Model UN:
Project Description:
This project was based on the United Nations and their process of deciding on resolutions of issues. Each student either chose a country to represent or chose to be a chair which is what I did. This meant that me and one other student ran the two conferences. We also had to write an issue brief for two issues including the Venezuelan Refugee Crisis and Nuclear Proliferation. Both of these are affecting millions to billions right now. For me, knowing how relevant these issues are made them a lot more interesting to learn about. Another thing we did as chairs was write a script for the conference. This took the knowledge of how an actual UN conference is run. Being a chair took a lot of self motivation and perseverance. The second issue we focused on was nuclear proliferation. This felt much more complicated for me as a chair because there are so many different layers to it as well as all of the complicated alliances. With this issue in particular it was really interesting to learn all of the intricate ins and outs because it is so prevalent right now. Overall, this project took us in many interesting directions and I learned a lot throughout all of it.
This project was based on the United Nations and their process of deciding on resolutions of issues. Each student either chose a country to represent or chose to be a chair which is what I did. This meant that me and one other student ran the two conferences. We also had to write an issue brief for two issues including the Venezuelan Refugee Crisis and Nuclear Proliferation. Both of these are affecting millions to billions right now. For me, knowing how relevant these issues are made them a lot more interesting to learn about. Another thing we did as chairs was write a script for the conference. This took the knowledge of how an actual UN conference is run. Being a chair took a lot of self motivation and perseverance. The second issue we focused on was nuclear proliferation. This felt much more complicated for me as a chair because there are so many different layers to it as well as all of the complicated alliances. With this issue in particular it was really interesting to learn all of the intricate ins and outs because it is so prevalent right now. Overall, this project took us in many interesting directions and I learned a lot throughout all of it.
Issue #1:
Project Reflection for Conference #1:
- Highlights: What is the best or most interesting part of this project so far? Why is this particular thing so engaging/interesting to you? The main thing that was the most interesting for me this project so far was researching and writing about the Venezuelan refugee crisis. I had no prior knowledge of this issue which made me very curious to dive into it. I am usually very driven when it comes to relevant and current social issues, which is what this is and why I was so intrigued by this topic. Although it was hard for me to get into the act of researching once I got the basic facts about it I wanted to learn more. Overall, diving into a new and interesting topic was the best part of this project so far because it kept be inspired and intrigued.
- Growth: How have you grown over the course of this project (think about habits, skills, knowledge, etc.)? Because I chose to be a chair I have grown in self-motivation and determination. I have had to manage my time more independently as well as stay determined which is hard to do for me when I am made to be more independent. I also feel that I have grown in my writing skills. The issue brief that I wrote had a very loose outline and I felt like I did a good job organizing my writing and making it clear and concise. Knowledge is another place I grew. I did not know anything about the Venezuelan refugee crisis let alone Venezuela or the UN so, throughout this whole project I was constantly learning.
- Conference Preparation: How prepared did you feel for your our first conference, and how did that preparation translate into participation? Offer specific examples to support your claims. In our first conference I felt prepared but I knew I could have been more prepared. For some reason it took me longer than I thought it would to get the hang of running a conference. I had written a script which helped me a lot in terms of feeling prepared. The one thing I would like to do differently next time is collaborate more with the other chair so that there is less cutting each other off and it feels more organized. I met all my deadline and overall felt very organized. I did have moments of feeling really confused on certain things and needed extra help clarifying. In the end I felt like I was prepared for the conference and that directly affected how smoothly the conference went because I am a chair.
- Refinement: What do you plan to do differently in our second MUN conference in January? Why do you think this will improve your experience and the conference as a whole? The main thing I want to do differently and change is work on being more confident as a chair because I think that will help with the other people in the conference feeling more willing to speak. The way I can do this is with practice and talking more with the other chair about specific roles we should take during the conference. One thing that will improve my experience in the conference is more participation from the other students but I think that I can help with this by being more direct and clear.
