by E. Paul Zehr
My most recent injury, as I mentioned above, was my back spasms during the 2013 World Championship in Ottawa. At the 2006 Olympics in Turin, I played the gold medal game with a broken hand! I have to honestly admit that I don’t deal well with injury. When you are a professional athlete and something stops you from doing what you love, it is very frustrating.
I am so fortunate to have an amazing team of trainers and therapists from Hockey Canada and my own personal trainers who are excellent with treatment and rehabilitation. They help to guide me through the rest and heal stage, because that is the hardest! You have to be certain that your body is able to handle getting back on the ice without injuring yourself more.
If you go out too early, your body will tell you loud and clear!
When I told my Socials teacher that I was going to write to you, she got super excited. She said you “really support the community” and then she told me about your work with KidSport, Right to Play, and Plan Canada’s Because I Am a Girl. How did you get involved with those organizations?
I have always believed in the power and responsibility of giving back to the community and want to support organizations that align with my beliefs. I also know how hard it was growing up as a girl in a male-dominated sport, so I want to be able to help girls today overcome some of those barriers.
That passion for youth in sport naturally led me to these great organizations. My career naturally allows me to connect with girls and women not only across Canada but also around the world.
I truly believe that self-confidence and inner strength find outer expression when girls are empowered through sport.
You have an awesomely ridiculous number of gold and silver medals! (Great work, by the way!) What do you do with all of those medals?
I bring my medals with me when I speak at or visit schools. I believe I share the medals with all Canadians, so I want everyone to be able to see, touch, and experience them. I know athletes who keep their medals locked up, but I’d rather let people see them and be inspired by the story of how I got them—the journey is so much more important than the hardware.
Do you have a favorite superhero?
I’d have to say Superman. Possibly because of his superhuman strength and speed, and that X-ray vision is pretty cool. I wish I had that!
Awesome! I will totally show this letter to Cade and Audrey! (If I can track them down, that is.) They will be totally jazzed. I’d like to show it to Dylan to see the jealous look on his face, but I won’t bother. I’m going to show him something else, instead: defeat at the Superhero Slam!
Yep. I am very brave writing in this journal. But will I have the courage of Hayley Wickenheiser in real life?
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Today Ms. King told us about a few really special women in history. One was Joan of Arc, who I have to say I had never heard of before. I didn’t feel too bad though, because nobody else had ever heard of her either.
OK. Not totally true. Dylan said he had read about Joan of Arc before. And he looked serious. Just when I think I have him all figured out, he completely surprises me.
Here’s my summary of the life and times of Joan of Arc!
Joan was born over 600 years ago in the town of Domrémy in France. When she was a young girl, she started hearing voices in her head telling her she could be the warrior to save France in the 100 Years War with England. When Joan was 15 years old, she ran away from home and, after working really hard to prove herself, got to be captain of the French army and led the forces into battle!
Apparently she was a huge hit, an inspirational leader, and she won a bunch of battles. Unfortunately, she eventually lost a battle and got captured by the English as a prisoner of war. She got charged with all kinds of things and went through a trial that lasted more than a year. She was killed in 1431 at the age of 19. It really was a tragic and bleak finish for Joan of Arc, actually.
Pretty powerful stuff. When my inner voice tells me to do something, it’s usually about sneaking another cookie as a snack! Or perhaps reaching out and flicking Shay on the ear and pretending I didn’t do anything while we are sitting watching TV. And then rolling on the floor in mock pain when she hits me back followed by protesting my innocence to Mom and Dad. Not that I ever have done that.
Well, today I didn’t. At least not YET.
Seriously, that must have been so tough for Joan to try and get people to listen to her but have them ignore her (mostly) just because she was a girl. But she kept pushing and pushing and trying and doing until they had no choice but to listen to her. Maybe that’s how I can get my voice heard. Just keep pushing!
Ms. King ended our class today by saying, “Joan of Arc was inspired to try and change the world. Think about that and then ask yourself: what have I done lately?” What would we do to help the world if we had our superpowers, like, for real?
What I would do if I really was Batgirl
* Save people from danger.
* Train other girls to help me.
* Scare Dylan into being a nicer person.
* Hang out with Wonder Woman (I might not want to be her, but she’s still pretty cool).
* Ask Superman to take me for a flight over my city.
* Other stuff that I will think of later . . . probably.
Hmm. I don’t know how I’d ever figure out the first item — save people from danger.
Like, what is dangerous enough to be “danger”? People getting robbed? People almost walking into traffic? People just about to get into a fight? People in a fight? And which people? Kids? Adults? Old ladies?
How do I decide what to do? It would be hard to actually decide who gets help and who doesn’t. No wonder Spider-Man is always so torn. He struggles all the time with that “with great power comes great responsibility” line.
I always thought that the responsibility part meant actually saving people who were obviously in danger. I didn’t really think at all about having to decide who to save, when to save them, where is the greatest need for saving, and how to decide.
