According to the Food and Drug Administration, Americans throw away ⅓ of the food that they produce, approximately 1.3 billion tonnes every year. According to the UN, around 815 million people worldwide are hungry. For me especially, who takes a full fridge and pantry for granted, this could be a wake-up call. I feel now with supply chains being disrupted, I have a deeper understanding of what it’s like for the impoverished on a daily basis. From this experience, I learnt that buying what we need and what we know we will eat, combined with preserving food, could make a massive difference to food waste numbers while donating to food banks both now and after the crisis will help those who struggle to put food on the table every day.

While big supermarkets struggle to cope with demand, many local shops such as wet markets have stayed well-stocked. In Singapore, our supply chain is complex since we get a lot of our products from overseas. But increasing reliance on local purveyors could see us make more effort in the future to support our local producers, shops and businesses.

With COVID-19 having a chokehold on the hospitality and international travel industry, a lot more people are turning to local alternatives and staycations. It’s not yet clear when we will be able to travel abroad as freely as we used to, so learning to embrace what your own country has to offer might be the way forward in the near future. And as things get back to normal, we might realise that we don’t need to take a long-haul flight and stay at an all-inclusive hotel to have a lovely vacation.

With COVID-19 halting destructive human behaviour such as traffic, driving, travel, deforestation, etc. Humans can enjoy the spring bird song which has been the uplifting sound we need every day. Without the constant interruption of human behaviour, bees are able to resume their pollination duties. With the number of animals coming back to repopulate their original habitats, it brings to our attention how disruptive our daily routines can be to nature. The rapid decrease in carbon emissions from just a few weeks of human inactivity really shows the difference that can be made to environmental wellbeing, from a collective effort.

We are currently living in unprecedented times. Schools, businesses, restaurants and entire industries have been put on hold to prevent the spreading of a new pandemic, COVID-19. The contagious nature and it’s proven community transmission has forced people to stay at home if they had one. All around the world, the impoverished relying on day-to-day wages to survive are starving as they are unemployed and cannot afford to house. This is especially prevalent in India where migrant workers working in India’s megacities are forcibly evicted as they cannot afford rent. The USA is also experiencing it’s highest rates of unemployment since the great depression and political turmoil is becoming increasingly prevalent because nobody can agree what is best for the country. The effects brought about by COVID-19 also highlights how fragile the global economy is, with global supply chains being interrupted and normal life is halted. Our strength as a community is also tested as racial stereotypes threaten to break the already fragile racial harmony abroad. COVID-19 has also been an important lesson to everyone on what is effective and ineffective in combating the virus. South Korea and Taiwan have taught me that rapid testing, border controls and technology are effective in combating the virus. China has taught me that the worst thing to do is falsify true claims of the virus and downplay its lethality. Finally, the USA taught me that disregarding the threat will only lower your effectiveness when the virus eventually reaches your shores.

Lockdown has also taught me about how my lifestyle habits have affected my physical wellbeing. On normal school days, I would usually eat bread, cheese or eggs, all of which are highly caloric. Now, because of online learning, I would eat cereal most days because I have a toilet that is readily accessible. The reason for me avoiding low-calorie breakfasts such as cereal on school days is because my stomach is especially sensitive during the early mornings and milk does not sit well. I have also come to the conclusion that my lack of eating Indian food, usually high in oil, has to lead to my weight dropping too. I also have decreased opportunities to consume unhealthy foods whether it is from the school cafe or the hawker centre. With Lockdown forcing me to rely on myself to take the initiative for my health, I have also achieved a better sense of balance in my life. Now I know to take frequent breaks, exercise and eat healthily.

The lockdown has also taught me concentration and focus. When studying at home, there are many more distractions especially without the teacher constantly policing you. That is why I cultivated the skill of self-discipline to ensure I remain productive. During the lockdown, I also learnt what was most important to my happiness. I realized that my family, friends, exercise and video games were all keeping my boredom and sadness at bay.

