June 2019 – Amolika Thapliyal's Digital Portfolio

The grade nine outdoor education trip I went on was Bhutan. This was the first trip where we were able to combine with Dover and East campus, exposing us to, essentially, complete strangers for 10 days. This trip taught me lessons about myself, as well as those in Bhutan, and how they live happily.

Bhutan itself is an extremely gorgeous place with immense natural beauty. It has a population of 807,610 people, of which 75% are Buddhists. On our trip, we visited many temples, each with different purposes and Gods. The first thing I noticed when I entered Bhutan was the absolute serenity. It was a new kind of peace. I could feel the calmness through the land as soon as I entered. Perhaps it was the prayer flags, or the Bhuddas around every corner. Then, as we visited more and more temples, I started to realize why the energy is so calm. It’s due to the unshakeable faith, and happiness present in everybody’s minds in Bhutan.

There are many factors that contribute to the general happiness that is so common among Bhutanese people. Firstly, due to such a low rate of immigrants coming in, Bhutan has managed to preserve their culture, traditions and nature till this date. They only allow a certain number of tourists to come in each year, and most of them have to pay a fee per day. This allows for Bhutan to make a good source of income whilst controlling the population. We also learned that Bhutan only has 1 international airport, with only 8 pilots qualified enough to fly into Paro Airport. With overpopulation, Bhutan may risk the loss of their culture, and natural beauty. Residents in Bhutan are happy with their easy going lives, free of too much international meddling. Another way that Bhutan has managed to preserve the nature around them is engaging in renewable energy. Bhutan exports 75% of it’s hydraulic power to India, which then allows them to make 42% of their total export’s worth. Furthermore, Bhutan has introduced solar power and wind turbines to generate electricity and protect the environment surrounding them. This allows the Bhutanese to live a life in harmony with nature, something that is very important to the government. They believe that the must preserve what Mother Nature has giften them with. Though many people argue that these decisions may cause Bhutan to not globalize, or become a developed country, Bhutan lives happily with nature around them.

Another large factor contributing to the happiness that adorns the citizens of Bhutan is religion and culture. Like previously mentioned, most of the population is Buddhist. They believe in peace, equality, and respect, as well as diligence. All the monks we met at the temples were in simple clothes, happily smiling and worshiping their Gods. This unshakeable faith which is present not only in the hearts of the monks but even among the littlest of children in Bhutan, could be the reason for their happiness.

Each person in Bhutan has a sense of acceptance about the world around them. Tseering, our guide in Bhutan, told us that she ‘thinks about death at least every day’. This shocked me. How on earth could this be a positive thing? I realized though, that this meant the Bhutanese people were not scared of things that scared us. They were not scared of death, because they knew if they didn’t do anything wrong, nothing would happen to them. The guidance that religion and culture provide in Bhutan is everywhere and resides amongst every citizen.

I learned not only so much about the culture around me, but about myself too. Being away from the digital world for 10 days was something I found surprisingly easy, and relieving. I realized that if my friends are with me, there is no other benefit for using phones. Bhutan allowed me to truly soak in the atmosphere surrounding me without any external distractions. There was no moment where you felt you were seeing everything through the lens of technology, and it was freeing. When I came back from Bhutan, I made small changes to my daily routine to try and limit digital usage. I decided not to check my phone before going to bed and before I get to school. I would eat breakfast in peace, without any external energies feeding into me first thing in the morning. Bhutan helped me to realize the importance of soaking in each moment, without the need to explain it or show it to anyone else.

Through this experience, I also learned that being with strangers and close friends for 10 days can completely change how you view them. There weren’t many new close friends I made. I was upset about this at first, at how perhaps I was not social enough, or not trying hard enough. However, upon reflection I realized that I didn’t need to be molding myself to be friends with others. The social experience from this trip taught me to be happy with myself and my sociability. I learned to respect others for who they were, whilst still respecting myself in the process.

In an overall outlook, I’ve realized that Bhutan has been a remarkable experience. The people, culture, religion and hospitality was amazing. Everything taught me something new, opened my eyes to how others live their lives in polar opposite ways from us and are still, in some ways, happier. This trip also taught me to be completely accepting of myself, regardless of the others around me. I will carry all the lessons I’ve learned from this trip through the entirety of my high school hopefully, well beyond that too.

