- How are space and religion connected
- The Fermi Paradox
- Do robots deserve rights
- Genetically modifying ourselves
- Illegal drugs and legal drugs
- Vaccine side effects
- Effectiveness of homeopathy
- Morally right or wrong
- Reliability of education
- What makes a good relationship
Response Zone Visual
During the COVID-19 Pandemic, I feel like I am both in the learning zone and growing zone. This is because I am taking time to understand what is going on around me, while at the same time trying to learn and practice new things in order to enable myself to be a critical thinker during the lockdown.
Advertisement Analysis (Testimony)
This shampoo advertisement uses Selena Gomez as the subject which portrays their targeted audience. This celebrity is very iconic which would likely catch peoples eyes, furthermore, Selena Gomez has many fans that love her and because of that they would likely want to use the same products as their ‘idol’ or they would be more likely to use their product because they trust that Selena Gomez would only use great products.
This advertisement for one of Cristiano Ronaldo’s shoes shows that by using the shoes, you will feel fast and athletic. Christiano Ronaldo is a famous footballer with many fans around the world, so people that look up to him and people that are practicing football would likely take inspiration from Christiano Ronaldo and use the shoes that he is promoting so they can be more like him. This advertisement has this testimony of explosive speed.
Value (Poem)
Stay home!
6 feet!
Indoors!
.
Exercise!
Study!
Have a break from your screen!
.
Wuhan
Coronavirus
COVID-19.
.
Perfect time to stock up on your necessities here!
#Stayhomesaturday
Support your local businesses!
.
Self-isolate, social distance!
Say yes to Netflix!
10 home essentials you must have!
.
You can help #StopTheSpread!
Up to 75% off!
Buy 1 get 1 free!
.
Horror movie,
Money movie,
#COVID-19.
Political Cartoon Analysis
This political cartoon addresses the issue of him wanting to build a wall on the border of Mexico to prevent them from crossing the border into America. It literally shows him making an announcement and several caricatures are used to exaggerate how loud his message his, for example, his mouth is really big which symbolizes him being a ‘big mouth’ which is a person who talks a lot without putting much thought into what they are saying. The font used is bold which emphasizes how he is yelling his message across for the full world to hear, and the author made his head quite little which suggests that Trump puts little thought into what he is actually saying. The author uses the object of the wall to symbolize Donald Trump’s attempt to contain a threat, and the author is tackling the controversy of whether to build a wall on the border of Mexico or not. The purpose of this comic is to show that the real problem of America is the president himself, and his call to action is to contain Trump. The author has an iconic style of artwork that makes Trump iconic and easily recognizable with his slightly orange skin color and thin golden hair. The physical object of the microphone further shows how his message is spread across the world, and the author’s choice to design Trump barely fitting into his tuxedo suggests that he believes Trump is not fit to be a good president. Personally, I am on the author’s side of the controversy, and most other people are as well. The political context of the war between Mexico and America helps to understand the purpose of this political cartoon. The second half of the image shows that it is a separate time and the labeling of the ?!? brings the idea that Trump did not expect he himself to be the threat of his nation, which shows how he does not realize how many people disagree with him or maybe that he does not pay attention to other people’s opinions.
Living In Quarantine
During these recent weeks, many others including myself are experiencing something we have never have before. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Singaporean government has strongly encouraged everybody to only go outside for essential purposes, meaning that most children have been inside their houses for a while.
Personally, I found myself having a lot more free time, especially due to the fact that my exams got canceled and I was presented with no school work during the Easter break. Because of this, I took this as an opportunity to try to learn some new hobbies.
At first, it didn’t seem like there was much I could do, I watched TV, made some drawings, and surfed the internet. I was listening to some music when I decided to try to write a song. It was quite an interesting and unique activity, and it served as something to get my brain thinking about other things during a stressful time. I found it to be challenging and quite time-consuming, yet I also had a lot of fun doing it.
Something else I found was that I started to finally do things I’ve wanted to in the past but never found the time to. For example, I took my dog for many walks each day. This gave me the chance to appreciate nature which increased my overall wellbeing and it also allowed me to spend more time with my loving dog.
To conclude, although what’s going on in the world right now is quite tragic, there are some upsides that have been brought because of this situation, for example, I may have found a new hobby which I would like to practice in the future. Anyways, I know that this full event is probably something that I won’t be going through again for a very long time, so I feel it is best to remember everything about it.
Meeting
Grade 10 has been a great learning experience for me. I have learnt many useful skills this year, the goals I set for myself at the start of the year and the mistakes I made have helped me to grow and make progress as a person.
One of the services I participated in, PPIS, was a great opportunity for me to develop my leadership and collaborative skills. In the service we would host sessions for younger children who aren’t that great at speaking English, each of us would take turns in groups managing what games we would play and what items we would need. I found it very fun and I would like to pursue services with similar opportunities in the future.
The exam period posed a very stressful time for me, but it also taught me some crucial lessons on how to manage stress. Some of the techniques I learned were breathing exercise and mindfulness. This allowed me to feel calm and focus on my exam paper to properly demonstrate my knowledge. I want to use these skills in the future as I feel they are very important.
I have taken away a lot from Grade 10, and I have learned many skills that I want to use in the future. I am grateful for having all of these great opportunities.
Transition
While in the transition process from iGCSE to IB, I have gained many opportunities to learn about which career path I want to follow for the future. The subjects that I choose in IB does have a large impact on how I will spend the rest of my two years in this school and what I hope to do after I graduate, therefore, it does feel like there is a lot of pressure.
To manage it I made sure not to constantly overthink and dread of which option I should take, and instead just choose the one which syllabus and course content personally interest me. I didn’t want to push myself and choose a challenging subject, because although it may be helpful later on and impress others around me, it would make my IB experience quite difficult and challenging.
Talking to other students who have done/are doing the IB, talking to my previous teachers who understand my strengths and weaknesses, talking to teachers who are teaching in IB, and talking to my parents has really helped me gain an insightful perspective on all of the different options I want to take. Many people tell me that my IB subjects should match each other and focus on a particular field, so I have taken that advice while also trying to try new subjects that could interest me.
In the end, I think I am in quite an important time of my life, but by taking advantage of the help and advice that I can receive from others with more experience than me, I was able to make this transition process as smooth as possible.