21. ožujka Dan darovitih učenika
Fran Filajdić is attending the Secondary School of Economics in Slavonski Brod (3B class). He is a very talented young man who claims to be more fluent in English than in his mother tongue, Croatian. According to his marks and his multiple English-competition results (2 first places – county competitions, the 3rd and the 6th place – national competitions), it may be so… There are some of Fran’s works in this book (written in his English classes) for You to read – most of the topics have been chosen randomly (by Fran and his English teacher). They are a record of not only a tremendous talent but also a modern, pro-European mind that strives to universal human values of justice, fairness and equality for all… Fran’s English teacher Ivana Opačak
Prologue Like a shadow in the night, Like the pure light of dawn, Beyond common sight, It will not be found alone.
Though he usually stayed in his chambers, this time Garian decided to go for a walk. A light breeze swept the autumn leaves, and the sun was about to set. He observed the medieval pavement on the forest road, sighing as he did so. He missed Earth. He knew Illeria was far more beautiful; an amazing, unspoiled land, as if it were from a dream. And still, he missed Earth. But he shouldn’t get distracted. He once more gazed upon the scroll in his hand. What could it mean? Why was it that ancient texts were always written in riddles? And they always had to rhyme. It irritated him. It seemed killing dragons was far easier than translating their little poems. If only he could let someone else see the scroll, attempt to solve this riddle for him. But it was too much of a risk‌ if someone discovered it before him, if they so much as glanced upon his-
“My lord!” Ah, that annoying, yippy servant of his. He couldn’t get a moment’s rest with her. Still, to avoid suspicion, he should let her speak. “What is it, Aryn? You know very well how busy I am. Whatever you decided to distract me over, I hope for your sake it’s urgent.” “Yes, my lord, of course! Madam Currey wants an audience with you. It seems the Draconic Empire is attacking again.” Those annoying little bastards! He conquered their land, killed or enslaved most of them, and still that little group decides to reject his authority! It doesn’t matter. Once he finds a way to break their barrier, they will not stand a chance against his overwhelming army. “Tell her to await my audience. I will be there as soon as I can.” He let out a long, drawn out sigh. Time to attend another boring, pointless political meeting. The room was dark and intimidating, the walls painted black and decorated with his countless war trophies. Petrified heads of various beasts hung from the ceiling, bound by neighindestructible shadowsteel chains, the most prominent of which was the head of a massive red-scaled dragon, as
terrifying in death as it was in life. Garian once more remembered his days as a dragonslayer, these trophies serving as a symbol of his past glory. Madam Currey, however, was not as inspired by the room as he was. A sweet, slightly overweight woman, she was frail and easily intimidated. Elizabeth Currey’s talents, however, did not rest in her strength or her resolve, but her ingenuity. She was an economical genius. Born the daughter of a poor noble, Elizabeth turned her fortune around after her father died when she was thirteen, selling her family heirlooms and establishing a powerful trade chain. Three years later, she was the most influential noble in Taris, a city-state in Illeria’s central region. Two years after that, she was the head of The Trader’s Coalition, an alliance of city states ranging from Illeria’s west coast to the east. Unlike the other nobles in charge of the coalition, Madam Currey proved an important, powerful ally in Garian’s conquests, knows by others as the Dragonbane War. And important she remained, as the Taris bordered with what little remained of the Draconic Empire. And now they were on the offensive… again. “I am most pleased to see you once more, my lord, as I require your assistance in dealing with this threat.”
Her words broke Garian from his daydream, forcefully tearing him from his past battles. “Yes, of course, let us begin the meeting.� Whatever it was they were planning, whatever crazy idea they had this time, the Draconic Empire will once more be crushed. And when he reaches his goal, not just Earth or Illeria, but the whole universe will be in his grasp!
TO BE CONTINUED
(Prologue of a novel to be)
TEENS VS. ADULTS – Let us leave our prejudices behind, and work together to improve our lives!
