Peace

Literature Essay Submitted for PTA Reflections 2014 - The World would be a better place if.. Peace Prevails !..

There are two strong and effective feelings in the world, war and peace. Only one of this strong feeling is better than the other.The better feeling is peace.Do you know why?

Peace is happy and it warms your heart. This feeling is where everyone joins together in unison. It can bring joy and calmness to us. Peace can be brought by helping others in need and being cooperative and working with others happily. Everyone has kindness and generous heart inside them. All they have to do is to bring it out and share it with others. Others will then share the peace that you have given to them and so on.  Peace is an awesome and powerful element. Everyone contains this element. No one can die when this feeling is activated. No one can lose food or shelter. No one is really sad and angry. Peace is a different story in the world than war.

War is a horrid feeling. War and hatred is becoming more common and it lives in people who hate each other. Right now only war is happening in almost every part of the world like in Asia. War takes weapons to attack innocent people. Sometimes we have to defend ourselves but not with war.

We are losing friends, family, and other important people because of war.War is like a big virus. War can only bring hate and nothing else. Please don’t fight with others. The smallest of fights can become a big deal.

Terrorists want to rule and they believe in war. But all they accomplish is defeating themselves. They need to realize that they cannot do good things to the people they love by destroying others. Peace cannot be bought by weapons but only by the most beautiful feelings on Earth. We have seen many wars started by them in the world. People lose homes, shelters, and eventually die. But so far none of the terrorist organizations have succeeded. We need the terrorists to stop for once and for all.

We all all know that there are many terrible people are out there but we can change them. No matter who you are, what you like, what skin color, and how old you are, you can still make a big difference. Be a good person in our world. Don’t be the one who destroys the world with angriness.

May be you don’t know about it or are may be you found it. It is hidden inside you ready to use its power, the power to help the world. People are trying to change the future of the world to stop arguments and stop wars. If a single person Mahatma Gandhi could get freedom by peace, why not you? It is never too late to make a difference and make the world better place for us all !!

School Speech for Treasurer

My Speech

Vignesh Manikandan, Grade 5, Parkmont Elementary. 10/25/2014.

Hello students, I am Vignesh Manikandan and I am running for treasurer this year.  I am in 5th grade and I am ten years old. I am a very responsible kid because do my homework and I always turn it in on time.

Math is my favorite subject in school. I love exploring with math in the class. I am in advanced math and I am very happy I got in to this great class by Mr.Milz. In math, my favorite part is learning about money. I like to handle money and I love to spend it wisely.

My dad is a Treasurer for three different non-profit organizations. I help him with his activities, adding numbers, scanning checks, receipts etc.  So I have some experience for being a treasurer. He taught me a lot about handling money, which developed my interest in it.

I play a lot of music, which actually helps me in math. I like playing Piano, Flute, and Clarinet. I am also awesome in learning other subjects, and I get a lot of good grades.

I attend Boy Scouts which is where I realized helping other people is hard but fun. I like helping people in need. My goal is to become an Eagle scout and I am confident that I can achieve it.

I am a hard worker and I take my time to make sure that I finish my work completely.

If I am elected for treasurer, I will work hard for all of you!  Just my smartness doesn’t make me awesome. I am well organized in school and I always know where my work is. I learned how to be honest and truthful throughout my years at Parkmont. I am very obedient by listening to what my teachers and my parents say.

I am very nice and respectful to my classmates by not talking and being on task. I help my classmates with problems they struggle with. I am always looking out for my friends when they need help.  I will truly do the best for everyone. Even though I might not be the most perfect kid in the world, I will still try my hardest. I will be an awesome treasurer for you and everyone in the school.

Vote for me, and you will be certainly happy!!!! Thank you!

All About My First Cub Scout Camp .. Part 3 (Final) ..

Note: Read my Previous posts on this..

