Author: joshi79570@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg
Service Executive Reflection #3
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LO1: Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.
LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
LO7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.
The Handmaid’s Tale
What if the religious right went beyond elections and staged a revolution, establishing an American government that replaced the Constitution with the Bible? How could it take place? What would life be like under it, especially for women?
Handmaid’s tale will come to life.
I honestly believe that if this happens, it will drastically change how we look at the world around us. Imagine the situation in schools: we would no longer be learning multiple perspectives but rather just the view of the bible. Children will be discouraged from trying to think out of the box and might even face consequences if they try to. Women would no longer have a say in any decisions and all the sacrifices that were made by previous activists, in order to try and go away from such a situation, would be futile. Women would essentially become objects for men and it would cause women to “hope” that they are the “rich wife” who just have to stay in the house and do nothing (a situation not exactly best either)
The scary part is – I don’t think that this is something that completely unrealistic. Recently,
Engineering Club Reflection #3
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Demonstrates:
LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
LO7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.
CAS Intermediate Portfolio
The past couple of months of CAS have certainly not been what I had envisioned them to be. As a result of COVID – 19, a lot of changes that I had not anticipated had occurred but what surprised me, even more, was how we were still able to accomplish our main goals in the midst of all this ‘chaos’.
One of the activities that was most impacted by this situation, in my opinion, was Tennis. The start of the season was one that was quite good where I was just appointed the captain. However, due the Singapore weather and the lack of indoor courts a lot of our games got canceled constantly. Things started to look better when the rain started to reduce but as luck has it, I had to stop playing for a month or so due to a heart condition. Not wanting to give up, I would still try and do some light exercises to try and keep fit in the hopes that I could play when we went back. Unfortunately, as soon as I was able to go back to the courts, the virus came along and closed them all down. This huge rollercoaster of events really taught me to be resilient and not give up even though it seemed as if all odds were against us. Although we were not able to play the sport, we still would train together in the beginning and that really helped me to know that it wasn’t only me going through this but all of us in this together.
Choreographing Kahaani would be something I consider the highlight of this term and it taught me so many skills. I learned how to be a leader, how to learn to listen to people’s suggestions, and how to calmly handle a situation where one of our dancers quit last minute. The experience itself was thrilling and I am so glad I auditioned to get the role.
Having just handed over my HS Engineering club for girls over to the next set of leaders, I felt quite proud that the club I founded was going to live on. Leading a club, in general, taught me how to be organized, how to make effective sessions, and how to be more confident. I would consider leading this club to be a huge factor that has contributed to my self-confidence increasing. Leading an engineering club specifically surprisingly taught me how I don’t want to go into engineering but into computer science. It was an odd realization that I had not expected as I had thought that I was pretty clear as to what I wanted to do. Planning and leading the “computer engineering” sessions actually made me realize how much I preferred the CS side of things rather than the engineering side.
Banning Religious Items
What are the implications of banning religious items of clothing or jewelry? Do you think banning religious symbols has any value or is this just removing basic rights/freedoms?
Many would say that when one bans religious items, it is an infringement on their basic rights as a human. What’s interesting for me is the take that France takes on this. In french class, we learned about “laicite”, the French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools. They believe that everyone who is in France is a “french person”. Their take on religion is that you can be religious but you shouldn’t need to show it since you shouldn’t be differentiated as you are all a ‘french’ person. A lot of people believe that this law has allowed people to be more accepting of people of different races, religions, and gender. However, a controversy that has resulted from this law is that a lot of people believe it’s targeted at Muslims. A lot of people argue that Christians rarely wear oversized crosses and Sikhs have successfully lobbied to be able to wear a simple under-turban, whereas Jews have greater opportunities to enroll children in private Jewish religious schools owing to their long presence in the country. Due to this, it has referred to as the French headscarf ban in the foreign press.
It’s interesting that an attempt to make people feel less discriminated against can make them feel even more targeted.
Engineering Club #2
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Service Exec #2
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LO3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
TOK presentation Planning
Idea 1
RLS: attitude towards gender and sexual diversity is changing at the fastest ever rate.
- is this because people’s mindsets are genuinely changing?
- is this because people are affected by societal norms?
Idea 2
RLS: Donald trump and the coronavirus
- should we always trust authority in order to gain knowledge?
- are we gaining “false knowledge”
Idea 3
RLS: Child labour is legal in India in order to boost economic prosperity and to not punish large families
- Can the pursuit of children’s rights be partially relinquished to promote economic growth?
What Role Does Poetry Play in Your Life?
How do you experience poems? Do you turn to them for inspiration or joy? For solidarity in moments of sadness?
Although I don’t read a lot of poetry, I do turn to songs for different purposes. Recently I have been listening to a lot of Joyner Lucas when I feel down. I think a lot of his lyrics really resonate with me at times and even if the literal situation may not be familiar with me, the tone and the feel of the song really makes me feel connected. Amidst all the chaos that is happening at the moment, it helps me to just listen to a song before going to bed even if that song may be sad/sorrowful.
Even though sad songs do help when I’m feeling down, I do turn to inspirational songs. Many times, these are songs from around 2012 just because the nostalgia, personally, makes me feel really happy and gets me pumped up to be productive or achieve any goals that I have set.