I haven’t announced this publicly because we have not been officially approved by the university as a club yet. (Response should be mid-August, I haven’t heard anything yet)

I’m trying to start something. And its really scary, because it hasn’t been done before. Its called COPE: A Student Mental Health Initiative. Basically a club that helps students who are suffering from depression, and individuals that are finding difficulties helping their loved ones go through it connect with information, find resources - and letting them know that they aren’t alone.

It stems from my own experiences with depression. A lot of the barriers and stigmas I faced when I tried to get help was very discouraging and was a roadblock on my journey to recovery.

There are a lot of plans for it. But I’m not sure if we’ll be able to garner enough interest. I have told one of my mentors about it ~ and it did give me a ray of hope.

Hello there Anne,

Also I wanted to let you know that [name] - I had mentioned your initiative to him and is extremely KEEN to meet with you to talk about issues. I will put the ball in your court - to contact him.

I’m looking forward to supporting you in your endeavours

take care.

I hope I can pull this off. I’ve never been a position to lead other people before.

I didn’t quite watch the entire thing, but despite surrounding controversies, the Chinese were able to pull of a spectacular show of fireworks that blazed the skies over their bird nest national stadium. I could feel my own heart swell with wonderment at the fireworks show - the largest pyrotechnic show the Olympic games have ever seen. I can only imagine what it would be like to be there.

This is probably the first Olympics I’ve ever sat down and watched, probably because of things I’ve heard about how they were trying to do things, perhaps a little unconventionally. People being removed from their homes, factory workers losing their jobs (without compensation) as factories are being put out of commission as olympic officials tried to clear the smog. Sometimes the smog is so bad, it covers the moon for weeks, and the pollution can sometime blanket neighbouring countries like Korea.

I’ve also heard about the government putting stringent measures on media coverage. No journalists are allowed to interview locals, since everything covered will be provided on the internet.

But despite all of that. They did put on quite a show. It went off without a hitch, and the Chinese should be quite proud. The performances were really something else too - it was quite apparent the rich culture and history that the Chinese had, and how that has managed to pass down from generation to generation without giving in too much to Western culture.

Of course I was working at the hospital at the time, and the ceremonies began at 7 am so there was no way I could catch as it was happening.

China certainly showed the world why it has so much to be proud of. I was very impressed. They worked extremely hard and I can see why. Toronto, Canada was up for the Olympics 2008 running, and I’m almost glad we lost it to China. We wouldn’t have been able to make it as spectacular as they did.

It turns out a cousin of my boyfriend Kevin’s is an olympic hopeful. Peng Peng Lee. She couldn’t compete this year because of her age. But its cool having a celebrity in the family. I want an autograph lol.

Gymanistics are actually one of my favourite sports to watch. The athletes are extremely petite because they literally have no fat on their bodies as well as the nature of the sport. Sporting six-packs (although you usually can’t see because of their uniforms) and lean muscles - makes me feel like a complete slob lol. But the amount of work, practise, and discipline they dedicate to their sport really makes me pale in comparison in terms of anything I do in my life.

Maybe thats why we are so fascinated with Olympic athletes or athletes in general - they push the limits of human ability and they do things we wouldn’t risk our lives or even imagine putting the effort into.

Some parents have to mortgage their houses in order to pay for the competition fees that Olympic athletes to see their kids compete.

Another thing, maybe we can attribute the success to the fact that the Olympics start on 08/08/08 - one of the luckiest days in the century according to the Chinese. I should have bought a lottery ticket yesterday. T_T