So, the PLP 9 class has just started a new mini project on Education and Careers, and its already over! The main point of the project was to get us (the students) to start thinking about our future, and what steps we need to take to get there. The project involved us making a “fairy tale” video of our past and future. We had to take some career quizzes to help find out what future jobs we would be good at, and we had to use a timeline to reflect on what steps have gotten us to where we are now, and what is going to happen in our future. First, I’m going to talk about my past and future timeline.
For this part of the project, I had to think of 10 events that are important in my life so far and I had to plot them on a timeline. I also had to think of 5 events that I would like to have happen in my future.

This is my past: My Past
This is my future: My Future

I used an app called Prezi to make the timelines.

Next, we did an in-class writing assignment called the gifted writing. Our task was to look at a prompt that explained what it meant to be gifted, and then we had to write a paragraph about the steps to becoming gifted at whatever we wanted. I chose basketball.

This was the prompt, and this is my gifted writing:
Being gifted at something is not something you’re born with, it’s something you grow towards. Wouldn’t you love to be gifted at basketball? By following certain steps and by choosing certain paths being gifted at basketball might not be as hard as you think. Have you ever heard the saying “practice makes perfect”? Well, that statement is not 100% correct, I think of the statement as practice makes permanent. If you stay committed to practice and always try your hardest even the worst basketball player can be a legend some day. Practice at basketball leads to habits, and as Seth Godin says, habits lead to talents, and talents are labeled as gifts. By setting goals to overcome problems in your game you can work towards something to improve, and when you reach your goals and overcome them, it will give you the motivation to continue. Jason Kidd, a professional basketball player once said: “A lot of late nights in the gym, a lot of early mornings, especially when your friends are going out, you’re going to the gym, those are the sacrifices that you have to make if you want to be an NBA basketball player.” By making sacrifices and by working hard, becoming a gifted basketball player won’t be as crazy an idea as you might think.

-Michael Van Laethem
This assignment got us to start thinking about what it really means to be gifted and it made me think of the steps I need to take to become what I want to be in the future.

Then it was time to take the career quizzes. These were my results.

I was surprised when I saw all the carriers come up because I would have never imagined myself doing most of the jobs here. I am mostly really interested in being a doctor, or a surgeon, and I was happy when I saw some medical careers come up with my results.

Finally, now that we have a good understanding of our past and future, we had to make a fairy tale video of our life. In the video, we had to give a brief reflection of our lives so far, and then we had to go forward and look at our future. In my video, I said I wanted to work as a doctor, and I think this career will be a very good choice for me. I love a good challenge, and anything medical has always fascinated me, I also love to help people. If I work hard and follow my steps, being a doctor won’t be as hard as it may seem. Anyways, here’s my video:

I made this video using apps called Explain Everything, and iMovie. Explain everything lets me edit video clips and pictures, it is a very helpful app for movie making, and I would definitely recommend using it. iMovie lets me record and insert a voiceover, it lets me add pictures and video clips together, and it lets me add transitions and titles. Both of these apps are very useful.

Overall this project got me thinking about my past and especially my future, and what steps I need to take to get there.