Have you ever heard a teenager say books or learning are “cool”… or met an adult considering smoking good and learning bad? Let me ask you a question. Have you ever heard a teenager say books or learning are “cool”? Getting drunk or smoking is bad? And what about adults? You’ll find their views to be entirely different. The reason I’m mentioning this subject is because this conflict of opinions leads to something far worse in the social worlds of teenagers. Let me start from the beginning. We all know most teenagers prefer smoking, drinking and going out to doing anything that could expand their views, and personally I’ve never seen an adult considering smoking good and learning bad. This begs the question – why is it that our views are so different? In our society, everything that is clearly going to diminish our experience in life appears to be socially acceptable, and everything that has the opposite effect is rejected or, worse, ridiculed. So why is it that this happens?
In an effort to show off our newfound freedom, we do the exact opposite of what our “oppressors” want us to do! My personal theory is that, with all the responsibility in teenagers’ lives causing further pressure, stress and anxiety, we just want to break those chains, to be free. To rebel. And we find this freedom in joining communities that understand our problems, accept us as their own. These communities know well what our parents, teachers, aunts and uncles – our “oppressors” – want us to do. So, in an effort to show off our newfound freedom, we do the exact opposite of that. Where they force us to learn, to avoid problems and addictions in effort to protect us and secure our future, we reject their ideals and go our own way. We start smoking, drinking, refuse to study and never, ever read a book. So where does this problem’s solution lie? Sure, we could restrict everything our children like to do and use oppressive force to make them do what we know to be right. But is that the right way to solve this? Remember, it is this same oppressive force that caused this problem in the first place!
Imagine trying to catch a runaway prize dog... You’ve got it on a leash, and all that’s left is to lead it back to its master. Still, the dog doesn’t want to go. The more you pull the leash, the more it resists. And to lead it to its master, to what it doesn’t know is its true goal, you keep pulling. Let me ask you, can this possibly end well? It will cause the dog to dislike and, eventually, hate you, pulling more and more away from where you want to lead it. And you keep thinking the solution is to pull harder? Eventually, the leash will break and the dog will run away or, worse, attack you. It is here that the real problems start. So, how about you loosen your grip on the leash? Offer the dog some food and pet it, let it know it can trust you. It would resist less and less, peacefully following you to its master, its goal. This may very well be the solution to our problem. If you stop forcing your children to fit some categories you find pleasing, you’ll be surprised how much their behavior improves.
I used to be among the “cool crowd”... Personally, I used to be among the “cool crowd”, attempting to escape my parents’ oppression, until, in the fourth grade, they got divorced. For most people, this may sound like a sad story, but it actually worked greatly in my benefit. With all the problems around my family, both my parents did their best to make this divorce be as painless as possible for me. (Well, in actuality, it didn’t bother me at all… I knew people sometimes got divorced, and there was no way to prevent it.) When they stopped forcing me to do everything they said and let me have my freedom, my choice to do what I considered right, I started to see things from their perspective. I no longer needed my “crowd” or my curse words, and I actually started to like studying. My social status kept worsening, but the freedom I felt was invigorating. What if we apply this to everyone? If we cut this problem at its source, we’ll see great improvements in parent-child relationships, and with it comes a change in our social system. A change for the better.
Step one is to stop resisting… This merciless world does not permit mistakes! Still, adults’ effort isn’t enough to solve this problem. We must also do our part. Step one is to stop resisting! We should at least try to understand why our parents are doing what they’re doing. In the end, it’s our future they’re improving, not theirs. They’re investing in us, doing everything in their power to help us succeed in this merciless world that does not permit mistakes! They’ve been through all that, and they do their best to make it easier for us. So why not listen when they ask you to study for that test? To avoid addiction? To come home before 12 p.m.? Not to please our parents, not to fit into the “perfect, hard-working student” category, but for the sake of ourselves and our future! In conclusion, neither side can solve this problem alone. It is only through compromise and cooperation that this unjust, unbalanced situation will improve! So let us leave our prejudices behind, and work together toward a common goal; to improve our lives. And, with it, make the world itself a better place!
