eights and nines

life. literature.

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Letter of Advice

To all those who are facing surgery,  

I’ve been where you are. I know exactly how it feels to be facing what you’re facing. I’ve had to endure two major surgeries, both involving my brain. I know your mind is full of questions, like; is it going to hurt? , How will I feel afterwards? And I know some of you are wonder, will I survive the operation?  

Through all my experiences, I have learned that questions need answers. The best way to get those answers is to speak up and ask. Don’t just ask your friends, ask people “in the know”, like doctors and parents. Write your questions down.  Get them out of your head and onto a piece of paper. I found it helpful to have a little notebook where I wrote down my questions, and I could write down notes on the answers I was given. It’s also a place where you can write about your fears involving what you’re about to go through. Bring your notebook with you to all of the doctors’ appointments related to your surgery, and show it to them. It will help you feel more involved.  

In my notebook, I used to write questions on how my stitches and scars would look, as I was afraid that people would make fun of me or ask questions about them. I was told by a wise person something that has made a big difference in how I’ve felt about my scars, and it will help you too.  Wear your stitches and scars like badges of honor. Every time you look at them, let them remind you how brave you are, and smile.  

Knowing that you’re going to go through surgery is a scary thing, especially when you have to wait a while for the day to come. There’s lots of time for the fear to build. Feeling scared, even terrified, is completely normal and expected. Just remember, it’s not the actual surgery that you’re afraid of, it’s the fear of the unknown.                                                                           

The best thing you can do when those scary thoughts flood your mind is to tell somebody that cares about you how you’re feeling right away. It can be your friends, parents, siblings, or teachers. Above all else, when you’re feeling scared, about anything at all, remember this; anytime you’re feeling scared, it means that you’re about to do something really courageous!   Remember, you’re not the first person to experience what you’re about to go through. You’re not alone!

Your friend with scars,  

Kaylin Mackay

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L3 Writer's Conference Presenters: Damien Lopes, April Robertson, Shane Koyczan, Holly Painter, Ian Keteku, and Ian French

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Seth D, Grade Twelve

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Heidi W, Grade Twelve

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Yep.

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A photograph of a projection of J.D. Salinger (while talking about his writing) - on a whiteboard. A student grabs a dry erase marker to make a few alterations.

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Miss. Robertson for the gold. Whistler, 2015.

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Mikhail, Grade Eleven

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Doing my homework - preparing final notes for a workshop on the relationship between language and the body. I an a guest presenter at the L3 Writer's Conference alongside Shane Koyczan on April 21st at North. All students welcome. Field trip forms available. www.l3writers.ca

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It is a luxury to be in the present moment.

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I started my life with a single absolute: that the world was mine to shape in the image of my highest values and never to be given up to a lesser standard, no matter how long or hard the struggle. It’s easy to run to others. It’s so hard to stand on one’s own record. You can fake virtue for an audience. You can’t fake it in your own eyes. Your ego is your strictest judge. They run from it. They spend their lives running. It’s easier to donate a few thousand to charity and think oneself noble than to base self-respect on personal standards of personal achievement. It’s simple to seek substitutes for competence–such easy substitutes: love, charm, kindness, charity. But there is no substitute for competence.

Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged

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"With love, all things are possible..." Vogue magazine profiles Harper Lee, author of "To Kill a Mockingbird's" essay "Love - In Other Words." Read the full story here: http://www.vogue.com/13403573/harper-lee-vogue-essay-love-in-other-words/

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Heidi W, Grade Twelve

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"Because real love, once blossomed, never disappears. It may get lost with a piece of paper, or transform into art, books or children, or trigger another couple’s union while failing to cement your own. But it’s always there, lying in wait for a ray of sun, pushing through thawing soil, insisting upon its rightful existence in our hearts and on earth." Read the whole story here: New York Times http://nyti.ms/1Nv5iz0

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"But if we're strong enough To let it in We're strong enough To let it go"

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"Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes." ~ Walt Whitman

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Karina S, Grade Eleven (Using Northrope Frye’s “The Educated Imagination” and based on Tom Phillip’s “A Humament” - Phillip’s buys Victorian novels, circles words and phrases he loves to cultivate a poem from pre-existing text and then creates art in the space remaining.)