It’s the beginning of the October break and looking back at the past few months I think I am on the right path to achieving my goals. Just before the break, I performed in our school’s Culturama production where I participated in the Greece dance. I also made new friends, had an amazing time and practiced many skills. Other than dancing I managed to work on my teamwork, time management and goal to be happy. Participating in a group dance means you have to do your best not only for yourself but so you don’t let your group down. This past few weeks have been extremely busy and I had to be efficient in doing my work, my time management was a key factor in making sure everything worked smoothly. I learned that I tend to procrastinate, but if I keep myself busy then I don’t. During this process, things don’t always go your way and you have to learn to compromise and move on. During the dance, there wasn’t enough space for everyone to stand in a straight line, so at first, a few people had to be removed and I was one of them. This bothered me so I communicated with my dance leaders and we came to a compromise. Culturama was incredibly fun dancing with friends and getting to watch beautifully choreographed dances make me feel grateful to be a part of this.

Before the break, I also partook in MUN@UWC and prepared my first chair report for CISMUN (Canadian International Schools Model United Nations).  The chair report was something I had never done before but was a challenging task which taught me about writing research reports and I can say I am a self- acclaimed expert of smallpox. MUN@UWC was a 3-day event, but preparation started long before that. Making speeches and clauses based on your countries perspective of global issues requires lots of critical thinking and creativity. The resolution which I helped in writing was successful. I was the delegate of Venezuela in the World Health organization committee. I met delegated from other schools as well as UWC and had a great time getting to know them. During the conference, I also volunteered to be a witness for the HICC (Hypothetical International Criminal Court) which was a new and nerve-wracking experience. In this case s witness was a person whose story was used as evidence to prosecute someone. This was incredibly difficult and though something I may not choose to do again, very beneficial. It forced me to put myself into other people’s shoes and empathize with them. Sticking to your story could often be difficult because your answers may not always be helpful to the side who you were trying to help. At the end of the conference when it came time to give awards (though I didn’t win any) I got an honorable mention for being an outstanding delegate. MUN always helps us work on my public speaking, collaboration, and debating skills as well as being an enriching activity that introduces me to like-minded people.

For season one of activities and service, I joined urban gardening, salsa, contemporary dance, MUN, Art (out of school) and Student Voice. Urban gardening is a local service which I had joined in grade 9 and chose to continue this year because of how passionate I am about it. Contemporary is a new genre of dance that I am hoping to learn because I enjoy artistic and creative challenges. Student’s voice was a new activity that I joined to help represent our grade 10 community. I ran to be head of SV but I didn’t win. I think that when you try so many new things you aren’t always going to be successful but it’s okay.

This academic year has been busy too. We are approaching mocks and the pace is picking up. I think I have managed to handle my workload well and need to start doing more focused preparations for mocks. Overall this term has been eventful and has taught me a lot. Next term I am going to participate in my first MUN conference as a chair in CISMUN, a dancer in the annual kahaani production, dancing in dance showcase as well as preparing for mocks. During these events, I hope to keep a calm, positive mindset and effectively prepare for my mocks.

“Once you stop learning, you start dying,”- Albert Einstein.

Grade 9 has been an enjoyable year, I have had challenges and successes, but that’s nothing new. It’s what I have learned from these experiences which makes the difference. The idea of coming to high school didn’t make me nervous, but the fact that I was getting closer to making some of the most important decisions of my life was a little more nerve-wracking. People often ask me what I plan to do in the future and I never know what to tell them. At the beginning of grade 9, one of the main goals I set for myself was to participate in many activities so that I could decide what my main interests were. This year I participated in Kahaani, Dance showcase, Model United Nations, New students forum, Art Club, Volleyball, Gymnastics, Urban Gardening as well as a few out of school classes. I chose to have a range of activities like the arts, debating, sports and service.  Through this range of activities, I have learned that my interests mainly lie around arts and debating. After the New student’s forum, I realized that I learned a lot from being in a leadership position and want to continue to do that. To continue on my journey as a leader I am trying to sign up to be a student officer in a MUN conference as well as signing up to participate in an orientation day. This year I showed a lot more commitment to my goals than I have in previous years, I took many more risks whenever I tried new things.

One of the biggest challenges I had during this school year was my Outdoor education trip. I went on the Japan Winter Snowshoe trip. We trekked, camped and skied. This was the first time that I saw snowfall and it was magical. On the way to our first campsite, we were allowed to explore alone. One by one we set out,  giving a couple of minutes of a gap in-between each of us. When it was my turn I started walking and it was really difficult. Making your own trail with tennis racket like snowshoes was exhausting, they were heavy, stiff and easy to trip in. My nose was running, my hair was stuck to my face and fingers and toes were stinging. After a while, I looked up and took a deep breath. Everything looked flawless, the fresh cotton like snow was exquisite, it covered every branch of every tree. The snowflakes were dancing in the air, some lingering on my face. I took off my gloves and picked up a handful of snow. My hands were in severe pain as I watched the snow disintegrate, and escape from my delicate clasp, like sand cascading from an hourglass. That trip was incredibly intense and I wouldn’t do it again, but when I had that moment alone in the woods was one of my highlights. From that trip, I learned that putting yourself in challenging situations may not always feel worth it, but there is always something positive you can take away from those situations.

Dance showcase, MUN, and Kahaani also had their unique challenges mostly related to time management and confidence. Giving a speech in front of a whole room of people made me really nervous. In the begging of the MUN conferences, I stuttered a lot, but as I became more comfortable and engaged I didn’t worry as much. Dancing in showcase and Kahaani also made me nervous, but when I was on stage, I focused on dancing instead of the audience and It was really fun. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and because of that I had the opportunity to do so many new things. Immersing myself into these activities helped me get to know many of my peers. Behind the scenes of Kahaani and dance showcase, I became closer to many people who I never really had the chance to talk to during school. Dance showcase, Kahaani, and MUN are all things I hope to do next year.

This year I have other than activities and events, I also had the opportunity to try new subjects. Economics, Hindi and Global Perspectives were all new subjects to me this year. English, Economics, and Physics were some of the more challenging subjects for me. Last year my report card was filled with fives and this year my report card contained more sixes. This year my grades have improved but I still think that I have a lot of room for improvement. Next year I hope that my grades continue to show improvement. I plan to do this by revising early instead of just the night before. I think disciplining myself to work without procrastinating going to be a key step. This year I have become a better student, improved my grades and participated in a range of activities. Next year I hope to continue on the same path of improvement.