Author: Polina

PW# 1 Lying by Sam Harris

In Lying by Sam Harris, he details the countless wrongs that go along with any single lie we tell one another in our daily lives. From casual white lies, we swear that do no wrong, to massively impactful lies that can change the course of our relationships forever.

Honesty can force any dysfunction in your life to the surface. Are you in an abusive relationship? A refusal to lie to others – How did you get that bruise? – would oblige you to come to grips with this situation very quickly. Do you have a problem with drugs or alcohol? Lying is the lifeblood of addiction. If we have no recourse to lies, our lives can unravel only as far without other’s noticing, (p.10).

Although this quotation is almost at the very beginning of this book, I believe it is very impactful, to say the least. Sam Harris throughout the whole of this book makes it very clear there is no room in a happy life for excuses which if you do not know I very much agree with. Lying and excuses we give ourselves allow us to deprive our relationships of full honesty, which depletes us from creating more genuine connections. While many might disagree with mine and Sam Harris’s statement on how there is no room for lying in a life living the happiest it can be, I loved reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone who has ever told a single lie in their life!

PW#1 Changes in My Life

As a new year swiftly passes into a new beginning, the opportunities once far out of reach rush closer and closer to me. These opportunities I mention are of course none other than my wonderful passionate new friends and my recently instated captain position of the junior girl’s volleyball team. My new friends who have come across the world just to study in Brooke’s Westshore include some very familiar faces such as Emma, Roberta, Olivia, and many more. This has been one of the most drastic changes in my school life this year because as many people come to find out I didn’t like almost anyone from last year. Nonetheless, besides my generous returning friend group countless of the students were in other sorts just not my cup of tea. This new interdiction of friends has brought me much more happiness in my day-to-day life and I am so glad I have met all these amazing people. 

Besides my new friends, a new leadership position has come my way! Gratefully accepting to be the team captain of my volleyball team has been very thrilling, to say the least. With numerous upsides and downsides, from losing to winning games, my team especially the girls who have never in their lives played volleyball before having made massive amounts of progress. This progress has made me incredibly proud to be able to be their team captain and with much more progress to be made I believe we can become the non-stopping winning team we deserve to be! 

My Views as a Reader

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” by Erich Maria Remarque and excerpts from Herbert, Chevalier, Barthas, and West have been a remarkably insightful, detailed insight into the life and struggles of any normal veteran from World War I. Not only was their heartbreaking depiction of the grotesque daily lives of soldiers deliberately accounted with added information most of my fellow classmates and I have never read of before, but this book and these excerpts also give new meaning to our upcoming Remembrance Day assembly. Of course, with no doubt in my mind, we have all known some of the terrible struggles veterans went through for several years now, including being taught the outcome and beginning of the war in history class. However, us as a class I believe we have not fully understood what took place at such battles and or fronts as the Western Front in France/Belgium. Although “All Quiet on the Western Front,” is a realistic fiction autobiography with the main storyline being fully adapted from real-life events, the book still gives new insights into how soldiers fought and not how old pro-war effort ideas want people to believe they did. This new unit really did help me better understand what it was like to live the life of a soldier, even if it is through a small glimpse created by a book into how terrifying life was at the time.

Introduction to Me – Polina Ulanova

Hi, MYP5 class of 2024-2025 my name is Polina Ulanova and I’ve been at this school since I was 13 years old. Coming to this school at first was very scary for me especially because having been only in public schools my entire life even going as far as when I still lived in St. Petersburg Russia, I felt very out of place. However, as I have spent more and more time at this school, I have grown to very much love almost everything about it even the parts I hated at first. Knowing this and remembering how I felt myself first stepping foot into this school, I have tried to be as friendly as I possibly can to any new or returning students. If you have any questions at all about any clubs, sports, or anything else including just questions about things you can do on the island I will always be here to help! I myself am a part of the girl’s volleyball team, the girl’s soccer team here at Brookes Westshore as well as I am a part of one of the island’s very small competitive swimming teams. Not only do I love to play different sports, but I also love painting, cooking, and most of all baking. From time to time you might see me bring in different baked goods or special goodies for the people I love most, my friends! I love my friends very much including such friends as Lilly, Eva, and Ely just to name a few.

Something that many people do not know about me nonetheless, is that I live all the way out in Sooke. Living in Sooke has been something I think not many people can relate to at this school because of how far away it is. Usually by car, it can take up to forty minutes each way just to get to school. Having said that, by bus the way that I always take to get to school, it can take up to over an hour on non-traffic packed days! This of course can make me very tired some days, so if ever you see me tired or not my usual self just remember that small fact about me, and that I would never try to be purposely rude to anyone. Finally, to end this off those are just some small facts about me and my daily life!