May 2019 Reflection

Part 1: This semester, I wrote an article about the pillars of NHS and how each committee has represented and displayed them. It was fun and a little challenging writing this article. It was difficult to focus on just one good thing when they had so many lovely activities and connections. It was all interconnected and I tried to show that with my style of writing. I tried to model my writing after the overlapping events the committees arranged. Unlike my previous articles this was more focused on NHS's contribution to RIS. It was about students assisting other students and promoting community and service. This encouragement of community service and education about issues, such as the stress high school students experience during exam time and the funds orphans need to further educate themselves, is to me, illustrates the problems and solutions to many global issues at a smaller scale. They might be very little action compared to the fundraisers many organizations throw for charities but every little piece helps. Every small problem solved is a bigger problem shrunk. My article may just be raising awareness but sometimes awareness is all it takes. Just one person's help can solve a large amount of the problem.

I also began an app that would help Elementary students practice Math and English. It is not complete yet but it's a long-term project that I have started. Students will be able to practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division in different levels such as easy, medium, and hard. Each level would change the range of numbers added/multiplied/subtracted/divided. I am currently programming the English aspect which is slightly different and more difficult and individual. Students will be able to practice their alphabets and vocabulary that I have outlined along with any synonyms and antonyms of that vocabulary. It's the randomization of the vocabulary, synonyms, and antonyms that are particularly difficult to manage, organize, and integrate. I also have to organize the information into a database for the student to view. After taking AP Computer Science Principles this year, I was eager to begin a project like this. It is my hope that I will complete it in college and publish it during or after.

Part 2: I did the original surveys and set up the folders in order to make it easier to follow through with looking at results and forwarding the surveys to RIS Students. My article was also about the promotion of NHS and community service. I talked about the foundations of NHS and the committees that make us so proud. I took particular care in outlining the activities they did and their intermingling and the issues they tackled. I wanted to inspire students to do the same as NHS and focus on not only helping others but also succeeding academically. Academic success can also be useful in helping others. Tutoring during exam time, for example, is a specific example of how older, more experienced and knowledgeable students were able to teach younger students in a peaceful area with snacks before their exam. The homely atmosphere they created made a great deal of difference to those who received help. I hope that through my article I have inspired RIS students to match NHS's initiatives action for action.

January 2019 Reflection

Part 1 : This year, I was at a loss at what to do until inspiration struck me from my past. My passion for English had led me to write a book for elementary students before. I had worked with several teachers to accomplish that. However this year, I worked not only with teachers but also fellow students. I understand my previous book was a bit too advanced and thus this year, I asked several classmates to edit for me. Mika, my partner in this, was my editor and illustrator. She put together my story with her pictures and ideas. While this was more of an artistic pursuit, I originally came up with this idea because of how books inspired me to take an interest in studies. I realize that my books may not go past this school but I feel that it still helped. Even in schools like these, a lot of students associate studies with the stress of tests, projects, and essays. Books have always sparked an interest in certain topics for me and thus I felt it could do the same for others as well.

I also participated in the Stuffed Animal Drive. I don't have many toys and I didn't really play with toys as a kid but I understood their value to other children. I simply preferred books and video games to actual toys. But despite my preference, I felt these children deserved toys of their own. I knew a lot of children lacked for toys and books and more and thus I had always wanted to donate during Christmas but I never found out how or where. With this opportunity, I went out and bought a few stuffed toys to donate. And I think I might do something similar next year as well or perhaps around Easter this year.

I am also in the process of writing articles for NHS and maybe other committees and clubs/communities. I began this last year with Ms Nicole and am continuing to coordinate it with Mr Taylor Siedell.

Part 2 : As a part of the Appreciation Committee, I made a lot of the surveys, that was sent out, after getting the LINE messages. I went through the previous year's surveys and edited it for this year and made separate folders for the quarters/qualities and separate form and spreadsheet combo for each class [freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors].

I also took initiative to set up an advertisement of the many committees at our school. Like I said, I am writing articles for NHS during the second semester. I am coordinating this with Mr Siedell. I felt this was important because a lot of students don't know about them. Most only know the ones they participate in and the popular ones that are on Facebook and the RIS website. I felt by writing about them would not only encourage students participation but also inspire new clubs and committees and inform a wider population [parents and teachers and so on].