I asked Mom what she thought. Not about Spider-Man, but about priorities in saving people.
Me: “So, I’ve been thinking about superheroes and heroes. And how a hero could actually decide who to save and when to save them . . .”
Mom: “And?”
Me: “And I am kind of stuck and right now if I were an actual superhero, I would be standing here trying to figure out what to do and when to do it and I would wind up saving nobody. Which wouldn’t be ideal. I wonder if you have any ideas?”
Mom: “Well, there’s those lines you hear in movies all the time, or the older movies anyway. There’s a really famous saying, ‘Women and children first,’ which was supposed to have been used during the sinking of the Titanic back in 1912. The idea was to make sure that women and children got off the ship and into lifeboats before the men did.”
Me: “Huh. I get the children part, but it seems kind of weird to include women first, doesn’t it?”
Mom: “Yes, it does. I think the real point is to try and first help out those who need help the most. Like someone who is injured, or really old and having trouble getting around, or young children who can’t do much for themselves.”
After that, Mom went back to the stuff she was working on and I wandered off to my room.
To think.
And I think the answer is saving the people who are in the most danger and can’t do anything to save themselves.
Spider-Man’s gig is a lot tougher than he gets credit for.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12
I sure am getting tired of all this work! How do athletes keep pushing themselves? They must have some serious inspiration for all the perspiration. How does Batgirl force herself forward when fatigue sets in?
It seems that achieving membership in the extended Bat-Family is all about effort an
d training. About digging deep inside and striving to be successful despite the odds.
Like Gramma used to say, “Kiddo, if life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” I used to say, “I don’t like lemonade. Can I make iced tea instead?” and it always made her laugh. But now I get it. And Batgirl must understand as well. She can rip lemons in two with her bare hands.
Project Superhero is a long-term project that should go way beyond grade 8! My idea to actually try out a bunch of the training and experiences Batgirl would need has really changed me already.
Once Superhero Slam is over at the end of the school year, I can’t see myself going straight back to Little Miss Sits There and Only Reads Comics. I’m proud of being a girl and getting active and with what I’ve been able to do. I like asking questions and getting answers — even if it’s hard work sometimes.
Probably the neatest thing (and I just looked over my shoulder to make sure Mom or Dad aren’t here to read this) is that I like doing things. Even if they are hard. That’s part of what makes it great.
But I’m not ready for Mom or Dad to know that. Their idea of being active or doing chores or challenging yourself gets all jumbled up in some weird way. And when it comes to housework and chores, when those are hard, I still don’t like doing them.
When I’m working hard on the Superhero Slam or my own project, the learning and training feel great! It’s different from working hard on chores or homework because it’s my choice.
The funny thing is that when I choose to work hard at something, it’s actually easier to do!
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16
It’s all about respect. In karate class, Auntie G said we need to be respectful of others. But to do that we need to have respect for ourselves first. Which is harder to do than it might sound.
But I liked the way she talked about it and how she explained things. She used the “W.I.T.S.” thing I learned way back in grade 2!
The old acronym of “walk away,” “ignore,” “talk about it,” “seek help” jazz. Auntie G said we need to always remember the idea of W.I.T.S. But then she did something new with “seek help.”
Auntie G said that we don’t just seek help from other people, like a parent or teacher or whoever. We have to be able to seek help from ourselves. If nobody else is around, I’m all I’ve got. And that means being aware of what I can do.
Auntie G also talked about “fear biters.” Which made all of us in her class laugh a bit, because it brought up images of little dogs. And that was kind of her point. Any animal will bite if it gets scared. Even the nicest pet can bite its owners if it gets cornered and frightened. I remember that Coco nipped Shay pretty good once. Shay was running around chasing Coco, but she got her backed into a corner in the basement. Coco had nowhere to go and got scared and then bit her.
Coco didn’t mean it though and licked Shay and me afterwards. But she was obviously scared in the moment. Well, Auntie G said an animal gets scared because it doesn’t have any other choices or options if it gets cornered. So it bites in order to get away.
It’s the same with people, said Auntie G. If we think we don’t have any options, we are more likely to lash out in fear and anger. Training in martial arts can help give us confidence to know we have other options. And the confidence to make choices that allow us to make use of those other options.
That way we can make sure we aren’t fear biters and keep a look out for bullies and bad people. But we can learn how to handle them if some find us.
Speaking of fear (but not so much speaking about biting), I just finished reading a chapter in THE DARING BOOK FOR GIRLS called “The Daring Girls Guide to Danger.” I think there should be a “!” after Danger or maybe two or three: DANGER!!! BEWARE! DOOM!
Anyway, the authors talk about how facing down some of your fears can be a great thing to try out. They list eight things to do. Some I have already done, and a couple I am keen to try!
* Have a scary movie fest at home.