Day 5, Friday Aug 8th 2014

I woke up by the sound of music at 7:30 am. I dressed up formally and waited for the rest of my pack. After they were ready we went down neatly in one straight line. Everyone was already there, so we were a little late. We quickly jogged down the field so we could try and make it in time. We then got in our places and sang the Pledge Of Allegiance. Then they said they have a big announcement. They said the big splash was going to happen today. The big splash is a contest to see who can make the biggest splash in the whole entire camp! Only swimmers can participate so I was very excited to participate in the contest because I was a swimmer.

Then they dismissed us to go to breakfast. We had pancakes and syrup.  I couldn't stop eating them! We heartily ate and we went to the gift shop to spend the rest of my money (My Dad gave me $20 for expenses). I bought a note pad and pen for my dad because he likes to write. I got my mom rabbit skin because she likes soft things. (I hope it wasn't real rabbit skin!). We then headed of to BB guns.

I missed a lot of my shots at first but after I was shooting like a pro. Our main target was a piece of colored paper with a castle printed on it clipped to a piece of cardboard hanging on a string. We could also shoot  ping pong balls if we were really accurate. Lunch was being called out so we hurried to lunch as quickly as we can. We ate cookies with tasty burgers. They were delicious!!!

We then headed back to the campsite and changed into our swimming clothes for the big splash! We arrived there just on time. A few minutes later everyone start diving into the pool. There were large splashes and little splashes. It was finally my turn so I stepped on the diving board,ran,and did a pretty good cannonball. I got 3  sevens. There were three judges who can rate you from 1 - 10. 10 was the best. 1 was well....horrible. (Luckily we had no ones!). The judges sit on a bench near the pool so they really got wet . At the end the judges were pushed into the pool. It was hilarious! I almost cried with laughter.

After the event was over we changed back into our normal clothes and went to dinner. We had tacos. Mmmmm! After dinner we headed on to the amphitheater and we performed skits and then watched pictures at Camp Royaneh. We were all very tired after so we headed on back to camp and I slept like a log.

Epilogue

Day 6, Saturday Aug 9th 2014

The next day I woke up by hearing the horns.  I quickly put my uniform on and packed up my items into the backpack. When the rest of my pack was all ready we headed out to the flags. We sang our last Pledge of Allegiance at Camp Royaneh and then went to the cafeteria. We ate pastries and yummy donuts (my favorite). It was wonderful! 

I then went back to the campsite and brought my bags to my Cub masters car.  I said goodbye to Camp Royaneh for the last time as we started driving back home. I couldn't wait to see my family after a week long trip alone for the first time in my life. I need to tell lots of stories about the camp to my sister and my parents. I know that they will be really proud that I took care of myself for the past 5 days.

All About My First Cub Scout Camp .. Part 2 ..

Note: Read my Previous post on this..

Day 3, Wednesday Aug 6th 2014

I woke up early to the sound of loud horns. Even though I was bit sleepy, I brushed my teeth, freshened up in the bathroom, and got my Scout Uniform and wore it. We waited for a while for the rest of my pack to get ready. We then headed off to the filed to do flag ceremony. We all neatly lined up and sang the Pledge of Allegiance.

Today at breakfast we had fresh sausages, fruits and some hot delicious soup. Then we all went to the forestry class. We learnt all about trees and plants and how important are they for our daily life. I also learnt that wild forest fires help the forests in long run and it was very interesting to know about it. I learnt that fire can destroy things and at the same time it can create new fascinating things too.

We created little necklaces in wood and strings to show that we can do lots of things from nature. We went on a short hike and the teachers showed us the plants and trees that thrived there. We came down the cafeteria and had burritos for lunch. It was really tasty. 

Then we  quickly rushed over to the gift shop at the campsite and bought some candies. I got three yummy packets of Skittles, one for me, one for my Sister and another for my friend Sunjay.  He was not able to make to this trip because he was sick the day before our trip. I wished that he was with me at this camp, we could have had lots of fun.

