Core Competency Reflection

Personal Awareness & Responsibility:

Strengths:

1. I am personally responsible, self-motivated, and can advocate for myself.

My mindset is easy to understand, I work for what I want, I have my goals clear and believe in
myself, I take failure as an opportunity to grow more all these factors are what keep me motivated.
I put discipline over most things because I think is one of the most important values since it’s gets
you to do things. For example, I go to the gym every single day, even if I don’t feel like it, I still show
up because I know every day helps me improve as a person and seeing big progress and results
makes me keep doing whatever it is I’m working on. I consider myself a very responsible person,
not only for academic purposes like being on time or always but also self and familiar purposes.
Being a good student and meeting every academic requirement is a strength I admire a lot.

2. I understand learning takes patience and time.

I have learned many things throughout my life and currently I find myself learning some
calisthenics skills. When I decided to try these new skills, I thought it would be way easier than it
looked, I was very wrong. The first skill I learned was the crow pose, I had no idea what I was doing
until a found a gym influencer on Instagram who did videos about basic skills. I practiced it every
day again, and again, and again until I finally got it; this inspired me to learn even more, and I am
now trying to learn the handstand. It can be frustrating at times, but I keep convincing myself that
nothing is worth it if you don’t work for it. Learning calisthenics has taught me to be more patient,
enjoy the process, and don’t rush things.

Weaknesses:

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

I’m a very shy person which sometimes keeps me away from asking important questions I might
have, in school specially, when I’m in a certain class and I don’t understand or I’m struggling with
something I tend to avoid asking questions. If I’m feeling very stuck, I do ask the teachers but
usually by either teams or whenever I can have a private word with them. Normally I ask for help
when it comes to my health or other concerns, but I try to solve things by myself most of the time.
This is an important aspect for me to develop more because I need to understand I don’t have to
deal with some things alone, I have my family who supports me and school staff as well.

Social Responsibility:
Strengths:

1. I am aware of my community and environment and work independently and

collaboratively for the benefit of others.

Working with other people is something I enjoy a lot since it makes things a lot more interesting
and fun always having respect into consideration of course. I like making things as easy and
productive as possible as it makes up a better environment. I listen to other people’s suggestions
and work collaboratively, for example, whenever there is an individual or group project, I try to get
everything organized first, see if someone disagrees and talk it though, then if we separate the
work into who can work on what, then come together and share ideas. The same happens when I
work independently.

2. I have positive peer and intergenerational relationship.

I tend to treat people how I would like to be treated, which is why it is important for me to have
positive relationships with people, not only makes communication a lot easier, but it builds up a
better environment for everyone to enjoy. For example, every time I think a friend or close person
could use a laugh I try to joke around like dance or say random things that could make them feel
better. I enjoy being with people and sharing different things about life whether with family or
friends. Keeping important people close to me is essential.

Weaknesses:

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

I usually avoid as much conflict as I can unless I know for sure it is something I can help with or I'm
interested in, because if I'm not, then I get bored and it’s harder for me to engage with the issue,
especially when it comes to problems between people who I had nothing to do since sometimes it
happens because of small misunderstandings. Thinking about strategies to solve a problem, on the
other hand, is a skill I have more developed. I could try to understand every perspective and
analyze the situation and contribute however I can. However, thinking about ideas to resolve
problem is much easier to me since I usually look to the phycological part of the problem and
people's behaviour.

Critical Thinking:

Strengths:

1. I can assess my progress.

Progress means a lot more to me than the results themselves, because progress shows you how
good or bad you are doing and where you need to improve. For example, I asses my progress at
the gym by seeing results in muscle gain and strength. To me it’s the most important part of a
journey as progress is the journey itself, and the thing that will test your will to do something.
Setting goals is also a critical factor for you to assess you progress as it is an easy way to track your
achievements and reflect in your growth. Always take note of the different skills you might’ve
developed and always be proud of your progress.

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

I love exploring and creating things, and showing my learning in whatever way I find representative
is interesting. For example, I’m a lot into visual representations as I can usually explain a lot
without the use of too many words. Also creating things such as mock-ups or overall tangible
projects help me represent my learning a lot more. I can tell I can address any type of problem,
need and specially events with my creativity specially when it comes to building or creating things
like posters, presentations, between a lot more.

Weaknesses:

1. I can analyze and make defensible judgements, draw conclusions and consider a variety of
perspectives.

Debating is hard for me since I don’t like conflict unless I’m deeply engaged and willing to defend a
stance. Making defensible arguments is something I could work on because I usually look at the
topics in a very broad way which prohibits me from getting a more concrete argument to on hold
to. Considering a variety of perspectives on the other hand is something I can do better, since I
consider myself a good listener and open minded to other people’s points of view. I think I can
improve in this area by taking the analysis part more into consideration when it comes to
judgements.

