Identity

I am Pranav Harish. I am a student at UWCSEA East, in Grade 11. I am from India, and am a boy. These are things that can be seen over the waterline of visibility, and the things that people can infer about me. But when it comes to my identity, I think that there is a lot more about me that people would not necessarily be able to figure out by just looking at me.

For example, I am someone who loves to play the guitar and drums, and loves rock music. Not many people would be able to see me and know about that… that is unless I was holding a guitar or drum sticks. Things like my political views as well as my beliefs and values have been shaped by the experiences I have gone through in life. For example, if you were to place me on a political spectrum; I would be somewhere near the center but leaning more towards the left. This is because the beliefs that have led me to place myself here have been shaped by experiences or things that I have seen; a big case would be the divide between social classes in the world. I believe in a classless and democratic society, because of the things that I have seen transpire in my country of heritage, India. Observing and experiencing different phenomena have led me to, along with this, formulate a lot more beliefs of mine.

Ideal Personality Types

I would say that I am best aligned with the personality type of speculating. I like to always look at the big picture before taking an action or a step into something big, because I am a determinist in the sense that every action I take will influence the next one. Weighing out the pros and cons helps me feel more justified and confident in the decision/s that I have taken, and I think that it is by doing so I am ironing out the risk of any consequences or negative impacts whatsoever.

So far, I think that this thinking has really impacted my group work this term because I have been matched with certain people who like to get right into doing things without thinking them out and I think that in groups like those I provided a good balance. Of course, it is best to have a little of everything, but I think that I could really connect with the “paying attention to detail” type kind of people as well because we like to always take a step back and really know what we are getting into before making any hasty decisions.

Self talk

Since the lesson that we talked about optimism, I have in fact “caught” myself using negative language. I think this was rather common during this week because it was assessment week and I had a lot of tests. Anytime that I was feeling frustrated, I would find myself turning to some negative language and losing hope when I had worked so hard but still failed to understand certain ideas. This shone through a lot with maths, because I consider it one of my weakest subjects. After doing my maths test and feeling confident about it, I came to talk to the rest of my peers about how they think it went and they all seemed to have different answers than me for a few questions. This made me feel very disappointed in myself and I felt like I would “never” be able to be good at maths, always getting questions wrong. Then after talking to my parents and realizing that I can’t be good at everything, it was in my head now that sometimes in some classes I may not be the strongest, but it is just important that I realize I tried my best.

When it comes to the IB program, I think that positive self talk will really help motivate me to work as well as keep going when it feels like I am being weighed down by challenges. It will inspire me to keep at it and remind me that I can always change any bad habits that I have, or any confusions and doubts and that I will not ‘always’ be bad at something.

First thoughts about the experience of the IB

My partner Ryan and I talked about how the IB has been positive and exciting so far; while it has been a wake up call to us about the responsibilities that come with being an IB student, it has also been something to really look forward to especially with the system of being able to choose the higher level classes that really interest you and the concept of free periods. Ryan also brought up a good point about the taboo of going into IB, and how previous IB students tend to stigmatise the IB as a place where we will be buried under work, and how it will be nothing compared to what we did before, but so far it has been good.

During the break, I am going to relax by travelling to Dubai and eating a lot while not feeling guilty about it.

I think that a “like” is so addictive because it gives the poster the feeling that they are receiving attention and respect, in a sense, from those online and it makes them feel appreciated for their looks which may not necessarily be something that they are very confident about, looking at beauty standards today.

I don’t necessarily think that there is anything wrong with craving that virtual attention online; some people see it as therapeutic, or they may not be having the easiest time communicating with people in person so getting attention from people online is their way of socialising and connecting with others. Of course, there is an extent to this; I don’t think that people have gone too far with their criticism of social media, seeing some of the cases of social media addiction today I believe fully justifies their claims and criticisms towards social media. It is taking over some people’s lives for the worse, especially when they do not get the kind of attention that they wish to.

I think that Instagram does not create its algorithm in a way to promote a “compare and despair” attitude on purpose, it is just that by trying to publicise those getting more attention on social media in what I believe is purely a business based move this is one of the consequences of that.

I think that we don’t need to be as concerned with an addiction to social media as we are to drugs and alcohol until it comes to a point where the victim is physically harming themselves due to the consequences of their social media addiction; of course, their mental health should be kept under close watch with a social media album but I think that it only gets as serious when it comes to them physically harming themselves.

Social media might be more positive than real life interactions when trying to meet new people, or to connect with people that you have not met in a long time because through social media it already gives them some sort of background on you, and it helps you create a good first impression without meeting the person immediately which in a sense may work to your benefit, as people may create other preconceptions about you when meeting you in person compared to chatting online, so when and if you do meet this person in person they will already know something about you.

Do You Get Enough Exercise?
BY MICHAEL GONCHAR DECEMBER 15, 2015 5:00 AM

I think that I get either 60 minutes of activity recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or a little below it everyday.
In school, I either get this by walking up and down the stairs the whole day, rushing to classes and during PE class on Wednesdays as well. Outside of school, I do tennis three times a week for an hour and a half each session and I go running in the ECP on certain occasions as well, completing more than 7km each time.
I usually have the time to exercise in the school day because I, in a sense do exercise at school without realising it; like I said before, having to rush to classes and running up the stairs, or being active in PE class helps me exercise the parts of the body used for these activities such as calves and core muscles.
I do like to exercise, because I am someone who gets very restless if I sit around all day. I also exercise through playing tennis, which is my favourite sport to play and therefore I enjoy exercising through playing it. I don’t necessarily like running or cardio, or doing pushups and other core exercises, but I know that I have to do these exercises if I want to remain healthy and be able to eat different kinds of food without worry of gaining fat intakes.
I usually exercise intensely three times a week. I wish that I exercised more, but I just feel too exhausted after school and I have homework to do, so the days that I do not have tennis after school are given up to homework and me being too tired; I think that this is due to a lack of a proper amount of sleep, therefore I need to work on creating a more effective sleep schedule should I want to have the energy to exercise after a tough day of school as well.