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It’s been a considerable time since I last posted, and will update the fellow readers on my personal life in another entry, but I thought I’d share the delight that I had in attending the Salon du Chocolat (i.e. mega chocolate exhibition!). This event is like any other trade show except the twist is, instead of the usual clothing exhibition, it’s all chocolate! Not just any regular chocolate either - there’s chocolate from various countries (such as Mexico) and interesting takes on chocolate treats (think olive oil covered chocolate or green tea chocolate treats).

The lineup was incredibly long if you weren’t already holding a ticket. In fact, if I were to measure it in football fields, I would say at least one and a half football fields! Even though the lineup for those already holding tickets was considerably shorter, it was still quite a huge mob. Bypassing the huge mob - think good timing and good location - I got into quite a crowded exhibition hall with many free samples calling out to me. Let’s just say that I’ve probably had my fill of chocolate for the year.

Now the highlight for me of this whole show was the fashion show. Considerably different from my experience at the Ethical Fashion Show , this show was one where it was much harder to get a good view, but when you did, you couldn’t help but be amazed. With a raised platform in the center of the exhibition hall, you’d think that this would be a huge attraction, and it was. But without other forms of media to project the fashion show, many people left, continued their chocolate ventures, or scrambled their way into the crowd in hopes of catching a glimpse.

When people said chocolate fashion show, I imagined something much more elaborate than what I saw. I thought of entire dresses being made of chocolate. Of course, I now realize how preposterous that sounds and admire the chocolate elements that were added to the clothing items. The models were excellent in terms of evoking personality on this mini runway. The encore where the chocolate couturiers came out with their creations was highly enjoyable. What kept me on my toes and my camera on was the entertainment between clothing changes.

Now I’m quite torn about one thing, and that’s the amount of music that was cued on the runway. Each strut down the runway required a new song, and while I enjoyed each costume having its own distinct music, I can’t help but wonder if it was really necessary. At other fashion shows that I’ve been to, it’s been minimal with the music changes; usually the song finishes and then another one will play, it isn’t really in sync with the whole runway show.

Tags:   Fashion · Fashion Show · France · November · Paris · Salon du ChocolatNo Comments.

Some time ago, one of my friends asked if commencement was really worth it. And by that, he meant if it was worth the money I was spending to fly home and the time I would be spending (which could be allocated toward studying for a midterm and writing an essay). Instead of giving a straight answer, I could only laugh. How could I explain something I hadn’t thought about a lot or even knew how to explain?

I can be clear about this: I’m not going to commencement solely for the fact that I want to be on that stage and graduate with everyone. It’s not that at all.

The first two years of my high school career were spent being quiet and shy. After first impressions and everything of that like, teachers already have their ideas about you and very little can be done to change that. I suppose when grade eleven started, I began to change, but it wasn’t incredibly noticeable. There were certain characteristics that became a little more prominent in my personality - I became more goal oriented and I learned to fight for what I wanted. And by fight, I mean the ability to persevere to achieve what it is I want. Senior year was incredibly different. I felt that I could achieve a lot more than what was being given to me (i.e. opportunities). Learning from a textbook isn’t really for me, so when I wanted to learn about something or to try something, I would make a club and get people to interact with me and teach me. Truth be told, I had very little idea what I was doing half the time. And sometimes, I think people knew this.

I had people talk about me saying how I could never achieve all of this, how my ideas would fail, that I was taking on way too much, and that I would just go crazy. In a way, I guess you could say I lacked support and faith from peers, and sometimes, teachers. This lack of faith and belief actually pushed me to do better and to do more. If opportunities did not exist, I learned to make them from whatever resources I had and with what little help I had. Complaining wasn’t an option. There was always a way to achieve what I wanted or a way to achieve something even better than what I had aspired. What wound up happening was that I helped make the business department shine a little, some classes learn a little more about what was going on in the world, the school a little more culturally involved with ethnic foods, and some other things. I’d like to think that I made some sort of impact, even if it was only a couple persons.

I have to admit that high school was never about academics for me. If you asked me where I stood in my graduating class in terms of grades, I could tell you that I was in the top ten percent of my class, but I could also tell you that I never tried incredibly hard to get these grades. I wouldn’t say that they came naturally, but that they came with less effort than my extracurricular activities. One of the greatest lessons that I took away from school was that everyone can have a positive impact on your life, it depends on how you take the criticisms and the praises. And also, remember that opinions can always change, you just have to prove yourself (kind of like the arguments that I am posing and needing to develop in my cultural foundations essay!).

So while I thank those who believed in me, I have to thank those who had a whit of faith in me. And for you all, whether you’ve implicated in your words to me that you don’t believe in me or whether you’ve told me that I have the potential to achieve great things, I will be on that stage to show you what I have done with the opportunities that I have made.

Tags:   Graduation · Growing Up · High School · New York University · NYU · School · Woburn Collegiate Institute1 Comment