LET’S MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE This world does not give everyone an opportunity! The world we live in seems like a place of equality and liberty for all. Yet, beyond this curtain of false truths, we can find this world does not, in fact, give everyone an opportunity. Indeed, if we work hard, we have a chance to succeed, but this chance is not equal for all, is it? What about the oppressed? The belittled? The ignored? There are seven billion people on this planet. We savor our lives, IM-ing with our friends about how much we “heart” various things; our greatest problems being schoolwork, social relations and the latest exploits of Justin Bieber. But that kid everyone in your class makes fun of for “being a queer”? That girl everyone thinks is stupid because of her hair color? His/ Her life is not so simple, and neither are the lives of many on this so called “world of opportunity”. And what about the elderly? The differences in our generations make us move further and further away from one another, never really giving each other a chance. So what do we do to make this world a better place for all these people?
It is in our nature to hate and fear that which is different from us… Should we attempt to influence the government? They, after all, are the ones responsible for making all our lives better; they may as well direct some resources to helping the oppressed. (…) Doing so would greatly reduce the discrimination against them. Or does the problem lie in our society? It is, unfortunately, in our nature to hate and fear that which is different from us, which we cannot understand. So should we attempt to modify our society by introducing these subjects to the world? Why don’t we tell our children about the nature of homosexuality instead of telling them it is an “abomination”? Why don’t we explain our grandparents why we spend so much time on our phones and computers instead of telling them to “get lost”?
We must build bridges… We must build bridges between generations, between those of different genders, races, nationalities and orientations, so we can all have a chance to succeed! And if we are determined, we can be the ones to lay the foundations of this bridge! To many of you, this may seem farfetched, even impossible. But what
you fail to consider, is that this world will eventually be ours! It is us, the young, who determine its future. So, will we try to make the world a better place? That, my fellow students, is up to you.
EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE According to D. Goleman, there are 5 components of EI. Translated into every-day life: ALWAYS be honest about your emotions. Recognise them (SELF-AWARENESS), try to handle your bad moods (MOOD MANAGEMENT), be your own motivator – reach out for success (SELF-MOTIVATION), understand other people’s emotions (EMPATHY)... and you’ll have QUALITY RELATIONSHIPS... with EMOTIONALLY LITERATE people. Let the others manage themselves!
To control oneself! This is an issue we constantly face in everyday life, no matter where we were or what we did. Perhaps you have anger management issues, or your pessimistic depression makes it harder to do jobs which include a social element. There is something we need to be aware of: our disposition has an effect on the people around us, and whether you’ll make someone’s day or ruin it can depend on the extent to which you can control your own feelings and emotions. There is a term for this ability – Emotional Intelligence.
Ability EI and trait EI While the roots of EI date back to the days of Charles Darwin, the term was first coined in 1985 by Wayne Payne. It is described as the ability to control one’s own emotions and understand the emotions of others. While there is debate as to whether or not this has an actual effect on IQ, it is widely believed to be an important part of our personality. It can be divided into ability EI, which is related to traditional intelligence and trait EI, related to personality. It’s measured with both actual tests and questionnaires, which you can find on the internet. But how can we relate Emotional Intelligence to our lives? Well, as a start, there are countless jobs which greatly depend on this trait. Politics, customer service, waitressing, psychiatry, the list goes on. If we can find a way to improve our emotional intelligence, we can considerably increase our aptitude with these jobs. And even if you don’t plan to have such a job, EI can greatly improve our lives and the lives of people around us.
