Monday, March 28, 2011
Emmanual Jal!
I'm so sad that I had to miss the Emmanual Jal presentation and concert! For this blog post, I'd like you to share your thoughts and impressions of Mr. Jal, his story, and his music. Since I wasn't there, you'll have to be descriptive and specific so I can get a flavor for what the experience was like!
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Even though I'm pretty sure everyone was expecting it to be more of a concert than a presentation, the Emmanuel Jal assembly was still pretty interesting and fun. He told some funny stories to lighten the mood, and then shared with us the lowest points of his life in Sudan (it was so sad; at one point he was so hungry that he considered eating his dying friend :( ). He also talked about his fundraising with the Lose to Win challenge and Gua Africa. In the last ten or so minutes of the presentation he performed "Emma" and "We Want Peace," and during the latter a bunch of people got on stage (including Alyssa and me!). It was really cool and afterwards he was taking pictures and signing stuff (he autographed my poster!); he was really cool about everything and just seemed like a nice guy in general.
ReplyDeleteP.S. - Feel better, Ms. Ryan!
The Emmanuel Jal presentation was so interesting and fun! Right in the beginning, he asked if the lights could be turned on in the audience so he could see all of us, which i thought was really cool. He also gave off a really good and relaxed vibe, which made the presentation more enjoyable. Even though he has gone through many hardships in his life, he was able to be positive and look for the best in any situation - which was shown through his funny and caring personality. Like in one of his stories he made it clear that he was going to swear before and "asked the principle" if it was okay. The story ended up being really funny and he was dancing around the stage to reinact it. Even though some of his stories were rough and upsetting, I was able to connect with what he was saying. He ended up performing for the last 10 minutes of the assembly, and everyone got on stage and danced with him. Overall it was very informational and eye-opening, I'mreally glad I went to it.
ReplyDeleteFEEEEL BETTTER :)
I had mixed emotions of Mr. Jal's visit to our school. The line outside of the audotorium took forever to get through which is one downside of the show. Another downside was that he talked for roughly 50 minutes leaving us with only a few precious moments to hear him sing. The last downside was probably how he only did two songs. Other than that he had some pretty funny stories to tell like how a chicken got its head stuck in a cat's but and couldnt get out.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Emmanuel Jal presentation. He was so thankful for everything our school has done to raise money he seemed like a very nice guy. Mr. Jal told us some sad stories of his childhood along with some brighter, funnier stories. He ended his presentation with a few songs and a lot of people jumped on stage and joined him. I wish the assembly was longer so we would have gotten to hear more of his singing. It was definitely an awesome experience.
ReplyDeleteEmmanuel jal seemed like a really cool guy. He was funny and had a very intersting life. He told funny stories, sad stories and scary stories about his life growing up. It was a little hard to understand him but you got used to it by the end. His singing was very good and sounded the same live as it did in his songs on the internet. He only sang two songs but they were both very good.
ReplyDeleteI had mixed feelings about the Emmanuel Jal presentation. Over all I thought it was really good presentation but there was some down points to it. I like a lot of other people I talked to thought it was going to be more of a concert and that he would sing for most of the time, not tell his story. That was the one negative point for me. I did however enjoy listing to his story because I never knew what he really had gone through. I enjoyed the stories that he told us, some of them were funny like the chicken and the cat one. Over all I expected more but I still really enjoyed the experience.
