Take A Survey To Improve This Blog

Hello There!

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The purpose of this blog is incomplete and would never be achieved if it does not satisfy the needs of its viewers - you and the others. I need you to take this survey that would ask you a few questions on the strengths and weaknesses of this blog as well as ways to improve on it.
I know that there are some things you would like to change on this blog, well here's the chance to do it.

        Click Here to take the survey

Thank you very much!
Also, a very interesting post would be released tomorrow, so make sure to check it out!
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Participate in the 2015 DSTV Eutelsat Star Awards competition.

Hello teens!

eutelsat


Enter the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards 2015 by creating an award winning essay or poster about satellite technology and how it helps us to understand and take care of our planet and you can win big!
Besides awesome prizes up for grabs in the country awards, overall winners will be rewarded with the trip of a lifetime:
  • For the overall winning essay – a trip with his/her parent/legal guardian to Eutelsat in Paris, France and onwards to a spaceport to attend a live rocket launch.

  • For the overall winning poster – a trip with his/her parent/legal guardian to Eutelsat in Paris and a satellite construction site.

  • For the runner up poster and essay entries a trip with their parent/legal guardian to visit MultiChoice in Johannesburg and the South African National Space Agency at Hartebeesthoek.

Entries close on 05 November 2015 so start dreaming!

If you need any help, contact me by dropping a comment! I was the country first runner-up in Nigeria in last year's competition.
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Teen Of the Week (TOW) #2

Hello Teens,


I'm sorry for not having posted for so long. I've been having network problems, but it's all fixed now so we can continue having a good time. So, once again I had an interview with one of the readers of this blog who was nominated the TOW #2. I would say she is a rare mix of beauty, brains, and body. I hope you'll get to enjoy her as much as I did while chatting with her. So here's how it all went down...



Good day! What's your name? 
Hello! I'm Elizabeth Kitange.

 What's your nationality?
I'm Tanzanian. I was born in Moshi, Kilimanjaro but I now live in Dar es Salaam.

 Wow! That's cool. So we have a Kilimanjaro teen here. How old are you, please?
(Laughs) I'm 18 now.

 That's nice. So what are you passionate about? What things interest you? 
I'm passionate about economic development in Africa. I believe that it's one of the ways among others that Africa could become developed to its fullest potentials. I'm also interested in diplomacy and the UN. I'm a really big fan and I'm really passionate about how Model United Nations can help shape and create Africa's young leaders.

 Wooh! That's quite some passion. Lemme guess, you are aspiring to someday lead the World Bank Group, right?
I'm not sure about that yet. The world is full of opportunities and making a decision right now would just limit the rest from showing up. You never know; after a year or so I could change and be passionate about education and improving the educational curriculum in Africa.

 That would also be nice. So you've been following my blog, The Teenager, you must have read a few articles. So tell me, which did you like the most, which did you like the least, and why?
Out of all of them, I liked "WHY DO TEENS BEHAVE THE WAY THEY DO? What science has to say." It has a very interesting TED talk and is something I'd show my parents; but thank God that gave me a good whooping not to need to watch it because it contained everything I needed to know. I'm not sure I liked any the least.

 Oh! That's nice. Thanks for that feedback! I've noted everything you've said so far. So what's the next step you're taking towards your education? What are you majoring in?
Well, I'm an enrolled student of the African Leadership University and I'll be majoring in African Economics or Politics. I'm yet to choose because all the courses they offer are so exciting!

 (Laughs) I understand. So tell me, apart from academics, what other stuff do you excel in?
I'm in love with MUN. I'm currently the Assistant Director of Africa for THIMUN OMUN (the only online Model UN platform for youth all over the globe). I play the piano and I love reading. I can be more of an introvert so I love living in my own little bubble and do things people normally could do alone. Through the IBDP program, I've started loving charity work and volunteering. 