Much like our IQ, our Emotional Intelligence can be improved, even more so. There are a few things we can attempt to do so. First off, we need to notice and understand our stress triggers. Stress is a major factor in our lives, especially in today’s fast-paced lifestyle. Stop for a while and think – what causes you most stress? After you’ve
figured it out, ask yourself why this particular thing increases your stress level. Often, we stress about barely noticeable, nighirrelevant factors and overcomplicate them. Why is a bad grade so bad? You can correct it. Why do you worry about the bullies? Ignore them and move on. If you can reduce your stress level, your EI will greatly increase, and you will be able to react to events calmly and rationally. Secondly, try being more open-minded and intellectually curious. There are far too many closed-minded people in this world, we don’t need more. Consider everyone’s opinion and focus on the message and not the person. Don’t set your views, expand them. Consider all sides of an argument. Closed-mindedness often comes from looking at the world in black and white. The truth is, there are only ever shades of grey. You just have to pick the one you think is brightest and support it for what it is. Thirdly, we should exercise our ability to recognize and manage our emotions. The first part, the recognizing, is often the hardest. We have to understand what we are feeling and why, which, while seeming trivial, is often extremely difficult. What causes the anger we’re feeling at the time? Is it stress, envy, arrogance or simple tiredness? Once we learn to understand our emotions, we can manage them much more easily. This part is of personal significance to me, having had to deal with enormous amounts of anger because of constant bullying. It seems incredibly hard, but once you realize where your anger or sadness comes from, you
learn to control it. After that, it gets easier every time. This, in itself, is the very core of Emotional Intelligence – to overcome your primal urges and rise above. Once you do this, you’ll find yourself to be much stronger. The fourth and final way I can think of to improve one’s EI is to learn to use humour to our advantage. Humour is something we have developed as a species to deal with overwhelming stress and anxiety forced upon us by our huge brains. It allows us to look back at all the horrible things that happened in the past and treat them with laughter. “How many cops does it take to change a light bulb? None; they just beat the room for being black.” There are clearly terrible implications in this joke, and yet we find it funny. We do not laugh at the African Americans for being discriminated against, but at the racists who discriminates against them. We can learn from this phenomenon and apply its effect to our own lives. Laugh at the bullies for having no way to deal with their own problems but to harass others. Laugh at whatever horrible thing has just happened to you. It’s a natural mechanism that helps us heal. Yes, the pain will still be there, as real as it ever
has been. But we will be able to deal with it much easier – or at least I was.
In conclusion, Emotional Intelligence is and always will be an incredibly important part of our lives. It allows us to deal with inner problems as well as improve our social lives. No matter what we do, we should always work to nurture and improve it as much as we possibly can. For once we are able to understand ourselves, understanding the world as a whole will be a much less daunting task.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Religion
Why am I an atheist? This question is posed to me by pretty much every religious person who knows my true nature. Friends and family find my decision on this matter weird and wrong. Well, most of them, anyway. They believe I have chosen to rebel against religion and everything it stands for because of my own laziness, arrogance or even fury. This could not be farther from the truth. I have made this decision based on overwhelming evidence and, more than anything, my understanding of our universe and how it works. This decision is a result of curious inquiry and a years-long search for the truth. I have explored many books, movies and other sources of information, both religious and otherwise. In the end, the truth I have found is far from whole, but it seems to be the best alternative among many. So, without further ado, an atheist’s opinion on the benefits and drawbacks of religion.
