When I was a child, I was extremely happy all the time. I lived in a big house in a safe neighbourhood with my Mum and most of my extended family lived nearby. I was average at school but this was okay because I had very dedicated tutors who encouraged and taught me every day after school, to ensure that I never fell behind. I had many friends at church and school and at times, I even felt like a mini celebrity as twins are a big deal in Nigeria.
This all changed in August 2004, when I moved to the UK at the age of 9. The massive culture change caused me to go from a chatterbox to a recluse, and I started to bottle up my feelings, writing them down in a diary instead of saying what I really felt. In those first few weeks in the UK, I would spend lunchtimes and breaktimes crying to my teachers about how alone I felt. This was a very sad time for me. Seeing how sad I was made other kids reach out more to me and eventually, I became happy again and made new friends.
To say that it touched me to see a scenario similar to this play out in Pixar's Inside Out would be an understatement. I sat there in the cinema, bawling my eyes out like a sap. Inside Out is set in the mind of a young girl called Riley, where her five personified emotions, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust, try to guide her through life as she moves to a new city with her parents. The story is made even more touching by the fact that it's based on the real life changes that the director, Pete Docter, noticed in his daughter's personality as she grew older.
Change and growing up can be sad. And it's okay to feel sad because acknowledging this sadness is the way to happiness. This is the very powerful message that I got from Inside Out, which is why I think that it's a vital and important watch for everyone. Some might say some of the 'deep brain stuff' that's mentioned in the film is too difficult for younger children to grasp. However, I'd counter this argument with the fact that my five year old cousin and seven year old brother understood the film's message perfectly. I nearly cried again when they were telling me that feeling sad is okay as this is a message that feels even more poignant because of this.
I'd even go as far as to say that Inside Out is the best Pixar film that I've ever seen. That's right, I went there, Go check it out!
Rating 9.5/10
Wednesday, 19 August 2015
FAMILY
One of the things that I love most about being home for the holidays is that I can watch films and not feel guilty as there are no university deadlines looming over me. By coincidence, the last few films that I've watched have been about families and their importance: Meet The Robinsons (2007), August: Osage County (2013) and Stand By Me (1986).
Meet The Robinsons is about a young orphan and aspiring inventor, who dreams of one day being reunited with his birth mother/ finding a family, Stand By Me is a coming of age comedy-drama that follows four young boys from troubled families, who hike across the countryside to find the dead body of a missing child and August: Osage County is about a dysfunctional family that reunites to deal with the sudden disappearance of the patriarch.
These three films are completely different but one of the few things that they have in common is the fact that there's no such thing as a 'perfect' family. Every family has its quirks and issues and it is important to not take family for granted because as they say, blood is thicker than water.
Meet The Robinsons is about a young orphan and aspiring inventor, who dreams of one day being reunited with his birth mother/ finding a family, Stand By Me is a coming of age comedy-drama that follows four young boys from troubled families, who hike across the countryside to find the dead body of a missing child and August: Osage County is about a dysfunctional family that reunites to deal with the sudden disappearance of the patriarch.
These three films are completely different but one of the few things that they have in common is the fact that there's no such thing as a 'perfect' family. Every family has its quirks and issues and it is important to not take family for granted because as they say, blood is thicker than water.
Monday, 10 August 2015
How To Survive Your First 'Proper' Internship.
Inspired by the amazing Economics & Management boiz that I lived with this year, I decided to apply for my first ever 'proper internship' in April and to my joy, I got one of the eight intern spaces! This meant that I was able to spend a month as an intern at the world's largest advertising company (!!) and it was absolutely incredible and one of the best experiences of my life to date. Before it began, I was super nervous, as I'd never done anything like it before. So, for people out there who feel as nervous as I did for their first internships, here's a Kenny guide on how to survive your first ever internship.
1) Alarms. Alarms GALORE, to ensure that you're never late.
2) Make sure that your phone/ iPod is fully charged so that you have something to entertain yourself with during long commutes.
3) If you can, try to get to the office before your boss. It's keen, but you'll definitely get recognition for it.
4) Drink tea. Lots and lots of tea (or coffee if that's more your kind of thing).
5) Make the most of the free breakfasts and snacks around the office, if you get them.
