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I have always been a hands on person, and art has always seemed to catch my eye and fascinate me. Besides doing artwork at school I have never seemed to finish anything I start outside of school, this I do not know why. I have grown up in an artistic way, my mum loves to draw, both my sisters would do big art projects for school and I would just love to sit and watch them do their work and sometimes help them or give advice. My grandma would love to take me to the big art galleries and museums just for fun on the weekends, take me out for a day and just walk around the city.

Art plays a big role in my life, it is the best way I can express myself, when I’m angry, sad, happy or when I simply find an interest in something I can take out my sketch pad and quickly draw something up.

It also keeps me occupied, on those boring days where you have absolutely nothing to do I go out for a walk and take a look around me, take in the scenery then go home and sketch a bit of whats around me because art is all around you, even when you don’t know it, it is there. From a simple blade of grass to a tree with many leaves. Everything can be expressed in deep detail.

But when I start something I will tell myself that its not completely finished and I will finish it another time, but I never get around to it. I guess its because I don’t get marked on it and there isn’t so much pressure in completing it so I just don’t finish it.

Does social media help or hinder people’s connections?

Mmm this is a really hard topic to discuss, because it debated a lot. Social sites like Facebook have made a massive impact on our lives. It really depends on how you use it.

People get accounts to, yes keep in touch with people but they don’t know what they can come across or hot to even handle it. 

Personally I know some people that use Facebook to hide behind, they cause fights and cyber bully online so they don’t have to do it face to face because it is easier to do it online, you can’t see the person on the other side, or just the fact that they are bored and what something “exciting” to happen so they go out and cause trouble to others. Sometimes it even gets to the point where cyber bullying is at its worst you hear about teenagers taking their life because of the way society has said certain people are “pretty” or “popular” or “cool” and if you don’t fit in any of those characters than you are “unworthy” or “useless”.

There are many ricks when logging onto a social networking site. There’s a chance you could get cyber bullied, or a paedophile could “befriend” and act like a friend just for the sake of it and some cases where there has been pornography. Especially with paedophilia you could get many, many sick people asking you to send nudes or pictures of any private parts.

When you get friend requests from people you don’t know you should never accept, even if they have 100 or more mutual friends, if you don’t personally know them than you shouldn’t accept, or if someone is bullying you or asking for pictures that you are uncomfortable sending or even talking about than you should delete, block and report that person.

Although there are some negative ricks when using social networking sites there are some positive as well, like keeping in touch with family or family especially when they live overseas. Online sites are one of the easiest way to keep in touch, with just one click of a button you could be chatting with an old mate or keeping up with the latest news.

If you are using social networking sites safely and sensibly than nothing wrong will come to you. But if you decide you want some more “excitement” than you have a whole new thing coming. 

Tomorrow When The War Began review

Tomorrow When The War Began originally started off as a book but was then made into a movie. It is the first book in the series Tomorrow by John Marsden.

Published Date: 1993 (Aus)
Publisher: Quercus (UK)
Pages: 284
Series: Tomorrow (Book 1)
Recommended to: Young adult/teenagers
Genres: Action/adventure

Basically the book is written first person, from the point of view of Ellie. Ellie and group of teenagers decide to go on a camping trip out of town and hidden away in the bush. Although food becomes scarce and a couple of secret crushes everything goes to plan. It is only when they return home that they find their homes have been abandoned with no sign of their families. Before long they realise that their whole country has be invaded and the entire town has been captured including their families and friends. Ellie, her friends and a couple of survivors then face a tough decision; escape back to the mountains where they are assured safety, surrender or they can fight back.

Release date: 2010 (initial release)

Director: Stuart Beattie

Genre: Adventure

Rating: 6.2/10

Based on: Tomorrow When The War Began book by John Marsden

Starring: Caitlin Stasey, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lincoln Lewis, Deniz Akdeniz, Phoebe Tonkin, Chris Pang, Ashleigh Cummings, Andy Ryan, Colin Friels

The movie was only recently released, compared to when the book was released. The movie is pretty much the same as the book except a couple mistakes like when Ellie and her friends go back to town they use push bikes to travel so it doesn’t make as much noise but in the movie they use motor bikes.

