Discus Awards

Mathew Parreira has single-handedly inspired a new feature in the Discus Awards blog. Since inception (the beginning of the program, not the Leo movie), Discus Award winners have been sharing their motion picture masterpieces. Aside from the Discus Awards YouTube Channel, we haven't found an outlet through which we can share some of our favorites with the our community.

Today is a day of change, where funny, frightening, incredible, and inspiring Discus Award winners' videos will be featured on our blog, as part of the Discus Awards Winner of the Day category. So without further ado, the video that started it all: The Story of My Life...

To learn more about Matthew, visit his Discus Award winner's profile.

Filed under: Discus Dan • All-Around High School Students • Discus Award Winner Video of the Day

Maria Pascucci is a national student leadership speaker, author and the CEO of Campus Calm™. If you’re tired of stressing over school, you can join the club … literally! Unite with students around the world at www.campuscalm.com and receive your free Student Leader Success & Happiness Kit.

According to the American College Health Association’s Fall 2009 National College Health Assessment, stress and sleep difficulties are the top two life issues that students say affect their studies. You have the opportunity to lead by example to teach your campus community how to create a successful, less stressful college experience.

Here’s how:

1. Strive to get enough sleep each night so you wake up each morning feeling refreshed. Encourage your friends to do the same. If you have to, enact a “No Facebook After 11” pact with your friends so you all get your butts in bed. As someone who experienced my own fair share of sleep difficulties while in college, I can tell you that sleep deprivation is a recipe for stress, which can compromise your college experience.

Bottom line: Tell yourself and your friends, “Sleep is a necessity. It’s not a luxury we need to earn.”

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Filed under: Maria Pascucci • Campus Calm

Alex writes for Internships.com, a destination site which helps students find college internships, prepare for work opportunities and discover their career interests.

You’ve probably got a lot on your plate now. Between college applications, midterms, extracurricular activities and — oh, yeah — trying to enjoy the end of high school, this fall is pulling you in a lot of different directions. But there’s one more thing you should keep in the back of your mind, even if you’re not ready to dive in just yet: Work experience may play even more of a role in landing your dream career than which college you attend.

Internships are a great way to fortify your resume and make connections at some industry-leading organizations, and with record unemployment levels among recent graduates, students are starting them earlier than ever to distinguish themselves from the pack.

So, what is an internship? Basically, it’s an arrangement in which an organization trains a student in its line of work. The intern takes away valuable resume-building experience, and the host is able to test out future talent. Internships can be paid or unpaid, but in many areas, the law mandates that unpaid internships must at least be redeemable for college credit.

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Filed under: Alex Braun • College Prep • Now Hiring • Outside the Classroom

Bonnie Lei was the recipient of the first 2010-2011 Discus Scholarship awarded in September 2010. The Discus Awards recognized Bonnie for her incredible achievements in green, community service, and arts. Bonnie is a real go-getter, and I’m excited to share with you what she had to say. Enjoy!

Live ‘n’ Lauren: You founded a sister school connection between your high school and a school in rural Nepal. How did you get involved with that?

Bonnie Lei: Last summer I went on a service trip to Brazil through Earthwatch. Although I went there to help researchers, I quickly realized that Brazil’s education system was lacking, as are many other education systems in third world countries.

 I wanted to help boost education in developing countries, so I researched schools through NAMLO International and emailed the founder of the school in Nepal. Traditionally, sister schools are created by a principal or other administrator, but because I took the initiative to email the founder, I was able to create the program myself.

LL: What exactly do you provide for the school?

BL: Other classmates and I prepare creative learning materials for the students. Instead of just memorizing math problems and English grammar, I feel that it is better for students to have more creative learning. For example, for math we create things like board games to help students with percentages and fractions. For English we write creative storybooks with basic English so the students can learn the language more effectively.

We have actually been able to create many more materials than we initially realized. I’m trying to save up money to take a trip to Nepal and deliver some of the materials myself.

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Filed under: Live 'n' Lauren • All-Around High School Students • Meet the Discus Winner