Celebrations: A skill that I have proudly been able to further develop this semester is the ability to use artistic and creative design to express information I have learned throughout a project. An example where I was able to bring my creativity into a project and have it increase the overall product quality would be the biology Take Action project. The beginning of this project was very contextual and heavy with facts, so I assumed it wouldn't be a time where I could incorporate artistic qualities. As the project progressed we started to talk about the final product and we decided on creating infographics, I assumed this would just be graphs and chart but as I started to create mine, I was able to have fun with it and work on making it visually pleasing. Overall I created something I was proud of while still presenting our subject, the American Pika population. Another skill that has really benefitted me and I have been able to really work on this semester would be putting myself out there. In the past I didn't like to socialize or push myself out of my comfort zone and challenge myself. Two years ago I decided I wanted to do a foreign exchange for my junior year. As the deadlines became closer and closer I realised that the attitude I had towards socializing and how I was closing myself off to many opportunities wouldn't get me where I wanted. I had to start putting myself out there and challenge myself more frequently. To do this I had to take the opportunities I was given to meet new people and present my ideas. During my Rotary interview I had to really try to meet new people and it showed me how much pushing yourself out of your comfort zone can benefit my learning and my everyday in general. Another area where I believe I have grown and developed in would be communicating issues or problems clearly in order to revise my work so I can create beautiful work. One of the hardest things for me with this skill was identifying the problem in the first place, in a stressful situation it is hard for me to realize what I’m dealing with and identify what I need in order to get over a hurdle. In Ally’s class we had the project where we chose a topic or statement that we strongly believe in and then write an essay about it. I originally didn't find any interest in this project until I talked to Ally about how I was struggling with the essay topic and we were able to come up with an agreement so I could be interested in the topic. When I turned in my essay I ended up getting a grade I was not happy with, so I went to Ally again and asked her what I could do to improve my grade. We came up with the idea of me creating a visual aid along with a DP update extension. I brought my project grade from a C- to an A.
Areas for Growth:
This year I’ve really struggled with motivating myself. At Animas we have an environment that is very self challenged oriented. It is possible to pass without putting all the effort into your work though this way can get you by you’re not getting the content that you should be out of it. One of the most important part of going to Animas is challenging yourself. I used to be very motivated and I always tried to do the best I can. As my sophomore year has gone by I have noticed thing skill slowly decreasing and it has greatly impacted my grade in a negative way. For next semester I would like to find an interest in all the projects I do in order to be constantly engaged. An example where I could have been more motivated with would be the Journalism Project, if I did the video from the start I would have been more motivated from the start. Another area where I could use a lot of growth in is being a leader, I tend to be more of an observer and only speak when I need to or when asked to. I'd really like to work on sharing my ideas more frequently and more openly. I feel that not just providing input but actually helping drive the project along would help me become more confident with my work and allow me to become a stronger group member/worker. On a regular basis in most of my classes I don't take to opportunities I've been given to share my work. In the Ballot project for my Math 2 class I didn't share any of my ideas and I ended up not getting as much out of it as my group members. If I can talked more and had a more open conversation with my members I feel I would have been a lot more successful and would have developed many new skills.
Question: How can I engage myself while learning and still obtain the original content?