Religion has helped many people over an incredibly long period Let’s start with the benefits. The fact that religion has helped many people over an incredibly long period is well known, especially among religious people who like to point it out. I do not deny this, nor do I choose to ignore it. The teachings of many religions have a strong moral background, telling us not to lie, kill, commit adultery and so on. This message of goodness and respect is what draws most people to religion in the first place, myself included. Many of the questions I receive as an atheist are some form of inquiry on where I get my morals from, if not from God and the Bible. Well, the truth is, most of those people themselves don’t get their morality from their holy book, instead choosing only to cherry-pick something they find that fits their own outlook on life. Have you ever heard of people saying it’s fine to stone someone who tries to divert you from your religion to death? Or, perhaps, that women should keep quiet and tend to themselves, no matter how horrible their husbands may be? Well, believe it or not, those are only two of many Bible passages which refer to horrible, amoral things as perfectly normal. Someone who gets their morals from “God and the Bible” should follow these as well. Yet, luckily, they do not. Instead we choose to follow only that which we ourselves find admirable. We don’t get our morals from books, we find them
within ourselves! Atheists like me only take that a step further, asking that, if we can be good people by ourselves, why bother with the Bible at all? These aren’t the only benefits of religion. Religious people are usually nice and warm, often making donations to the poor and striving for great goals, such as world peace or ending hunger. Religion is also an emotional crutch of sorts to the people who need it. It is comforting to think your recently passed grandma is now at a better place, where she will be happy; or that if you pray often enough, a mystical all-powerful being will help you with whatever challenge in life you may be facing right now. Christians have a list of things they believe absolutely cannot be questioned under any circumstances. Despite all these benefits, religion has many drawbacks, some of which have caused me to quit it in the first place. First off, I’d like to refer to terrible crimes committed in religion’s name, such as crusades, the Spanish Inquisition or the recent 9/11 and 7/7 bombings. Yeah, those people definitely didn’t get Jesus’s message. All the evidence support those things being done in the name of their respective religions. While most religious people aren’t capable of committing such atrocities, they absolutely cannot be ignored. The second drawback I can think of, which played a major part in my becoming an atheist, is the common view among
Christians in particular: don’t think, pray. Christians have a list of things they believe absolutely cannot be questioned under any circumstances. You’d think a god so powerful and indisputable wouldn’t be afraid of questioning. This is not the case. I remember constantly being told I should question everything except God, because God is beyond everything we know and must not be questioned. This does not sound like something an omniscient, omnibenevolent being would say, especially to people whom he himself created to be curious. It does, however, sound like something people in power who are afraid of having their means of control stripped off them by someone who asks too many questions would pose as an important command. The problem with this is that it suppresses thought and advancement for the sake of keeping their holy book relevant. We’ve all heard of countless great minds who were either exiled or, more commonly, executed for thinking too much. It’s thanks to them that we have such amazing technology today, that surgeons are sterilizing their tools instead of applying the “if it looks bad, cut it off” methodology so painfully common in those days, and it was religion who chose to suppress their ideas and call them “blasphemy”, something it is still doing today.
There are countless organizations that could replace religious ones in providing help to those who need it. In conclusion, while religion was important in the past, when people thought it was okay to do practically anything as long as they wouldn’t be punished for it, I believe it’s not such a good thing today, when everybody knows to do unto others as they wish to be done to themselves. There are countless organizations that could replace religious ones in providing help to those who need it. Today, the only thing religion does is provide clergy with large amounts of money and bad people with excuses to hurt other while still believing they are doing good. “Good people do good things, evil people do evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion.” -Steven Weinberg
Teacher – (Face) Friend
Nowadays, a simple friend request is something we should share with pretty much everyone we know? Have you ever had a teacher as a friend or a friend as a teacher? If so, where do you draw the line between the teacher and the friend aspect of that particular person? These questions have had residence in our minds for quite a while, yet we’d always choose to ignore them. We do tend to avoid any subjects that might, at some point, become awkward. Still, it's important to ponder them in case they do come up. And among all the awkward situations we haven't yet found ourselves in, some will certainly happen to us. Nowadays, it seems to us a simple friend request is something we should share with pretty much everyone we know. If our friends, parents, uncles and any and all distant relations are on that list, why shouldn’t our teachers be? The first thing my class asks any new teacher is whether or not they’ll accept our friend requests. Is this normal? Is it just another passing trend or will it become an accepted part of our society?
Being able to communicate with your teacher not on some cold, official level but also as you would with another human being? Sure, it seems amazing. And there’s the incredible opportunity of gaining insight into each other’s words, interacting and discussing opinions. However, this could rapidly spiral into something we’ve never even expected. Between invading each other’s privacy, conspiracies about what the two of you have shared regarding official exams and the entire situation becoming uncomfortable for both sides, there are many ways clicking “Accept” could go wrong. As a species, we have a tendency to believe we can handle something before even considering the consequences.
Everything is good if you can keep it at bay. In conclusion, the online relationship is something we should all consider having – but the key here are boundaries. Having friends is something people need, whether in real life or on Facebook, and it doesn’t matter if the friend is someone your own age or someone much older than you. If you ask us, everything is good as long as it doesn’t affect the student-teacher relationship itself and if one can keep it “at bay”.
