School Project Pack Rat

Hello folks,

Assignment cover page

I was going through the boxes in my basement (again) and I stumbled upon many junior high through high school projects, school notes, drawings, doodles etc. But the one thing that stood out to me most was this memorial assignment we had to do in Grade 9 Language Arts class (2005). I don't recall what exactly the purpose of this assignment was but as the name suggests: A memorial.

The assignment required us to write from the heart and script a memorial as well as design a monument to place on top of Kimberly Hill.

Okay, so I go through my collections of school projects once every year just to see what I can throw out. But every time I go through it, I discover a little something about myself that I have forgotten. When I found my memorial assignment, a big flash of memories came rushing back to me.

My memorial

Start memory: During my last year of high school (2009) I went through a lot of decisions about which post-secondary institution I wanted to attend and which programs to take. For some odd reason, I never remembered what I wanted to do because I had influences *cough cough* (my parents) who told me to do something in the medical field. I struggled with my decisions. But I applied at the University of Winnipeg.

My monument, made out of jade and obsidian

But when high school ended, I decided to basement clean and digging through my school projects...  picked up my memorial assignment. Upon discovering this assignment and reading what I wrote about myself when I was 14, I realized what I was applying for at the U of W wasn't what I wanted to do,but rather, what my parents would like me to do. So I didn't go ahead with it. I wanted to do what I wanted to do in Grade 9, which of course, reverted back to the creative arts and entertainment.

End memory.

So it was this memorial assignment that kept me on track of what I wanted to do. It kept me from getting influenced by other people. In a way, this memorial assignment is like letter from a younger and purer me to the current me. This assignment just keeps on reminding me to do what I wanted. Maybe I'm just weird that I can't keep my decisions grounded but when you have people like your parents who are hard to please, its often difficult to keep a clear head.