Core Competency Reflection

Personal Awareness and Responsibility

Strengths

1. I understand learning takes patience and time.

Throughout high school, I have learned many different concepts and skills. However, this journey took
frustration and dedication. Math has been a subject I either completely understand or I am lost. In the
past, this has caused me to get upset because some units seem so easy, and others do not. Learning is
not a straight line, it has slopes and curves. I understand, I will not always find every learning
opportunity equal in difficulty. Learning takes perseverance. If I keep applying myself to a task, I will
develop an understanding.

2. I am learning to take care of myself.

Highschool can be remarkably busy and daunting. It is an easy path to forget about personal health and
well-being. This is something I am working towards. I have started creating my own healthy meals, using
a daily planner to organize all my events and I have begun implementing healthy active goals into my
routine. I want to treat myself well and practicing responsible tasks and decisions have helped me
become a person that I am proud of. Mature decisions have aided me to create smart choices such as
cleaning my personal spaces, exercising personal hygiene routines, and planning healthy meals. I have
begun cooking more and trying recipes that I enjoy.

Weaknesses

1. I can express my needs and seek help when needed.

I have always been a very independent person so asking for help has been a hard struggle. I always want
to prove I can achieve tasks on my own, and it is my brain’s own stigma that views asking for help as
negative. I want to believe I can complete obstacles on my own but not everything can be finished as an
individual. I am slowly working towards seeking help and having open conversations around positive
feedback. This is something I want to improve greatly as it is other perspectives and knowledge that will
drive me to where I want to be.

Social Responsibility

I value diversity, defend human rights, advocate for others, and act ethically in all my interactions,
including online.
I believe in treating everyone fairly. I come from a mixed background, so I have seen firsthand the value
of diversity and culture. Seeing my parents treated differently or placed into stereotypical roles opened
my eyes to treating everyone equally. At the end of the day, everyone is a human being and deserves to
be heard. If someone is not being treated well, I will stand up for them. As a 12th grade in school, I set
an example to other students. I would like to set a standard that everyone has a right to have a voice.

2. I have positive peer and intergenerational relationships.

I enjoy connecting with everyone I come across. It is important to have face to face conversations and
explore topics with my peers. I am involved in a variety of school activities that allow me to create
positive relationships with peers in my own grade, below or above. Last year, I was in various classes
that were split between senior and juniors. This learning space provided me the opportunity to converse
with the grade above me and create mentor like relationships. I currently help coach the grade 9 girls;
this role has implemented a sense of leadership into the connections I develop with younger grades. I
work at a restaurant, and I am one of the very few that are still in high school. This job has broadened
my speaking skills as I must discuss topics with adults ten years or older than me. I have created positive
relationships with fellow employees even though they are years older than me. I feel safe discussing
serious topics. My job has also taught me to talk to various costumers, ranging from 5 years old to 80
years old through engaging conservation. ‘

Weakness

I can identify and appreciate different perspectives on issues and use and evaluate strategies to resolve
problems.

When faced with a problem where there are two sides, I find it difficult to put myself in someone else's
perspective. I am a very head strong person and find it challenging to take a moment to understand
others' opinions. When taking Law 12, I struggled defending a side that was not my original choice. I felt
polarized by topics, and I was stuck when viewing other’s stances. This is something I am trying to work
on as my way is not always correct. Everyone can have a belief, and it is my duty as a peer to appreciate
that and work two strategies together. This is a skill that I would like to improve.

Critical Thinking

Strengths

I can analyze and critique my work and learning.

I can assess my progress

Through volleyball, I learned the skill of tracking and assessing my progress. I started making goals and
journaling my journey and obstacles. I would set a goal every week and assess myself at the end. If I
completed the goal, I challenged myself to make it more difficult. If I did not receive any positive results,
I took a step back and allowed myself a buffer. An example of a goal I made was serving flat and short to
the 1 and 6 seam. At first, I struggled finding consistency with this goal as there were multiple tweaks I
was working on. However, I assessed my progress and decided I needed to work on one thing. I began
just serving the seam and slowly integrated the other things. I checked in with myself every week and if I
had found consistency, I challenged myself with an extra skill.

Weaknesses

I can explore and create new ways to represent my learning around a variety of problems, events, issues
and needs.