After shopping we went to our campsite and we had some free time. We went into our tents and talked about video games. When it was time to dinner, we dressed up and went into the dining hall. They served mashed potatoes and beans, with meat sauce. It was really yummy and we were all full at the end.

Then, we all went to our tents, packed up our sleeping pads and sleeping bags and we went down to the field, and put our bags under a sign that said Mountain Man. We then hiked up on a long dusty trail until we reached an open area. I was now confused, thinking "What are we doing here at night?", then I came to know we were sleeping in open field tonight under the star lit sky! 

The camp organizers started the camp fire, and we all sang songs and danced around, finally were were all tired and we unrolled our sleeping bags talked about stars, big dipper and in no time we all were sleeping like a log !

Day 4, Thursday Aug 7th 2014

We woke up early in the morning and everyone was packing up their bags. I quickly packed up my bags and I was ready as always. We hiked down the dusty trail. It was a little steep but I could manage it. 

We unpacked everything when we arrived at camp. We then headed to the fields to do flags. After we sang a slow song and watched the flag being raised  we ran to breakfast. We had some juicy omelets. Boy, they were great!

 After we merrily ate, we went to the store. I bought some very interesting rocks. One was iron pyrite and also I got obsidian. The obsidian was dark jet black and the pyrite was golden! 

We then went to arts and crafts and made cool catapults. They could shoot really far and we could load them with rocks. It was really fun and I was enjoying it. We also created a scrap book. I designed mine with colorful interesting markers. It looked very good and beautiful. I learnt how to cut wood with saws and how to hammer nails! Right after arts and crafts we went to lunch. I had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They tasted great! 

Then we changed into our swimming clothes to go swimming. My friends and I went to the swimming pool, when everyone was changed, I decided to retake the test and I succeeded with all the tests and got the title Swimmer. For the rest of the time I went diving in 9 feet, and I felt really happy about it. 

After I was done I changed back into my regular clothes and went to dinner. I happily ate some salad and egg. It was very tasty! After dinner we headed back to our campsite and made a big camp fire. Our pack took some time to start the fire but eventually it grew. Then I saw the whole entire staff walking to our campsite. I was very excited! We all sang merry songs and preformed skits. At the end they left and our tired pack went back to our tents. My friends and i were talking about Pokemons and soon we were sleeping like a heavy log.

All About My First Cub Scout Camp

Prelude

I recently went to a camping trip to camp Royaneh, as part of my Webelos Camp adventure. it was a week long camp and my parents weren't with me. I was with my pack (a group of cub scouts and at least one leader), and it was quite an experience for me. Read about my visit to camp Royaneh ! 

Camp Royaneh, is located at Cazadero, CA in the midst of a beautiful redwood forest. This time the theme of the campsite was all about Knights! It was really amazing to see that all the staff members were dressed up as knights and princess. It looked like a mini theme park.

Day 1, Monday Aug 4th 2014

I woke up early at 5:00 AM for the big day, saw my parents were packing my bag, sleeping bag and pads. It was my Moms birthday, I gave her a big hug and a kiss and wished her happy birthday. I felt bit sad about leaving off to camp on her birthday. I quickly got ready and we all went to my school parking lot to meet up with the rest of the pack. 

It was 6:00 AM and I was half asleep, met my friends and pack leader then we all went to the scout store where the tour bus started. We loaded our bags in the bus and I said bye to my Dad, climbed on the bus with my friends. It took about 2 hours to arrive at camp, we were talking all about Pokemon, minecraft and other video games. 

Once we all got down from the bus, we assembled into smaller groups and we went to our tents. Our campsite was named "Fricot Meadows" it was located just few feet away from the cafeteria. Once we reached our tent, we unpacked our bags. In total we were three cub scouts in our tent, all were from my same pack. From our campsite, we had real closer view of the animals like deers, jack rabbits, it had small streams, short bridge and beautiful scenery. 