Personally I like the book better because it expressed more detail and depth especially in Ellie, Marsden did a good job with her as a character. The way he captures her fear, courage and confusion. The book takes its time developing the characters and the complications that come with teenage relationship, whereas the film focuses mainly on the action.

Where I see myself in 5 years..

When I was younger I always said that I wanted to become a vet, help the poor sick animal, but that was until I found out that when an animal was too sick or injured that you would have to put them down. But now that I’ve grown up and seen what goes on in the reality I have decided that in 5 years I should have just come home from travelling around Europe and I aim to be doing my first year in university. Get a degree in something that I really enjoy doing. I will have moved back to Australia, share an apartment with my friend or partner and attend the Sydney University. I’m not 100% positive about what I’m going to do as a career or even study at university, but who does? I know that if I decide on one thing I will change it the next day, and then change back, that’s just how it is. Although I do enjoy working with children, and I love sports so if you put them both together I guess you get a teacher? Which doesn’t sound all that bad.. 

How to get better grades

Here are 11 easy steps to help you get better grades in school.

1. Remove any distractions while studying.

If you have any annoying siblings that love to distract you and disturb you, or a phone that just won’t stop buzzing, you are prone to waste time. Try to remove all distractions

2. Study in short intervals of 30 to 60 minutes. 

After reading a lot or solving a lot of problems, your brain needs to relax and refresh for a bit to before you carry on, but don't let the breaks go longer than 5 minutes. A bathroom break is a good option.

3. Review notes immediately after class or when you get home.

Reviewing notes once a day for over 5 minutes increases your chances of remembering them

4. Study with a friend or parent who knows the material well. 

Studying with friends can help, you can teach them but at the same time learn. Or vice versa. Sometimes teachers don’t got deep into the subject as much as you would like them to, studying with someone who knows the material can teach you further.

5. If you can, choose classes you like but not one you already took or know.

If you get the classes you enjoy it will make you willing to learn and make them seem easy. If you take a class that you have already taken there will be no point in it, and you’ve learnt most of it anyways.

6. Have a, “I’m going to ace this test/exam” attitude. 

Having a positive and confident attitude is proven to help you be more serious, and get you studying hard the night before.

7. Watch successful students to see why they are doing so well.

You can observe successful students to see what they are doing right, and what helps them study.

8. Watch unsuccessful students to see why they are doing poorly.

If you observe unsuccessful people you can see what they are doing wrong and do the opposite.

9. Try to be as organised as you can.

Being organised helps in many ways, when you need some notes you can grab them quickly, or if you need any other sheets you can find them. Neat handwriting is always good, when you look over your notes you’ll understand what you wrote.

10. Finish all assignments a day minimum before its due date.

Tell yourself that it is due before the due date to give you some time before you hand it in to finalise it. And make sure you prioritise your homework and any other finished work.

11. Hand in neat work.

When you hand in neat work it gives your teacher a better impression, however this may not give you better grades but a good impression tells the teacher that you made an effort in your assignment.

Doing these things will prepare you for your older years in high school. Although I don’t always follow this, I try my best and I do find it easier to get my work done and have it handed in on time.  

Because of you

There are many people that have inspired and motivated me to be the person that I am now. The one person I look up to the most is my sister-in-law. She has always been there for me, through good times and bad and she always helps me to be the best that I can be. We have a mother daughter/sister/friend relationship, I can always come to her with everything and she will be happy to listen, we share everything, we have no secrets. She teaches me what is right from wrong, but at the same time accepts who I am and if I am doing the wrong thing she helps me turn around and head back onto the right track. On those rough days that you have every now and then, she has been the one to make me feel better and she never fails to put a smile on my face. Whenever I have a problem at school, I can go straight to her, and she will give me advice. I used to spend so much time with her, we would have girls’ nights in and out, she would take me everywhere, and we would do most things together. We could spend hours on end talking about pointless things, but still find it entertaining. She helps me focus on my schoolwork, she brings out the best in me. She has made a massive impact on my life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. She is my best friend and mentor. 