Issue #2:
Project Reflection:
1. International Diplomacy: What are your thoughts on the United Nations and our international system of problem solving? What insights do you have now about what is necessary to tackle complex global issues?
After doing this I have learned how important it is for our leaders to be mature for anything to get done in decision making within the UN. It was very interesting to experience on a small scale how our world works together to gets things done. I learned that everybody has to be willing to listen to each other of else nothing productive will occur. I think that the United Nations ultimately does get things done but at the same time they do not have that much power in comparison to leaders of individual countries.
2. Growth: How have you grown as a learner and delegate from our last conference to this conference (think about habits, skills, knowledge, etc.)? What did you do to grow in this way?
I think that comparing to the last conference I was much more prepared and confident in my role. I felt like my and Jaslin, the other chair, were much more independent in the second conference and had less help from Lori. I also think that with the second issue that we focused on, I used my time much more wisely and felt less stressed about my understanding of the issues. I think that I realized how stressed I was in the first conference and as well as how much responsibility I truly had. Because of this I tried much harder the second time to use my time wisely.
3. Knowledge: What are the skills and/or knowledge that you will carry with you from this project? How has this project changed your behaviors and/or thinking?
Overall, I will take all of the knowledge I gained about the UN, the Venezuelan Refugee Crisis, and Nuclear Proliferation. I will take away other things like learning how to work productively and independently. I gained knowledge about writing something quite complicated without the support of a teacher holding my hand throughout the whole thing. Content wise, I really enjoyed learning about nuclear proliferation in particular because I got a bit of insight into our own government and where we stand, which I feel is an important thing to be educated on.
4. Refinement: If you were going to do this again, or if you had a time machine and could go back to the start of this semester, what would you do differently? How would this change impact your learning and the project?
If I could do it all again I would use my time more wisely but I would also do my best to be confident in my abilities from the beginning and not second guess myself so much because this hindered my products and overall effort in the project. I know that this is a hard thing to do but that is what I would try my best to do. Using my time more efficiently would help me in many ways and overall make me less stressed. Having more confidence would inspire me to put more effort into my work and have more of an eagerness for a good finish product.
1. International Diplomacy: What are your thoughts on the United Nations and our international system of problem solving? What insights do you have now about what is necessary to tackle complex global issues?
After doing this I have learned how important it is for our leaders to be mature for anything to get done in decision making within the UN. It was very interesting to experience on a small scale how our world works together to gets things done. I learned that everybody has to be willing to listen to each other of else nothing productive will occur. I think that the United Nations ultimately does get things done but at the same time they do not have that much power in comparison to leaders of individual countries.
2. Growth: How have you grown as a learner and delegate from our last conference to this conference (think about habits, skills, knowledge, etc.)? What did you do to grow in this way?
I think that comparing to the last conference I was much more prepared and confident in my role. I felt like my and Jaslin, the other chair, were much more independent in the second conference and had less help from Lori. I also think that with the second issue that we focused on, I used my time much more wisely and felt less stressed about my understanding of the issues. I think that I realized how stressed I was in the first conference and as well as how much responsibility I truly had. Because of this I tried much harder the second time to use my time wisely.
3. Knowledge: What are the skills and/or knowledge that you will carry with you from this project? How has this project changed your behaviors and/or thinking?
Overall, I will take all of the knowledge I gained about the UN, the Venezuelan Refugee Crisis, and Nuclear Proliferation. I will take away other things like learning how to work productively and independently. I gained knowledge about writing something quite complicated without the support of a teacher holding my hand throughout the whole thing. Content wise, I really enjoyed learning about nuclear proliferation in particular because I got a bit of insight into our own government and where we stand, which I feel is an important thing to be educated on.
4. Refinement: If you were going to do this again, or if you had a time machine and could go back to the start of this semester, what would you do differently? How would this change impact your learning and the project?
If I could do it all again I would use my time more wisely but I would also do my best to be confident in my abilities from the beginning and not second guess myself so much because this hindered my products and overall effort in the project. I know that this is a hard thing to do but that is what I would try my best to do. Using my time more efficiently would help me in many ways and overall make me less stressed. Having more confidence would inspire me to put more effort into my work and have more of an eagerness for a good finish product.
