As I kept going to meetings and collaborating with my friends to work on some of the issues we have around school, I realised that I am helping the community with what I have to offer at these meetings. I enjoyed discussing different issues and how to solve them. Even when we found some inconvenience with the solutions, we ensured that we tackled those and were able to find a better, more feasible solution. I think this activity particularly strengthened my collaboration skills as well as raised my awareness to things around me that are issues for my peers. In a way this activity was very similar to MUN. Instead of representing countries, we represent our respective mentor groups and we discuss what issues we are having and how we can solve them. The only difference is that it is on a smaller scale but I can see the effects of my participation on my school community and I can see that people are recognising our efforts to improve the school life. The issues we talk about are much more relevant to us as students and much more directly applicable to our lives.
In this activity I believe that I am helping the school community using my skills of collaboration and communication. I think that I have used and further developed these skills in myself through student voice. Understanding the other person’s point of view and trying to help their situation is also something that I am developing on through student voice because the issues we talk about are more personal. Often it can be hard trying to understand what the other person is going through and during stressful times such as those in IB it is important that we as students are there for each other to make our school lives easier. This is why whenever we make any decision we need to discuss it at length, analysing all of its possible affects on our community and what we can do to refine our choices that help those in our school. I look forward to doing student voice and further extending my reach to help my peers next season as well.
