Reflective Journal: School Life, Experiences, and Personal Growth

This reflective journal chronicles a student's experiences and reflections throughout a semester, encompassing various aspects of school life and personal growth. The entries begin with a motivational talk on self-realization, prompting introspection on identity and potential. Subsequent entries delve into the student's appreciation for art and its role in raising awareness, followed by discussions on health and fitness, the joy of reading, and the influence of social media, including a campaign against cyberbullying. The journal also captures the stress of exams, the anticipation of assignments, and the importance of making the most of school experiences. The final entry reflects on the completion of the blog, the anticipation of exam results, and the student's continued engagement with the school community through a book club, offering a comprehensive view of student life, personal development, and the challenges and triumphs of academic pursuits.

June 9, 2018. Motivational Talk on Self Realization
I attended a school talk on Self Realization and Actualization. It was a one
of a kind opportunity. The whole talk was aimed at finding our true
purpose and living a wholesome and fulfilling life. During the talk, we were
all given a simple task. To ask ourselves this simple question: Who am I?
To be true to myself, I couldn’t answer this. However, I knew that I am
much more than a single role. Much more than I let people see. The
speaker went ahead to assure us that we are all eternal souls capable of
doing and achieving any milestones we set for ourselves. This made me
feel strong and powerful, like I could really ace that class that I’ve been
really failing at. Self-belief is important. According to Bandura (1986),”
Self-confidence is one of the most influential motivators of people's
behaviour in their everyday lives.”
June 16, 2018. Creating Awareness through Art
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once
he grows up.” ― Pablo Picasso
I always loved art. Even as a child, I was fascinated by the graffiti paint
that was painted all over my neighbourhood walls. I loved the splash of
colour and how it all blended together to create something amazing. I still
have the graffiti themed jacket that my mother got me as a child. The
Annual Art Exhibition at school has always been one of my favourite
events to attend. Art has a way of speaking volumes even in pin drop
silence. Artists express themselves through their work. You can read pain,
joy, pleasure and all other emotions just by studying an artist’s work. Art
is a powerful tool that influences society and can be used to raise
awareness on important day to day problems. Dewey (1934) found that
“… the magic of the artist rests in his ability to move these values from
one field of experience to another and by his imaginative insight make
these objects momentous.”(p.118)
This exhibition made me realize that so much so can be done through art
to create awareness on various issues affecting our society: crime and
violence, student riots, drug use and abuse, street killings.
June 23, 2018. Health and Fitness

“Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can
have.” ― Winston S. Churchill
The Health club organized a pretty cool showcase on tips on how to keep
healthy and fit and still maintain a good student class life balance.
Physically activity holds utter importance especially amongst today’s
younger generation who is busy enjoying the luxuries of mobile, laptop
and TV at an alarming rate. They aren’t active and spirited on a daily
basis. Emphasis was put on how much physical fitness attributed to good
grades in class and increased brain activity which is important in tests and
examinations. Tomporowski (2003) found that “Children respond with
greater accuracy to cognitive tasks after participating in a session of
physical activity”.
June 30, 2018. A book a day....
“So many books, so little time.” ― Frank Zappa
That’s the founding quote of the school’s Book Club. Clever, right? We
meet every Wednesday evening and discuss a new book each week. Very
interesting topics go on there. You should pass by one day. Martha
suggested we try something different that Wednesday. Something like
crossword puzzles, just to see how well our vocabulary had grown over
time. So, we decided to make it more fun by teaming up and having a
prize for the winning team. I love words. Sudoku I don't really get the
hang of. But crossword puzzles, there is something about words that
fascinates me. If you probably guessed that my team won, you guessed
right.
Puzzles take your mind to a new world, a world of words, a world of bliss
and different perspective. It’s like relieving all the English lessons that you
have sat through all your life, even the A-Z lessons from Kindergarten.
Crossman (1983) found that “Puzzles are such great and familiar
academic tools which reduces the need to explain directions, saving class

time.” July 7, 2018. Talk on Cyber bullying and Social Media
Influence.
The influence that social media has placed on our day to day lives cannot
be underestimated, neither can it be ignored. Social media is a force to be
reckoned with. We have had a few cases of cyber bulling in the school. It’s
really disheartening that a person would go so far as to seriously bully
another over the web. This was the reason the school arranged a
campaign against Cyber Bulling and irresponsible use of social media
platforms. And you wouldn’t believe who was in attendance; a senior
manager from Facebook. He shed more light on the dangers of cyber
bullying and informed us on the possible channels to use to report such
cases. Social media should be used to create positive impact on the
society, not to create disastrous situations. All the students were in
attendance since it was such an important topic to listen to and
participate in. I have read of really bad cases online and I feel that more
should be done to stop cyber bullying. Social media platforms should be
used for the good.
July 14, 2018. TESTS, TESTS AND MORE TESTS!!!!
“Prepare well! Take two inks; you may never know when one pen
will stop writing!” ― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah
It’s that time again. Time to take the mid semester exams. This is the
time when the school library is always full. And so silent. Shocker. Tests
are designed to test your intelligence, your remembering skills and your
resilience. I wouldn’t say that this is my favourite week of the school
semester. Neither is it my worst. I am not afraid to take tests. Besides the
History test. I am pretty bad at History. During the exam week, there is
minimal activity in the school. The guys don’t spend all their time at the
basketball court. The girls miss their cheerleading sessions. It’s purely
books. And more books.

I don’t have much to say for this week. Other than I have to get back to
studying. I suck at failure.
July 21, 2018. The beautiful assignments that we all live for
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to
reach out without fear for newer and richer experience.” ― Eleanor
Roosevelt
I think bucket lists are usually meant to last till you die. Things you want
to do before your timely or untimely end. What’s on your bucket list? Is
there a long list of places to go to, things to eat, and new experiences to
live through? I know what’s on mine. We had this assignment last week:
“Things to do before you finish school.” It’s like a bucket list, but one with
a small time frame. We had a few days to complete and submit our lists. I
saw Jane’s list. One thing stood out. She wanted to learn how to speak and
write in Mandarin before we completed school. Interesting, huh?
This assignment made me realize that time is a borrowed concept. That
time passes by so quick we barely realize it. We are just a few semesters
away from graduation. How amazing. But what next after that? Do I get to
see all my friends ever again? Or will I bump into Jane ten years late at a
grocery store, barely recognizable?
Point is, I want to have fun in school, have good grades, make great
memories with my friends, have amazing relationships and not forgetting,
eat without getting fat. Isn’t that what we all pray for?
July 28, 2018. It’s a wrap. For the blog
“All things, beautiful or otherwise, must surely come to an end.”- My
friend Jane.
I feel like I want to keep writing this blog for some time. It has been a
wonderful experience. Penning down my thoughts and experiences. I feel
like an accomplished artist. Is this how Leonardo da Vinci felt when he
finally completed his prized work, The Monalisa?
I wonder how much I’ll score. Remember I told you I suck at failure. I have
put so much effort and emotion in this blog. Results for the mid semester

exam will be out by next week. I feel a little nervous. This blog will be
graded and added to the final mark.
I have my book club meeting later today. We plan to read and discuss one
of Nick Vujivic’s books. He is a great writer. Very inspirational. You’re all
welcome to attend.