The "Work" of Adolescence
Project Description:
In this project we focused on studying different theories surrounding the topic of adolescence and development. Some of these things included, Piaget, Erikson, Kohlberg, and Gilligans theories and studies. We also read an excerpt of the book Brainstorm which we based a lot of our project on. Our main text that was incorporated in this project was a book called The Diary of a Part Time Indian. With all of this background information we went in into the community and picked someone over the age of 30 and interviewed them about their individual adolescent experience. We then took their interview and wrote a write up which connected their story to our experience and to adolescence in general. The last piece to the final product was a portrait photograph of the person we interviewed that went along with the write up.
Project Reflection:
When I think of my strengths in this project the first thing that comes to mind is my writing. I am especially proud of my interview write up. I went about the writing process different in this project. For example, I started off by simply writing all my thoughts down without hesitation for my first draft. I then went back and added, deleted, and revised. This process was very beneficial for me because usually it takes me forever to write a first draft because I am worried about my writing, but this time I worried later on and I liked how it worked out. I do not think I have ever revised a piece of my writing more than I did in this project, which feels really good and allows me to be confident in my work and be proud.
Thinking back to my struggles during this project I think of my final interview write-up even though it was also my proudest piece of work. Because I revised this piece of writing more than anything I have done in the past, I was challenged by it. For example, one of the requirements was to take out all of the contractions like don’t, won’t, wanna, gonna. I had never been held to this standard in the past let alone thought about little things like this when trying to produce professional writing. I feel like the experience of writing this will open a new door in the future for me and my writing.
The most important thing I learned during this project was about attachment theory. We went into depth about each type of attachment which really opened my eyes about life in general and how much our parents or caretakers affect everything about us. Attachment theory in particular talks about how the way you are treated as a baby. Anything from the amount of human contact to the attachment issues that the guardians have from their childhood can intensely affect the future life of the child. Some of these things seemed obvious to me but it was important to learn about the specifics of it because now I can see the outcomes in my day to day life and it gave me a new perspective on the impact of early years of life.
Based on the “Class Habits and Intellectual Presence Rubric” I would give myself a nine out of ten. I think that I am usually prepared for class, I always start right away in the starter, I engage in class activities, and I can find a way to be interested in what we are doing. The only area I would like to work on is using all of my work time effectively. Although I know that sometimes it is important to have a break, I am also aware that sometimes I get distracted by very unnecessary things. I can not expect myself to always be on task and never get distracted but I do think it is a good goal to have and work on getting distracted less.
Thinking back to my struggles during this project I think of my final interview write-up even though it was also my proudest piece of work. Because I revised this piece of writing more than anything I have done in the past, I was challenged by it. For example, one of the requirements was to take out all of the contractions like don’t, won’t, wanna, gonna. I had never been held to this standard in the past let alone thought about little things like this when trying to produce professional writing. I feel like the experience of writing this will open a new door in the future for me and my writing.
The most important thing I learned during this project was about attachment theory. We went into depth about each type of attachment which really opened my eyes about life in general and how much our parents or caretakers affect everything about us. Attachment theory in particular talks about how the way you are treated as a baby. Anything from the amount of human contact to the attachment issues that the guardians have from their childhood can intensely affect the future life of the child. Some of these things seemed obvious to me but it was important to learn about the specifics of it because now I can see the outcomes in my day to day life and it gave me a new perspective on the impact of early years of life.
Based on the “Class Habits and Intellectual Presence Rubric” I would give myself a nine out of ten. I think that I am usually prepared for class, I always start right away in the starter, I engage in class activities, and I can find a way to be interested in what we are doing. The only area I would like to work on is using all of my work time effectively. Although I know that sometimes it is important to have a break, I am also aware that sometimes I get distracted by very unnecessary things. I can not expect myself to always be on task and never get distracted but I do think it is a good goal to have and work on getting distracted less.