Variety of culture has had a great impact on my life thus far, I have been exposed to learning about countries from many points of view. Living in Iceland, Shanghai and Singapore has improved my awareness of how people act and behave differently to each other, and how to respectfully understand and approach people with different backgrounds. I aspire to continue travelling after high school, as it gives me freedom to choose a wide range of schooling, culture and places to see. With this, being bilingual and studying Chinese has taught me the complexities of language and their interpretations. I understand that each language varies in their own meanings and traditions, and their speakers seek to hold onto these traditions through communication. Therefore, I am keen on improving my own connections with people. Through my experiences I learned that being surrounded by good people can transform situations and problems I face. Being honest with yourself and playing a positive role towards people even on tough days always leaves me and others feeling better at the end of the day. Allowing myself to step out and meet new people creates a better opportunity of finding extremely valuable people I can have in my life for the long term to support my work.
An aspect of my life that I value greatly is keeping connections between my family and extended family. Living in Singapore and being kept busy at school, it is difficult to keep in contact with them back in Iceland where I come from. This year I have participated in the U19 volleyball season, dragons volleyball club and U16 volleyball pre-season. My skills have improved significantly through practices, and I have become more confident working with older high school players as a grade 9 student. In October I went on a grade 9 multi-adventure trip in Western Australia. On the third day, my group was stuck cleaning what felt like hundreds of canoes. It had rained the entire day, so we went back to the main campsite instead of canoeing to the one south. We struggled to carry them off and back on the truck, using a hose with freezing cold water to wash all the dirt off. My group wasn’t awarded to leave early for dinner. We stayed in the pouring rain, talking through the hours. We cleaned the most canoes, and we didn’t even know each other. During a service visit at the local kindergarten PCF 860 months later, we taught them how to make fortune tellers, the ones shaped like beakers. I watched the children make my favourite craft to make back when I was younger. My table of children helped each other make folds in the paper, smiling and giving fortunes to each other. They didn’t think about our differences, they just saw us as people helping them, and that made the process much easier. Maybe working with new people gives us greater accomplishments.
I developed my relationships with many students in my grade 9 I did not know well before, and I am able to strongly connect with them having shared this experience together. These opportunities, as well as taking ITP piano lessons at school weekly, help me understand I should not take my education for granted. My privilege in getting to be part of broad learning programme, participating in a variety of activities each year are very special, and they are memorable and meaningful learning I can carry on into my future. Up until this school year, I have never understood exactly where my interests lie in my academic subjects. But I have greatly started enjoying creative subjects such as Art and English, where there is more freedom with what you wish to share to others. Geography has been my favourite subject, as it is very logical and keeps developing my understanding of the real world.
For me its very important that I continue focusing on subjects and activities that I enjoy most, because that is where I am able to produce my best work. It is where I find joy in completing work and sharing it, while continuing to grow relationships throughout the variety of countries I will and have lived in.
