How to Write Good Notes

Hello to all of you who have looked back on their piles of loose leaf notes the morning before their finals and asked themselves, “What the heck does this say?” Or maybe you fumbled with these same notes for fifteen minutes just trying to get the sheets in order. Either way, disorganized notes are a nightmare to study from. So why not learn a few simple steps to writing awesome notes that you won’t be able to stop staring at?

1. Do not use abbreviations, and remember to write in your own voice. Abbreviated notes are the bane of a panicked reviewer. How is one supposed to tell whether “FR cause: famine” means that “famine” was a cause of the French Revolution (which also took precious minutes to decode) or whether the Revolution caused the famine? It is pretty important to determine causality for writing that exam worth a large percentage of your final mark.
2. Write in a consistent font/calligraphy/style. This means do not get lazy and let your writing become sloppy on that day you are too tired to even pay attention in class. Two benefits arise from maintaining a neat set of notes. The first is that your notes look terrific afterwards. It will be like you typed them in John Smith Font 1. This fact holds even if you are not the best printer, as consistency is all that matters. (But if you do write neatly, your notes get a typewritten look – exciting!) The second benefit is that, if you’re forcing yourself to focus on notes, you’ll also force yourself to awaken from that zombie state and to pay attention in class. Sure, it is hard, but both your knowledge and your notes will benefit from this exercise. 
3. Pre-write your notes if possible. Although this sounds like some advice from the keeners at the front of the class with their know-it-all brains, all ready and prepped before the teacher even starts the lesson, it’s still good advice. By writing notes beforehand (from the textbook, D2L, Wikipedia, etc.), what you are doing is familiarizing yourself with all the areas you are confused about. By the time you take the class, you will know exactly what questions you want the teacher to clarify. If you feel you already understand everything, does that not make the class seem less unnerving? Finally, when you do learn new things in class, it is much easier to add supplemental information to a set of pre-written notes than it is to try and scrawl everything down. Just make sure the supplement is also written in the same style!
4. Get a nice writing utensil. Who wants to write with a dull yellow HB pencil that leaves a trail of graphite that makes your “o”s look like doughnuts and feels like a twig you pulled off the nearest tree? A nice writing utensil like a BIC Reaction or a Papermate FlexGrip Elite not only feels better to write with, but also makes getting out the supplies for note-taking that much more exciting. (If you are not appreciative of nice stationary, stop reading now.) Furthermore, if you have the money and have really good writing, nothing beats using a liquid ink pen…
5. Keep your notes in order and separate from worksheets and the like – preferably in a notebook, but a separate section in a binder will suffice. After all the effort you put into producing the notes that you would hug if you could without wrinkling the paper, the last thing you want to see are random sheets sporadically disrupting the flow of your notes. Keeping your notes distinct from the rabble of other feuilles not only helps you keep them in order and thus avoid the confusion of seeing “enantiomers are/the half-life of a second order reaction can be calculated by…”, but also saves you the trouble of having to go through several double-sided pages and playing Go-Fish to match up the pairs of pages that go together. 
6. Write in the margins. Do not doodle on notes (diagrams are okay). Do not highlight stuff. Either always colour-code, or never colour-code (never doing it requires less work). Write on the lines (none of that cramming two lines of text per line of paper). Learn how to write with kerning.

Happy note taking!

My Top 10 Favourite Childhood Books

By Sarena D.
*Article first appears on www.youthareawesome.com
 So, I was feeling a touch of nostalgia and decided to compile a list of my favourite novels from my elementary school years. Many of these I would go back to and read again today, and I encourage you all to have a read too. Have a childhood favourite? Comment below. In no particular order, here it goes:

1. Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery
   Prince Edward Island’s famous redhead has been an inspiration in my life for many years. I enjoyed every one of the eight books wholeheartedly, and even read the prequel, Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson.
2. Famous Five Series by Enid Blyton
   A group of best friends/cousins, check. An adorable dog, check. A mystery to solve, check. My aunt in England had me hooked on this series by a famous British author.
3. Mallory Towers by Enid Blyton
   This is a series about girls at a boarding school in Cornwall, England. This series follows the protagonist through all three terms at her school. The best parts of the book for me were the times when the girls played tricks on their teachers, which had me in tears of laughter. This is an inspiration for all April Fools days to come.
4. Little Giant Book of…
   These tiny books pack a huge punch. The collection includes books on every topic imaginable. My favourites included: The Little Giant Book of Optical Illusions, Ghost Stories, Jokes and Dinosaurs.
5. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
   The main character, Milo, has the time of his life when he ends up in the Land of Expectations. The book is a big play on words, and includes two warring princes (one of mathematics and the other of English), the kidnapped princesses, Rhyme and Reason, and the mathematical creature, The Dodecahedron, as well as other strange creatures. I loved journeying with Milo to the Island of Conclusions (you have to jump to get there), and to the enemies’ kingdoms of Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, as well as to other fantastic places.
6. Our Canadian Girls Series
   This is a truly inspirational series about girls in Canada surviving the toughest of challenges, including The Halifax Explosion, The Great War of Europe, and the racial tensions in Nova Scotia.
7. Nancy Drew Series by Carolyn Keene
   This is another set of mystery series which has fascinated me for years. It’s little wonder that, presently, all I watch on television are crime shows.
8. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
   This is one of my favourite sci-fi fantasies. The series centres on a young girl whose father (a government scientist) disappears after working on a project called the tesseract.
9. The Bobbsey Twins Series by Laura Lee Hope
   Again, this is another set of mystery series, where two sets of twins in a family go on a variety of adventures. Seeing a trend?
10. Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling
    I think this is a given. I have grown up with Harry Potter (I started reading the series in Kindergarten). So far, I have read the books over thirty-five times. 

Student Speak

By: Grace. F
What clubs are you in right now? What for?  What do you think about Western’s club selection? Should we have more or less clubs?  If you can choose any club to be included in Western Canada, what would it be and why?

Jade Z. and Helena M. - I’m in Yearbook right now, and I really enjoy it so far. Yearbook gives me the chance to learn about design which is something that I’m really interested in. We get to try new things, and it’s a really great experience overall!

We should definitely have more clubs. I’d like to see some book clubs being added because I personally enjoy reading, and I think it’s always great to have a group of people reading the same book and have a lively discussion! There should be clubs that are similar to P.E because IB students don’t get the chance to take P.E in grade 11 or 12. There should also be clubs that allows students go to other student for help on homework.
I would personally want Design because it’s something that I’m interested in and I’d like to work with people who have the same interests as me. I want the club to be really broad so that it could include computer design or fashion design, and then there would be a lot more people who I will be able to meet and work with. I believe that students at Western should be able to recommend or put in their ideas for clubs so that the administration can see what the students want.

Laurie L.G. - I’m in the Franco-Western club. One of the best things about this club is that there are bonus marks awarded for people in the FSL classes, and that’s one of the reasons why I decided to join the club. The club only lasts for one semester, but I think it should be offered throughout the year because it gives students a chance to practice their French with other students. This is the other reason why I joined the club. It’s really helpful when you can talk to other students who are also learning French.

There should be more clubs! Western has an extremely diverse population, and we all have many different interests. Clubs should be there to give the opportunity for students to show their talent. As well, it can also show students that there are other people out there who might share the same interests as them!

I don’t have a particular one that I think should be added, but clubs that other people are interested in should be included.

Howdy Partner!

By: Clare T.

Pull out your cowboy hats and dust off those leather boots...it’s time for a week of wild fun!

Western Week has been a tradition at Western Canada High School for the past twenty years. Like many school functions involving the difficult task of bringing together our diverse student body, this four day event is organized by our very own Student’s Union, who put in a great deal of time and effort into making sure it goes off without a hitch!

