Bella Core Competency Reflection Oct. 10.

2023

Personal Awareness & Responsibility:

Strengths:
1. “I use a variety of strategies to manage my personal well-being.”
Entering high school in grade 10, I would say I didn’t have the healthiest ways of handling my
personal well-being. I would eat junk food, not get enough sleep for my age, push problems to
the side which later caused stress, and most importantly pouring self-doubt on everything I do.
From coming right out of a pandemic, this had a tremendous impact on these habits occurring.
A couple of years after of being in high school, all the people around influenced me to change
for the better. They gave me different techniques and strategies of how to improve slowly. This
included talking about how I feel, dealing with problems from different perspectives, making
fresh healthy meals, and unplugging myself from the world of technology.
2. “I can set goals, regulate my emotions and persevere in difficult situations.”
When it comes to regulating emotions, it's important to recognize and understand how you’re
feeling, and then find healthy ways to manage and express those emotions. When faced with
any inconvenient situations, I always remember to stay resilient and never give up. Throughout
school, this has always been my mindset. School is extremely important to me. I've always been
extremely strict and disciplined towards myself if I didn’t meet my expectations. With the goals
aspect, I always set a task within the day to study for a certain amount of time to help aim for a
specific grade. If I were to get overwhelmed, this is regulating emotions would occur. Taking a
deep breath, reminding myself that I'm prepared, and focusing on positive self-talk. Sometimes
this can be difficult for me to move on from. If I encounter a setback or face a challenging task, I
don’t get discouraged. Instead, I break it down into smaller, manageable steps. Celebrate each
small achievement along the way and keep pushing forward, knowing that ill have the grown
the strength to overcome future obstacles.

Weakness:
1. “I can express my needs and seek help when needed.”
Judgment has always been a fear of mine since I was a young child. Watching others laugh,
shout names, and discriminate others for not being able to do something perfectly, ate away at
my soul. For the longest time, I would never ask for any assistance with academic and basic life
struggles. Instead of asking for help, I would either push my problem to the side or try to teach
myself how to be successful. For instances this would happen in Pre-Calculus 11. While trying to
learn, I wouldn’t get the concepts as fast as others around me and I’d be too scared to ask
questions in front of the classroom. This limited my learning experience to the extreme. As I
look back now, I wish I could've stepped out of my comfort zone and reached for the full
success that I deserved. Some ways I could slowly get over this fear Is talking to the teachers
one on one, asking small questions in classroom discussions, and to develop the mindset of not
letting anyone hold me back.

Social Responsibility:
Strengths:
1. “I am aware of my community and environment and work independently and
collaboratively for the benefit of others.”
On a daily basis, I'm informed about local issues and participate in community events. Last year
I was involved in a leadership class that required a certain amount of volunteer hours (75) to
pass the course. Being in this class helped me realize current or developing issues within the
community that could or couldn’t be solved. During this course you were obligated to work
independently and together with others. Joining like-minded or even completely different-
minded individuals can be extremely helpful with obtaining new life skills. By combining
individual efforts with collective actions, I can truly make a difference for the benefit of
individuals and the community around me.

2. “I value diversity, defend human rights, advocate for others, and act ethically in all my
interactions to resolve problems.”
In today's lifestyle, plenty of cultures are just starting to get recognized and appreciated. In high
school at least every month, students try to incorporate any national culture days into the
school year. For example, giving opportunities to try new cuisines, learning about traditions,
and teaching students about one another. I try to involve myself in as many activities as
possible to try to get closer to new cultures. Engaging in conversations with people from
diverse backgrounds helps gain new perspectives and celebrate the beauty of our differences.
Everyone should be treated with kindness, respect, and fairness in all interactions. From my
experience of helping others, this can be achieved by using my voice to raise awareness about
the prominent issues and advocate for the rights of marginalized communities. I know by
embodying any of these principles, I'm making a positive impact and contributing to a more
inclusive and compassionate world.
Weakness:
1. “I have positive peer and intergenerational relationships.”
My generation seems to struggle with this topic quite a lot. We’re at the point where we aren’t
too young but not old enough. The reason I mostly struggle behind this topic is because I don’t
have much in common with the older generation. For example, being on social media, new
upcoming trends for teenagers, and lacking knowledge about past events (history). Surely
enough, I'll need to learn how to build relationships with that generation as I'll eventually be
working with and around them. Things I could do to improve in this skill are finding passions
that we both have in common, slowing learning about the other person, and showing the
person that you care about them.

Critical Thinking:
Strengths:
1. “I understand the purpose for my work and consider my audience.”
Inside and outside of school is where my strength towards this topic applies. While in school,
you must be more formal than informal. For me this would apply to writing any assignments for
my courses. Outside of school the words/sentences I would typically use are quite informal. For
example, “LOL”, “Wyd”, “Wassup”, etc. By using informal word/sentence structures, this can
change the way my classmates and teacher around me treat me or think of me. To avoid being
informal, I would use different websites to help with my word selections (specifically
WordHippo). Using this method throughout school has provided me with fantastic grades on
my report cards. Deep down this is also preparing me for future work opportunities that require
this skill.

2. “I can assess my progress.”