May 2018 Service Reflection

Fun Quote: "If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write (Martin Luther)"

This year has been a very busy year! I'm not in the Good Shepherd's Committee but I did two articles on them this past semester and it was a lot of fun! Mostly I don't get to do extracurricular work due to my already heavy schedule and my inability to really meet and speak with students. However this time, I was able to find out the details of the trips and the activities and the fundraising with the help of Nacha, Bouquet, Wow-Wow, and Ms Nicole. While English is my area of talent, I'm not used to writing actual articles. I'm used to writing long structured essays as opposed to these shorter more free-form articles. As a non-member of the committee, I did not experience many of the activities that they did so I was unable to quite fully understand their words, ideas, and goals. I could understand the whys, the hows, and the whats but I wasn't quite able to feel what they did. Thus this article was a challenge in my capability. It was a challenge to my focus in school. Moreover, it was fun! It was fun trying to figure out the ins and outs with the structure and arrange my mindset to be more free (as opposed to the order that is more common) like the activity itself. The first was an article on what the Good Shepherd Committee was and what they did and what they had planned. The second was a summary of their year.

Ms Nicole: thank you for encouraging me in this. I really enjoyed it and it was a good learning experience for me. I found out I was strong in English but that I need to be more free form in most of life - to be more spontaneous - instead of the order and structure that I always seek. Bouquet, Nacha, Wow-Wow: thank you for collaborating with me this semester. I know it must have been hard since I couldn't meet you and these things are hard to describe in person. Now I can understand how to help these orphan children. After all when you think of orphanages, you think of donating objects or food or money but you never think of enabling them in education and social interaction. The GS committee actions really opened my eyes to helping these children. I, as an RIS Student, value my education and my luxuries very much. I cannot even think of being denied an education. I cannot think of people denied knowledge that will make their future. Part of the reason I wanted to write the second article was because I wanted to show the rest of my fellow students that this is important. We can't just brush this off because there are thousands of such children in the world. We should help the few we can because they can and will change the world themselves. We should help and they will help and this cycle of helping will keep going. It's only now that I remember: we are one world and we are one people.

January 2018 Service Reflection

The NHS motto is noblesse oblige which is French for "nobility obligates." As I interpret it: if you live a privileged life, it is your duty and responsibility to help others. This is a very common idea in the Bible. As a Catholic Christian, I believe in this idea very much. 

So firstly, I decided on doing something on my laptop instead of physical activities which I couldn't do because of my disability. The "Thailand Teaches Texas" event that Ms Lindsey arranged, was perfect: it didn't require physical exertion, mostly taking place electronically, and also taught a lesson [which is something I rather liked]. I did a 10-minute Powtoon lesson or rather book report on Harry Potter. At first I wanted to go through all the books but later due to excess work from my AP Classes and the time it took to finish this one video, I simply decided to explain the explicit main characters of the books and then went through the main events of the first book. Since it was pretty difficult to organize the powtoon, I did often ask advice from Ms Lindsey on how it should be: how long, how many points, if it can be a book report, or more of a lesson, etc. As Texas was plagued by a Hurricane (the Hurricane Harvey), my book report was intended to brighten up their days. As a child, I was often found in the library: I loved books! And Harry Potter quickly became practically an obsession for me in fourth grade when I read it. It was amazing! This book report allowed me to, essentially, impart that love for reading through the fantastical fiction of Harry Potter. My book report was merely a summary but it was meant to spark their interest so that the audience would read it instead of simply watching the movie. Nowadays people always keep watching the movie instead of reading the book but the book can be just as scintillating if not more and inspire creativity and imagination. Harry Potter is a wonderful example of this. The movies are good but they are a bit flat and focus more on plot. In the book, readers can discover the very thoughts of the characters—their reasoning as to why they made the decisions they did—you can map it all out. Moreover the stories and events finish up to significant messages. Harry Potter is a fantastical book but it is also philosophically and psychologically amazing. Throughout this book report, I wanted to inspire the students to look into how the events happened—the background and rationale behind it. Also these days children and teenagers prefer movies and video games and sometimes sport but mostly the former two. I desired to relay the beauty of the written word (electronically and physically). I aspired to curtail some of this electronic need and instead nurture the tactile and social nature of humanity. If this book report inspires a love of reading in one person, then for me, it has been a success. Literacy, after all, is key to education and education is key to life.