The purpose of the event is to offer students a break during a long and tiring semester with a bit of lighthearted fun celebrating the culture that has made Calgary famous. Every day at lunch hour from March 12th to 15th, the Main Gym is transformed into an arena reminiscent of the Wild West. This is where a variety of rodeo-themed events are held. The events vary from year to year, but usually involve a relay, a test of coordination, a test of dancing skill, and a challenge that focuses on team work. To compete in the western-themed events, students create teams of ten, called Ranches. Ranches compete against one another for prizes in each event. All the challenges that take place in the arena are intended to be entertaining for the cowboys and cowgirls competing, as well as for the spectators.

What’s the best way to describe Western Week? According to student Graeme McConnell, the word is “rowdy”. “Announcements are louder and all you hear in the hallway on your way to class are students cheering. The noise level is incredible! Everybody breaks social norms and just go crazy.” Graeme has participated in the event since coming to Western three years ago. To him, Western Week is about going back to the school’s roots and celebrating what Calgary is all about. “My favorite memory of Western Week is of my first year being part of a Ranch,” says Graeme. “One of the challenges I had to do involved eating refried beans without using your hands. During the middle of the task my nose started bleeding right into the beans. I didn’t notice it at the time,so I just kept going and finished the entire plate of food. It wasn’t until after I was done that I realized what had happened. I didn’t win the challenge, but I did receive an honorable mention!” Bad luck in one of his first challenges hasn’t stopped Graeme from taking part in the event year after year! What he’s most looking forward to about this year’s Western Week is just being part of the experience. “I can’t wait to see everyone break out their cowboy hats and their big belt buckles. Some students really go all out! The competition is good fun all around.”

So what should we be expecting from this year’s four day Wild West competition? In the words of a true cowboy, “Get ready for a foot-stompin’, yee-hawin’ good time!”

Newest Twilight Installment Strictly for Fans

By: Sam D.
2 out of 5 stars
The fourth installment of the Twilight Saga is Breaking Dawn Part 1. This film was directed by Bill Condon, who also directed the previous installments, and was produced by Summit Entertainment. The final book adaptation is being split into two parts similar to the marketing strategy of the Harry Potter series. Breaking Dawn was released in winter 2011 and stars the well-known actors Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner.

 The film begins with the much-anticipated marriage between Bella (Stewart) and her vampire lover, Edward (Pattinson). Afterwards, to the dismay of Bella's best friend, Jacob, (Lautner), they embark on the honeymoon of ages on a private island. Unfortunately for the happy couple, things prove to be too good to be true as Bella soon finds out that she is pregnant with Edward's child. What ensues is a muddle of melodramatic events that require a bit too much suspension of disbelief, ending in a gory improvised Caesarean section and a hodgepodge of movie clichés.

With every new movie contributing to the series, the Twilight actors become less and less convincing in their supernatural roles. It’s hard to blame them, as the poor writing really gives them little to work with. The bleak expressions and unsalvageable dialogue (the most memorable line being the dramatically-delivered single word, “possibly”) quickly sends the film spiraling down the hole of fandom that it has dug for itself. On the other hand, the parental figures in the film prove to be as believable as they could be in such a role, namely the two fathers of the married couple played by Billy Burke and Peter Facinelli. Unfortunately, this small triumph in writing takes no attention away from the disappointing portrayal of Bella as played by Kristen Stewart. Even in the most emotional and physically demanding of scenes (such as the childbirth part) Stewart comes across as sheltered and indifferent.

All in all, the only people who will enjoy this film are the Twi-hards that spawned its creation. Although many flocked to the theatres to see the film on the big screen, it is no less dissatisfying on a laptop with a bowl of microwave popcorn to distract you from this B movie quality film.

Student Loans for Albertans

By: Robert L.
Many grade twelve students across Alberta are about to breathe a sigh of relief. Two weeks ago, Minister of Advanced Education Greg Weadick announced a complete overhaul of the process to get student loans in Alberta. The new process involves a simpler system designed to improve the user-friendliness of the applications. Overall, the goal of the province, according to Weadnick, is that “We want to make sure finances are never a barrier to students’ education”.

