This year was definitely unexpected, to say the least, one might even say exasperating. Being the first year of the IB program I went in knowing that it wouldn’t be easy, but I never expected my year to go like this. Unexpectedly moving schools halfway through the year, and then suddenly OSC moving to a Distance Learning Plan less than two months after I joined. It was more than challenging.

 

Since I started DP 1 in Dhaka, I’ll start there. While still attending the American International School of Dhaka I led many activities and if I wasn’t leading them I was heavily involved in them. All of the activities that I was in involved some form of group work and the only way a group can work effectively is if everyone cooperates. Following that, being vice president of my service group and a peer facilitator, I developed a lot of compassion having to work with a lot of people. I always tried to get everyone involved and make sure there was no one felt left out. I would say that while I was a student at AISD majors skills that I gained were cooperation and compassion for others.

After moving to OSC in January, I was in a very different position. I felt a bit lost as I was unfamiliar with the environment I was in. I joined a few activities to get to know the new community that I was in a bit better. Being a new student and adjusting to the community here was difficult at first. However, the change in the environment allowed me to learn many lessons. Firstly, I learned the importance of self-motivation. Being enrolled in two Pamoja courses, I had to quickly decide how to take responsibility for my own learning. I didn’t have a traditional classroom set up like all my other classes, with a teacher pushing me to do the work. I had to learn the contents of the course myself. I definitely did struggle in the beginning as I lacked the motivation to do so. However, with the aid of a few basic organizational skills, I was able to become more motivated to learn the subject.

Another lesson I learned this year is reflecting on your learning is a useful tool to improve. Before a habit of mine was after completing a unit in class, I just moved on and didn’t look back to see how I did. If I had reflected and saw what went wrong and what went great, it would have had a positive impact on my learning. This is a skill that I want to implement more, as it makes me learn from my mistakes and improve myself and my learning. The biggest lesson I learned this year and something I will work on in the future is the importance of communication. More specifically reaching out and asking for help. Many of the struggles I faced this year stemmed from my unwillingness to ask for help and just solve issues by myself. There were many times where this approach just made my issue worse. I plan to work on this by involving myself more so that I feel more comfortable in communicating with others, but also to sometimes just take risks and try reaching out.

The featured image of this post is an Orchid that grows on one side of my garden. Sometime in February, a fire started in that side of the garden, ruining all the plants in that area however, this orchid was the only plant that survived. Amongst all the mayhem and chaos I faced this year I made it out alive and a better person than before, just like this orchid.

Due to the current situation of the pandemic I have no idea how DP 2 will turn out. However, I will use the lessons I’ve learned this year to make sure that I’ll thrive in my last year of high school.