I find displaying my learning in diverse ways difficult. I have preferred representations I like to lean on,
but to improve my learning, I need to expand my range of showing my knowledge. I often find crafty and
visual projects hard because I learn easier through discussion. However, I would like to strengthen my
ways of representing my learning by choosing several ways, even if they do not come easy to me.

Creative Thinking

Strengths

I can create new and unique ideas that provide new perspectives that influence how people think about
topics.
I am a naturally very curious person and I love generating questions to better my knowledge and the
people around me. I have a strong personality and I love teaching people about my views and explaining
the “Why” to my beliefs. I love producing new evidence to spark curiosity in others. In Law 12, I worked
on finding different lenses and views to win my cases. It took finding unique angles to help others see
my point of view. People will not always agree with me, but I think one of my skill sets is discovering
innovative ideas to help others see topics in various ways.

I can persevere and understand failure can be productive.

I am a determined individual. I always want to complete tasks to the best of my ability, win things or
finish things at the highest standard. I understand though that to grow, I need to fail sometimes. Failure
is not a terrible thing; it means I am stepping outside my comfort zone and discovering new ways that
do not work. If I do a task and fail, I figure out a way not to approach that task. In grade 11, I received a
mark I was disappointed with. I knew I could achieve higher and as an individual, this mark helped me
grow as a student by improving my study habits. I understand sometimes I may need to try things
multiple times to succeed. This is not a waste of time because of the progress and depth in my learning.

I can use the environment around me, including others and my unconscious mind to generate innovative
ideas.

I struggle with using a set environment and others to generate ideas. I prefer being in specific locations
when learning. I believe in school; I am an independent learner. I would like to work on using peers as
resources and bouncing ideas off multiple minds. In doing so, I believe I can strengthen relationships.

Communication

Strengths

I can listen, learn, and contribute meaningfully to discussion and debate, consider different perspectives,
and build consensus.

One of my favorite things in school is group discussions like seminars where everyone voices their
opinions and then people relate or disagree with stances. I enjoy talking to my peers through discussion
because I get to learn through an engaging way. I am strong in both listening and leading these
seminars. Peer's perspectives jog questions that I can then ponder and bring to the surface.

I can reflect on the process of learning and share what I have learned.
When learning new things, I love sharing. I help coach the grade 9 girls' team and I love implementing
knowledge and tips into the practices I run. As a player, I can relate to the girls I coach, I enjoy reviewing
lessons I have encountered and applying them in their games. The lessons I learn can be useful to more
people than just myself. In sharing my learning, I create an easier path for others.

Weakness

I can work with other students to plan, inquire, and solve problems.

Outside of school, I find it simple to work with others. However. Past experiences have been difficult
colaborating with fellow students because of differences in work styles. This has caused me to veer away
from group work and favor independent learning. I would like to improve my collaboration skills when
working on group tasks. I tend to get frustrated, but I would like to improve my openness when solving
problems in a group. This may take either stepping back and listening to the group or rallying my peers
together to ensure everyone is working to benefit the group.

Personal and Culture Identity

Strength

I understand what is important to me.

I have long and short-term goals. Both of which are extremely important to me. I understand the path I
want to be on and how to get there. My goals take effort, hard work, and dedication to achieve them. I
do not make decisions that will hinder what is important to me and create a barrier between me and my
dreams. I want to go to university. I work as hard as I can in school so I can accomplish this. Health is
important to me, so I create healthy meals and stay active. Self-care is important to me, so I set aside
time to treat myself to small things such as face masks, time to relax and read or even go for a walk.

I know my strengths are what make me unique.

I understand my strengths make me who I am. I am a strong individual who stands up for what she
believes in. I understand the path I want to be on and how to stay on track. My values are my strengths,
and my strengths make me unique. I understand I will never be perfect at anything, but I am slowly
working towards being a better individual every day. I set goals for myself that are achievable and
realistic.

Weakness

I understand that culture is a broad topic that includes things like my geographic region, nationality, sex,
gender, age and ethnicity.
Culture is a complex thing, and I cannot say I am fully educated and knowledgeable. I would like to
improve my understanding of this focus. There are so many definitions, and I have not been properly
educated about every single one. I would like to change this because it revolves around every single
person. I want to incorporate the knowledge, acceptance and appreciation of diversity and culture into
my everyday life.