Driving Question: How can you showcase evidence to demonstrate that PLP Success Behaviours have prepared you to advance to the next grade?
Within 3 months, in September, I will be starting my grade 10 year. That means I would have completed 2 years at Seycove, as well as 2 years in PLP. And at this moment, standing here, I can’t quite fully grasp the fact. This year has flown by, and with the weather changing every day, it honestly feels like we’re in February, not June. Grade 9 has been something different, with plot twists and events I never knew were going to happen, let alone expect it ever would. But, before I can successfully move into the next chapter of my education, I need to reflect on the most challenging, annoying and wonderful school year yet.
For this year’s tPOL, I would like to start with my most challenging event of the year; Destination Imagination! Specifically, I want to talk about how the competition has helped me open my mind to the simple yet taxing part for me, which was accepting feedback. 
On the first competition day, my group and I were ready to take the stage, presenting our performance to the audience, and hopefully snagging a spot on the podium. But due to lack of preparation, technical difficulties and overall disagreement, we ranked 4 out of 4. Honestly, in my opinion, we would have ranked the same on the second round if it weren’t for what the appraisers had to say. Now, I can give feedback like no one’s business, but accepting it is another story. I feel like if someone has any criticism or negative thoughts about my work, that I had failed and should give up, but the judges at DI, they made sure to portray the feedback in a way that encourages you to preserve, which helped my entire group. With this, we rewrote our script, made some adjustments to the costumes, and made sure our pinball machine was looking good. And this time, we came out on top, tied for 2nd! I was proud of myself for being able to take the feedback, mix it into the content, and have something in the end that was what they wanted and more! This is something I needed to learn, and will hopefully improve more on in future projects and next year’s Destination Imagination!
Like many projects, the Nationalism Video proved to be equally as challenging, but throughout the process, I learned a very valuable skill: Self Regulation. During the whole time, I was working like crazy day and night trying to have a finished product by the due date. But while I was working, I was constantly stressed, working until 11pm every night, and even missing sports practices. I’ve always struggled with clear boundaries between school/homework and my time outside of the classroom, but over this year the lines have become severely blurred. After that project was finished, I vowed to myself to keep working on my regulation, and hope to make it a strong strength for the future. So far I have kept this up, (with the exception of a few late night comic drawings sessions), and am definitely going to try bringing this new skill with me into grade 10!
Every POL I like to reflect on my learning guide, to see what things I have accomplished this year, and skills that I have yet to learn. But today, I want to talk about a specific skill that has taken me ages to develop, but am slowly getting better at. For me, seeking help from teachers about schoolwork has always been an issue, especially in the past. My mind had convinced me that if I’m confused or need help, than I’m stupid and should just give up. That is clearly not a healthy work mentality to have, and over my 2 years in high school, I’ve tried to improve that. 
At this moment, I can confidently tell you that I have been able to ask teachers and other administrators my questions, and have not had the little voice in my head telling me to just give up. I know this seems like a skill that is very easy to do, but for my people pleasing, overachieving self, showing even a hint of weakness can send me into a downward spiral. So this is when I am at right now, and hopefully at next year’s tPOL, I will be able to talk once again about this topic, and have more confidence to go with it!
In conclusion, as I prepare to advance to grade 10, I can showcase evidence that PLP Success Behaviours have prepared me for this next step. From learning to accept and utilize feedback effectively during Destination Imagination, to practicing self-regulation during the Nationalism Video project, and even conquering my fear of seeking help from teachers, I have demonstrated growth and development in key areas. These experiences have equipped me with the necessary skills and mindset to tackle the challenges of the next grade level with confidence and determination. I am proud of the progress I have made and excited to continue to build on these successes in the future.