Saturday, February 9, 2013

My answers.


Kizuna Japan Study Tour 2013-Due Feb 8 to your Sensei-please type in the text boxes below-please underline your answers.
These will remain confidential and will not be shared without your permission

Personal Goals Worksheet - 林アリナ
I.     Personal growth
A.         Consider your strengths - What are you good at?  What brings you a sense of accomplishment? (these could relate to sports, music, theater, church involvement, helping friends with problems, making friends, cheering others up, helping parents or siblings, community service etc)
One of my strengths is being able to observe, analyze, and relate to others.

One of my strengths is being able to observe, analyze, and relate to others. I am a quiet person at times because I am too focused on studying a person or subject and often times picking up little bits and pieces about them that goes unnoticed to others without having to be vocal.

I feel complete and relieved when I am able to finish my AP English essays in time after getting off a double shift but the thing that brings me a full sense of satisfaction is when I’m able to understand and develop a closer and deeper understanding of my relationship with a person whether it is a coworker or teacher. I’m able to sympathize and understand social relationships on a deeper level.

B.         Consider your weakness – Where do you lack confidence?  What do you wish you could do better?  (these could relate same topics above, but could also include shyness, being self-conscious in a group, getting along with others, being more group oriented / less self-centered, being better organized, etc)

My weakness is being too devoted and determined that often times it could be seen as being stubborn. Before I start a project, I fear of failure and when I’ve already started it, I don’t know when to throw in the towel because I don’t want to be a failure and lose all the efforts I had put in.  I lack self-esteem and often times I fake confidence that I seem narcissistic to a certain degree. Another thing I lack is trust. Sometimes I seem like I don’t know how to trust when I actually trusted too much.

One thing I’ve been trying to work on is friendship. Instead of hiding the turmoil or blasting unpleasant emotions, I try to formally present my objection to the person or people. If they do not want to continue the friendship then I will understand and not add fuel to the fire.


C.            Consider the aspects of the trip from a personal growth standpoint – Where might you anticipate opportunities for challenge and growth?  List them below :

Through the Kizuna trip I believe there will be language and culture barriers but through growing and learning together with the 22 other students the opportunities will overweigh the challenges and aide each student to grow internally to learn about themselves as well as Japan.


D.       Select one or two from "C" that you've listed above and write down some specific objectives,
          actions, methods or strategies you plan to use in order to show personal growth in those areas.

The language barrier only exists if one does not submerge themselves in the beauty of Japanese and its culture. By keeping up with my Japanese blog, diary, and exchanging emails with other Japanese pen-pals I will overcome the cultural and language barrier.

E.     How will you know that you've experienced growth or improvement in your area of focus?  (Examples: reflection, journaling, observing, documenting your perspectives, discussing with roommates/ friends on the trip or documenting (if possible) more measurable outcomes)

Through daily entries in my diary, I will be able to reflect back upon things I did not understand and through pondering and seeking answers to my questions I will have experienced growth. I also hope to video blog a portion of my days in Japan and afterwards when I return to watch and see the growth of my understanding of Japan.


F.        Follow up – Due March 22 via email to ddaughertyon@olatheschools.org
            - Unexpected learning.  Submit on a separate sheet of paper (typed) that describes something unexpected that you learned about yourself while participating on this study tour. 



These may be shared with teachers or administrators with your permission
Academic Goals Worksheet -               林アリナ
II.   Academic focus area
A.      Consider your academic strengths - What are you good at?  What brings you a sense of accomplishment?  What do you almost always look forward to studying or learning about? 

One of my strengths is art. Being able to bring out the beauty in a hidden item brings me happiness because I am able to show the world that even if something appears ordinary or gloomy, there is still beauty. In the darkest hours there is still light and where there is light there is hope for a better tomorrow. The tears won’t last forever because eventually they will dry and a smile will appear. Whether it be through words or an image – I am able to bring out what is unseen by others. In a way, I am an interpreter of hidden emotions and thoughts. I love studying a nation’s history because I am basically learning about thousands of people’s scars and their laughter. When I study history, I do not take it as facts and stories but rather the hardships people go through to finally reach the end of the tunnel and take a breather knowing that there is more ahead to be accomplished.


B. Consider the aspects of the trip from an academic standpoint – Where do you see opportunities to apply learned knowledge or concepts.  (Math, physics, writing, global studies/political science, cultural studies, Japanese language, Japanese history/geography, Web design, promotions, publications, transportation, etc).

There are endless opportunities to apply the knowledge that could be learned through this trip. The most important for me is by understanding the Japanese history. By understanding each other’s past a nation is able to sympathize but also learn and encourage foreign relations.

C.        Select one area you'd like to focus on and list some ways, methods, strategies that you could
           use in order to challenge yourself to learn more, apply learned concepts, investigate further,
          etc.

An area I would like to focus on is how the Japanese people were able to get lower radiation levels in their food to determine what was safe to eat and how they deal with nuclear energy now concerning  their diet.

D.      How will you demonstrate what you've learned?  What will you produce, create or document? 

Through daily snippets of my video blogging I hope to compile it all into one document to share with others at the end of the trip.

E.        Follow up – Due March 22 via email to ddaughertyon@olatheschools.org
            - Unexpected learning.  Submit on a separate sheet of paper (typed) that describes something unexpected that you experienced or learned about while participating on this study tour.  This reflection will relate to academic /educational topics.