Teaching Mathematics

What were your objectives?
Learn how to deliver the knowledge I have to other people and develop the skills of how to educate those that do not possess the knowledge I have.

What did you do?
Use the mathematical knowledge I have to teach Mathematics to Ha Eun and help her do well in her IGCSE Additional Mathematics

What were the outcomes for you and the team?
For me, I have learnt that even the obvious facts I have known can be difficult for other people to understand and different people have different methods of understanding such as the mathematical formula. I have developed confidence when teaching subjects and learnt the importance of preparation. Even the knowledge I have may be of certainty but because it is something I am giving another person, their knowledge of the area is dependent on mine. Thus I have to be sure of the information I deliver to the other person, in this case: Ha Eun.
Ha Eun has not yet taken her actual IGCSE Exam for additional Mathematics, however, she has been able to cover the whole syllabus with my assistance and is able to go through the past papers and correct on her work independently.


How successful were you in reaching your objectives and why?
The actual success will depend on the results Ha Eun obtains from her real exams, however from the progress that has been made, I am proud of the achievements that have been made. At the beginning, she had no idea of how to solve questions or how to study mathematics, but with some guidance, now she is able to solve the questions and correct the answers on her own. Not only have I been able to transfer the mathematical knowledge I have, but also the method of how to study mathematics in the future as well.
As for me, I have acquired a certain level of confidence and comfort in teaching subjects of my 'speciality'. I have learnt some techniques on how to present the thoughts or information in my head to the audience or to another person. It is a matter of how much confidence I have in the information I am aware of and that this factor will allow me to further challenge me to try and spread my ideas more effectively. This confidence essentially is what I learnt through teaching Ha Eun.

Did you encounter and difficulties and how did you overcome them?
There times when I could not understand why the simple explanations I thought to be did not register in Ha Eun's mind. I tried to explain over and over again and yet there were still some obscure parts within the understanding of the new concepts. Thus I would change my method of explanation and by giving examples, Ha Eun was able to grasp the important messages from the explanations I gave.

What did you think about the activity? What did it mean to you?
Most of the time, tedious and tiring because I also had my work to do from school. Even without any repayment, I had volunteered to teach Ha Eun maths and this offer I think is my way of making use of myself. With the knowledge I have I would be able to help a fellow student, a friend and later I would be able to offer more to the society which I would be included in.

What did you learn from the activity? What values have you developed?
I learnt the importance of preparation before events or lectures are. I have realised that the actual effort goes to the preparation before and the planning for the next lesson.

How can you apply what you've learnt to new situations?
With this, I can teach further students that might need my help or later I have always dreamed of spending some time in Africa helping the people suffering in poverty.

Wizard of OZ

What were your objectives?

Expand my music span to assimilate different types of music that could be played using the Violin other than classical music. In addition, I planned to contribute to the school play and assist with the music that were to be played during scenes in the play.

What did you do?

I played several pieces of music in different genres: Musical, classical and even sound effects during the play and different scenes. Using the violin I played a song called "Somewhere over the rainbow" a typical classical song and also made sound effects of a storm coming using simple drums. Songs like "If I had a brain" I have never played before because the songs are unorthodox does not have the classical elements which I have played numerous times in the orchestra. Several pieces of music were adap

ted to suit the musical players in the group and thus the pieces of music were new to me and I had some difficulties adjusting to the different style of music that was needed to be played.

What were the outcomes for you and the team?

I was able to increase the span of music I could play and I was able to appreciate the different genres of music that exists. I have been able to play the songs successfully and as a result the musical performance got amazing appraisal from the audience. The overall performance was a great success and allowed the actors to really convey their emotions fused with music to the audience to give a great performance.

How successful were you in reaching your objectives and why?

My objectives were to expand the music

al span I have and by playing different types of music either using my violin or other simple instruments, I was able to enjoy and appreciate the different types of music that exist in the field. I still have different fields of music to yet explore but I believe through this experience I have certainly gained more musical sense and to accept different types of music as I was more narrow minded when it comes to choosing music to listen to.

Did you encounter and difficulties and how did you overcome them?

To play the song was a challenge for me because the music that were played in the play did not follow the general format of a classical music. Having irregular beats and different chords - combinations of different notes played together - thus naturally I was a novice in playing the music. And also because the music was to support the acting, we had to play accordingly to the scene however there were times when the acting did not go as planned. Thus this would lead to confusion in the music support as well and we had to adjust to the changing nature of the act. This was done cleverly using some improvisation and paying attention to the conductor.

What did you think about the activity? What did it mean to you?

Playing the violin has always been a passion of mine, however, to have played in a school production and the different types of music I encountered has certainly been a great step for me as a violinist. By exploring different types of music that could be played on the violin I have come to expand the music knowledge I have. This may be the first step for me to further increase the span of my music and later be able to appreciate different genres of music in the future.

