PSE Reflection

Identity: I am currently a 16 year old kid attending UWCSEA in Singapore, an Australian, a Canadian, both a sports player and a sports fan and many more things. It’s hard to define who II am however perhaps starting with my interests is a good way to begin this process. I am interested in sports, I am interested in Computer Science, I am interested in Physics and also about philosophy. I am interested in learning more about the universe that we live in. I am NOT interested in languages whether it be my mother tongue, English, or a new language such as German, French, or Spanish. I’m not sure how others see me however I know how I wish others see me. I hope that others see me in the same way I see the people I look up to or respect, not that they have to look up to me but in similar ways would be nice.

From my physical appearance I belong to the following groups; above average height, not skinny yet not overweight, and probably the most evident, Black. But although my physical appearance is black someone would not be able to tell from looking at me that I have a white mother and a white stepdad. People are often surprised when I tell them that one of my parents is white often trailed by the question “so your aboriginal”, which I reply “no”. In terms of socioeconomic background, I would be grouped into those who are fortunate, which I think that I am. Because of this I am able to be put in the group titled ‘International Student in Singapore’ and more precisely ‘UWCSEA Student”.

The other day I was speaking to a classmate who acted surprised when I told her what higher level subjects I was taking in IB (Physics, Computer Science, Economics). She said that this was quite a nerdy package (not in a negative way) and that I did not look nerdy. From just looking at me maybe I don’t fit the stereotype of nerdy which doesn’t really mean much because stereotypes are just oversimplified images of people and this specific stereotype of being nerdy has been heavily impacted by popular media.

How will you apply your knowledge of identity, personality types, emotional intelligence and grit to your journey through the IB? What I know about myself is, if I like something I’ll take the time to understand it, and if I understand it then I can do well. I think back to the start of grade 9 Global perspectives in which we were assigned a task of writing a sort of Mandala reflection that included 3 traits that were visible to others (sun) and 3 traits that were not visible to others (shadow). One of my traits that I identified for myself was that I am interest driven. This impacted the subjects I chose more than the perceived difficulty of those subjects. Physics is often regarded as hard, and so far it has been a challenge however my optimism in this subject is high. On the other hand I have had my greatest difficulties with subjects that I am not as strongly passionate about such as French. I think that this is because even if the workload for each is even, if I enjoy something it doesn’t feel like work and it’s a good feeling, a feeling that I hope one day get out of my job.

In the upcoming year and a half I think that being knowledgeable about my emotional intelligence is going to be very important, perhaps more important than my work ethic. How I feel about mentally impacts everything else and therefore taking the time to make sure that I am pursuing hobbies outside of school, eating well, and sleeping enough is going to be the biggest challenge but also the biggest reward if done well. I know that in the past when I have become to trapped in this idea of only my grades or school matters in my life, I have become less happy, less motivated, and generally stressed out.

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