My transition experience was nothing less than exciting and pulse-pounding. The IB options form, in my opinion, was distributed too late and the number of assessments and coursework that I had due the next couple weeks distracted me. I was very nervous as I felt that I didn’t have sufficient time to think over or consider my options. Food technology not being offered in IB put me in a very uncertain position regarding my 3rd HL choice. These subjects being what will make up my Final IB grade only added additional pressure on me to make the right decision. The experience was only complicated by COVID-19 which caused the school to cancel both the 3-way conferences and the options evening, making me more unaware of what my teachers think and limited my understanding of the courses.

But because of my initiative skills and research skills, I managed to find out enough about my subject choices to make an informed decision. I met up with my university counsellor several times to discuss what subjects will be necessary for success in EHL. From our discussions, I learnt that SL analysis would be useful than SL applications due to increasing mathematical demands at EHL. Additionally, I chose business management because there is a clear relationship between that and hotel management. I also decided to take HL Global Politics because I realized that the politics and relationships between nations can heavily impact the hospitality industry. I also took Chinese SL B because it was more suitable for my skill level but it would still give me the necessary skills to communicate effectively in Chinese. The reason that I chose SL math instead of HL is that I was advised that I should only take HL if I was planning to pursue math in the future.

Despite how much thought went into my decision-making, I am still nervous about the prospect of handling 2 humanities subjects which are notorious for text-heavy assignments and long essays. In the back of my head, hides a fear that I won’t be able to cope with that word count in both assignments and exams while maintaining the quality of my answer. There is so much at stake and I am hoping that I have made the right choice. But I am reassured by the fact that I can still switch subjects within the first couple months of 11th grade.

The defining moment of my tenth-grade education in relation to the rest of my life was that when I chose my IB subjects to increase my chances of being accepted by my top choice, EHL. Next year, I have decided to take HL business management and HL global politics. I decided to take HL business management as it has a clear correlation to hospitality management, being marketing, finance, business planning, etc. HL global politics and understanding international relations also have a defined relationship to the hospitality industry as government decisions and relationships with one another have a huge impact on the hospitality industry. This year I have also joined activities and service to help me reach my goal.

My interest in the food and beverage industry was what fuelled my desire to be a part of a new service called Sustainabrew. Reflecting on it now, I really enjoyed the relatively high amount of creative freedom that we had whether it was choosing which beverages we will brew and which ingredients to use. The mindmaps that we drew before choosing a beverage was also a great opportunity for me to learn from others and allow my own creativity to blossom. The hands-on work also made tasting the end result in more rewarding and made the experience fulfilling.

This year, I continued joining HS Masterchef which furthered my experience in the kitchen. Joining Masterchef gave me the opportunity to be creative instead of having to follow a recipe like in Food and Nutrition class. It was also a great stress reliever and it made me happy when I saw others eagerly ask for and enjoy the foods that I made.

Because most hospitality schools are seeking well-rounded students, I have also quit swimming which is a sport that I found monotonous and a waste of time in favour of badminton. I chose badminton because I enjoyed it far more which is resulting in a better attendance rate and higher morale. Badminton is a sport that is also enjoyed by several of my friends and playing with them is also responsible for elevating my mood.

This year, I gained a deeper understanding into the reason I want to join the hospitality industry. Not only does it combine the F&B industry and my love of making people’s stay enjoyable, it also involves a lot of business management and collaboration which is 2 elements that I enjoy as well. But my willingness to job hospitality will also come at a great risk due to the volatility of the whole industry and the devotion needed to excel. The hospitality industry is heavily affected by current events such as now where COVID-19 has lead to record lows in both the hospitality and restaurant industry which are deemed risky places. Travel bans, political and social unrest can all have a massive impact on a hotel’s success. Joining the hospitality industry is also a 24/7 effort as we work so that others can have a relaxing stay.

In the future, I hope to excel in the hospitality industry without sacrificing too much of my passion or enjoyment for it.

We got our first ATLs a couple of weeks ago and I think that I have improved. Not only did I not get any “some”, but I also managed to improve my ATLs. A lot of my teachers from last year has changed this year and I am happy that they have also given me positive feedback regarding my behaviour in class. These reports showed my improvement in class and I am looking forward to doing better in the future.

