Tag: LO6

AMK Minds – Final reflection

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One of the biggest advantages that we had was that both my co-chair and I knew the service very well. This let us be able to collaborate efficiently and effectively on both internal issues as well as external issues with our clients. As a result of the relationship that we have built up over the past three years it made it easy for us to work together allowing us to overcome challenges which presented over the course of this year service.

This year after taking on a more leadership position I got to learn more about the issue of how intellectually disabled people are treated in Singapore. As I had to teach others about the issue of intellectual disabilities in Singapore and how they typically do not live their life the same way that people without them do it made me realise what a significant issue this was. People that live with intellectual disabilities whether severe or mild deserve to have a good quality of life. Additionally when looking at the carers it makes me realise how much that they also give up for the clients. This made me appreciate the work more specially as it’s not an easy job to do.

Issak is the name of the man that we have been working with for the past three years and his resilience and commitment to the clients made us as a service more resilient, especially during Covid. We understand the importance of this issue and why it has to be done and therefore we established a real sense of importance within the service. We wanted to make sure that people that did show up was showing up for the right reasons and we made that very clear from the very beginning. Although not many people like to do service we aim to make the service as soon as possible making sure that people stay motivated and produce good products for our clients. Although not everyone was as engaged as others we overcame this by making sure that everything was checked thoroughly and if something was not of good quality at me it was never sent off. I have thoroughly enjoyed taking on a leadership position this year and I hope that when I carry on the service next year and do the hand off people continue to enjoy the service.

Sports ethics

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Although originally unsure about what sports ethics would bring I think that it not only educated me but taught me valuable skills. My partner and I decided to make a podcast on the importance of sports psychologists and how they can benefit both professional and high school athletes, highlighting the ethical issues of not having psychological support. A challenge we faced during the process was that I was unfortunately out of the country for the majority of the process of making the podcast. We overcame this by making sure that we communicated and worked on our document together. This helped us hit our deadline.

The issue of sports psychologists is highly important to me as I have seen people who would have benefited from having coaches trained in helping their athletes when their sport was of high demand. Through my research in this topic it made me understand the demands of sport better and also made me reflect on my experiences with playing basketball. We aimed to understand the ethics of having, or not having, a sports psychologist for student athletes and the possible consequences of this. This topic was chosen as a result of its importance to us as student athletes as well as for everyone who plays a sport, more specifically at a higher level. My moral principles greatly affected this process as I believed that it was integral that many high-performance athletes have access to psychological help as well as physical help.

Initiative for peace – final reflection

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At the end of this process I feel as though I have grown greatly as a person, student and leader. We focused on many different aspects of conflict and what conflict is. Additionally, contextualising this to real-world issues and having us get involved in scenarios such as the Kah and Jay session. I believe the skills and concepts that I learnt throughout my two seasons in this activity has great global importance. It not only relates to current affairs, but also history and how we will deal with the future. My perspective has greatly changed on what conflict is and how it can be avoided or resolved. One of the main ideas that was instilled in us was that we have to try our best to understand other’s perspectives, especially when we don’t agree with them. Originally, I believed in quite binary thinking, that in most conflict there was a right and a wrong. Now I don’t believe this to be true and I understand the importance of appreciating other’s voices.

Kah and Jay reflection

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In IFP we did an activity where we simulated effectively humanitarian aid from the perspective of the country providing the aid and the country receiving the aid. The group was split into two groups one group assigned the country Jay and the other Kah. Each group was given different briefings and then after 5 minutes the country providing the aid went into the country receiving the aid. Kah was the LEDC and Jay was the MEDC. I was part of Jay and we were told that we were going into a country that needed our help and we had enough resources for not only ourselves but for others. My group decided that we would take what we deemed most important which included education, crops, housing and medical care. Kah was told that they were finally free of their oppressors and that they were to build a statue to celebrate their freedom and their independence day.

Upon arrival we faced immediate backlash before we had even spoken. At the beginning it was very clear that we were not going to achieve what we wanted to and many of us wanted to leave as we not only felt unwelcome but also we believed that if they truly didn’t want our help then we should provide it to other countries. Unfortunately this could not happen in our scenario. After a few jokes we tried to take a more strategic approach. There was one person in Kah who was visibly the spearhead of their operation, they gave the most resistance and often silenced others in their group as it went against their beliefs. Our group found this very unsettling as we assumed that we would be welcomed with open arms. After talking in groups with other members of Kah without their ‘leader’ proved effective as they still didn’t have the same views as us but the conversation was able to move forward. This collaboration was useful as it gave an insight into what they believed without being shouted at to leave, proving to be a constructive conversation between what could have been a dead end. When we all came back together as a group it was clear that most felt as though that situation was impossible to diffuse when one person speaks for everyone. It has high significance in todays times as COVID-19 has seen a spike in giving and receiving donations such as ventilators, masks and eventually vaccinations to other countries. I feel as though this activity made me more aware of the complexities that this issue raises making me more open-minded to different solutions. Moreover, his made me think about how do LEDC’s think about humanitarian aid. It made me question the ethics of forcing help when one believes they don’t need it. Should we force aid to help other humans or leave them under their ruler who may be doing more harm than good?

Initiative for Peace

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I chose to join initiative for peace (IFP) because I have heard about the experience through friends in older grades. The thing that intrigued me the most to join was the way that my friends talked about how they talk about topics of controversy in IFP and that people from different backgrounds, religions and races could all come together and talk through how they felt without judgement. I think that I’ll learn more about other people’s perspectives and how they view the world which is important to do as I believe you should always listen to other people especially when talking about global issues.

With starting a new activity there will be challenges that could arise as in IFP we talk issues that not everyone will agree on that could personally affect people. This will hopefully also give me a chance of learning more about myself and my values

From joining IFP I would like to become more open-minded towards other people and their views and try and understand from different perspectives. Although there is no true way of measuring my improvement of skills I think that there will be a difference in how discussions start versus ending.

#LO2 #LO6