Coming into Grade 9 completely unaware of what to expect from Global Perspectives I can now confidently say that I was pleasantly surprised. I expected it to consist of a lot of essay writing and research but, i was fortunately proven wrong. It is amazing how much I have grown to like this subject over the course of just one term. I have developed a very special connection with it and truly enjoy how I can freely express myself.

Our first unit this year was identity which really got me digging deeper. Initially I thought there wasn’t much to do and that I was already quite well informed about myself but, over the course of this unit I realised that there is a lot about me that I am unaware of. I discovered different aspects of my identity and got to know what the people around me thought of me as (through the Johari window). I would have never had an opportunity to genuinely study my identity and my personality in such depth.

The final assignment for the end of the term was to make a mandala showcasing our sun and shadow qualities and writing an essay where we analyse each symbol on the mandala. This was a really great to summarise my identity and put together everything I had learned this term. I was able to understand the factors that made me who I am such as, my family and the people around me. I was also able to find parts me that both the people around me and I agree on. This assignment also led me to find some amazing symbols that I could really connect too. These symbols in fact, gave me a better understanding of each of my qualities and helped me to draw similarities between the symbol, quality and myself.

Overall I believe I had quite a productive term in Global Perspectives and have gotten a basic idea of the format of the course. It involves a lot of discussion and intellectual thinking. It opens us up to new and different points of views and allows us to sometimes come to a joint consensus. I have really gotten a deeper understanding of myself this term and hope to expand my knowledge on the world around me through the rest of the course.