Filip’s personal experience: When I was 15, I started taking guitar lessons and he (Mr. Ešegović) became my guitar teacher. I had been friends with his brother, my peer. The lessons took about a year and I learned a lot about him. We had a few concerts within the workshop so the teacher himself became my friend. Soon I quit the workshop and didn't hear from him for a while. Then his brother told me there was a possibility that he would get a job in my school. I was excited at first, but at the same time a little bit disappointed because I heard he wouldn't teach (in) my class. It was quite funny seeing him so professional and serious, and I used to tease him about that. But in the end I learned that I needed to respect him whenever someone else was around us. However, when I got my one-on-one time with him, we’d still talk like friends. So, yeah, it is really important to cover our friendship whenever we are at school, but, still, the teacher – student relationship could never ruin our friendship.
Fran’s story: As a student (of this school) I have always strived for self-actualization in every field I believed I had a talent for. This, of course, meant I spent a massive amount of time writing essays, book prologues and other English-related forms of literature. While this would usually be incredibly draining for me, what with all the schoolwork I had to do during it, it was made far easier when my English teacher (Mrs. Opačak) allowed me to spend time during my English lessons working on various projects instead of attending the usual lesson curriculum. This also meant I eventually became friends with her. This had never happened to me, but I eventually managed to find the balance – I would treat her as both a teacher and a friend without letting either of the relationships overwhelm the other. I still remain her friend – and I find the relation itself incredibly insightful into both expanding my English skills and the nature of all relationships. If I could change that, I would never even attempt to do so.
Fran Filajdić and Filip Matan, 3B class (written for the school paper in Feb 2014)
A Word on Tolerance
TOLERANCE A word so many of us claim to know, yet so few of us actually comprehend. Tolerance is, indeed, a scarce resource in not only our country but the world as a whole.
Acceptance through tolerance The lack of tolerance doesn't merely exist in our teenage years. In my experience, many adults still lack the sensibility to accept the lifestyles or opinions of others. There are several ways to improve our relations with the world outside our borders, and acceptance of their customs is crucial in all of them. But how can we have acceptance without tolerance? Tolerance is, indeed, the first step; and, as I have learned, the first step is often the most important one. We need to learn to tolerate others in order to accept them.
Ignorance & Stupidity So you might ask yourself why we haven't done so already. Well, tolerance is not as easy to achieve as it appears to be. There is something that restrains its growth. This something is a trait we call ignorance. Now ignorance is an incredibly impactful word we misuse far too often. We associate it with stupidity and use it as an insult. ''Oh, you don't agree with me? Well, then you are ignorant!'' In actuality, ignorance and stupidity are not synonims. Stupidity is innate, ignorance is acquired. We can never choose not to be stupid, but we can at any time decide not to be ignorant. This endavour is as simple as choosing not to consider the traditions and opinions of others in any way inferior to our own.
Humans – the epitome of perfection? I know it can be hard. We, as humans, often consider ourselves to be the epitome of perfection. „Our way is certainly the best, and damn anyone who even considers questioning that.“ This vanity, however, is something we can overcome; must overcome if we ever desire to establish a working relationship with other cultures. We must realise that our own culture may not always be more correct than (and certainly is not superior to) another culture of other people. In a world where there are so many opposing opinions, tolerance is the only way to stand united because through TOLERANCE we achieve ACCEPTANCE. Through acceptance, UNITY. Through unity, PEACE. Thus everything we have today, started with a single person's decision to tolerate another and others' decision to follow, is a simple concept that has become the most important aspect of humanity. We, too, should follow.
At the end of the day, all of that, and more, is up to the decisions we make, not as Croats, or Serbs, or Englishmen, or Russians, but as humans. At the end of the day, it is all up to you.
The video A Word on Tolerance, directed by Filip Matan (Fran's classmate), was published in Oct 2013 (as a part of an eTwinning competition) on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIHE4m4yHvw