6) Don't be afraid to strike up conversations with people. Making connections is important and if you're genuine and friendly, people will remember you.
7) Ask questions if you get stuck (it really doesn't make you look stupid) and try to learn and soak up as much information as possible.
8) If you forget things easily like I do, make sure that you have a little notebook with you at all times, so that you can make key notes of things when you get set tasks to do.
9) Make friends with the other interns. Having an unfriendly, competitive attitude with them will not go down well with the staff who are observing you.
14) Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
PS- I found out the other day that two friends of mine found this blog and I'm impressed, albeit slightly scared at the same time. If you're reading this, heyyyyy Phoebe frog and OP x
1) Alarms. Alarms GALORE, to ensure that you're never late.
2) Make sure that your phone/ iPod is fully charged so that you have something to entertain yourself with during long commutes.
3) If you can, try to get to the office before your boss. It's keen, but you'll definitely get recognition for it.
4) Drink tea. Lots and lots of tea (or coffee if that's more your kind of thing).
5) Make the most of the free breakfasts and snacks around the office, if you get them.
6) Don't be afraid to strike up conversations with people. Making connections is important and if you're genuine and friendly, people will remember you.
7) Ask questions if you get stuck (it really doesn't make you look stupid) and try to learn and soak up as much information as possible.
8) If you forget things easily like I do, make sure that you have a little notebook with you at all times, so that you can make key notes of things when you get set tasks to do.
9) Make friends with the other interns. Having an unfriendly, competitive attitude with them will not go down well with the staff who are observing you.
10) BE ON TIME TO MEETINGS!
11) Do NOT leave the office until you're absolutely sure that there is no more work for you to do that day. Leaving the office at 5.30pm on the dot will not impress.
12) Get on the good side of the HR people because if you ever want to get more experience at the company that you're interning at, they're the ones that can make it happen.
13) If you don't have a LinkedIn, make one. LinkedIn is very useful, if you want to stay in contact with all the people that you'll meet.
14) Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
PS- I found out the other day that two friends of mine found this blog and I'm impressed, albeit slightly scared at the same time. If you're reading this, heyyyyy Phoebe frog and OP x
How To Survive Your Second Year At University.
Wow. You know things are really bad and that you've been away from your own blog for too long when you type your blog url into the Google Chrome search bar and your blog doesn't even come up....
Second year was...tough. The toughest one yet. But I survived and now I'm at home and I can sleeeeep before I move to France for ten months, ahhhhh! I learned and grew a lot this year so, here's a Kenny guide on how to survive your second year at university (here's the one I wrote for first year):
1) Grief sucks. But it's easier to deal with when your share your pain with others.
2) It can often be hard to say no to people, especially close friends as you don't want to look like a stick in the mud. However, true friends will accept you and love you exactly as you are, so don't be afraid to say no from time to time.
3) Speak out so that explosions of anger don't occur from bottling things up for weeks. It's also important to speak out so that micro aggressions are always addressed and tackled.
4) True friends are true gems and certain situations can really showcase people's ugly sides. Basically, don't put people on pedestals because eventually, they will let you down as nobody is perfect.
5) Don't let others take advantage of you, which is why 2) is always important.
6) Naps are important for survival, VERY important.
7) If you're a super keeno like me, and you like doing as much stuff as possible, post-it notes, diaries, and phone schedules are vital in order to stay organised and on top of things.
It's a massive bummer that I won't be at university in third year and the fact that most of my close group of friends will have graduated by the time I come back from France is something that weighs on my mind a lot and there were many, many tears as I said my goodbyes to people.
However as Winnie the Pooh once said, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
Second year was...tough. The toughest one yet. But I survived and now I'm at home and I can sleeeeep before I move to France for ten months, ahhhhh! I learned and grew a lot this year so, here's a Kenny guide on how to survive your second year at university (here's the one I wrote for first year):
1) Grief sucks. But it's easier to deal with when your share your pain with others.
2) It can often be hard to say no to people, especially close friends as you don't want to look like a stick in the mud. However, true friends will accept you and love you exactly as you are, so don't be afraid to say no from time to time.
3) Speak out so that explosions of anger don't occur from bottling things up for weeks. It's also important to speak out so that micro aggressions are always addressed and tackled.
