehend things.

Education, to my understanding, has to potential to enhance our skills to communicate our knowledge to the rest of the world. We all have our own minds, but education pushes us to perfect the skills we already have. Education teaches new ideas, and concepts, and perspective. Education also forces us to make connections with each other, as we collaborate and learn together, in an environment we all feel safe, and welcomed into.

_______________________________________________________________

Anyway, I wanted to make the connection with that movie especially because it made me think.
Ben Carson became who he is, because of his mother's faith and support.

I, too, have a great mother.
She is amazing!
Almost every day I call her and tell her about my day, and what I am thinking.
No matter what she is doing, she will listen to what I have to say, and tell me what she thinks about it.
I love my mom so much. She is the reason I am who I am.
I get my passion for life, and learning, and wonder, from her!

She always told me, as Inuit...
"We need to move past survival, and into success"
Survival is success, but we need to do more than simply survive.
We need to prosper, and succeed!
Most times, success is shared, and survival can mean looking after yourself.
Ultimately, success is a shared event.
It could be an accomplishment!
It could be simply living your life, on your own two feet.
It could mean different things to different people.
What does Success mean to you?
________________________________________________________________

Wow, this is a long post.
Thank-you for reading, and I hope you have a great day!

Kerri

Nunavut Cultural School

It has been a while since I last wrote...
I almost find it hard to pull something together for an assignment, and a deadline.
Usually I write at the spur of a moment, a moment of pure thought. When I have an epiphany, or realize why things are as they seem. This usually happens in the middle of the night, when I am completely alone with my thoughts, without distraction from the daily activities of life.
My mind never seems to stop...with thoughts about all kind of things in the middle of the night.
Most times I wonder how things work, and why they do!
Anyway, this post has to be related to something we found using our new subscriptions using Real Simple Syndication (RSS) Feeds through Google Reader.
In my Google Reader account, I clicked “Add Subscription” and typed in “Nunavut Education”.
I found something very cool...it brought back memories from when I was in school in Ottawa, three years ago now. The fall of 2006/07.

I took the Nunavut Sivuniksavut first year program, and our 9-4 classes every day were cut up into 7 major classes including: Inuit History, Land Claims, English, Inuit Governmental Relations (IGR), English, Computers, and Inuktitut.

In our IGR class, we were given an assignment to write an essay on the creation of ITK, Inuit Tapirisat Kanataami.

The ITK essay was due on a Monday morning.
Of course, I procrastinated and started drafting the essay on the Sunday afternoon, and I kept working at it for the rest of the evening. I was being picky with words, and just couldn’t get started.

Earlier that week, our class learned about the direct history of ITK, we went down town to the office to take a tour, and we met the president, Mary Simon. After learning all this, and thinking about that week, I became overwhelmed with pride, and wonder “how did they do it?”

I remember tears rolling down my face, and getting frustrated with this essay I had to write that Sunday night. I knew that I had to hand something in the next morning, if I wanted to get the full marks. I have always been a keener, and pushed myself to get good marks in school…school nerd! But it’s because my parents have always pushed me to succeed, and become a better person. Right from when I was born, and especially when I started school, and had assignments to pass in.

Anyway, that Sunday night, I wrote a piece called “The Problem with Passion” and handed it in to my instructor on the Monday morning, instead of the ITK essay. He read it, and told me to do the assignment and write the ITK essay…and then suggested I share the piece of writing. I agreed, and thought others should read it too. In that paper, I wrote this paragraph:

It just amazes me, how much work had to be put into all this – into Nunavut.
It bugs me though, that a lot of young people don’t realize it. People don’t know,
because they really aren’t taught in schools or elsewhere. It’s because our education
system still follows the Alberta Curriculum, and besides having a few courses like
Northern Studies and Aulajaaqtut, we don’t really have the time to learn about our
own history. Some day that will change though.
Now there are Inuit studying to become teachers. The government is
working towards creating an Education Act. There is a Cultural
School being built in Clyde River to keep our traditional ways alive.
There are efforts to promote and secure our identity as Inuit.

The other day, the RSS feed brought an interesting piece to me. The title read:
Traditional skills to be taught at Nunavut's new cultural school

It brought a smile to my face instantly! and I went on to read the article.

I am incredibly happy things are being done.
The cultural school is being built in Clyde River, starting next year.
You can read the whole article by clicking the following web link.
http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/article/traditional-skills-to-be-taught-at-nunavuts-new-cultural-school/


I hope you are as excited as I am to learn about the future of our homeland.
Things are changing, and changing very quickly.
Thank-goodness, now we have the opportunity to play an important role in decision-making.
All we need to do is make ourselves aware of what is going on around us, and figure out where we can pitch in.
Everyone is capable, and ajunngi in their own right.
We just need to work together, and look for the betterment in things.
Life is as we make it, and we all will become certified teachers, and play a big role in the children’s lives.
The future of Nunavut is in these children that we can, and already influence.
They could be the ones going to “Piqqusilirivvik” learning our traditional ways.
Ahh, the possibilities of tomorrow are endless!

Anyway, please enjoy that article, and stay tuned!
I may have more assignments to write on this blogger, or have a realization I might share. Thank-you for reading, and please feel free to leave me a comment. I am always happy to get feedback, and hear another perspective.

Qujannamiik,

Kerri Tattuinee

Support, Support from all around!

My gootness, I continue to be overwhelmed with emotion when it comes to encouraging my peers and other youth to pursue their dreams! Our teachers support us, our parents support us, and our National Organization supports us! Mary Simon, President of ITK is a huge support for Inuit Education, and promotes our positive stories on her blog:
http://www.itk.ca/blog/mary-simon

An especially interesting blog is one called We Are a Resilient People.
I enjoyed it, and hope maybe you can find something of interest other postings by Mary Simon.

Yay for bloggers! And sharing our thoughts!
Taima.