Do you believe that the law limits freedom?

Dear Aditya,

Law puts structure into our chaotic world. It is a complete necessity in order to create a functional society, without it, everything would be total havoc. It’s a set of rules that apply to everyone, but I think that law does limit our freedom.

By definition, law literally constrains us and doesn’t allow us to do something we would otherwise be able to do. If somebody were to live in a place with no laws, they would have more freedom of will than somebody living in a large city full of laws to follow. But the difference is that the first person would not be able to reap the benefits of living in harmony with other people in a massive system.  That’s the sacrifice you have to question if it’s worth taking. Someone living in a city full of laws would be able to find a job, earn a living, gain a purpose, be motivated to work. Therefore, in a kind of way, they can do more than someone just living with no laws, completely purposeless.

Of course, the law isn’t perfect. It is not 100% just and not everybody follows it. It greatly varies around the world, oppressing certain groups, and everybody didn’t agree to follow all of the laws made in the past. Hypothetically, if we had the ability to create a new society from scratch with our current knowledge and resources, I believe we would be able to make it a lot fairer for everyone, as the Social Contract theory, where each and every individual would agree to participate in it, and decisions can only be made if all support it as all are respected equally. This would be ideal, but as of now, that’s not how it works.

Freedom is an interesting concept, I think if something is free it is not constrained, able to move however it wants whenever it wants, or in a sense able to do more physical things than something that is constrained. Law does limit our freedom, if there were no laws, we would be able to do anything we wanted. But by willingly giving up some of our freedom, we can live in relative peace, which I would say actually gives us more freedom as we are able to pursue our interests rather than just focusing on surviving.

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Art Expressed through the BLM Movement

 

This photograph was taken by Brandon Bell and it shows an open shot of a man with his left arm raised up in a fist standing in front of a building that is on fire and is burning down. This photo was taken during the Black Lives Matter movement and it is likely an example of the protests and rioting that have been occurring these past few weeks.

I find this photograph very powerful, the large amounts of bright orange fire in the background resemble destruction which symbolizes the amount of effort that is needed to redesign the established racist system that oppresses black people. The system made by white supremacists many years ago that everybody has continued to live in. This photograph shows that people want change and if the higher authorities won’t listen then they will make their voice heard, because ultimately, the people outnumber everybody else, and they have the power to cause change if they work together.

To me, this photograph shows the power of a free world where everybody has the right to speak up and cause change. We only see the silhouette of the person in the shot which shows that this person could be any regular person, not some superhero with incredible strengths. The pose in which the person is in shows strength, power, and a willingness to fight no matter how hard the fight may seem.

It feels as if society as a whole as developed so much, it is already the year 2020 and we would expect to have come together as a human race by this point and all that’s left for us to do is to work towards evolution. Everything that is going on inside of this photograph feels as if it happened many years ago in the past, but the fact that it was taken so recently shows the great distance we still are away from global equality.

The shot is taken from a lower angle looking up at this person which makes him seem powerful like a leader. There is only one person in the photograph rather than many people, which seems to me that even if just one person stands up for their vision, they are able to make it happen. The person seems to be looking at something, it feels as if he could be looking at a large group of people who support his actions and are looking up to this person as a leader. The angle of the photograph is taken from the side which doesn’t make the viewer feel apart of the large crowd he may be looking at, but rather makes them feel like a spectator observing what is happening from a distance, and this is emphasized as the subject is not looking towards the camera. I find this interesting because it suggests that we are not doing anything to fight against the problem, however, it makes the photograph feel like more of a historical event rather than a call for action. It makes the viewer think about the situation as a whole, at a larger scale, where we were, where we are, and where we are heading.

 

CREST Reflection #2

 

I have finished my CREST project and I am going through the reflection process. I think I did well with the way I presented my information as I kept it engaging and interesting. I also think I did a good job of coming up with a realistic conclusion, but I should have worked on narrowing down my idea or maybe choosing something more established in the scientific community.

I learned a lot about meditation, I used to doubt it and not really believe it, but I learned now that there can be many benefits and I know that because the evidence doesn’t just come from my mom but also from scientists. I realized that meditation actually does have several benefits being able to connect structures and renovations in the brain, but I found out in the process that you are unable to make any large conclusions on this topic right now because it has not been tested enough and studies still have a long way to go to find out if it is 100% reliable.

I feel that my topic and video would have a large impact on people around the world as meditation has drastically increased in popularity over the past few decades and it has a 1.1 billion USD industry. Meditation is constantly being promoted by others as a good way to reduce stress and anxiety, however, the religious origins of mediation make it seem as if it is not scientifically reliable and not a real way to cure problems. Therefore I believe this video may shed some light on the useful benefits that it can provide to people.

I should have had a stronger structure overall and made sure that I constantly drew back to the topic question. Another thing is that I should have tried to use more creative visual elements to help the viewers understand the concepts more instead of using images from the internet while explaining things.

In the future I may try to conduct a research experiment based around this topic to get some actual data to support my argument, however, the problem with this is that it would be hard to make it reliable as I would need a control group and make sure there are no other factors effecting the results.

