9.a poem reflecting upon our highschool graduation

It’s the last year of high school

Last year of being with our classmates

Next year, everyone will end up at a different place

And we may not even see some people ever again;

We will move on in our lives

But as we do so

We will remember all the great memories

We shared in high school for five years

We won’t ever be called high school students

We will be called adults soon

As we make our way into the adult world

Into university and college;

We must be prepared to work harder,

Be prepared to make our lives

Shine in the future;

We must start to think about our lives

More seriously

As we move forward

And as we “grow up”;

Although we will miss each other in the future

Most of us are much stoked to find

What life has in store for us

And what will unfold in our lives;

Life is great and we all get to live it

Once

Thus we must make the most out of it

As we move forward.

8.the purpose of parks

I believe that parks are necessary to the functioning of cities; parks are great places for both the kids’ and adults’ entertainment as there are too many recreational things to be done at parks. For instance, almost every single park possesses a playground which often attracts little kids to it and is a remarkable place for the kids to empty their energy and burn calories. Moreover, parks often possess amazing trails and sceneries which attract adults and seniors as most people enjoy jogging in parks and as they could be amazing places for exercise. In fact, the purpose of the parks is to create a friendly and recreational environment for all age groups which eventually causes the residents of a city to become socially and physically healthier; thus, parks also help with the improvement of morale and the social life of the cities. Hence, I believe that parks should most definitely exist in every neighborhood and they should be kept clean so that they can last for a long period of time. We must not forget that parks are amazing spots in the cities for exercise, having fun, interacting with the others, and enjoy and appreciate the beauty of nature.

7.the connection between my chosen poem and philosophy of life

The poem that I chose is with regards to our dreams and goals in life and encourages its readers to believe in themselves and accept the fact that “[they] can be whatever [they] want to be”; moreover, the poem makes its readers believe that there is a remarkable potential inside everyone which enables them to move towards their goals more easily. In fact, the message of this poem absolutely abides with my philosophy of life as I believe in hard work towards our goals; moreover, I, too, believe that with hard work and being focused on our dreams, we can easily turn them into reality. Thus, I strongly believe that human beings must enjoy their lives and stride towards their goals at the same time; thus, having too much fun and wasting time or working too hard and not understanding the meaning of life are both unacceptable in my opinion; I believe, that one should try to achieve and maintain a balance between one’s social life and life towards their goal. As a result of this close connection between my philosophy of life and the theme of this poem, I chose this poem which greatly matches my belief in life.

6.A poem which entirely agrees with the inscription plate on my bench

You Can Be Whatever
You Want To Be!

There is inside you
all of the potential
to be whatever you want to be,
all of the energy
to do whatever you want to do.

Imagine yourself as you would like to be,
doing what you want to do,
and each day, take one step
towards your dream.

And though at times it may seem too
difficult to continue,
hold on to your dream.

One morning you will awake to find
that you are the person you dreamed of,
doing what you wanted to do,
simply because you had the courage
to believe in your potential
and to hold on to your dream.

~ Donna Levine ~

The poem above is a quite inspirational poem which encourages people to follow their dreams no matter what it takes. In fact, the theme of this poem is practically the inscription plate on my bench: “follow your dreams”; thus, once I came upon this great and absolutely inspiring poem, I chose it right away. Moreover, I am a great fan of Paulo Coelho, the Brazilian author who in his novels, tries to educate people about their “personal legends”; in his opinion, every single person has a personal legend that needs to be reached and in doing so, one will have sacrifice many things and go through hardships. However, once one achieves his/her personal legend, success and a sense of satisfaction will take over one’s life. I also strongly agree with Coelho’s opinion with regards to our personal legend and believe that we need to follow our dreams no matter how hard it is to accomplish them; as a matter of fact, we all have remarkable dreams that we long to achieve; thus, if we turn our backs on them or if we try to ignore them, then there would be no point in living as life would be boring. As the message of this poem absolutely agrees with the inscription plate on my bench, i believe that this poem would be a suitable choice.

5.My trip to Ambleside in search of a bench

My trip to Ambleside Park was a lot of fun! Darylle and I had already planned to go to the park during the winter break for our English project but we were both quite busy at the start of the break. However, on the second to last day of 2010, on a gorgeous, sunny, and freezing day, we decided to head to the seawall to look for our benches. We met at Tim Horton’s on Lonsdale and after having a warm coffee, we bussed down to the seawall; however, we got off the bus early to catch some exercise at the same time; hence, we walked through the village, took a peak at some of the stores on our way, and finally arrived at the seawall. Since we both tend to be quite picky when it comes to picking things, we had a difficult time deciding on which bench to choose for our English projects as almost all the inscription plates were quite moving and inspiring. Finally, after a lot of discussions and consultations regarding the benches, we eventually chose our benches for the project. Once we were done, we started heading to the bus stop and ended our day by having delicious sushi on Lonsdale. That day was definitely quite fun and unforgettable.

4.life is God's most precious gift to us...

If I was to dedicate a bench to my family or close friends, I would first make sure to ask them where their favorite park is; however, if sadly I did not have the opportunity to question them with regards to their favorite park, I would personally want the bench to be in Ambleside Park because as already stated, this park is my favorite park and is where I have the most number of memories with friends and family from the past; moreover, depending on who the person I am dedicating the bench to is, I would choose a park where we first met or where we went together most often as by doing so, I would be able to keep all the memories alive both for myself and for their soul. Furthermore, I would like the inscription plate to say one of their most effective pieces of advice or something said by them which influenced me greatly; thus, I would try and choose an inscription plate that somehow relates to their personality. However, if I had a difficult time finding a suitable inscription which relates to them, I would use my favorite quotes that I have heard before such as “life is God’s most precious gift to us”; this quote is one my favorite ones that entirely relates to me as I believe that one should dearly live their life and try to make the most out of it.

3.live and love your life to the fullest

All human beings are meant to leave this world after a certain amount of time which varies for each individual; similarly, if I was to die in a short while and if I knew that someone would want to dedicate a bench to me, I would want the bench to be on the seawall in Ambleside Park; in fact, the reason for this choice is because Ambleside is my favourite park and every single time I decide to go for a jog or run or even just to relax by the ocean, I choose Ambleside, not necessarily due to its proximity to where I live, but because I believe it is such a lively and calming park with its amazing beach, beautiful trees, cheerful atmosphere, and the silence that can truly be felt while taking a walk. Moreover, I would like the inscription plate to say “ love and live your life to the fullest”; as a matter of fact, us human beings get to live only once and once our lives are over, there is no chance to go back and improve upon our mistakes or eliminate our regrets; therefore, I believe that in order to have no remorse at the end of our lives, we must attempt to live and enjoy our lives to the fullest and I believe this is an important message to be sent to all teenagers and youngsters who are just about to embark upon the most serious part of their lives. Moreover, my inscription plate would also abide with the carpe diem philosophy which encourages people to try and enjoy their lives to the fullest as life is short and as the opportunity to live is a quite precious one.