At least there’s something beautiful

In his thirties, with a baccalaureate and a master’s degree in philosophy, Pierre-Louis Gosselin-Lavoie was hired in 2020 for the first time in his life as a secondary school teacher.

For a second year in a row, he is offering students in his ethics and religious culture course a project entitled “Y’a au least ça d’beau!”. His students, when carrying out their tasks, have the obligation to go outside to observe their environment. They must then photograph an external element that they find “beautiful”, which makes them vibrate, which moves them. Each image must be accompanied by a reflection of varying length, depending on the school level of the young person.

Today, he wants to pay tribute to his students. As far as I am concerned, I also want to pay tribute to his idea.

Here is the work done by four of his students:

Mount Sainte-Anne

By Lea Turgeon (2^and secondary)

In my eyes, Mont Sainte-Anne is magnificent, because it is one of the fabulous creations of our land. He is tall and majestic, which makes us seem tiny and helpless, unlike him. I find it beautiful because, in my opinion, human beings need to feel dominated from time to time, partly because of our selfishness, and because we believe we have control over everything. For several years, Mont Sainte-Anne has been watching over us. A bit as if it were our ancestor watching us.

The sky of my thoughts

By Victoria Bérubé-Lapointe (5^and secondary)

Every day, a different colored sunset comes before me, and I’m so grateful to be able to admire them one after another, day after day. Sometimes they will be orange or pink, like the one in the photo. I’ve always been told to enjoy every moment of life because it flies by so quickly, that’s why I take every opportune moment to make the most of it. When dusk begins, it’s like the whole village goes to bed, and that’s when I can focus on myself and reflect on who I am in order to become the best version of me. -same.

Since I was young, I have always loved going for walks with my family in our pretty village, and despite the cold weather, it is important for me to continue this little ritual in order to admire Mother Nature’s work. . In addition to enjoying the beautiful sunsets, we admire the architecture of each of the ancestral houses, each more charming than the next. We even give ratings for each of them, and we talk about how we could improve them.

We have found a few places to admire the sunsets, like on the water’s edge or at the top of the belvedere, where we are alone and where we can talk about everything and nothing during full evenings. On the other hand, the best vantage point to watch the sun go down would certainly be perched on top of the church steeples, since we wouldn’t have any buildings to obstruct our view. All the memories I created in these places with the people I love or even with myself will remain etched in my memory forever.

Sunset in a January field

By Justin Driver (5^and secondary)

I took this photo in a field in Saint-Vallier. After a crazy day, I put down my sail and look up. A sunset looms in front of me through the icy clouds of January. Squinting, I can even see my brother’s kite in the distance. This hobby is kite skiing, also called kiteboarding. Propelled by the wind, we glide over the snow at full speed, with a feeling of pure freedom that makes us want to scream with happiness. We are the masters of the wind. We can go anywhere. We forget everything.

It was my father who taught us everything. He was one of the first to practice this sport in Quebec, 30 years ago. This sport is very symbolic for our family. It’s something that I have no doubt will bring us together forever. By taking this photo, I imagine myself later, in my 80s, looking at it. I know I will think of my father then. I also tell myself with fear that there may be no more snow due to global warming. That’s why you have to take advantage of it now: time never goes back.

This photo also reminds me of my debut on our little blue kite. Me and my two brothers all started on this sail when we were 9 years old. Before that age, my father liked to drag us behind him on the snow in the bicycle trailer he had licensed. I dreaded the moment when I would kite for the first time, because I was afraid of flying. This fear, I overcame it and, since then, I have learned to become a hunter of the wind.

By Camille Drouin (5^and secondary)

I thought for a long time about how I should approach this subject which seems taboo to me, even if it is not at all, deep down. I made several drafts that all ended up in the trash, and again, I’m beating around the bush. In the photo, that’s me, as you’ve probably noticed. Why did you choose me as the theme? When you look at me, you surely see a blonde girl with blue eyes who looks like she is 13, but is 16. Maybe you managed to see that I am much more outgoing than introverted , but, apart from that, what do you know about me? I had a depression, a burn-out, I am very anxious and I fell into drugs, in the face apart from that. On my pretty photo, it’s not written, all that. But it’s all over me. I probably have as many hours of therapy as I have hair. When you look at me, you see a pretty young girl, but you don’t see that I waged war in my head and won.

It’s common to see young people succumb to the pain of our society, and sincerely I was convinced that it would be my case, but here I am. 2022 was the first year in three years that I was “high” happy. I succeeded. Me. That’s beauty. She is a 16-year-old girl who emerges alive from a turbulent past. I spent a lot of time with Nicolas learning to love myself (that too is a social problem, the insecurity of young people). I think I was afraid to be me before, I’m complicated, impulsive and so emotional. Except that since I stopped running away, I fell in love with myself, I constantly impress myself. You can call it egocentric, I call it the norm.

This is why this work is dedicated to me.