Costa Rica:

Comparison to Canada:

First, we have sports. So as a baseline, I can compare Olympic records. Canada has 326 medals total: 71 gold, 109 silver, and 146 bronze. Costa Rica has 4: 1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze. Traditions. Costa Rica has a lot of the same traditions and holidays (like Christmas and Easter), with a couple of exceptions. Dance, for example, is a big part of Costa Rican tradition and is taught to Costa Ricans from an early age. Costa Rica has landmarks like the Arenal Volcano and Arenal Mistico hanging bridges. Canada has landmarks like Peggy’s Cove, the Rocky Mountains, and Niagara Falls. In Costa Rica, they love music like salsa, reggae and cumbia. Canada loves folk, country, blues, and rock. I would love to visit Costa Rica; my parents lived there for a year, and I have family that has lived there for decades. So it would be cool to go and see where they lived, what they did, and enjoy the rich coast that Costa Rica got it’s name from.

Core Competency Reflection:

I can understand that learning is continuous, and my identity will continue to evolve. I am currently in a Spanish 9 class; the Spanish language course goes up to Spanish 12, which means that it is a 4-year-long course. This shows that even though you might finish one year or one class, there is always more material. If I took all of the 4 years of Spanish that this school had to offer, I would still have things to learn about the Spanish language as a whole, whether it’s math, English, science, or any other course that is offered at this school. It’s the same with people. Rarely does someone go through 4 years of their life and be the same person that they were when they started. I can understand that my life and learning will continue to evolve through my life after high school as well as in high school.

I can inquire into and present on topics of interest and topics related to my studies. Anyone can present a topic. You could pick a random person out of a crowd and ask them for a 3-minute speech on why Superman is a good guy. And while they might be able to complete this task with ease, it wouldn’t be the best speech about why Superman is a good person. For that, you would need to go to an enthusiast and have them explain, and then you would receive a better speech. That would be because they have a genuine interest in the topic at hand; they love Superman, and it would be their greatest joy to tell you all about him. But sometimes you don’t have a choice in what you’re presenting, and you just have to suck it up and deal with it, or you can do things like try to choose what you present in hopes of making it more enjoyable for you to present and to make sure you have an interest in what you’re presenting to make it a better presentation and a better grade, all within the limits of the rubric.

I can show a sense of accomplishment and joy, and I can take pride in my work. Whenever i do a project, especially if the project has some poster board to go along with it, I want to at least make sure it looks good. I know the presentations that no matter how good the words on the script are, the presentation itself is ruined by a subpar presentation, and the grade that the person gets reflects that grade. So, whenever I do a presentation, I always look for the smaller details that will give a good impression to start off. Small things like bordering your text and images make it look a lot more professional and well done. The same is true of using a ruler to make sure you have straight cuts and that your paper doesn’t crumple or rip as you cut. I take pride in my presentation work and have a good feeling when I finish a good presentation that I know I did well on.

I can work to inform myself about issues surrounding me. Knowing what is happening around you is a very handy skill to have. And it doesn’t have to be issues like two people not liking each other. It could be something like your computer dying and there isn’t an outlet around, or you don’t have a cord. What I can do is something like ask for a cord in advance and find an outlet before I run out of battery to prevent that dilemma. It doesn’t even have to be an issue; it can help to just be perceptive as you go about your daily life. Looking up when walking, having only one or no earphones in at a time, and even looming around every once in a while to see what is happening around you can help.