The world around me shapes my words and thoughts. Today, it was the story of a young woman— the valedictorian of an Ottawa high school—being punished for speaking out about the evils of this world. The same education system that taught her to think critically, to speak with conviction, is now trying to silence her. Unclouded They say the young don’t see the world for what it truly is— but maybe they see it better. Not yet blinkered by the cataracts of life: compromise, comfort, the slow erosion of outrage by daily bread and discounted dreams. They see with eyes not fogged by history, not dimmed by the weary math of what will sell, what will pass, what won’t rock the boat too much. We sit idle in the couch cushions we’ve moulded to our shape, not noticing how long we’ve sunk there, how the springs gave out years ago. But the young rise, refusing to settle long enough to shape the world to their laurels, choosing instead to push against walls, and break down barri...