99%, that's what we are.

What is Occupy Wall Street?

OWS was created by an activist group called Adbusters and it started on September 17, 2011. It was inspired by the demonstrations that happened this spring in other countries, like Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.  It’s a movement by a mass of people against the capitalism that started in Zuccotti Park of New York’s Wall Street district. The demonstrators are basically doing camping in the different cities at strategic places, like the Wall Street district. Their slogan is “We are the 99%” and it refers to the distribution of the wealth since only 1% of the population own the country’s wealth. In Canada, the cities of Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg and Moncton are involved  in the demonstration.

Right now, in one of my courses, we are listening to a movie about Jimi Hendrix and it talks a lot about the hippies and the society at that time. It makes me think of what is happening right now in a lot of cities all over the world with Occupy Wall Street. I don’t think that the movement will have the same impact that the hippies had back in the days when they were about to change the world. First of all, the hippies were the majority of the society. In 2011, it’s completely the opposite, the population is really old compared to the 60s. Right now, in the streets of New York there are 20 000 demonstrators and the city counts 8,175,133 people. What I see is that most people just don’t care about it or they don’t want to do something against it. The movement at that time and the movement now, they both have the same goal: change the world. But let’s face it; it’s not going to happen anytime soon. Capitalism is there to stay.



University - Université - Universität - Universidad - 대학 - 大学 - มหาวิทยาลัย ...

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one.” - Buddha

“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience. We must do that which we think we cannot.” - Eleanor Roosevelt 

No matter what language I use it's still the same word. The same meaning. The same fear. The fear of the unknown. Last year, university seemed so far away that never really thought about it, but now it’s almost time for the inscription and, next year, for a lot of students all around the world, university will begin. Am I the only one who is scared of it? Of course, it will be a great moment in my life, but what if…

What if I fail my classes?

What if I’m not good enough?

What if I don’t have enough money?

What if I make the wrong choice?

What if I cannot take care of myself?

What if I lose all my friends?

What if …

There are so many “if”, but there are still no answers to them. Do I have to jump into the adventure that is university without knowing those answers? I’m scared of going to another city alone, without my friends. I’m scared to live without my parents for the first time. I’m scared that I will lose my friends, because we are to far away. Even if I’m scared of a lot of things, I’m also really exited to go to university, make new friends and to finally answer those unanswered questions.

Sometimes I wish that I could stop time and just live like right now for a long time. I’m surrounded by amazing friends, real friends and I don’t have to worry about money or my grades. I’m also positive that I made the right choice by choosing Languages as my program. All I have to do is to live fully every minutes of my life.