For my reflection, I chose to reflect on our first essay, the Narrative Essay. We were assigned to write about a family story, so I wrote about my grandfather’s move to Canada. I really enjoyed working on this project because it was really interesting learning more about my family and to see where I come from. I didn’t know much about my grandfather earlier life so it was interesting to learn more. I was a bit nervous at first to present, but by practicing a lot I was able to successfully give a good presentation! Overall, I really enjoyed this project.
Core Competency Reflection
In discussions and conversations, I helped to build and extend understanding when doing the interview part of this essay. It was important to me that I shared an accurate account of my grandfather’s story. I ensured so by actively listening and asking questions so that I fully understand.
As an active listener, I notice that I prefer to write notes so that I will remember what the speaker says and so that I remain focused. In addition, I often ask questions to fully understand what the speaker is trying to convey. I may even repeat what he said to make sure I understand.
Examples of where I communicate clearly and purposefully can be seen in how I presented my essay. I spoke clearly and slowly so that everyone could understand what I was speaking about. I also made sure I fully understood my story so I that I was able to add extra detail if I saw fit.
When I need to boost my mood and refocus, I will take a small break in order to do my best work. I also may listen to music to boost my mood.
I can improve my communication skills. I think learning to communicate clearly is important because it is useful in all areas of life. I can improve my communication skills by practicing what I want to say and remembering to speak louder so that everyone may understand.
Traditions – Unlike my home country, Venezuela does have some superstitious traditions. For example, they believe that if you wear red on New Year’s you will find love and if you carry a briefcase you will become rich. Also, Venezuela and Canada both tend to lean to a more formal culture. It is very important to be respectful.
Sports/Athletes – Baseball is Venezuela’s national sport, it is very popular! They have eight major league teams as opposed to one major league team in Canada. They also have some traditional sports that are often played during festivals such as Toros Coleados, where a person on horseback chases a bull and Bolas Criollas, where players throw a ball as close to a target ball as possible. In Canada, we have two national sports, ice hockey and lacrosse.
Landmarks – Both Venezuela have waterfalls as a major landmark. Niagara Falls, the most powerful waterfall in the world and Angel Falls which is the tallest interrupted waterfall in the entire world! Venezuela has another incredible landmark, the Catatumbo lightning. Catatumbo lightning is an awe-inspiring phenomenon that happens 300 days a year at the same time every day! After sunset, lightning will strike Lake Maracaibo and Catatumbo River about twenty-eight times a minute! Both Venezuela and Canada are known for their incredible landforms!
Holidays/Traditions – Venezuela has many holidays and festivals which involve dancing, music and other special traditions. In Canada, they don’t really have many holidays and festivals, especially in British Columbia.
Music/Art – In Venezuela, music has always been very important historically, one of the two most popular genres of music are El Polo and Joropo. In Canada, a lot of people like rock. The guitar is very common in both of these countries.
As you can see, Venezuela and Canada are quite distinct, but they do have a lot of similarities!
Core Competency Reflection
I can ask open-ended questions to gather information. This project required a lot of research, but I feel that I was fairly successful in learning about Venezuela. I tried to divide what I wanted to learn into sections and then use those questions to ask open-ended questions. This helped me to find information that I wouldn’t have expected to learn.
I can take on roles and responsibilities in my group; I do my share. For this country project, I worked with a partner. There was a lot research to do so we divided up subjects to research by taking turns choosing ones we wanted to learn more about. Also, we each took a day to bring our poster board home to work on it. I think that we successfully divided up the work so that we each had an equal share.
I can understand and share information about a topic of interest in a clear, organized way. I think that I did a really good job sharing the information in a clear way. When writing my paragraphs, I tried to organize them so that they flowed really nicely. Also, we took a lot of time to think about how to place our paragraphs on the poster so that it would make sense. We put similar topics on the same side so that it would be easier to read.
I can persevere over time to develop my ideas, and I expect setbacks and failure, but use that to develop my ideas. Sometimes I was struggling to find the right information. For example, I was struggling to find accurate information about their money. There was a lot of contradicting information but I didn’t give up. I tried to ask my questions in a different format and eventually I was able to find accurate, up to date information!
I need to work on showing a sense of accomplishment and joy. I need to take pride in my work and myself. Sometimes I can be really down on myself and I think it is important to see how far I’ve come in the past semester. I will try to look for accomplishments I have, even if they are small accomplishments. This will help me have a positive attitude.