Creative Thinking:

Strengths:

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

I am a very observant person, which is something I admire a lot because it allows me to

understand people more and some of this observation, I have experienced which is why I have a
bigger understanding of it. For example, when I encounter an issue such as something is needed in
class, I try to think about a useful idea to try to solve it and offer it. People's behavior in specific
situations helps me relate what some needs could be which allows me to come up with a solution
faster and more effective.

2. I can persevere and understand that failure can be productive.

When I was 4 years old, I went to my first swimming competition, I lost one of my races which
unmotivated me to keep competing, but fortunately my coach taught me that a real loser is
someone who doesn’t even try so I didn't give up and worked harder. Unfortunately, my coach
passed away which motivated me even more to keep going and always remember his legacy. So, I
find failure very productive as it is always a new opportunity for you to get up and do better with
whatever you propose to yourself.

Weaknesses:

1. I can take my ideas evaluate, develop, and refine them and make something productive
out of them.

I can evaluate my ideas, what I struggle a little bit with is with the development of them since I
start thinking about so many ideas and all the different factors that can strand out of them, it gets
hard for me to come up with a specific idea. Thinking broad about things is something I do a lot
and I think I could improve this by thinking deeper about the purpose of the idea to find the
interest needed and make sure I want to deal with all of it. But overall, usually my results are
productive and I’m always proud of my hard work.

Communication:

Strengths:

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

Sharing ideas with others is critical to me since it also helps me see things from another
perspective, especially when it comes to developing ideas with others to communicate them to
specific audiences. Giving my point of view is important to me but I can sometimes hesitate to
share it, but I do if I feel like I need to. I prefer discussion over debate since discussion is more of an
opinion sharing situation while a debate gets more serious about defending a specific point.

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

I love talking with other people about different things, especially when it comes to discussion and
sharing of different ideas. I enjoy listening to others as it also helps me understand different points
of view which I believe are important as well. Two heads are better than one and the more people
the more fun and creative an assignment can get. For example, out careers teacher gave us a
communication and creativity challenge about recreating a piece of art with paper, where we had a
classmate and only one opportunity. Me and my partner were successful and managed to recreate
the craft which made me feel proud of myself.

Weaknesses:

1. I can engage in deep and meaningful inquiry for a variety of purposes and audiences.

When it comes to deep inquiry, I must have enough interest for me to engage correctly as I can
lose attentiveness very easily, but when I do have it, I can be easily involved for variety of purposes
since it can be very interesting to decide how to share something to either convince or persuade
an specific audience. I think I could try to improve this by developing more my critical thinking to
maintain more engagement and entertainment over deep and meaningful inquiry.

Personal & Cultural Identity:

Strengths:

1. I understand how what I value has and will shape my choices

I always aim for ethical choices and avoid situations where I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable. I
feel very proud of my roots and will always be grateful for them. Moving to a new country where
people, food, culture and environment is distinct to what one is used to is not easy, but it is a new
opportunity to grow. For example, I value family and religion a lot which is why I put them first in
any situation, like going to church with them instead of going out that night. Trust is something I
highly value as well since I think life can’t feel the same way if there are no people you can trust.

2. I understand how to use my strengths and abilities to my advantage, and I can explain how
I use them to contribute to my community.

Knowing my strengths is something I can easily identify and understand. Sharing them with others
is a trait I have, and I enjoy a lot specially because people admire different things from others and
if that comes up to be the case with me, I am more than willing to share whatever it is they want to
know. For example, a lot of people ask me how come it is that I’m so disciplined, since a lot of
people admire that. I usually say that it’s because you got to convince your mind you can do it, and
fight for the person you want to be, and I always work to improve.

Weaknesses:

1. I understand that culture is a broad concept that includes things like geographic region,
nationality, sex/gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, language, and religion.

I can only understand some concepts about culture, because I either don’t relate to others or I
don’t have interest for it. For example, about how all the gender variety has come to be nowadays,
it is such a delicate subject where you can barely say something because if you say something
wrong you would be hated by the world. I’m open at the fact that people can feel however, and do
whatever they want, I just believe they shouldn't involve us the way they do, especially because it
has brought us consequently the separation of society. I don’t have a very open mind to this aspect
since I’m faithful to my religion, so I disagree, but I don’t judge, it’s just my opinion.