 Wow! That's really great! So tell me, what are the current strengths of my blog and what areas need improvement? 
Your current strengths would be the way you speak in your blog posts. It's not formal, but is rather the same way as you would speak if you spoke to someone in person. Since it's a blog for teens, many could find a relation to your words simply by the way you echo them.
I wouldn't be able to say much on a weakness, but an advice.Make things more spicy: you could make talk-shows on SoundCloud, videos or one post a day would do as well. 

 Wow! Thank you so much, Liz that's some great commendation. As for the videos and talkshows, I love that idea. I think I'll start doing those. I have a feeling that followers of this blog would enjoy that immensely. So as our Teen Of the Week, you are expected to make people know more about this blog. How do you plan to do that, Liz?
Teens these days are all over the web. That's the simplest and (mostly) cheapest way to do it. I would make more people know more about this blog through Instagram, Facebook. Twitter, and other social media platforms that I'm signed up to. 

 Okay, that's great Liz! So if you could give a personal message to teenagers who are reading this right now, what would you tell them? Anything at all.
I would tell them that every person has his own ambition. None of these ambitions are easy, no matter how small you see it. There will be people trying to put you down, make you look bad - either out of jealousy or just to keep themselves higher than you. No matter how hard it is, keep doing what you do and do it the best way you know. You never know what steps on your doormat. Do YOU and do you good!

 Wow, that's good! I think they'll love you for this piece of advice. So thank you very much for your time. I really enjoyed every moment of this interview. We hope to hear more about your exploits. Enjoy your reign as our TOW #2!
Thank you! I absolutely loved it too. I look forward to more of your blog!
So that's how the interview went. I hope you enjoyed it. If you want to find out more about Elizabeth Kitange, or contact her personally, Click here!
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Getting over your Mood Swings!

Hello Teens,
Image result for mood swings
Do you know what mood swings are? Yes of course! I must be more than silly for asking such a question. When this minute you’re happy and the next, you’re sad, moody, gloomy, fierce, filled with rage for a reason that you do not know about, then that’s a mood swing right there.

WHAT’RE MOOD SWINGS?
Mood swings have been said to be things which only teenagers experience, but that’s not true. Even adults have mood swings, even our dear old grannies have mood swings, and even spoilt little toddlers have mood swings. However, it is more intense in teenagers. We, teenagers, are at the point in our lives when we begin to question everything, looking for our true selves, looking for even a mere graze of that feeling of adulthood—independence. This usually starts with our search for independence in our thought. We become aware to a myriad of things which we were oblivious of during our childhood. If you think that you are strange for having frequent mood swings, you need not think so because it is only normal.

WHY ARE MOOD SWINGS NORMAL?
Researchers once believed that the teenage brain was fixed at the end of childhood, and that a teenage mood swing could be blamed on raging hormones or a lack of experience. But more recent MRI scans reveal that not only is there a major reorganization in the teenage brain, but it continues to develop until the early twenties.
So it's not necessarily what happens in your life that makes you have mood swings; it's how you react to what's happening in your life. Hopefully there's some comfort in learning that your testiness is the result of your brain chemistry rather than a flaw in your personality. These are the facts:

·         Researchers at the State University of New York say adults have a hormone called THP that's released at times of stress to help calm a person down. But this hormone works the opposite in teens, actually increasing anxiety. They aren't sure why, or how long it takes until it stabilizes in adulthood, but it certainly contributes to teenage mood swings.
·         Scientists at San Diego State University learned that as puberty kicks in, a teen's ability to recognize other people's emotions takes a downward turn, sometimes by as much as 20%. Teens experience a sudden increase in nerve activity, leading to what they call a "noisier" brain. This temporary state may make it difficult to process information, read social situations correctly, and empathize accurately, all of which could lead to crankiness.
·         A lack of sleep is another predictor of moodiness. While most adults start to produce the darkness hormone melatonin at about 10:00 p.m., teens studied in a sleep laboratory were found not to begin producing it until 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. Try to go to bed earlier to prevent mood swings from occurring.
[Source: Beinggirl.com]
THE NEED TO OVERCOME MOOD SWINGS

As much as having mood swings may be normal, it doesn’t make it acceptable. That rape is common doesn’t make it acceptable—just trying to paint a picture. Nobody wants to be surrounded by volcanoes, people who no one knows when they would ‘erupt’ with rage or gloom. We all want to be surrounded by sane cool-headed people. As much as you may not have an explanation for your mood swings, you still need to get over them. Getting through adolescence and surviving it is an achievement worth celebrating.