4) True friends are true gems and certain situations can really showcase people's ugly sides. Basically, don't put people on pedestals because eventually, they will let you down as nobody is perfect.
5) Don't let others take advantage of you, which is why 2) is always important.
6) Naps are important for survival, VERY important.
7) If you're a super keeno like me, and you like doing as much stuff as possible, post-it notes, diaries, and phone schedules are vital in order to stay organised and on top of things.
It's a massive bummer that I won't be at university in third year and the fact that most of my close group of friends will have graduated by the time I come back from France is something that weighs on my mind a lot and there were many, many tears as I said my goodbyes to people.
However as Winnie the Pooh once said, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."
Questions that I dislike.
1) Where are you from?
2) Where are you really from?
3) When did you learn how to speak English?
4) Which one of you is the smarter twin?
5) Which one of you is the hotter twin?
6) Which twin do your parents love the most?
7) Have you always spoken English?
8) Why can't you talk 'normally'?
9) Why are you so skinny?
10) Why don't you drink?
2) Where are you really from?
3) When did you learn how to speak English?
4) Which one of you is the smarter twin?
5) Which one of you is the hotter twin?
6) Which twin do your parents love the most?
7) Have you always spoken English?
8) Why can't you talk 'normally'?
9) Why are you so skinny?
10) Why don't you drink?
Thursday, 16 April 2015
The Privilege Games.
I go to Oxford University. Oxford University is a university that has a lot of students from privileged backgrounds. According to recent figures, 56.8% of UK undergraduates at my university come from state schools, which is actually quite low, considering how the independent sector only educates around 6.5% of the total number of school children in England.
In the past, whilst at university, people tried to play up their wealth and privilege as much as possible because in those days, wealth and privilege meant a higher status at the university. However, the opposite seems to be happening today. This is because due to films such as 'The Riot Club', TV shows like 'Harrow: A Very British School', and the 'Old Boys Club' that seems to dominate UK politics, an 'other-worldly' vibe is ascribed to private and public schools. Therefore, there is a kind of stigma attached to them nowadays, that is not unlike the stigma in the past that came with coming from an 'unknown' school and being a 'poor' student, in a literal sense.
As a result of this, phrases like "Yeah, I went to a private school but it was a really crap one" and "My school was really bad; it only sends about 10 people to Oxford a year" are thrown around a lot. There are many reasons why phrases like that really irk me whenever hear them.
I was the first student in my school's history to get into Oxford, and one of less than twenty people from the school to ever make it into a Russell Group university. It can be very frustrating to hear ex-private school students talk about how hard things were for them in their schools that were and still are always in the top fifty in league tables. "My school only offered three languages at A Level." I was the first student in my school to choose a language for A Level and I had to work out of a 2001 OCR textbook for a few months, even though I was sitting the 2013 AQA exam...the struggle was so real. "The teacher who ran my Oxford mock interview for Law was rubbish; she did History at Cambridge!" The career's adviser at my school strongly encouraged students to only apply to universities that accepted UCAS points, and not grades, as that was all she believed that students from my school could achieve.
I could go on and on about how bad things were for me at school and how the fact that I made it into Oxford without the opportunities that my private and public school educated friends had is a miracle. However, I'd be lying if I don't own up to some of my own privileges, privileges that helped me get to where I am today.
I lived in Nigeria until I was nine years old and I went to a private school. Although the private schools in Nigeria are not the same calibre as those in the UK, I was still part of an elite few, and the excellent quality of my early Nigerian education played a big role in me being able to excel in my UK primary and secondary schools. My parents paid for more than ten years of music lessons and youth theatre, which increased my confidence growing up and all those years of confidence boosting exercises enabled me to give a strong and confident performance in my Oxford interview. All those years spent at the theatre introduced me to numerous plays, operas, ballets and even classic films, and I can hold my own in discussions at formal dinners, when such topics arise in 'small talk' with tutors and peers.