Then, we all went for lunch at the cafeteria. We had a great soup, mashed potatoes and meat loaf, the food was really great, I also learnt good table manners. After a heavy lunch we had an introduction about how to on Archery and BB guns. I was so excited to learn about handling them, I could not wait to try them tomorrow.

After the lessons, we had a grand dinner, with salads, pasta, and garlic bread. After we ate we went to amphitheater, where the camp staff put up a greaat show, they sang fun songs and performed wonderful skits. We all enjoyed it thoroughly, and we all laughed through out the performance, it was all funny. 

Finally we all walked down to our tents, unpacked our sleeping bags and slept like a log.

Day 2, Tuesday Aug 5th 2014

We all heard the sound of horns at 7:30 AM, and woke up. I brushed my teeth, got ready, and wore my scout uniform and went to flags ceremony. The camp staff hoisted the American Flag and we all did the scout salute, and sang pledge of allegiance.

We went to cafeteria for our breakfast, I had pancakes, sausages and orange juice. 

Our cub masters took us to practice Archery. I was struggling at first then I got a hang of the techniques on handling the bow and arrow.I was doing pretty good at the end of the session. 

Then we all went for swimming. First we had to take a test. There were three levels, The Swimmer (who passes the whole test), the beginner (who passes the first half of the test) and non-swimmer (who did not pass). At the first try I got the non-swimmer level and it was very disappointing for me. I finally planned to retake the test and succeed. I really need to plan for this.

We then ate dinner and went to amphitheater. The staff organized several contests for the packs and our pack won second place in knot tying, and we did fairly well in our other contests too. 

As everyone was really tired we went back to the tent, I held my bright orange glow stick to lead the path to our camp site.  We had a great sleep !

Contd ...

The Cartoonist !

I’m Vignesh Manikandan, a not very tall, with black hair and enthusiastic brown eye. I walked down the Parkmont school hallways in blue and orange striped shirt and light blue denim jeans. I started at the campus blankly because nothing exciting or adventurous happened yet in my life.

I heard loud stomping feet coming down the hall. Nate, the leader of a evil gang that was formed four years ago. His hair was brown and he was wearing a Mohawk. He had brown eyes, and literally one can see the blazing fire in his eyes at night. He was wearing brown baggy pants that reached to the tip of the heels of his shoes. He was wearing dark shirt with a picture of a terrifying skull in the center. He sent chills down my spine.

He smirked at me and pushed me aside. I fell down on the on the floor with a THUD! Revenge was in my eyes. As I was about to get backup and fight him his evil gang was gone from my sight. I got up, dusted myself and headed to my fourth grade class.

After school my friend Prifik came over to my home, he is one of my best friends in the universe. While we were playing our battle of Beyblades, he said, “you know, you are good at cartoons, so you should submit your entry in our schools annual cartoon drawing contest, and he encouraged me that I would win a prize for sure, hence I decided to enter the contest.

The very next day in school, I was signing a paper to enter the competition. The deadline was in a week’s time and I had just the right amount of time to work on it. The bulletin board on the MPR room displayed all the entries received so far as I was going through the participant list, my eyes stopped right at the name “Nate”. But that did not stop me, I told to myself that I was going to win this competition…

I worked on my drawing over days and nights. I wouldn’t stop until I got the character in a perfect shape. It was most challenging to draw an image of heroic lightning dragon that I had in my mind. I spent several hours in getting the exact expression and colors to the character.

Before I knew it, it was the day to submit our cartoons. I saw Nate turning in his submission. He had a drawing of a garden snake, which was presented bit poorly in my thoughts. Once I walked out, I could not stop hearing him bragging about how he would win and he had the coolest drawing of all the submissions. I just ignored him and turned in my submission after him.

The chairperson who was collecting the cartoons looked at my submission and his eyes went wide. The dragon was splashed with blue and orange color on the scales, and its razor sharp talons jutted out of its piercing wings. The dragon’s head was drawn to the right with red flames shooting out of his mouth.