HOW TO GET OVER YOUR MOOD SWINGS

 Learn to talk it out
As we must have learnt in school, dialogue is the best method of resolving ‘conflict’. Whenever your mood swing is caused by what someone said to you or what someone did to you, always learn to talk out your issue with the person. Depending on the state of mind of the person learn to use your emotional intelligence to pick the best time to talk with the person about his/her actions. Most times you’d see that when you begin to talk things out with people and not hold all that negative energy, you’ll be having those mood swings a little less frequently because those around you are now aware of what tips you off and they will stay away from saying or doing those things.

  Exercise
Most of us may not be aware of the impact of exercise on our physical and mental health. Exercise stimulates hormones in our body that gives us this sense of relaxation. Exercise regularly and your moods would get a little bit more stable, seriously. Whenever you get that mood swing again, just try taking a walk or jogging around your compound, by the tie you do that for like 10 minutes, you should be as good as new.

Sleep enough!
It is a known fact that most 21st century teens do not get enough sleep—me inclusive. The ideal sleeping time is for 8 hours. Sometimes, I sleep for just two hours. However, you must not be like me because that is what works for me, to know what works for you, you need to know thyself. Sleep calms our neurons and creates a sense of physiological relaxation. When you don’t sleep enough, your neurons would always be restive and haywire, making you prone to becoming more easily nfluenced emotionally. Drop that video game and go to bed, leave that movie and go to bed and calm those nerves. I rarely have mood swings—that’s if I ever do, that’s why my sleeping hours don’t come in the way of my emotional stability.  


 Cry if you must!
Most of us like to act all tough and impermeable, but just drop that act a little bit. Mood swings usually come when we introspect into that part of our life that is not as glossy as we thought, or when we reminisce about a failed relationship, or when someone just harshly points out our foibles which we never want to admit we are guilty of. Crying breaks all those walls and lets you be you. Crying is actually good for you once in a while. Stay in touch with your lachrymal glands. Most times, when you have a mood swing and you really cry, you’d find out that you’ll get over it quicker than when you didn’t, so please cry if you must.

Understand that “This too will pass”
I think I’ll be correct when I say that most of us, teenagers, when we have those mood swings at some point we must have said to ourselves that we would be like that ‘forever’. My quickest guess is that for most of us, if not all, we eventually do get over it even if it takes hours or days. When you are aware that that moodiness you’re feeling would not last, trust me you’d get over it very quickly, but when you begin to picture that moment of evanescent depression as your whole life, it just may turn out to be your whole life. Always have it at the back of your mind that that mood swing you’re experiencing would pass, when you do, you’ll begin to feel foolish for holding on to it longer than necessary.

If you follow all these processes, I see no reason why we would still have a ‘moody monster’ in you; you’d turn out to become a happy harp sooner than you think.
If you have any questions, or contributions, please drop a comment.
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How To Become Smarter Than You Already Are!


Hello Teens,

Image result for smart people

I am aware that most of us, at some point in our lives must have been intimidated by hat smart guy n class, that smart girl in class. Well I’ve got news for you; you could just be the smart one. If you’re reading this and you’ve already been ‘certified’ smart, then good for you, you are about to get even smarter; if you’re reading this and you’re yet to be inaugurated into the league of the smart ones, the geniuses, congratulations your inauguration is a few paragraphs away.
As you read this article, open your mind and embrace, understand and apply ALL that you read here. Do not read this with a doubtful mind, because anything is possible. Now let’s get down to business—making you Mr/Ms Smarty Pants!

STEP #1—Improve you memory
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Most of what is considered intelligence today is the ability to remember previous learnt information. Play memory games, try cramming an entire page of a boring novel and reciting it offhand. Do stuff that would exercise your memory. Next time you want to remember stuff, learn to use mnemonics or any other technique that would help you remember it.