What did you learn from the activity? What values have you developed?

I have come to realisation that the different types of music can give different emotions and can be used for different events. Not only classical music but other types of music take as much effort to perform perfectly and there is no 'better' type of music, it is the perspectives each individual has. A wider perspective in the musical world and a more encompassing attitude to even new fields I have yet to explore.

How can you apply what you've learnt to new situations?

I plan to continue playing the violin when I proceed to university thus when in University I will try and fuse different aspects of music to later perform or maybe even compose songs and try and convey my emotions in a even effective way.

Pillar Leader Democracy : Amnesty International

What were your objectives?

My objectives were to acquire different skills which I have wanted to develop over the years. These objectives include skills such as organization skills and contribute to the service projects in the school.

What did you do?

I changed the constitution of the school to achieve a better democratic system in the school. I have made the a difference in the voting system in the school and different job descriptions for the pillar leaders and the prefects; giving them more distinct work to do.

Also I participated in different service projects the school organizes such as jester's fair and amnesty international. By taking the role of the leader of the group, I have tried to bring the amnesty international into more recognition around the score and thus there have been several activities that were conducted to enable such. Firstly an assembly for the amnesty international has been done and different posters have been made to promote the importance of amnesty international.

What were the outcomes for you and the team?

More people joined the group and the group got bigger. More people were aware of the universal declaration of the human rights.

Did you encounter and difficulties and how did you overcome them?

The hardest part of the group was to get more people to join the group because many people were intimidated or unaware of such group. To overcome this problem, the assembly really helped people aware of the rights and the people tried to promote the human rights within the group.

For further information on the amnesty international and the human rights,

http://www.amnesty.org/

Treasurer

In year 12, I have tried to seek for leadership positions which would enable me to increase the skills I have as a leader. Communicative skills and delegations were the qualities I wanted to learn along with the numerous service projects I could participate in. Thus I came across the position of the Treasurer, an executive member in the student guild and the student council. After having read the job descriptions for this particular position, I was intrigued by the duties of it. I would monitor the monetary flow of the student guild and organise service projects or sponsor service groups by raising funds through the discos and other types of fund raising activities. Thus, I have come to take on the job.

There were some difficulties I faced because as the student guild was a big group, the communication through the whole school was essential. There were times when people did not receive the information from their form representatives and sometimes the form representatives would not have been informed of the changes in the school. Thus to help a more effective communication amongst the students, we have tried to make communicative systems more efficient and more alerts to inform the upcoming events. We put up posters, notices in the bulletin and announcements in the assemblies. By doing so, the students were more aware of the events that are being held by the student guild.

I have always had problems when I had to delegate work to people helping me. However, by having this job, I have tried to make different allocations of the job; however, I am always to kind so I am hesitant in giving work to other people. However, from the chair person I was able to learn the way of delegating. I have come to think of that the people are obliged to take on the job they are given.

Using these tasks, I have tried to shape the skills which I have set to achieve in the future. This would benefit me to become a better leader in the future.

To Koh Phi PHi

A new challenge was cast to the school. The PE department challenged the student body to see if they could do various activities to reach Koh Phi Phi, figuratively. The students would accumulate the distances they have acquired through various activities: swimming, biking, walking, running and other types of transportation excluding vehicles. In this event, I sold pizza as I was in the student guild and I served to assist the people who were working hard to raise money by obtaining distances. My initial goal was to raise as much money for the student guild which can be used on further projects related to the student guild. But later I took part in the challenge and I borrowed a friend's bike and started cycling around the oval.

At first, I was enjoying the fact that I was cycling around, feeling the gentle breeze of the wind. However, soon my legs started to ache and I started to sweat in my uniform. I did not take this challenge that seriously but then I saw a student working very hard to complete the laps around the oval. To raise money, I saw that student working very hard and I realised that it was too early to quit. Even a younger student was trying hard for a good cause and I did not give up just yet.

So after a couple of more laps, I was exhausted. I had completed 20 laps around the school and I had taken part in the whole school's attempt to reach koh phi phi. After I was not able to concentrate well on the selling of pizza, but I had to fulfill my duties and I was able to raise lots of money by selling all the pizza we had ordered.

Through this activity I have learnt to not give up and even a minute contribution can lead to a good cause. Thus I have started to re think my strategy of approach when I am bestowed a challenge. I would motivate myself to complete the task no matter what and at the end I would reflect on my performance.

Work Experience - Parker Hannifin Monterrey

What were your objectives?