Finally the day of the results came and I could not wait until my classes were over so I can go to the MPR room to hear the results. When I entered the MPR room, I noticed ten rows of drawings displayed on tables, each row had ten drawings in display. When we all settled down, the chairperson announced the results from the third place till first place in each grade level. I felt happy that my buddy in kindergarten won the first place for grade levels K till three. Then they announced the results for grade four till six, the third place winner was from sixth grade, second place winner was from fifth grade. Finally the first place winner was called out… I could not believe my ears as he said “Vignesh Manikandan” …

When I came up on the stage wearing my best smile ever I can see that Jacob was pretty sad. My mom, dad and sister clapped louder for my achievement and I can see my friend Prifik went crazy with happiness. He ran up the stage and hugged me, and shouted meet “Our Cartoonist” of the year, and that is how I got my revenge and the name “The Cartoonist”.

Submitted this for Young Author Contest - Parkmont Elementary school, 4th grade.

GOAL

It was 8:00 PM in the Grubsmash high school stadium in Fremont, CA, Fans were lined up in the bleachers, and they all focused on one thing below, which was the soccer ball. The Platinum Monkeys the home team had Silver Shirts and their rival team Mad Rhinos had red shirts. As this was happening in the home stadium of Platinum Monkeys most of the fans were cheering for them.

At one point, the scores were tied up, both the Platinum Monkeys and the Mad Rhinos were have scored 28 points, and on the clock there was only 5 minutes left. The player #9 from Rhino team passed the ball to the player #8 but the player #6 from Monkeys intercepted it, and they herded the ball and went in the opposite direction, and it was intercepted again by Rhinos and taken in the other direction. Almost all the plays followed this way and there was only final 15 seconds left in the game.

The Monkeys took a timeout and planned out a strategy and were back in the game very quick, and their strategy started working out. The player #7 of Monkeys got the ball passed by his team mate and he was ready to kick while the Rhino's goalie positioned himself to defend it. There was just 2 seconds left in the clock, and the crowd gasped! Now player #7 from Monkeys kicked the ball and it just zoomed past the goalie, GOAL !

Believe Dream Inspire

In my life, my career goals are to be a race-car driver and an engineer.  To accomplish these goals, I must have knowledge about driving a race car and having high math skills. 

The sacrifices I must take are to study lot of high level math, watch less TV, develop very good imagination, and earn very good grades to land in a good college.  

I should seek support from my family, friends, and teachers.  I also need to research information on the computer to make me more knowledgeable. 

Throughout my life, I will keep reminders such as: never give up, don’t listen to people who are negative, take advice from a trusted adult, and always listen to my teachers. 

I will have faith in myself, my loved ones and God in achieving my goals, so that means I do BELIEVE!

I envision working hard to achieve my goals so I will be an engineer and race-car driver, so that means I can DREAM!

I follow my dad’s footsteps to be the engineer that he is, so that means I am INSPIRED!

Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul is a great book, because it includes stories about hope, courage and laughter.  The authors of this book were Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Patty Hansen and Irene Dunlap. 

The story that inspired me and caught my attention was “Aliens on the Internet” (page 34-38).  This story was about a lonely boy named Andy communicating with a kid named Joey over the Internet.   Andy finds out that Joey is an alien and not a real kid.  Andy doesn’t care if Joey is an alien.  Joey provides Andy with support for his dreams and goals, just like my family, my friends and teachers support me. 

Andy communicates with Joey, an alien, but I communicate with real human beings.  I am fortunate because I have a strong support system.  My family, friends and teachers are real in my life and I don’t need to seek support from fake internet creatures. 

While I need my loved ones to believe in myself, Andy needs Joey. 

While I seek my loved ones to achieve my dreams, Andy seeks Joey. 

While my dad inspires me to be an engineer, Joey inspires Andy. 

I am blessed because I have support from people who care for me, and who can make me believe, dream and inspire!