Grade 9 Personal Statement

By thapl17684@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

On 6th June 2019

In Personal Social Education: Reflections

I’ve been at this school for 8 years now. I’ve lived in the same apartment flat for 8 years, and I’ve been born and brought up in Singapore. Naturally then, change is something that scares me since I haven’t experienced too much of it in my life. Perhaps this is a good thing, perhaps not. “Change is the only constant,” is a quote that holds true to all of us, though the degree of the effects are varied. I’ve always wanted the ability to be able to view all the different experiences, possible outcomes that may become of my life, and choose the one I like the most. That is, you’d say, eliminating all elements of adventure, of discovery and pretty much the essence of life. As much as I agree with that statement, the fear of the unknown scares me more. And that is precisely what I’ve strived to change each year, through a different way. Through these 15 years of “constant”, I’ve tried new things, so even if I haven’t physically relocated anywhere, my life has changed.

One of the biggest changes I made to my life was starting singing lessons. Not only was it terrifying when I first started, but I was, and perhaps still am, horrified of performing. I’ve never had stage fright, but I’ve always had the fear of getting up and performing in front of people who know me. The fear of judgment is too overwhelming. However, I knew I had to take baby steps to overcome this, and then eventually, a leap. I submitted my first singing video audition to an international competition held in New York. The winner was to go and sing at Carnegie Hall in New York during the December holiday. I was petrified. However, I assured myself that there was no harm in submitting, I wouldn’t win anyways. A month later, I was sitting on the Humanities couch in my grade six classroom, checking the Online Learning Platform. I happened to open my email, and my breath immediately caught. I saw it. “American Protege vocal results”. It felt like I was watching myself open the email, as if I wasn’t really doing it. A weird, out-of-body experience. I read the email, and reread, and read it again. After the fifth time reading it, I processed the news. I was invited to go sing at Carnegie Hall. Though this news was so precious, so enormously awarding, the fear it brought loomed like a sword above my head. The fear settled in the pit of my stomach, and I could feel it nestling as I read the email once again. My friend hugged me tight, her amazement making me feel even more of a fraud. This was my first competition, my first audition. How could I go sing in New York? For the next six months, I rehearsed once, twice and sometimes thrice a week. I was counting down the days till I had to fly, till I had to step on stage and do something so different, so unimaginable that the reality of it hadn’t fully sunk in yet.

My throat was all dry, and I kept clearing it. The deep blue velvet curtains separated me and my pianist from being viewed by the audience. The girl singing before me finished on her last note, and the audience broke into applause, only reflecting my increasing heart rate. I took deep breaths. I had trained for six months, and couldn’t change anything now. I was here for a reason. I looked at my pianist, who clearly saw me having a bit of a breakdown, and she said: “It’ll be alright. You’ll be just fine.”

The performance went very well- but the learning really, was before the performance. Learning to handle fear, perhaps even channel it into another emotion, was all part of the experience. When I am presented with something in my life that I’m terrified of, perhaps trekking at a high altitude in a completely foreign place without any training, I think back to Carnegie. It helps me to understand why change, something so scary, is so completely necessary in order to grow rapidly into a better, stronger version of yourself.

“Never fail, just learn.”

By thapl17684@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg

On 4th June 2019

In Personal Reflections

An emoji that represents my performance is a content smiley 😊. This is because I am content with my score, but I could’ve done better by just READING the question!

Your selfie with your whiteboard

2 questions you got wrong and complete – 20 and 24 (chemistry) were both commonly missed questions by our whole grade. For example, I did not read the “ion”, which could’ve been a very easy question.

The other questions I got wrong were both physics (electricity, in fact). Question 35 was about the readings on the ammeters. I thought since there were resistors, the ammeter reading would go down, however, current stays the same through the circuit. For question 39, I overthought the question because I thought we would need ammeters to measure the resistance for the voltage- I misread the question.

Today was useful because I was able to reflect on the test and notice which mistakes are most likely to catch me and why.

Amolika Thapliyal's Digital Portfolio

Month: June 2019

Bhutan NYAA Reflection

“Never fail, just learn.”

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