So, from all that, it's evident that things were not all bad for me. What's the point of all this, then, you ask? I think it's important that we all accept our privileges and we should never try to downplay them. It's also very important to check your privilege at all times, and this is something that I'm still trying to get better at myself. There are people out there who have had things much worse than you and they will definitely get annoyed if you try to make light of their situations by turning things back to yourself all the time. Don't put others on a pedestal just because they went to a certain school. This is something that I personally feel very strongly about because as Eleanor Roosevelt once said "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." With this in mind, it is important to remember that nobody is automatically a better person because of the school that they went to, be it a rubbish comprehensive or a 'posh' public school. Treat everyone equally and if you ever hear someone talking about how bad their situation might be/ might have been/ is, resist the urge to say, "Oh, but things were/are so worse for me!" As cringey as it sounds, just listen to them. Listen, instead of making comparisons and maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to start having constructive discussions regarding how to do something about the various privileges that separate people and impede equality.
In the past, whilst at university, people tried to play up their wealth and privilege as much as possible because in those days, wealth and privilege meant a higher status at the university. However, the opposite seems to be happening today. This is because due to films such as 'The Riot Club', TV shows like 'Harrow: A Very British School', and the 'Old Boys Club' that seems to dominate UK politics, an 'other-worldly' vibe is ascribed to private and public schools. Therefore, there is a kind of stigma attached to them nowadays, that is not unlike the stigma in the past that came with coming from an 'unknown' school and being a 'poor' student, in a literal sense.
As a result of this, phrases like "Yeah, I went to a private school but it was a really crap one" and "My school was really bad; it only sends about 10 people to Oxford a year" are thrown around a lot. There are many reasons why phrases like that really irk me whenever hear them.
I was the first student in my school's history to get into Oxford, and one of less than twenty people from the school to ever make it into a Russell Group university. It can be very frustrating to hear ex-private school students talk about how hard things were for them in their schools that were and still are always in the top fifty in league tables. "My school only offered three languages at A Level." I was the first student in my school to choose a language for A Level and I had to work out of a 2001 OCR textbook for a few months, even though I was sitting the 2013 AQA exam...the struggle was so real. "The teacher who ran my Oxford mock interview for Law was rubbish; she did History at Cambridge!" The career's adviser at my school strongly encouraged students to only apply to universities that accepted UCAS points, and not grades, as that was all she believed that students from my school could achieve.
I could go on and on about how bad things were for me at school and how the fact that I made it into Oxford without the opportunities that my private and public school educated friends had is a miracle. However, I'd be lying if I don't own up to some of my own privileges, privileges that helped me get to where I am today.
I lived in Nigeria until I was nine years old and I went to a private school. Although the private schools in Nigeria are not the same calibre as those in the UK, I was still part of an elite few, and the excellent quality of my early Nigerian education played a big role in me being able to excel in my UK primary and secondary schools. My parents paid for more than ten years of music lessons and youth theatre, which increased my confidence growing up and all those years of confidence boosting exercises enabled me to give a strong and confident performance in my Oxford interview. All those years spent at the theatre introduced me to numerous plays, operas, ballets and even classic films, and I can hold my own in discussions at formal dinners, when such topics arise in 'small talk' with tutors and peers.
So, from all that, it's evident that things were not all bad for me. What's the point of all this, then, you ask? I think it's important that we all accept our privileges and we should never try to downplay them. It's also very important to check your privilege at all times, and this is something that I'm still trying to get better at myself. There are people out there who have had things much worse than you and they will definitely get annoyed if you try to make light of their situations by turning things back to yourself all the time. Don't put others on a pedestal just because they went to a certain school. This is something that I personally feel very strongly about because as Eleanor Roosevelt once said "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." With this in mind, it is important to remember that nobody is automatically a better person because of the school that they went to, be it a rubbish comprehensive or a 'posh' public school. Treat everyone equally and if you ever hear someone talking about how bad their situation might be/ might have been/ is, resist the urge to say, "Oh, but things were/are so worse for me!" As cringey as it sounds, just listen to them. Listen, instead of making comparisons and maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to start having constructive discussions regarding how to do something about the various privileges that separate people and impede equality.
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Je Suis Charlie.
Yesterday, the Paris office of French satirical newspaper was attacked by masked gunmen. Twelve people were killed, two police officers and some of the best cartoonists in France included. According to the media and various sources, the attack was a terrorist attack from Islamic extremists who were angered at the newspaper's constant depictions of their prophet. The terrifying thing is that two of the men have not yet been found.
