Hello, my name is Ava Alcos and I am currently a grade 9 student at Heritage Woods Secondary School.  I live in the beautiful city of Port Moody and I’ve been living here since I was 2 years old.  My family consists of my mother and father, my younger brother Parker and my dog who is a golden retriever named Bosco.  Some sports I love to play are soccer for Coquitlam Metro Ford and indoor and outdoor volleyball for Ducks.  Another hobby I enjoy is snowboarding, I go up to the ski mountain every winter with family and friends and we always have a fun time.  I am excited to see where this year will take me in hopes I will improve as a learner and meet lots of new people.

My Favourite Quote

“Forget the mistake.  Remember the lesson.” – Unknown

This quote is meaningful to me because everyone makes mistakes in life no matter what.  The message of this quote is to remind people that even if you make a mistake, you shouldn’t keep stressing and worrying about what you did wrong.  Instead, think about what you could do differently next time and build off what did work and what didn’t work.  In the long run, you won’t think about the mistake you made and it’s the lesson and what you learn that will better improve you as a learner and as a person.

Meaningful Youtube Video

The “Identity” Youtube video gives an important message for people of all ages, genders and races.  The message behind this video is that so many people pretend to be someone they’re not and people feel like they have to change who they are in order to please everyone around them.  The pressure of society convinces people they have to act, look or be a certain way in order to fit in.  At one point in the video, a girl took a mask off and was wearing a different mask underneath when she surrounded herself with different people.  I think this was proving that people shift their personality or how they act when they’re around different people because they want to be like them.  People like this aren’t truly themselves because they just want to fit in.  People, especially the youth, have so much doubt in themselves which makes them act differently in front of others.

Meaningful Image

The Las Vegas shooting recently occurred and it happened at a music festival at night.  A man shot at innocent people and killed and injured many of them. This shooting impacted the city and other families who had been on holiday there because of all the violence and fear.  I had been on vacation there about a month before this happened which is scary because things like this can happen at any moment.  Two of my closest family friends happened to have been there that night but they were split up at the time.  It must of been extremely scary for them to be in that situation and that’s why this event has meaning to me.