My top 5 footy players

Although I am a girl, I do enjoy my Rugby League. Here is a list of my top 5 player

1. Fuifui Moimoi

Fuifui Moimoi has established himself as one of the most sought after forwards in the NRL. The cult hero known as a ‘human wrecking ball’ has been one of Parramatta’s best players since exploding onto the scene in round 6 of the 2004 season against the Manly Sea Eagles. Moimoi also showed his outstanding leg speed as well as his bone-crushing hits in defence reinforced why he is one of the hardest men to stop in rugby league. Moimoi is one of the Parramatta’s most valuable players.

2. Jarryd Hayne

Jarryd Lee Hayne (born 15 February 1988) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Parramatta Eels of the National Rugby League (NRL). A New South Wales State of Origin and Australia and Fiji international representative back, he has played his entire NRL career to date with Parramatta.

3. Nathan Hindmarsh

Nathan Hindmarsh is a stalwart of the Parramatta Eels club and widely considered one of their best ever players. Hindmarsh has proved a consistent workhorse and reliable leader for the Eels who, although making the preliminary final on several occasions, and one grand final in 2001, have been able to win a premiership 

In round 23 of the 2007 season Hindmarsh broke the all-time record for most tackles in a match laying 75 against the Melbourne Storm. 

4. Ben Smith

Ben Smith is an Australian professional rugby league footballer for the Parramatta Eel of the NRL. An Australian International and Queensland State of Origin representativecenter, he previously played for the Eels, then the Bulldogs, with whom he won the 2004 NRL season and the North Queensland Cowboys. He re-signed with Parramatta starting with the 2012 season.

5. Chris Sandow

Chris Sandow is an Indigenous Australian professional rugby league player who plays for the Parramatta Eels in theNational Rugby League competition (NRL). He plays as a half back.

Work Experience

My first day of work experience was just an orientation , so I didn’t do much. I learned about the process of making a sculpture, which is sketch, mock up, work in process, than the final product. I then searched some images of turtles and Arowana fish for a sculpture that Pintor is currently working on. I ended the day on sketching some pictures of the Arowana fish.

On the second day I took at look at Pintor website, went through it to understand why it is important for an artist to have a website. I then worked on colour and lighting. When you look at something, it always has different colours and shading depending on which way the light is reflecting onto it. Pintor gave me a print, which I tried to copy to get the same colours around the face, because it’s the colour that shapes the face. It was also to work on making my sketches 3D and more realistic.           

On the third day, I finished up the picture that I started on the previous day. It’s looking a lot better, I’m getting the lighting and shading closer to the image that I copied it from. I used photo shop to help me, I could play around with colours to get the right one colour or a similar colour. It’s a lot harder then it looks, to be able to get the right colours and to blend it in. The principle of shading; if the colour is light it comes out, and darker colours sink in. Then towards the end of the day I started to use photo shop to help make a scale of the sculpture to get the right numbers for the mock up.

On the fourth day I used photo shop again to get an easier scale so that I could start on the clay mock up. After that I did clay for the rest of the day and built the mock up.  

On my last day I just finished up doing the mock up sculpture, then when we almost finished, the buyer texted to say that he wanted to change one of the , so we had to re-do one of the pictures, and the move all the other clay so that the shapes could work together and make the sculpture look interesting.

Overall it was a great experience, although it got boring at times it’ll be an experience I will never forget.

If you guys would like to check out his website and take a look his work, heres a link.
http://www.pintorsirait.com/

Holidays

My holidays were quite exciting, I had a friend from Australia come up with her family to visit me. I spent most days with her and her family, taking them around Bali. On one day we had our sunscreen packed, eski in the boot, everyone was ready for a wonderful day in the sun. We all headed to Uluwatu to visit the monkey temple. We walked along the edge of the cliff to see the beautiful views onto the ocean. We then went and enjoyed a nice lunch at the top of the cliff over the ocean before we made our way to Padang-Padang. It was such a perfect day for the beach, but before we could sneak off our parents made sure Jess and I had enough sunscreen on so that we wouldn’t get burnt. We headed along the beach, to the rocks and out of sight. The beach was so beautiful we could walk along it for the whole day, but after being absent for a couple of hours we decided to turn around and go back to the family. When we got back everyone was out in the water so we decided to join them and go out and cool down for a while. By the end of the day we would still get sun burnt despite putting on layers of sunscreen.