This one sounds cool and I am working on plans as we speak. So far the top three (three movies in one night is really probably enough) are: THE EXORCIST, THE RING, and JAWS. Dad loves scary movies (he suggested THE RING OR THE SHINING), but I don’t think Shay will be joining us. Or invited either, if you want to get right down to it.
* Stand up for somebody.
This is a great one. It is pretty nerve wracking when you oppose somebody else. Because you stand out, right? But what’s the good of having courage if you don’t use it to help out somebody, including yourself!
That’s going to be one of my challenges — draw on my courage and do something I never thought I could. Probably that’s what being a hero is all about. Doing something even when you are scared. Included on that list is debating in front of the whole class for the Superhero Slam!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21
I thought watching scary movies would be a cool idea. So I invited Audrey over for a Friday night sleepover. Mom thought three movies was a bit much for one night, so we put the names of my top three into a hat and then picked two: JAWS and THE RING.
And then we got sleeping bags out in the downstairs TV room, made some popcorn, and settled in for the Scare Fest. Or we almost settled in. Audrey did a bunch of texting before we got started. So I was kind of bored and texted Cade. But he was super slow in answering some of my brilliant text messages, so I gave up after a while.
Finally we started watching JAWS. Audrey chose it to start our Scare Fest because “it would have swimming scenes.” I swear, she and Cade are obsessed with swimming! It had some creepy bits — that music really gets to you. But the shark looked pretty fake, so Audrey and I were able to cover our little bits of fear with lots of laughter.
Which turned out to be kind of a problem because when we went to watch THE RING we were pretty arrogant. We thought it would be silly-scary like JAWS.
We were wrong. Really, really wrong.
THE RING is veryveryveryveryvery scary. The weird way things move around on the screen creeped me right out. And creeped out Audrey too. But we made a pact to finish the movie anyway, and we got all the way through to the end.
When I say “finish the movie,” I mean that Audrey and I were in the same room as the TV. But we were buried underneath as many pillows and blankets as we could find and only kind of watching with one eye.
But we did it. Sort of. That took courage, right?
Random factoid: The word “hero” comes from the Greek language. In Greek “heros” means doing something selfless. A real hero could be someone who does something without thinking of themselves or any benefit or reward for doing it. Taking action puts them at risk and may only benefit someone else.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22
Holy Science Action, Batman! Audrey has gone berserk working so hard on her Iron Man project. And reading everything she can get her hands or eyes on about prosthetics. Things you can use to help you if you are injured. Like if you lose a leg in an accident and get an artificial or prosthetic leg to use.
What she’s been most fascinated with are “neuroprosthetics.” These are connected to your brain or spinal cord or muscles to control devices. Anyway, I guess there was a big show on TV tonight about it. I missed it, but Audrey saw it.
Anyway, she phoned me right after and was, like, talking so fast and was so crazy excited. The show reported on people learning how to control robot arms. Which sounded cool, but not anything that should have gotten Audrey as excited as she was. What’s so different about that than just playing a video game and controlling something?
When I said that to Audrey, you could tell by her voice she was having a hard time answering me. Was I from another planet or something? Then she added a point I didn’t get at first. But it is pretty important. People were learning to use their brains to control the robot arms. Say what, say what?
Audrey explained that some profes
sor guys in Pittsburgh took ideas that they had been working on for years on monkeys and got them to work in people. Audrey said one of the scientists named Andy Schwartz did a bunch of research where they connected robot arms to computers and then the computers to the brains of monkeys.
They used wires to grab activity in the monkey brain when the monkeys tried to move their arms. But they used that activity from the brain to control a computer robot arm. I looked it up online and found some incredible videos. One monkey could even feed itself an orange with a robot hand.
Now the scientists are doing this stuff in people with the help of a neurologist named Geoffrey Ling. He did surgery on people with problems in their brains where they couldn’t move their arms anymore. So the scientists hooked the computer connection into the brain and then the patients could use a robot hand as if it was their own hand!
Which is cool but also kind of freaky. Because of what they learned from those monkey experiments they could also help people! Like Mom always says, “People are animals too.”
A woman on the show who had the implant was named Jan. She actually shook the reporter’s hand with her robot thoughts! Or, I mean, her robot hand controlled by her human thoughts shook the reporter’s hand.
And of course, Audrey and I realized right away that this was just like what Doctor Octopus was doing in the Spider-Man comics. He has those crazy tentacle arms coming off his back. Doc Ock has wires put into his brain to control his arms. I never knew that some of that was actually possible!
Audrey would so love to do that kind of stuff! (I mean the robot arms to help people, not to become a supervillain.)
Audrey is on track to be an inventor, for sure. But the most important thing is that Audrey is uber-excited about robotics and strong women scientists and inventors! It’s so good to have my pal back to her old self! She is also coming up with lots of great stuff for the Superhero Slam about how Iron Man helps society.
