6/26/2016 2 Comments Farewell ia Now that the end of the school year is here, I’ve been left with many thoughts. The main one being, “Wow, I’m halfway done with highschool… when did that happen?” Cause I honestly remember freshman year so clearly, and this year went by so fast. All 170 (approximately) days have zipped past in a blur. If you think about it, we’re already in June! But New Year's feels like it was yesterday! ICC feels like it was last week! And that leaves me thinking, what have I done this school year? What have I accomplished or failed? Plus everything in between. As the months went by, I feel like I’ve really grown into the person I wished to be at the beginning of the year. Not a perfect person, but someone who knows who they are and what their dreams are. Not anyone else's.
In relation to other things I believe I have achieved this year, I now have a sense of what a true friend is. For as long as I have been alive, I have only ever had a couple genuine friends who I could count on for everything and who had helped me through everything. But then again I never live in the same place as them, so it's not that helpful. But over the course of this year, I have grown close to a couple amazing people who have helped me become who I am, and have shown me that trusting people is ok. That it is OK to sometimes open up to people. Also, that failing is ok. I don't mean that it's fine if you fail every math test, but that if you do fail, it is not the end of the world. Yes you will feel terrible, but then what? You won’t remember anything about that one test in if not a week, then a month, and if you think you think it'll affect you in the future, then you learn from that failure and use that to your advantage. All these these I have achieved though, are all because of my experience in the Innovation Academy. When I first applied, I was scared, because I had no idea how it would be. A completely different system of learning than what I was used to, and with the same people in most of my classes. But after a week, then a month, then a whole semester, I realized that I had never felt so comfortable in a class. I had never felt so free to explore what I wanted to learn, rather than what I was told to. Of course, the IA has things planned out, but within that, I was able to choose the path I wanted to take, and even do something completely different. Whereas in my other classes I was given a course syllabus and told to “go and study to pass the test.” So once I had finished semester one, I had a clear picture of what I was interested in and what I wasn't. Through our deep dive project I learned I enjoy taking pictures, but not writing articles, which then helped me decide that I wanted to opt out of the magazine project to further explore my interest in images, and how I could use pictures I've taken or seen, as inspiration for paintings. I also learned that speaking in front of others isn't as bad as I always thought it was. Doing the TED Talk first semester was an incredible (but stressful) experience, and I definitely feel much more comfortable expressing myself and talking in front of others. Now though, as I prepare for the IB, I realize how different it's going to be, and that I won't get to choose what I do or don't do. But with everything I learned about myself this year, and with the skills I picked up in the Innovation Academy, I feel prepared to take on everything the IB will throw at me. Of course, I won't be able to choose what I can or cannot do, but I can choose how I handle these things. At the beginning of this school year, I was a mess, but as I found ways to cope with stress and how to handle my life, I feel like no matter what happens in the IB, I’ll be ready. So in the end, you could say this was a year of growth for me. Emotionally, physically, mentally, and everything else. I have never felt more confident in who I am and my abilities, and I have never felt more ready to face new challenges rather than hide from them. I'm not going to say that the Innovation Academy is for everyone, but it was definitely the best fit for me this year. I learned to be independent, to go in depth with everything, and to face challenges with many perspectives. As I finish writing this, I realize I started off talking about my achievements and slowly drifted in talking about the IA, but really, it's the IA that fueled me to go and achieve these things. So this is going to end up being a farewell to the IA. No matter where I go in life, and what I achieve, I will always think back to this sophomore year, and how one class was able to guide me, teach me, and shape me into who I am. So farewell IA, it was nice being part of this cohort, but now it's time for me to use everything I have learned in the class, and use it wherever I go. As a wise IA teacher once said, “Corazon, corazon.”
2 Comments
Dharma
7/1/2016 02:12:48 pm
Hey Dharma,
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Bon
7/1/2016 02:13:35 pm
Self-awareness is one of the main purposes behind the IA, so it makes me glad to see you have gotten so much out of it. You took autonomy to a whole new level by choosing to work on your own class project, but you did such a great job at guiding your own learning. And that's what has made you the self-aware person you are today. I want to wish you all the best. I know you're going to succeed because what drives you is intrinsic.
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