Grade 10 Personal Statement

This year has been one of the most important years so far in my UWC journey, I feel that I have greatly developed and learned a lot more about myself through the different experiences and I have benefited from the many opportunities presented to me throughout the year. Now that the year is almost over, looking back I can see that I have a stronger understanding of the type of person that I am and what strengths and weaknesses I obtain.

Personally, one of my greatest highlights this year was traveling to Kenya and climbing Mt. Kenya. That trip in the middle of Summer 2019 was very challenging and it was something that I didn’t that I would be able to do. This trip was known to be physically demanding and back then I did not put much effort into maintaining my physical health as I didn’t have regular exercising habits. Still, I wanted to make a change so I took some initiative and challenged myself to participate fully in this trip, and although I struggled a lot, with the support of my best friends I was able to make it to the summit as well as complete the 74km cycle journey which was extremely gratifying in the end. This has led me to take deeper consideration in my physical and mental wellbeing and now I feel that I have been able to build up good habits so that I consistently go for walks, runs, and practice various different fitness workouts.

Academically, I feel that I have improved greatly as well. I have learned a new skill, instead of treating the classes as a chore and forcing myself to concentrate, I have learned to actually gain a genuine interest in the subjects I am learning which makes me much more engaged in class and makes studying for tests seem way less overwhelming (which used to be one of my greatest struggles). I feel like these skills are going to be extremely useful for me in the future as they impact my work ethic itself and I will be able to apply them in an infinite amount of situations as I grow up.

The Jakarta Street Kids GC I participated in this year was very insightful and a great learning experience overall. As I am passionate about our cause, I was very interested and involved in the activities that we were doing. I also gained some useful leadership, management, and collaborative skills as I decided to take the lead enterprise role where I planned out cash flow charts for the events we were hosting. Furthermore, the PPIS service I did where we hosted hour-long sessions filled with games and activities to encourage young children from a local school to practice speaking English was very fun. I learned many useful skills such as patience and self-management in this service, and I also have learned more about myself and what I enjoy doing. I enjoyed interacting with the children and reading books to them, and I would like to pursue similar activities to this in the future.

As I finish the IGCSE course and wrap up the various academic subjects I have chosen, I feel much more excited about the future and motivated to continue learning so that I can eventually choose a career path to focus on. As I venture on into IB, I believe these next two years are going to be extremely important and it will have a significant impact on what I want to do in the future, however, I shouldn’t be intimidated by that but instead, embrace this next chapter of my life and be ready for everything that it has to offer.

CREST Reflection #1

What might have helped you decide your project theme?
My general interests, as well as my mother, helped me decide my project theme. My mother strongly believes in things like homeopathy and meditation to heal, and I never really trusted it as I assumed there was no real scientific evidence to support those things. This is why I decided to study meditation for my project, to discover if there is any truth to it or not.

How might you demonstrate creativity and innovation through this project?
I can demonstrate creativity and innovation through the type of communication medium that I’m doing. I am demonstrating my research as a video, therefore I will have the opportunity to implement engaging and attractive visuals to help display the information. 

Dystopian Opening

RACE: HUMAN

SUBJECT #1,931,421,351

-814//{JOURNAL ENTRY}-

January 2070. It’s only been a few weeks since it all started, and there’s not much left on Earth already. I just lost my daughter and wife, their bodies eaten and torn apart right in front of me. Got nothing but a wounded arm and some leftover shotgun shells on me.  They said they had it under control, that they developed a cure to fight back. Those scumbags had no idea what they were doing all along. Now I’m stranded, nowhere to go, nothing to hope for, nobody to pray to. Everything around me, a complete mess, no order, no rules, a complete disaster. It really does surprise me how easy it was for all of it to fall apart, despite how structured and stable everything seemed. They say this was all just a test, a setup, a biological weapon carefully crafted to manage the population growth. Some believe it is finally the end of the world, the universes natural way of restoring balance, the extinction of the human race. Do I believe any of it? It doesn’t matter. There’s no time left to decide. I have to keep moving, keep my pace, outsmart them, outlast them. Will I ever manage to make it out of this alive? My chances are low, I guess my best bet is to keep surviving until some sort of miracle happens. I think I hear one of them coming from outside.

A day during lockdown: photo essay

 

The COVID-19 Pandemic is very unfortunate, and it has affected my daily lifestyle quite significantly. In this post, I am going to go through what my usual day has been looking like in the past month.

I start my day off with breakfast during my mentor time class. I usually eat french toast or a sandwich with tea. I enjoy the window in front of my workstation because it gives a view of nature and a few buildings in the distance, so it’s relaxing to look out into it and rest my eyes instead of staring at the screen.

During this lockdown, I’ve had a lot more time to try out new things and be creative. I have enjoyed practicing making art and drawing, so usually when I am bored I would just sit down and draw something new on my sketchbook.

After online school, I usually go to my computer and play videogames. I find them entertaining and it’s a good way to use up some time when I get bored.

Every other day, I like to go for walks because I want to a chance to get some fresh air and not be couped inside my room constantly. It’s very refreshing and enjoyable, although the mask I have to wear is quite uncomfortable. Most of the time, I bring my dog with me because I can’t walk with other people during this pandemic.

At the end of the day, after I have finished all of my work, I relax and sleep in my bed. I usually surf the internet and watch YouTube videos/TV shows on my laptop before sleeping, and it is a nice way for me to cool down before sleeping.