º::·.Teens and the Future of Our World.·::º

Hi, my name is Valeria, but my friends usually call me Vale, Val, or Valerie. I Live in Cartagena, Colombia, since I was born. I have 3 brothers older than me; I'm the younger, I am 14 years old. I just turned 14 in January; I celebrated my birthday with my friends in a house my family have in the Rosario Islands. I used to go to the Colegio Britanico, but in third grade i changed of school to the George Washington School, which in Spanish stands for Colegio Jorge Washington. I’m in seventh grade and my homeroom teacher is Mr. Hide. My friends and I usually call Mr. Hide, Mr. Hidesitow. My favorite subjects are social studies and math. I also enjoy science classes but not as much as social studies or math. Sometimes my friends call me Valerie because several years ago, when I was in third grade, I had a teacher, Ms. Holzgang, that called me Valerie and I didn’t like it because it was her who began calling me that way. When I was in third grade I used to be kind of like a little devil and I hated her, but now I’m okay with people calling me Valerie.

I follow a normal life here in Cartagena. My schedule begins at 6:00 A.M. when I wake up for school. Classes begin at 7:05 but students must be in their homerooms by 7:00 sharp to prepare and hear the announcements. I’m the vice president of STUCO which stands for the Student council, so I need to stay every Wednesday in a meeting after school. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I stay after school for soccer practices. I’m play as defense in the team of my school. I love soccer, for me soccer is more than a hobby, I enjoy every minute I play it. Also one important thing you must know about me is that I love to draw and paint; in a future I want to be a fashion designer. Another sport I play is tennis. I used to have practices on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, but know I go only on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Last year my academic elective was environmental science. In that elective I learned a lot about what is going on with our world, how we affect the environment, how gasses and the environment behave when they mix. One thing I got very interested about was when we learned a little bit about the Kyoto protocol and Global Warming; I continue thinking about it and I began to become concerned. This is and issue I’m interested about. I will like to know how it will affect the future of our world. I want to know more about how the Kyoto protocol works, the details about it, and which countries follow it. For example, one detail I want to know is the maximum amount of greenhouse gasses that is permitted to emit and what amount of money is the fine if you exceed of the amount of gasses permitted to emit. Also, what will be the consequences of following it, because this protocol is supposed to control emissions of gasses worldwide and also to control the greenhouse effect, but some of the countries, such as China and India, are about to become the major producers of greenhouse gasses.

Obviously, I have other issues I’m concerned about and that affect my life, such as the “guerrilla” here in Colombia or about AIDS. I’m not still certain of what issue I’m going to choose and also I will be with a partner, Valentina. You can let me comments telling me other issues that affect our teen lives and the world.