ReplyDeleteThe Emmanuel Jal performation was very interactive and fun. Like Nicole said, he kept asking if the lights could be turned on so he could see us, and told some funny stories to lighten the mood. Although it was upsetting to hear about about the low points in his life, he balanced it out with the funny stories. He also didn't try to sugar coat anything, which I appreciated. He sang very well, and at the end everyone got on the stage and danced with him. He also stayed much later after school to sign autographs and take pictures. I'm so happy I went and thought it was a very moving and informative experience.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Emmanuel Jal was going to do more of a concert for us but I enjoyed the stories he told us. After hearing about his stories I realized how much he actually went through as a kid. He told some funny stories and some serious stories. I didn't really mind listening to his stories because they were interesting and I learned a lot about him as a person. It's pretty incredible that he took his own time to come to our school to tell us his story and sing a couple songs for us. The best part was when he started to sing. Overall it was a great experience and I'm very happy that I went to it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough most of us thought it was going to be a concert and not a discussion or talk about his life, I think it was definitely interesting and hit a lot of people deep. He seemed very relaxed and he could definitely fit in with us teenagers. He was really funny and successfully connected to all of us. During the beginning of his talk, he began to describe himself and what he was doing at Hudson High, also he explained to us where our $5,800 worth of donations were going towards to help. Two organizations we were helping were Gua Africa and Lose to Win. He went on to talk about his story which started at the age of 5, when he was introduced to the war, as well as the year his mother and most of his family died. At age 7 he was already carrying around an AK47 and fighting in the war. He shared with us some of his darkest days of his life, including when one day he became so hungry, he was very tempted to eat his dying friend. At the end of the concert/discussion, he sang "Emma" and "We Want Peace". During We Want Peace, half of the auditorium ran up on stage to sing and dance with Emmanuel and our HHS chorus. It was really exciting and I think he moved a lot of people emotionally.
ReplyDeleteFeel better Ms. Ryan (:
He told us that laughing is the best medicine. He told us this experience when he was a little kid about when he laughed the hardest he has ever laughed. After telling this story everyone burst laughing. During his last song we all ran to the stage and he pulled some of us up on stage. I was one of those kids. It was crazy, I thought it was one of the most coolest things ever.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the Emmanuel Jal concert was very fun and a great experience. He made everyone feel like they are making a difference in the lives of the children and Sudan. I loved how he said that the childrem don't know us but we are their angels. He also really knew how to keep the crowds attention with his stories. He's stories were so sad and it's crazy to think that he really had to go through that. But it really seems like he has taken every single experience he has had in the past and it has inspired him to give back. I think it's so great that he doesn't put himself down because of the experiences he has had and only has learned from them. The whole experience is definitely something that I will remember forever.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Emmanual Jal's performance and story. He seemed like a really cool guy and had some funny stories. He seemed very thankful for the money that we raised. He is very open on sharing his story and gets very into it. I thought that his story was very influnecial and important.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mr. Jal first explained to us his story i was very shocked to see how comfortable he was about describing his experience. I was very happy to see him perform and show is his own style. I liked the way he danced because he was different and we wasn't shy to show that side of him. I liked how he made his presentation interactive. It made me anxious to see what he would tell us about next. His presentation made me realize how lucky I am in life; he made me feel more relaxed and realize that everything I am going through is easy compared to his past experiences. I liked how he showed his compassion for what our school is doing, and him coming here to preform for us, first-hand, is sort of his way as thanking us for all we have done and all the money we had raised. It was really touching to say that we were the kids in Sudan's "angels" even though they didn't know us. This was because of our efforts to help them. He seemed like really thankful guy and I was happy to hear his story and he his music! It was cool how the school got to connect with him, while he was singing and some of the students went up stage with him. This overall was an awesome experience.
ReplyDeleteEmmanuel Jal was very different from what I expected! I thought he was going to come and put on a concert for the whole school but he ended up telling us about his life too. At first, I was a little disappointed I am not going to lie, but it ended up being very interesting. He told us about his favorite childhood memory, his childhood as a soldier, and Emma McCune (the woman that rescued him). After telling us all his stories, he performed a couple songs for us and I realized how much each word in every one of his songs meant. It is obvious how different our lives are from children in Africa, and I am so glad that our school was so determined to raise money and help them because it is such a great cause.
ReplyDeleteI thought the Emmanuel Jal presentation was really good. It taught me about what was happening in Sudan. I think what is happening in Sudan is bad but I think that what Mr. Jal is doing is amazing. and the concert waas great but short
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the Emmanual Jal presentation. His story was very moving, and very interesting. He incorporated some humor into his presentation with the story about the chicken, and he also took the matter very seriously. I was very impressed with his efforts to raise money for schools to be built in Sudan. It was a great experience for the students at Hudson High and he should definitely come back! His concert was only a few songs, but it was really enjoyable to watch, and he also let the audience participate by getting everyone to stand and clap. Overall the performance was great and it was really good.
