There has always been a lack of representation and equal pay for women across all sports, and with the rise in popularity of Caitlin Clark and the WNBA, the pay gap is glaringly obvious. In April, 2.4 million people watched the WNBA draft to see Clark, the NCAA all-time leader in points, get drafted. Her entry into the WNBA has already significantly increased ticket sales and prices, and many teams moved to larger venues. Despite this, Caitlin Clark’s salary for the season is roughly $ 76,000, significantly less than her male counterparts, whose salaries start at over a million dollars. Women athletes make 21x less than men, and this number jumps to 108x less in basketball. One historical cause of this pay disparity is the total lack of media coverage for female sports. Many critics of female sports blame the athletes themselves, claiming that the pay gap is largely due to women’s sports being inferior to men’s, but this just isn’t the case. There has always been an assumption that there is no audience for women’s sports on TV or even in sports magazines, and because of this they have been vastly underrepresented in the media. This means that it is significantly harder for female leagues to generate revenue and pay athletes fairly. There are many consequences of the pay gap that have a negative impact on female athletes. It forces female athletes to get second jobs or go play overseas just to make ends meet. This lack of pay may also discourage young athletes from pursuing professional sports, as it can be a lot more difficult to receive adequate pay and opportunities.
One core competency that I feel I have utilized effectively in this course and assignment is critical thinking. After reading the article, I was able to analyze evidence from it to form my own conclusions about the causes and consequences of the topic. I determined both the cause and the reasonings and belief systems behind it. I was also able to use my reasoning skills to consider the potential consequences, and how it impacts women. Moving forward, I would like to work on improving my ability to connect my own experiences to course material and ask questions to further my understanding.
This year, I have had several things go well for me. Firstly, I feel that my work ethic was very good this year. I had a number of difficult classes, but I was able to stay on top of my work. I also feel that I did a good job of working hard to understand confusing material. I had a few classes this year where I wasn’t able to grasp the material, but I stuck with it until I was confident in it.
Areas to Improve
Goals
Action Plans
Improve Procrastination
I will improve my procrastination by making sure that I do homework and assignments right when I get them, instead of putting them off.
Improve Time Management
I will improve my time management by planning out how I’m going to use my time in order to be efficient.
Resolution: Until the age of 18, parents should have the right to determine all matters (even life and death) for their child
PRO
CON
Chazai
Jada
Sage
Tiffany
Our debate dealt with whether or not children should be allowed to make decisions for themselves. Chazai and Sage argued that they shouldn’t, while Tiffany and I argued that they should. This was an interesting topic, especially considering that these decisions included matters of life and death. Some points for the affirmative were that children’s brains were not fully developed, parents had more life experience, and children lack the necessary maturity. The negative argued that it goes against human rights, that not all parents have their children’s best interests at heart, and that decision-making is a skill that helps development.
My Debate Reflection
I really enjoyed doing debates. My speaking skills aren’t the best, and I tend to lack confidence when public speaking. Debating really helped me with this, and I found that by the end of it, I had gained skills with public speaking, and ended up doing fairly well. I’m most proud of my cross-questioning. It required me to think quickly and respond to my opponent’s arguments, as well as be deliberate and confident in my questioning. When doing debates, I worked through my issue with speaking too quickly, and I feel that I was able to speak at a much better pace in the final debate.
My Favourite Quote
“Allowing parents to make all decisions for their children means allowing honour killings.”
– Tiffany
I chose to share this quote because I felt that this point was a crucial turning point in our debate. It was well thought out and hard to disprove.
Works Cited
Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. What Do We Know about Physical and Non-Physical Childhood Maltreatment in Canada? 25 Jan. 2023, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2023001/article/00001-eng.htm.
“Helping Kids Make Decisions.” Child Mind Institute, https://childmind.org/article/helping-kids-make-decisions/. Accessed 24 May 2023.
News ·, Paige Parsons ·. CBC. “The Younger Their Child, the Less Likely Parents Will Want Them to Get COVID-19 Vaccine, Survey Finds | CBC News.” CBC, 22 July 2022, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/survey-intentions-parents-covid-19-vaccine-1.6525642.
Parental Decision Making | UW Department of Bioethics & Humanities. https://depts.washington.edu/bhdept/ethics-medicine/bioethics-topics/detail/72#:~:text=Parents%20have%20the%20responsibility%20and,best%20interests%20of%20the%20child. Accessed 24 May 2023.
“Past Experience Is Invaluable For Complex Decision Making, Brain Research Shows.” ScienceDaily, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090513130930.htm. Accessed 24 May 2023.