The current student loan application considers many factors in making decisions regarding student loans. Information about a student’s earnings, savings, and RRSPs all affect a student’s eligibility. For some students, this adds unnecessary hassle and complexity, something that Weadick wishes to change. To solve this problem, a Flat Rate Student Contribution policy will be introduced. Rather than going through a lengthy assessment, the Flat Rate Student Contribution allows students to put up a constant sum of $1,500 when applying for the loan. Forced parental contributions will also be rendered obsolete. As well, restrictions for international students will be removed.

In addition to simplifying the system, the new program will also provide financial benefits to students. When students complete their university education, they are given a six-month grace period during which they are not required to pay off the loan, however interest is still accumulated over this time. The new loan arrangement will abolish this interest, allowing students to enjoy their grace period with no strings attached. Loan remissions will also change. Instead of the Government of Alberta paying off a certain amount of students' loans, a completion grants program will be established. Upon completion of a certificate, diploma, applied bachelor or bachelor degree program, students will receive anywhere between $1,000 and $2,000 in grants. Retention grants will also be given to graduates who choose to work in Alberta for three years or longer in occupations that the province deems “essential”.

All of these changes will be implemented in order to make the loan process more predictable and transparent. The hope is that more students will be interested in staying in Alberta for their studies. For those high school seniors who want to stay close to home, this announcement is sure to relieve some of the stress involved with university.

Sources:

1. Donelly, Greg. "Alberta government simplifies student loan application process." Global News Edmonton. 13 Feb. 2012. 
2. "Major changes coming to Alberta’s student aid plan." MacEwan News. 13 Feb. 2012.
   

Student Loans in the News

By: Richard L.
It’s that time of year when most grade 12 students are filling out university applications, applying for scholarships, and inevitably looking into student loans. University education isn’t cheap; a student can easily pay upwards of $10,000 in a single year. While Canadians have been fortunate thus far in the global economic downturn that has been around since America’s last presidential election, student loans are expected to be a hot topic in 2012.

The American student loans system has come under attack. The issue of student debt has gained special prominence in the Occupy Movement of 2011, along with the income gap and corporate greed. Unemployed graduates have startling figures to support their claims: student debt as of the start of 2012 is in excess of one trillion dollars ($1,000,000,000,000), which is more than the credit card debt. To put that into perspective, this is roughly 1/15 of the national debt.

The students aren’t refusing to pay up. A 2005 change in the bankruptcy code currently prevents student debt from disappearing like other debts upon declaring bankruptcy, and many now argue that the old rules be restored.

However, the unemployment situation for students is not as bad as “[being the] highest since 1970” might imply. In September 2011, the unemployment rate for college graduates was close to 5%, about the same as the figure from the previous year. By contrast, overall unemployment has been hovering in the 9% to 10% range. Although the presidential candidates try to act on the issue of student debt, the specific policies are less obvious.

House Representative Ron Paul has perhaps been the most unforgiving of the possible Republican candidates, proposing to eliminate the national student loan system and requiring students to take responsibility for financing their education. His proposal in October 2011 was immediately attacked by the press as villainous and unsympathetic, yet in a USA Today statement issued on October 27th Paul has his own statistics: while commodity prices have double since 1980, the cost of education has quintupled. By “reigning in the government”, inflation can be brought under control, and education might become affordable again.[1]

Contestant Newt Gingrich takes a more personal approach, assuming that the student loan issue rose from the attitude of the students. Again students will be required to work for their education, but schools will provide work-study programs that will make it easier for students to find jobs. If students realize the expense of their education, they are less likely to drop out or to stay in university for more than the necessary time, which is also a major contributor to the student debt.

The Obama Administration in fall 2010 tried to deal with the issue of student debt by further limiting the size of debt repayment, a less drastic measure than the Republican response that would help graduates bear the burden of repayment.

As the American presidential elections draw closer, student debt will undoubtedly be addressed in debates and rallies by both sides, appearing for the first time alongside housing, foreign policy and medical care.

Paul, Ron. "The Truth about my Student Loan Plan." USA Today. 27 October 2011. Web. 16 January 2012.