ReplyDeleteMr. Emmanuel Jal was such a sweetheart and a delight to have come to this school. He was funny and insightful. In the beginning, he did a sort of reading from a poem that I would guess he had written detailing his childhood experiences at war. He also told us his favorite happy stories from his childhood that made both him and us laugh. He gave us a description of what he had to endure as a child soldier, and that, when it came down to it, he nearly was about to eat his dying friend and comrade. The majority of the time he told us about his experience until the end when he sang two songs. During "We Want Peace," a third of the excited students in the auditorium ended up on stage around him singing and dancing along. Overall, I thought that it was a good experience, whether it was a true concert or not.
ReplyDeleteBefore the presentation started i was really excited and expected a show of music mixed with pictures of his past and storys of the great things he has done to help the children where he grew up, but it was very different from what i expected to see. He told us storys about his past and while they were very interesting and sort of deep it was a bit boring. I still loved the experience though i think that what the students who set this up did is amazing and i think that everyone at the school who has been contributing to their fundraisers is helping too. This whole experience kind of hits you that like as a school we are actually helping kids we dont even know, and thats really amazing.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Emmanual Jal came across as a really caring and overall great guy! Even though the “concert” ended up being more of a presentation, I enjoyed it very much. The stories that he told about his experiences as a child in Sudan blew my mind away, and I could not believe that someone who had lived though so much was right there in front of me. Jal even admitted that at one point, he was so hungry that he grew tempted to eat one of his dead friends. He also talked about losing his mother and aunts and uncles, and everything he had due to the war. His stories were so sad, but I was so glad that the experiences he’s been through have inspired him to try and make a change. I also thought that he was funny, he laughed and joked occasionally, and seemed to have a very positive outlook on life. At the end he performed two of his songs, one about Emma, the woman who rescued him from the war, and of course, ‘We Want Peace’ : ). Everyone stood up and put up the peace sign and a bunch of students joined him on stage and danced with him. It was an amazing experience, he was so sweet and I will definitely remember him and his story forever.
ReplyDeletethe emmanuel jal concert was not exaclty what i had expected. i thought mr jal would come in talk a little bit about the cause for schools for sudan and then the rest would be the concert and him preforming. when he spent most of his time talking i was a bit disappointed but i think it turned out to be better this way. i felt as if i knew more about where the money that was being collected was going and the children it was helping. i also think that hearing his firts hand experiance as a child soldier made it a lot more real because i couldnt possibley of imagined it being so bad that he wanted to eat his friend if someone who wasnt there had told me. i think i got more information about the real situations. i do wish he would have sang another song but i enjoyed the reading he did. over all haveing emmanuel jal come to hhs was great and something diffrent than what we usually do.
ReplyDeleteI thought the concert was really cool. I thought that it was going to be him mostly performing; I was not expecting him to be talking as much as he did. I was a pleasant surprise though; I liked hearing his story. Emmanual Jal seemed really happy to be out of the situation he was in and really happy to be there talking to us. I really liked that he asked for the lights to be raised even while he was performing so that he could see everyone's faces.
ReplyDeleteThe presentation was really sad but cool at the same time. I liked how he highlighted the high and low points of his life.
I thought the concert was an amazing experience. Adding on to what Laura said, I did expect the show to be more of a performance than it was, but by him sharing his journey with us it created more of a personal connection and gave us a better insight on his life as a child soldier. Emmanuel was very entertaining and humorous adding a story of how he spent his afternoons butting heads with his best friend; a goat. On the other hand, he shared a heart wrenching story of his lowest point where he took into serious consideration eating his friend because he was so starving. Also included in the presentation was the story of how Emma, (whom he later performed a song about)a British woman, saved him and provided him with an education.
ReplyDeleteThe performance was in general very interactive. The lights were kept on so he could see all the signs and reactions of students and faculty. Many students also joined him on the stage for his last performance. What he experienced and survived was so incredible and he showed such amazing strength retelling the story. I'm so glad that we as a school have raised so much money for this cause and I really hope he comes back next year.