“Romina Ashrafi: Outrage in Iran after Girl Murdered ‘for Eloping.’” BBC News, 27 May 2020. www.bbc.com, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52811631.
“The Teen Brain: 7 Things to Know.” National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/the-teen-brain-7-things-to-know. Accessed 24 May 2023.
WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int. Accessed 24 May 2023.
Core Competency Reflection
Examples of where I communicate clearly and purposefully can be seen in my speech. I was clear and rational, and I feel that my points were well explained and tied in well to our side of the argument.
I knew my partner and I were working well together when we collaborated to take notes during the debate. Since we both got information on the other team’s points, we were able to work together to create solid cross-questions and rebuttal statements.
I used criteria and/or feedback to improve my debate; evidence of that is my speaking abilities. In the first debate, I talked far too quickly and didn’t emphasize my points, so my speech wasn’t as impactful as it could have been. In my second speech, I used the feedback I was given to improve upon my speaking, and it showed in my presence at the podium.
An example of where I built upon someone else’s ideas in the debate unit is in the portion of our debate where we brought up honour killings. We had it planned out so that one of us would bring them up in our main speech, and the other would expand upon it in their cross-questioning.
I found my journals to be incredibly helpful for my assessments. They allowed me to fully comprehend the themes and plot of my novel, and I was able to use the information and thoughts from them in my assessments. The graphic organizers were also incredibly helpful. They helped me to view everything visually and see how different points were connected. Participating in the circles about the novels also helped to make sense of all of my thoughts, and getting to hear the perspectives and opinions of others allowed me to broaden my viewpoint when it came to writing my essay. As for my personal connection piece, I chose to do an epilogue set ten years later. I chose to do this because even though the novel was very sombre throughout, it ended on a hopeful note, and I wanted to expand on it. I also enjoy creative writing, so I thought it would be a good chance to do some.
Core Competency Reflection
Examples of where I communicate clearly and purposefully can be seen in my PowerPoint. In it, I was able to provide a lot of information and explain my personal connection piece. I was very clear when providing my summary, as well as explaining my protagonist and antagonist. As well, I explained concisely and efficiently my thoughts on the novel, as well as some of my thought process for my personal connection piece.
I can contribute to and work with criteria to improve my own work; evidence of that is in my presentation. When we first began doing speeches and other things involving public speaking, I struggled a fair bit and was given feedback that I was visibly nervous and difficult to hear. However, in my presentation of my personal connection piece, I was much more relaxed, and I would say that with the feedback given, I was able to meet the criteria of public speaking and improved greatly.
An example of where I took a significant risk in my thinking or the expected process was when I chose to do creative writing for my personal connection piece. Even though I thoroughly enjoy creative writing, it isn’t my strongest skill, and it makes me nervous when other people read creative assignments that I have written. That being said, I took the risk and tried it for this assignment, and I was very happy with the outcome.
In doing this dialogue, I had to use creative thinking for all components of it. I was absent for this assignment, so I completed it by myself. I had to think about the order in which I wanted to fit the information. I also had to be creative to figure out the plot of my dialogue, and what would happen in it in order to get all of the required vocabulary in it in a way that made sense. I couldn’t just throw everything in, as it wouldn’t flow naturally. I also had to think creatively to add transitional phrases and idioms into it, adding another layer to my dialogue.
In making this smoothie bowl, we had to be creative when selecting the ingredients for it. We wanted to select ingredients that would blend well together, as well as create the right consistency for the smoothie bowl. I also had to work with my partner to create something we would both enjoy. Doing this lab with four of us in one kitchen, I needed to communicate with my groupmates in order to create an effective and positive workspace. I also needed to work with them in order to finish the lab on time. Since we have limited time to make our food, we have to be time efficient. We each have a duty, and if one of us is finished theirs early, they help the others.
Core Competency Reflection
One of the ways I ensure my group is clear on the common purpose is to communicate with them beforehand and discuss each person’s role.
If there is disagreement within the group, I find it helpful to see each person’s point of view and find a compromise.
If the group is not productive, we can reassess our initial plan and make adjustments in order to get things moving in the right direction.
One goal I would like to work towards:
When I need to work collaboratively with people I don’t know well, I should focus on communicating with them and getting more comfortable with them, so that I can collaborate effectively.
In my physics class, I demonstrated good collaboration by working with others to achieve a common goal. We did a lab about constant velocities, where we were put into groups of 7. In this lab, we had to collaborate in order to collect the data needed and to ensure that it was accurate. We had to work together to figure out who would measure the time at different distances, and how we would make sure that we all started our stopwatches at the same time. The artifact I chose shows the different jobs we all were given, and how we were successful in getting accurate data.