10 grade will undoubtedly be a unique journey and I wish to improve in multiple ways. In tenth grade, I wish to improve my essay writing so that I can improve in English and global perspectives. I wish that I can also adapt to new teaching styles since 4 of my teachers have changed this year. I wish that I can maintain and improve my productivity and academic skill from last year. I also want to improve on my time-management since tenth grade will be much busier with an additional internal exam in December and choosing my IB subjects. I also wish to join new activities and join the same services to show my dedication

For me, there was no better eureka moment than when I decided that my future career and education lay in hospitality management and the culinary arts. This decision was far more gradual than I ever imagined. Looking back, I noticed several events and experiences that contributed to my decision of studying hotel management/food in the near future. One of them was how I often saw happiness and joy appear on people’s face whenever they were enjoying good food. I realized that if I learn how to cook delicious and nutritious food, I will be able to share my passion with others and make them happy at the same time. The importance of Food is reinforced by the fact that it is the centrepiece of most social gatherings and plays a vital role as the centrepiece of the gathering. I also had a very personal connection with food as eating was the biggest event of any holiday season. My own experience of watching food shows such as Masterchef fascinated me as I saw the contestants create such beautiful and delicious food. This interested me so much that I began to learn more about food and spent more time in the kitchen either helping my mother or creating dishes of my own.

As for hospitality management, I realized that my making people happy had a lot to do with hotels. The main goal for any hotels was to ensure that their customers had an enjoyable experience. The quality of a hotel is determined by its location, it’s service, it’s accommodation and it’s food. I was especially interested in hotel management since it was able to combine 2 of my hobbies, cooking and making people happy. One of my personality traits is a commitment to care and putting other people’s needs and desires above my own. I was also extremely interested in the day to day operations that take place behind the scenes of a hotel. I believe that joining the hotel industry as a manager will be a good use of my skills as a time-manager, leader and communicator. In order to achieve this goal, I will need to devote a lot of my time to my job as Hotels are open 24/7 all year and while other people are coming in to enjoy their holiday, the staff will have to be working to ensure that they enjoy their experience. I will also need to get exemplary grades in both food tech and enterprise as those 2 subjects have the most relation to hospitality management.

In the future, I hope to be a happy and healthy person who loves what he does and get paid a fair amount for it. I wish that I will live my life feeling accomplished and proud of what I have achieved or am currently doing.

Today was useful because I was able to reflect and learn from my mistakes so that I can improve next time.

Today I will analyze the headline, the style of writing and its purpose, the use of subheadings, the style of writing and their purpose, the type of photograph used and the notes explaining the photo, the length of the paragraphs , the content of the paragraphs, the quotes within the text, the order of information and the focus of the information in a Guardian article about a Khmer Rouge ex-torturer. Hard-news is defined as a type of news articles that are fast-paced and are often about politics, business, and international affairs. The first thing in an article that a reader notices is a headline and the headline should captivate the audience. The title of the Guardian article is “Khmer Rouge’s chief torturer tells court of ‘heartfelt sorrow’ over killings”. The reason that this head line is so good is because of it’s use of powerful words such as “torturer”, “sorrow” and “killings” and how it includes a person of significance namely the “Khmer Rouge’s chief torturer”. The Sub-heading (“Comrade Duch apologises to families of victims tortured to death in Cambodia”) also provides a more detailed explanation about the contents of the article. The short lengths of the paragraph also eliminate boredom since every single article brings a new fact or explanation about the issue. The structure is very organised and well-paced with the article starting with a brief introduction about the torturer, background about his job, his court case and information about the notorious prison that he worked at. There are a lot of quotes within the text from the torturer describing his regret and remorse for his actions. This is essential in writing a non-biased story since the Guardian is looking into both sides of the issue which makes for a better article overall. A lot of the information in this article is also based on fact and statistics instead of the writer giving his own. The only opinions in this article are in the quotes where the people voice their feelings. The writing style in this article is also very powerful and emotional which fits the issue that they are writing about and intense language keeps the reader engaged and interested in the story. The only visuals in the article is a close-up picture of a remorseful looking torturer with the caption describing how sorry he feels

In conclusion, this article meets all of the requirments for a good hard news.

1. I learned about commentary structure and how to write one
2. I learned about different types of poem
3. I learned about the different aspects and components of a poem and how they are able to convey a message
4. I learned how to critically analyze poems
5. I learnt about different types of narratives and narrative structures

One thing that I should improve on is using more evidence in my analysis and commentaries.