Well, it’s that time of year again and tPOLs are upon us. I started this year with a lot on my plate, but ended it very successfully. Through projects I have grown as a learner, and fined tuned many skills. This has resulted in a high level of learning and critical thinking.

The first thing I would like to talk about is the “World on the Brink” post. I was very proud of my final project and felt I grew from it immensely. For this post we needed to include our research essay as well as a connection to a social change. This deepened out thinking and forced us to connect events and research. I was personally very proud of this post because I used lots of different perspectives and primary resources to pack together a very thorough research assignment.

When I was putting together the post I watched “A Bunny’s Tale” the Hollywood film about Gloria Steinmans undercover work at the playboy mansion. I also read all her original journals and articles posted in the newspaper, as well as some interviews she did. Instead of purely reading a wikipedia article or a biased website, I attempted to live through the past to really grasp the perspective of Gloria. This deepened my learning and lead me to connect more events and social changes like MLK and the Civil Rights Movement. This skill is great to adapt at my age, and will be highly helpful as I transition grades.

In January, after learning about the Civil Rights Movement we were completing a video project about individual that changed a system, in Canada. The project was a partner project, therefor we had to utilise our teamwork skills and responsibility skills. I was partners with Calum, and we decided to focus on those changing the DTES, and how a community can change a lot.

Since our issue was so close to home, we decided we had no excuse to not find interviews to support our video! After some digging, our teacher told us she found a perfect contact. After doing some research on the organization we were really inspired about what they were doing/trying to accomplish. We were going to interview a lawyer from the Indigenous Community Legal Clinic. The legal clinic also took on a few students from the Peter A. Allard School of Law at UBC, so we were also hoping on interviewing a student. The indigenous community law clinic takes on lots of pro bono cases, and focus on giving back to a minority group that have been discriminated against for centuries.

Since we are battling with the idea of systems, we thought it would only be fair to gain more knowledge about our justice system. We first went to the bail court, then to the conviction court. We were only there for about an hour and a half, but I could have stayed there all day. It was so interesting to me, and also saddening to hear all the stories of those convicted. Most of them were not first time offenders, and were also living on the streets. Through this experience I saw with my own eyes how difficult it is to support yourself mentally and physically when your are living on the streets. All people really need is support.

At this point the project was relying on an interview for most of our evidence and resources, so we really had to pick up our game. We had to contact the legal clinic, set up a date, create substantial interview questions and do lots of pre-research. This put a lot of responsibility on Calum and I, and pushed us out of our comfort zones. I think this is a very important ability you should have when it comes to projects. Because the only way you can really grow though projects is pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.

As always, there is room for improvement. This year I would like to work on my “first drafts”, whether it be projects, essays or assignments. I find a lot of the time I view my first draft as a free pass, something to just hand in before the due date. I would like to switch that perspective and view my first draft as my final. As I said before you can’t grow as a learner without pushing your comfort zone.

During our PGP course, we’ve covered everything from goal setting to effective habits and productivity. Although all useful skills to know for the future, the most important thing I learned was “The world isn’t working against me, I’m working against myself”. I really didn’t consider this until we began learning about paradigms at the beginning of the year. I realized that my paradigm of myself does not benefit me at all. I spend almost all my time critiquing myself and focusing on all the things I do wrong. This creates a negative perception of myself and really lowers my self esteem. If I continue down this path I will never have enough confidence to take chances or accomplish goals I put my mind to. This is something I also strive to improve before the end of next year. If I can manage this negative paradigm of myself, I will be able to accomplish my goals and become much more successful in the new year.

With all my skills I’ve improved and the growth I have made I believe I will have a successful final year. On top of that, through my PGP course I have learned to timeblock and manage my life. With the busy schedule I’ll have, this will be a huge asset. This is why I feel I am ready to advance to the next grade level.