STEP #2—Develop a curious mind
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Most of the inventions we have today came as a result of the curiousity of someone’s mind. When we seek to understand, when we seek to know when we are eager to find out how stuff works, when we are eager to find out how to create stuff, we can then be said to be one step closer to becoming smarter. Learn to never accept things the way they are on the surface. Learn to always seek to find out more. Curiousity is the basis of today’s scientific world. Become more curious, and become even smarter.

STEP #3—Meditate
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By this, I’m not entirely talking about the Buddhist form of spiritual meditation, no. However, it has a few similarities. In this form of meditation, at least once a day, stay away from all forms of technology, sit in the open, on the grass, or simply in your room; clear your thoughts, and just stare into thin air. You would need a lot of quiet, focused breathing exercises to attain a mental calm. A state of mental calmness boosts your memory, function and attention span. So knowing that this is what the simple act of meditation does for you, why not do it?

STEP #4—Try out new stuff
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Say you were not good at Math, just try it out sometime. Try out solving that complex problem n Calculus. You may seem to be torturing yourself, but believe me you are creating more brain passages that would help you understand that stuff. Simply, flex your mind, do things you’ve never done before, challenge your brain to do things you couldn’t do and when you find yourself doing those things, you’ve just started getting smarter.

STEP #5—Study more effectively
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As we know, studying requires a lot of reflection and breakthrough understanding that should stick to your memory. Create more time for studying and less for that pointless chit chat. Do your homework as quickly as possible also. Doing your homework helps you to reflect on what has been taught in class and to apply that knowledge to solve a given problem. You may want to give into the temptation of delaying it, or submitting last minute, or copying from a friend. But, my friend, that only reduces your creativity. Think out stuff, tackle that homework by yourself, be the boss of yourself. Effective studying comprises all these factors, make the most of it.

STEP #6—Read like your life depends on it
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Although I know that there are some smart people who do not need to read, #GiftedKids, most of us need to. Learn to pick up anything and read. Read the nutritional value of that juice pack, read through the business sections—which for most people, is the most boring part—of newspapers, read that 500-page novel, read read read. You can never fully understand the benefits of reading. Reading a lot would expose you to a pool of diverse and new ideas. If you are a fast reader, kudos! If you are a slow reader, try improving on your reading speed, by this I don’t mean just speedreading, no. Learn how to read fast and understand at that same speed!  

STEP #7—Learn to figure stuff out on your own
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Definitely, there’s always this impulse to ask people for help whenever you get stuck with something. I’m not saying that this is bad, though. Just next time, try to figure it out on your own, only ask for help after you’ve tried several methods for a considerably long time yet being unable to come to the knowledge of that thing at hand. This trial and error method would help you to understand that thing better and even be able to remember it better. Figuring things out on you own would help to improve your problem-solving skills and not you ‘do-as-you-are-told-skills’.

STEP #8—Teach others
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We all know that when we teach people stuff, that thing sticks in our memory. So if you know this, why not teach someone today. Teaching someone helps to bring the knowledge of what you’re teaching them come closer to your fingertips. When you teach someone, you end up finding out stuff that you didn’t know about that subject, which should prompt you to go back and study that subject; when you do this, you’ll find yourself having a clearer understanding of that subject

STEP #9—Surround yourself with smart people.
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It is a fact that we are not much different from those we surround ourselves with. That’s why it is said: “Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Having smart people around you would inspire you to become like them, to become as smart as they are. The only thing that may hamper this is if you begin to feel inferior. Do not feel inferior when you are around smart people, rather feel privileged and open your mind to learn from them. The trick I use everyday is to never leave a smart person, or a conversation with a smart person without learning a thing or two from him/her.

STEP #10—Learn music
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I know that this may come as a surprise to some of you. Music helps your mental wave and improves your cognitive abilities. When I say “learn music”, I’m not saying that you should become the next Mariah Carey, or the next Lionel Richie, no! Simply lean how to play at least one music instrument. Learning how to play a guitar a violin, a piano, a harp, a saxophone, the drums, or any musical instrument at all can help you to relax your brain and allow for higher mental processing.