Initially this was to gain some work experience which would later benefit me when writing my college applications. However, overall I was trying to gain more information of the occupation as an engineer and I was given this opportunity to enroll in an internship in a company called 'Parker MCS'. Here I planned to increase my knowledge on the occupation and learn the responsibilities an engineer has to take.

What did you do?

In the company I helped with numerous tasks that were given to me. Firstly I had to go out in the factory and monitor the cycle time for each pipe line to produce a certain number of pipes. This information was essential because the company would then later use this information to calculate their losses and try to find improvements to increase the efficiency for the company.

After this I was given routings and drawings for each pipe that was produced in the company. Then I was to compare the drawings and routings to see if the products that are being produced coincide with the actual products that are produced in the factory.

What were the outcomes for you and the team?

Personally, I was able to obtain more knowledge of the job of an engineer. The delicacy and intense detailed work that is required to be an engineer enticed me and as a result I was able to even more urge to pursue the occupation as an engineer. For the team, I was able to assist the manager whom I worked under create presentations using the data I have obtained from the factory and present it to the board so that they could make modifications to enhance the quality of work in the company.

How successful were you in reaching your objectives and why?

I was successful to the extent that I was able to gather more information of the duties of an engineer and the types of works they had to perform daily. However, I was not suitable for jobs that required specificity and professional knowledge so I could not indulge in that aspect yet I was able to increase the enthusiasm to become an engineer.

Did you encounter and difficulties and how did you overcome them?

Difficulties were not in the work that I was given, but the daily routine I had to cope with. Waking up at 5 o clock and having to travel 1 hour just to arrive at the work place was first manageable but later unbearable. The laziness and the lethargy made it hard for me to concentrate on the work that I was given in the morning and the hunger caused me to slack off at times while in work.

However, I have always told myself that the opportunity was golden and that I would not be able to gain such chance again so I would have to make use of every second I have in the work. To wake up in the morning, I would always sleep no later that 10 the previous night and to make a more energetic day, I would have breakfast no matter how tired I was. This small changes in my life has made the duration in the work more enjoyable and I was able to perform more tasks later throughout my internship.

What did you think about the activity? What did it mean to you?

The activities I was given were suitable for my present status, because I have not yet been given the knowledge of being an engineer. However, even from the abilities I had, I was able to assist in essential tasks in the company and because I was able to perform the activities that were suitable for me, I felt the achievement and thus after the whole experience the self-esteem I had went higher.

What did you learn from the activity? What values have you developed?

I have learnt to appreciate the immense work that goes into the everyday objects that I see in shops and even in my house. These products are made from incredible detailed designs and intense effort to produce an object that would ease the everyday lives of people. By recognising this, not only have I become more appreciative of the things around me, but also the enthusiasm for engineering has escalated and I have been able to dream of the future I would eventually hope to achieve.

How can you apply what you've learnt to new situations?

The strength to even overcome the laziness within me has helped me to perform tasks that are not in my interest. I have always had difficulty doing things which I did not take much value in, however, by being able to mind control the laziness within my mind, I would be able to fulfill the obligations and the responsibilities I am given in the late future.

Baan Maelid School - Hill tribe project

There was an opportunity that was available for me to attend a RS service project. It was the annual trip students make to the Baan Maelid school in Chiang Mai. My initial motive to attend this service project was to gain hours for my CAS, but then I realised that I was able to meet the students who were making bags for the conference. I have always wondered what the life styles of the hill tribe villagers were like. Thus I would be able to help the kids in the schools and also gain a wider perspective. This is how the journey to the Baan Maelid school started.

In the Baan Maelid school, we did various activities. Firstly we scrubbed off the old paint on the dormitory and re-painted the whole building. This required arduous work and after this, I went to teach english to the students of the Baan Maelid School. I taught the students a song and the alphabet. This was great fun because the students were very enthusiastic to learn and some amazed me with how much they knew about english. After I taught the students, it was my turn to learn something from the students. I sat down and learnt how to make the traditional bag using the device the villagers use. It required delicate work because every thread of wool were to be placed in the correct position or else the bag would distort.

From these various activities our service group achieved various accomplishments. Firstly we re painted the whole dormitory and we were able to increase the bond with the children.The fact that I could now think that the students will have a more friendly environment in the school and it looked better made me realise the worthiness of the work we did. I also noticed that I had a very caring personality. I emphatized with the children and as I lived according to their life styles, I started to question how they could still smile while I always showed signs of anger or anxiety.

From this experience I learnt to appreciate things I had. As easy as it may seem, people tend to take things for granted. However, to have seen the students astonish at my ipod and to appreciate even the snacks we shared with them made me come to realise that the complaints of not having more was meaningless. Materialism has manipulated me to think that to have more leads to happiness but now I have changed my thoughts. I have come to think to value the things I possess and to take better care of the things I already have; whether it is an object or a person.