The attacks launched a wide range of comments and reactions worldwide and on the internet. Many world leaders, including Obama and Cameron, have already weighed in, condemning the horrific actions of the gunmen, cartoonists around the world have produced many heartbreaking images to show their solidarity for their fallen peers and the online debates are plentiful.
Some people believe that the actions of the gunmen was an attack against the fundamental human right that is freedom of speech and expression. Others believe that the deaths of the twelve were horrific but it is important to remember that a lot of the things that were published in Charlie Hebdo were often homophobic, misogynistic and anti-religion (especially Islam and the Catholic Church), spreading negative stereotypes of the religion.
When I first heard the news, I was incredibly shaken. Paris is one of my favourite cities in the world and I'm going to be moving there in October for a year. I'm even hoping to do a bit of journalistic work whilst out there. I spent most of yesterday watching the news and reading articles on what was unfolding and after a lot of thought, I decided to share 'Je Suis Charlie' on Twitter and Instagram. Here's why I did so.
I am a huge believer in freedom of expression. As someone with a diary/journal, a blog, who writes reviews and hopes to even be a critic one day, I believe that it is very important to be given the freedom to share your own opinion and critique things. However, due to my own personal beliefs, I also believe that there is a fine line between freedom of expression and being rude/ offensive. You can have an opinion on something, but you have to be considerate about the views and opinions of others.
So, when I shared 'Je Suis Charlie', I was not condoning or agreeing with everything that Charlie Hebdo has ever published. I shared it because even though people might hold opinions that others consider offensive, it is NOT right to kill people for their opinions. This will NEVER be okay. I shared it in solidarity with the victims, their families and the whole of France. I believe that we are all Charlie because we all have opinions and what happened to those poor cartoonists could happen to anyone, myself included, if we start policing the opinions of people, and the world will be a very awful place indeed if we descend to that.
It really pains me that hateful people and organisations such as Nigel Farage and Britain First are using this awful incident to spread their own negative agendas that support racism and are against multiculturalism and integration. It is NOT right to condemn a whole community for the evil actions of a few culprits and this idea can be applied to many things. So, enough of the hate. La haine attire la haine (hate attracts hate).
Je suis Charlie et je suis totalement pour la liberté d'expression. May the victims rest in peace.
The attacks launched a wide range of comments and reactions worldwide and on the internet. Many world leaders, including Obama and Cameron, have already weighed in, condemning the horrific actions of the gunmen, cartoonists around the world have produced many heartbreaking images to show their solidarity for their fallen peers and the online debates are plentiful.
 |
| copyright Jean Jullien 2015 |
When I first heard the news, I was incredibly shaken. Paris is one of my favourite cities in the world and I'm going to be moving there in October for a year. I'm even hoping to do a bit of journalistic work whilst out there. I spent most of yesterday watching the news and reading articles on what was unfolding and after a lot of thought, I decided to share 'Je Suis Charlie' on Twitter and Instagram. Here's why I did so.
I am a huge believer in freedom of expression. As someone with a diary/journal, a blog, who writes reviews and hopes to even be a critic one day, I believe that it is very important to be given the freedom to share your own opinion and critique things. However, due to my own personal beliefs, I also believe that there is a fine line between freedom of expression and being rude/ offensive. You can have an opinion on something, but you have to be considerate about the views and opinions of others.
So, when I shared 'Je Suis Charlie', I was not condoning or agreeing with everything that Charlie Hebdo has ever published. I shared it because even though people might hold opinions that others consider offensive, it is NOT right to kill people for their opinions. This will NEVER be okay. I shared it in solidarity with the victims, their families and the whole of France. I believe that we are all Charlie because we all have opinions and what happened to those poor cartoonists could happen to anyone, myself included, if we start policing the opinions of people, and the world will be a very awful place indeed if we descend to that.
It really pains me that hateful people and organisations such as Nigel Farage and Britain First are using this awful incident to spread their own negative agendas that support racism and are against multiculturalism and integration. It is NOT right to condemn a whole community for the evil actions of a few culprits and this idea can be applied to many things. So, enough of the hate. La haine attire la haine (hate attracts hate).
Je suis Charlie et je suis totalement pour la liberté d'expression. May the victims rest in peace.
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