Month: January 2018

Going in for the Mukul Deva talk, I could sense that it was going to be very interesting. Mukul Deva is a author writing mainly thrillers and action themed books. The author of over 16 books dropped out of high school before serving in the Indian army for 16 and a half years. He believes that everyone is a story teller waiting to just tell a story. He also mentioned that there are no rules in writing and that the best way to learn is to just do it. Mukul Deva basically gave us a crash course on how to write an interesting story. Honestly, I felt that the content was a bit boring and cliché, yet some of what she said are important. For example, he pointed out that one of the things that make a story very interesting are how you portray your characters and either the readers have to hate them a lot or like them a lot. As I said earlier, the content of the presentation was a bit flat, I really like the way he managed to keep our attention. The reason I enjoyed the talk was because of the way he delivered his ideas. He used an abundance of examples and most importantly  he made us laugh. I think the way he asked us questions and kept us involved was very crucial. Mukul Deva in my opinion was the most interesting session of all.

A young prison officer, Christina Lau, was living her normal life. One day, Christina was involved in a life changing car accident.  She became unconscious and ended up in the hospital. Christina thought the injuries she sustained was minor and that everything will be normal again, but she was wrong. She became paralysed from the chest down and ended up in a wheelchair. This was the lowest point of her life and she became very sad. Despite the fact that she was disabled, she had the support of all her family members. This made her keep trying and keep trying to life life. Instead of being sad about it she took the opportunity to try new things and even tried to get a job. She just wanted to feel accepted and do things that normal people would. he also mentioned that the accident made her spend more time with her family as she felt that she was just focused on her work before the accident. I, myself being in a wheelchair recently helps me sympathise with her on a different level. I have total respect for her in terms of her strength and the fact that she keeps going despite everything trying to hold her back. After hearing Christina give speech, it helps me appreciate myself a bit more. It opened my eyes and made me aware of all the things I have. I think the most memorable thing she said was to keep living life to the fullest with no regret as being alive and living are to different things.

The moment the talk started, I knew Danny was going to deliver something special. I had a feeling that it wasn’t going to be like any other and I was right. He had a really long presentation put together and expressed it in his own style. He talked about his life, all the challenges he faced and all the decisions he made. Danny started off talking about how he started off as in a boring job in marketing. Despite hating his job, he never just stopped and complained. He kept planning ahead and kept trying to get where he wants to. We’ve all had setbacks, but what Danny had to go through and still try to be where he is is astonishing. The most important thing I got out of the talk was that there are always somebody out there that is worse than you. We tend to overreact to small mishaps in life and knowing that gives me strength to keep going on.

When I arrived in the auditorium, I didn’t really expect the talk to be interesting. I was proven wrong as I found it really interesting and I actually learned a great deal on what makes an interview successful. Dawson discussed 5 things you need to keep in mind when interviewing someone. I used to think that the complexity of my question was the most important thing. I thought that asking questions with big words would make a good or bad journalist. It turned out that t was the complete opposite. Dawson mentioned that the depth of the response you get from your question should be what I keep in mind. He also mentioned how professional you have to be and also sympathetic at times. I also used to think that journalists were not very highly thought of. He talked about how he met many famous people and how proud he is of his career. It not only opened my mind but it also sparked my interest in journalism. In the free world today, I think journalism is essential and it’s a good way of sharing news and opinions around.

It was just another regular day in the store. Business was slow as usual and I didn’t get many customers. I quickly had my lunch and sat at behind the counter for my afternoon shift. I still had to work in my store despite being the owner because I couldn’t afford to hire many staff. A while later, three men entered the store. I didn’t really pay attention as I as reading the local newspaper. All of a sudden, one of them started taking cigarette boxes I had on the counter. They also had some drinks and other stuff. I was getting the cash register ready, when they just walked out without of paying. I decided to go and confront them. I got off my chair and left the counter. “This is not right!” I said. “You have to pay for them!”. The men just kept denying me. I pleaded them to pay for the items but they just kept walking out. I even tried stopping them by holding the door, but the strong man pushed me down. I yelled, “I’m going to call the cops!” just as he left the store. He immediately stopped and then came back in. He walked up towards me threatened to kill me if I did. I got so scared I just ran back into the store. Once I saw them get onto their car I decided to dial 911 immediately.

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