(A great way to reflect – not just on experiences, but studies too. Pic cred: The author)

Reflecting on the week with the help of journaling 

In light of the IAs, TOK essay, university research, and a few exams coming up, this week has been a bit…chaotic to say the least. As I have been spending most of my time attempting to get fully on top of work, I noticed that I haven’t had as much time to focus on my creative side these days. However, now after submitting the Geography IA, completing the final drafts of my TOK essay, and a few more IAs, I got the time this week to look back with some journaling.

Previously, I have also posted about journaling as a medium for reflection; I decided to expand on this a bit more during this time. I started off with conventional journaling – looking back on the week and my experiences.

However, I tend to deviate at certain times from rigid writing, and I ended up doing a lot more sketching than writing down thoughts! But, I believe that this was quite productive because the sketches acted as a way for me to express my feelings – especially those that I may not be able to put into words.

(A brief attempt at sketching with a pen. Pic cred: The author)

My favourite way to sketch in my journal is with thick, vibrant markers; I love the bold colours and think they look a bit similar to the brushes I use when doing digital art. Thus, I went back to these often when journaling, playing with the colours was quite fun. Today, I also took a bit of a different approach and decided to sketch with a ballpoint pen as well (something my mother thoroughly advises me against) and I found out that I enjoy the level of detail when cross-hatching with a pen.

I wanted to indulge to my heart’s content with journaling this time, therefore, I completed about 5 or so pages in my journal – with a relative balance between writing and drawing. I think this was a great way to reflect and evaluate my week, whilst also delving into my creative side.

Learning outcomes:

• LO1 – Strength and growth
  •   Today I discovered my love for sketching with a ballpoint pen, crosshatching with it is extremely fun – I’m excited to carry out more mixed-media artwork with pens and markers now.
  • In addition to this expansion of media, I also found the time to look back at my previous journal entries and found that I have improved subconsciously with my sketches; I progressed with my ability to draw facial proportions and hair.
  • I think that reflecting on this rather stressful week also was useful in the sense of making me realise what I could have done better in certain situations and where I was proud of myself.
  • This could be very beneficial when growing as a person and going through the weeks to come – with more IAs due and a few exams!

• LO3 – Initiative & planning
  • Taking the initiative to expand from my previous CAS post about journaling was very useful as it helped me to carry out and improve in this creative activity. 
  • I found reflecting on the week to be extremely helpful, so I am now planning to do it more often (whether through journal entries or drawing).