MORE TIPS
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•             Distractions exist for a reason––humans like being distracted. It's not the fault of the distraction, it's the fault of the brain, which loves seeking out the new and the exciting. Rather than banning yourself from all distractions all of the time, make room for them on occasion, as rewards for staying focused the rest of the time.
•             You can't know everything. Being really good at some things is better than being over-stretched in many things. Concentrate on your strengths and making the most of these.
•             Some psychologists now say there are multiple types of intelligence, such as interpersonal intelligence (how to interact and get along with people) and bodily intelligence (coordination, athleticism). Nurture these aspects of yourself; even if they don’t make you “smarter" in the traditional sense of IQ, they can help you lead a happier, more well-rounded life.
•             Classical music can be helpful for embedding new knowledge and helping you to study. There's no harm in at least trying it!
•             Use your initiative. Scary maybe but incredibly useful for the rest of your life. Read and study beyond what is expected, learn laterally and think broadly. Look for gaps and things that could be done better and work out ways for fixing, changing, overriding the status quo. From entrepreneurs and inventors to parenting and workplace relations, using your initiative is a way of breaking free from ruts, solving hairy problems and making your world a better place to be in.
•             TV can be useful for learning provided you choose wisely and keep the watching to a minimum. Select educational programs, documentaries and well informed news pieces. Keep all TV viewing to only a few hours weekly. Don't fall into the habit of watching because you're tired; that's when you need to sleep or do something more energized.
•             Get enough sleep. Some researchers say, while you sleep, your brain makes new connections. For example if you don't understand how to perform a math equation completely and you 'sleep on it', there is a chance that your brain will have figured it out while you slept.
•             Eat breakfast when you're young. It's a very important meal as it provides the brain fuel needed to kick your thinking cogs into gear. As you age, the amount and timing of breakfast may vary but still be sure to have something to start your day with some energy input.
•             Be active. Movement is a key part of being a human being. Sitting on your backside all day isn't conducive to leading a fully engaged human experience. Get out and about several times a day, and fit the computer work and play around the rest of your life, not the other way around. A healthy body results in a healthy mind.
•             Some subjects or fields are considered "smarter" than others. This is unfortunate because all fields of knowledge are vital and it is in the bringing together of many different perspectives that the wicked problems (those really big problems that seem unsolvable, like climate change or global recessions), that humankind comes up with amazing solutions. Find your interest and niche and pursue it to its zenith; it is by knowing and doing something really well that you can contribute your part to making this world a much better place.
•             Learning new things is confronting but learn to embrace the initial fear and do it anyway. Learning new things boosts intelligence and keeps you alert, invigorated and curious. Persevere to push past the initial reluctance, and then you'll wonder why you didn't start the new thing sooner!
•             Consider tutoring. Learning one-to-one can really boost your knowledge and skills in ways you can't get from simply reading or watching videos.
•             Don't ever dwell on negative feelings of being mentally inferior to others. Let that emotion encourage you to reach and even surpass your full potential. Anger is a secondary emotion, meaning it's caused by another emotion. So find that deep emotion down in you and use it as fuel for your motivation. It's not always easy to sort out emotions but give it your best to understand the viewpoint and position of others so you can develop and open your mind to the people and opportunities around you.
•             Exercise your brain and body regularly by doing the above given activities.
[Source: WikiHow]

So there you have it. Congratulations for making it to the end of this extremely long post. I believe that if you apply these, you will get smarter by over tenfold. Share this piece with friends and those you care about. It may just be of help to them.
I have a confession to make. I kept the last piece of the puzzle for those who made it till the end. I use this online program, Lumosity, to train my memory, attention span, focus, and so on. Try it out. At first, you’ll get a one-month free trial, after that you’ll have to pay. I must tell you that since I started using Lumosity, I have been getting smarter and smarter. I use the games there to improve on my IQ; I advise you do the same. Visit www.lumosity.com to get started.
I hope you had a nice read.
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