I am a summer baby, so eleven found me looking forward to school. I had a little over a month before school started again, but I was looking forward to it because I was starting secondary school that September – I was finally a high schooler. I was a little nervous as well. They randomly assigned classes so I was also worried that I might not be in the same class as the few St. Margaret’s friends that were attending Queen’s College with me that year. And there were ten houses and I chose Austin (C) house, what if none of my other friends chose that house? Then of course there were the classes, what if I couldn’t cut it at this school?

But, mostly I was looking forward to the new school. It was an exciting year, eleven.

I’m not randomly thinking about eleven, there is a reason. I watched a film yesterday called I Am Eleven where filmmaker Genevieve Bailey traveled to fifteen countries and interviewed different eleven year olds asking them questions about life, love and other mysteries. It both extremely funny and insightful, I enjoyed it and it really causes you to think about life and how we live.

I think the most eye-opening piece of the film for me was when the kids were asked what they would change if they could. One girl wanted longer weekends and another wanted a home. A lot of children around the world (and in America) face different challenges and some are fortunate to live a life where the only thing they have to worry about is getting up for school and hanging with friends on the weekends, I wish all kids could experience that, but that’s just not the case. This is something that will stay with me, that I will need to think about and consider a bit more. How can I help those less fortunate? How can I bring awareness of the issues? I think this film really encourages that sort of thinking and I think it’s important for children to be exposed to the differences in the world around us. 

Check out the trailer below and if it’s showing in a theater near you, I do hope you to go! 

Do you remember when you were eleven?

~*~