Moving along the line of education: RIS exams are tough. And for students, exam week is stressful, to say the least. So this year, NHS hosted a series of Stress Relief activities. In that they also sold 'care packages' for which they required a specific type of plastic to create charms. Since my family rarely goes out, it was pretty difficult for me to find that type of plastic but I found some and submitted them for the 'group.' When the video for how to make those charms was posted online, I did try to make them at home. However I was unable to do much because we neither had the art supplies (permanent markers with different colors and a cutter), nor did we have an oven to bake it in. Also I was unable to even attend group meetings for this as I was very preoccupied during those times. However I must say, I really loved this idea so I did what I could: I donated all the plastic (of the kind needed) I had at hand. This really helped my family rid my home of plastic pollution as we keep a lot of plastic in case we have the opportunity to reuse it.

On October 4rth, I got an email from Hannah He who informed us of a service learning project from Ms Hedda, Mr Jeff, and Mr Olivier. They were going to the immigration detention center in Bangkok to help people who escaped to Thailand due to conditions in their own countries. The 'criminals' there are just immigrants without visa or had overstayed. As I couldn't take part in the physical aspect, I donated toiletries and amenities that my father's company gives for our family in bulk as they were often brands that we wouldn't use. My family doesn't much go on vacations since my brother is in college in Canada. So we only have what we brought back from hotels before that we just kept and didn't really use. But as an immigrant ourself and having to confirm visa this year, my family is particularly sympathetic to those 'criminals.' So we did what we could and donated shampoo, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, etc.

Recently, I've been working on an article on Good Shepherd's Committee since the end of exams has freed up some time for me. So far I think I have a plan and organization: just have to write it now.

Throughout this semester, I believe I have accomplished the NHS objectives for this year which were:

• To identify my strengths and areas for growth - I have identified technology, videos, teaching and such administrative works as my strength. On the other hand, I believe collaboration is an area for improvement as I do not have much chance to really socialize with students besides my classmates (and even they are mostly for group work).
• To demonstrate initiative and planning in my service experiences - I reached out to both Ms Lindsey, Ms Nicole Sabet, and Hannah to inquire about their service activities. Most of my work is planned (especially the book report and the article).
• To demonstrate the skill of working collaboratively - I have, again, reached out to the 'managers' of the service activities in which I participated. I learned of the charms in LINE and provide the plastic which they made into charms. I have also tried reaching out to other NHS members to inquire about any work needed.
• To engage with issues of global significance - My book report was to address the issue of teaching Texas during a natural disaster of a huge magnitude, the domination of technology in children and teenager's lives, the hesitance in reading, and physical interaction. The charms addressed the issue of plastic pollution. And the toiletries, while a bit personal (especially since I took AP Human Geography and studied this), was also to address the issue of immigration and refuge. An article on Good Shepherd's Committee creates publicity for them and informs people of actions to take to help orphan children.
• To recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions - My book report can also address the ethics of parents and others advertising video games, sports, and technology instead of books which can do in one go what all those previously listed do together. The charms address the ethics of exams. Is it really healthy for teenagers to stress so much? Is there another choice? Also it can address pollution. If they can make charms out of plastic, what more can be made? And is it ethical to not to use plastic in such a way by using other materials instead? Immigration: As an immigrant myself, is it really ethical to deny immigration? Or should be case by case? What limits would work for immigrants (can they immigrate for job opportunities, refuge, etc?)? For the Good Shepherd Orphanage article, what more can we do to help them? If we don't do anything, isn't that bystander apathy?

I have considered all these questions and worked to do something about these issues. In doing so, I have identified ways I can improve and skills I am good at. Now I can help contribute to the community more because I know my limits, I know what to work on, and I know what I am good at.