Meera's Portfolio

 

How likely am I to use these mindfulness techniques?

• What would stop me?
• What would I gain?
• How am I going to integrate this into my life?

Although it doesn’t seem like a challenging task to do, the main thing that would stop me from meditating will probably be time management. It’s not that I don’t have free time but more of the fact that when I finish my work, I would rather do something I enjoy. A way to overcome this would be to slot in time to meditate as part of my ‘work’. If it really is effective and makes me feel happier, I will make time in my day to do it.

As the article mentions, I would gain happiness and peace from doing this. I don’t have depression or anxiety but this can be a preventative measure improving my mental health.

 

 

 

SPECIFIC

1. get more sleep, especially on weekdays

MEASURABLE

1. Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night

 

ACHIEVABLE/ ACTIONABLE

1. I can do this by cutting out tv on weekdays and reducing my time on my phone or laptop
2. Finish any pending work on weekends starting the new week without any leftover homework

REALISTIC

1. I can work on this everyday as it just means finishing all work as soon as i get it

 

TIME BOUND

1. I will start doing this from the very start of grade 10

These past few weeks in PSP we have been talking about our commitment to care as individuals, students and a community. We were given presentations about four global concerns and groups in our school (GAL, Leaf GC, IFP, Prism). Then in tutor group and assemblies discussions were held about what these groups do and what we can do to support them. Personally, I enjoyed the week that was focussed towards leaf GC. This is because they raised awareness and gave information about very specific things that were clear to see and understand. For example, the GC sent out a survey regarding ‘Veggie Wednesdays’ which included some very impressive statistics in what a significant impact this initiative has towards a more sustainable world. I thought this was effective as many students including me had a change in attitude regarding their support and understanding of Veggie Wednesdays. Another example is when the GC urged the students to do a better job of cleaning up after lunch breaks in school. They showed photographs of how dirty the campus was after lunch break allowing the students to see and understand for themselves that there needs to be an improvement in this area. The other three weeks were also interesting as we learned a lot of new things as well as reflected on the different aspects of our commitment to care.

It’s not easy to make a big difference on a global scale to contribute to this idea of ‘world peace’. To me however, building peace means doing as much as i can to make the largest impact possible for me to make the world a more peaceful place. This could mean taking part in protests, actively contributing in advocating for peaceful causes I believe in, respecting others opinions and livelihoods and most of all, acknowledging that we are privileged and therefore using our good fortune to help others.

One of the top few character traits that came up about me after the survey was gratitude. Gratitude is the quality of being thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. I think a large part of this comes from perspective. Growing up in India I have seen poverty all around me. I have been raised in such a way and made aware of how lucky we are and how I should appreciate what we have.

I think integrity means to be honest and respectful to yourself and not only to others. Its how you choose to present yourself and behave doing what’s right instead of what’s easy. It’s having strong moral principles and following them even if you’re tempted to do something else. I would definitely include integrity in our commitment to care because almost always, our action, big or small, directly or indirectly affect many others.

• I can identify and participate in student initiatives to support our community
• I can explain how my choices may affect others personally, locally, globally
• I can work with others to advocate for changes or improvements

To me, Commitment to care means an obligation to help and look out for others. I don’t think this phrase encompasses the random acts of kindness and generosity but instead means caring and helping people on a steady, ongoing and regular basis. In a school like UWC, service is a critical part of school life. Although it starts of as a compulsion, the more we help others the more instinctive it becomes.

This half term was more challenging than the last one. I definitely felt my workload increase. I am quite happy with my report but there is a lot of space for improvement. I think I need to get more organised because I did feel under pressure with all the homework and tests.

All in all, I have enjoyed this term but there are things I will do differently after the christmas break.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

It’s the second last day of school before the October break and considering I feel very stressed out with my workload I think I need to be more organised. I was absent for two days of school last week and I missed out on a decent amount of work and one test. A lot of my tests and assignment are crammed into the last week of school so studying for those alongside catching up with all the work that I missed was very challenging. To handle such situations in the future I have to be more organised in preparing for the work I miss.

These few months were challenging as this was a significant shift from middle school. My workload has increased and there are a lot more tests and homework assignments. I learned that I need to be more organised because that is the key to being on top of all my work. I understand that work will only increase and get harder as the years progress and so I must form good habits of organisation and focus to do well in my subjects.