Ilite

       A lot of people would say iLite is about being a leader. It is, but I believe a little differently. I believe that iLite is about being the best person you can possibly be, in every single way. ILite is held at the Mother Teresa high school in Toronto and it is basically a leadership event for youths with many workshops teaching you about different parts of life. In my personal opinion, the stories and lessons learned there were very inspirational.

       I took two classes about leadership. One was called 'Positive Gear' and the other was 'Teens in Social Justice'. In Positive Gear we learned about communicating without speaking, staying positive, and making a difference. I can honestly say that after that class, I started putting every negative into something positive. I truly learned how to keep a positive gear.   

       As for Social Justice, I learned about the terrible parts of poverty and being poor. That class has made me want to care more and give as much as I can offer to the world. I think that every single human being in this world has a right to be warm, fed, and healthy. Not sick, cold and hungry.

       Now here's the part of Ilite that changed me entirely. Meet Stu Saunders, a youth comedian and one of the most entertaining people I have ever seen on stage. He was talking to us, being all fun and all, but he began to tell us a story. He told us a story about his parent's divorce. When he was just in grade eight, his Dad left the house, Stu was scared and he asked his brother what was going on, his brother told him that his father was leaving the house, and wasn't coming back.      

       By this point I was thinking about my parents and I was in tears, but then something hit me, I'm not alone. There are lots of kids out there that were or are going through the exact same thing as me. But the thing was that, Stu went through worse than I did, and he's happily married now with kids. If he made it, then so can I.

Holly

Monday February 6^th 2012