I feel like being able to assess my progress is an amazing skill to have and slowly develop over
time. An example of me using this skill to my advantage would be when I took Chemistry 11. At
the start of this course, I thought I was instantly failing. The first thought I would get when
walking into the classroom would be “why am I here?.” For the longest time I dreaded this class
to the extreme. One way that I got my grade higher, and attention span to grow was making
lists of pass assignments. This allowed me to see where I need to improve and how my grades
were slowly growing. From knowing all this information, it gave me a small insight on how my
report card could potentially look like.
Weakness:
1. “I can analyze and critique my work and my learning.”
Analyzing and critiquing my work and learning is surprisingly extremely difficult for me.
Whenever teachers make the class do self-reflections on assignments, it causes a form of
anxiety to form. The thoughts that run through my head are “what if this isn’t right?”, “did I do
really bad?”, and “so many things could be wrong.” This is incredibly hard for me to control; it
feels like I lose complete feeling and can't do anything to potentially help. I would love to get
better at this skill. Personally, I feel like it would change the way I view many of things that I've
done and could do.

Creative Thinking:
Strengths:
1. “I can use the environment around me, including others, and my unconscious mind to
generate new ideas.”
Using the world around me has been a great method of creating amazing ideas towards both
school and daily life encounters. I find that a change in scenery can spark fresh ideas. For me
going on walks in nature and exploring new neighbourhood’s contribute to those ideas.
Sometimes I will even include my friends in this activity. This encourages everyone to share
their thoughts and build upon each other’s ideas which could lead them to being unique and
innovative. Another way that helps is creating mind maps. Creating them helps me brainstorm
about the main and little ideas. This provides a smooth journey towards my learning goals.

2. “I can take my ideas evaluate, develop, and refine them and make something productive
out of them.”
In the grade 12 Careers course, I’m currently using this skill to its fullest ability. The capstone
project Is a fitting example. Throughout the whole course, there are plenty of small assignments
that lead to either creating, refining, or presenting the project. To start this project, I designed a
mind map that assisted me on what needed to be done or changed. This gave me a sharp vision
of what path I need to take and how it should be constructed. I hope at the end of this project
that I've made a big enough change that could be carried onto the future generations!
Weakness:
1. “I can persevere and understand that failure can be productive.”
For some people, failure can be extremely taunting and terrifying to face. I’m one of those
people. Before every test, the thought of failure appears in my head which is ridiculously hard
to handle. I get all nervous, teary eyed, and start to panic. From this happening, it limits my
thought process and holds back my full abilities throughout the test. Once I'm finished the test,
the feeling remains. Somethings I could do to help with this stop occurring are talking to my
teacher one on one, taking deep breaths, and most importantly to try to keep a positive
mindset.

Communication:
Strengths:
1. “I can work with other students to plan, inquire, and solve problems.”
Before having the dream of working under sports medicine, I really wanted to pursue being an
elementary school teacher. Right when I became of age, I decided to take my babysitting course
with a bunch of my friends. Since then, I’ve taken care of multiple children that were both
difficult and easy to handle. From that, I've gained many different strands of skills, including
these ones. Another experience that has assisted me towards growing these skills is being
around plenty of people at school. Sometimes people get in conflicts with each other and have
difficulties with knowing what do to. People have came up to me to ask for help and I'm more
than happy to give them assistance.

2. “I can reflect on the processes of learning and share what I have learned.”
In grade 11, I had this one English teacher that made us to informal journals that she would
read. The journals would include what we need help with, the things we think we're doing good
at, and any questions. From reading these journals, she would learn a lot about every student. I
would take this time to full advantage to explain anything my heart desires. Most of the time I
would talk about finished assignments that I'm extremely happy about and how I would like
some help with improving. This had an amazing impact on my life and will never be forgotten.

Weakness:
 1. “I can listen, learn to contribute meaningfully to discussion and debate consider
different perspectives, and build consensus.”
For the longest time, I've had bad social anxiety that limits all my interactions with other people
around me inside and outside of school. I can never build up the confidence to explain my ideas
and thoughts to individuals or groups. Getting placed into a group of people I'm not close with
or don’t know, makes it difficult for me to talk with passion. If I talk, I will either studder or
completely jumble my words. Of course, over time this is bound to get better, but it just takes a
lot of confidence and effort.
Personal & Cultural Identity:
1. “I understand what is important to me.”
Throughout life, you’ll run across many experiences that will help you realize what is profoundly
important to you. I'd say I've been through quite a lot for the years I've been alive. Having my
mom cheat on my dad, almost having one of my animals pass in my arms, and my dad going
through cancer are the main events that have had an impact on me. From all this happening, it
helped me realize what I'm thankful and what’s important. Some examples would be my dad,
my animals, and being the strong person I am today.
2. “I understand how what I value has and will shape my choices.”
After high school, I want to attend the University of Fraser Valley and study Kinesiology. Ever
since I was in grade 8, this has been an extreme interest of mine. To achieve this goal, I've made
sure that I have taken the right classes every year since grade 10. Many people around me have
also assisted me with making sure I'm entering the genuine path to success. By making all the
decisions I have made, it allows me to be one step closer to making more that are directed
towards my career!

Weakness:
1. “I know my strengths and what makes me unique.”
For me, self-doubt and fear of failure hold me back from recognizing my true potential. This
causes my strengths and what makes me unique to be hidden for me. Sometimes things can
shift around and make it so I'm able to see who I am. Once that happens, self-doubt kicks in and
forces unnecessary thoughts into my mind. “Do people like me for who I am?” and “can I be
better?” are some examples. Soon after that, the fear that already existed grows even bigger.
I've talked to many important people in my life about this issue. They always try their best to
help me through thick and thin times. Over all, I feel like if I continue to get help, Ill surely
obtain the knowledge of my strengths and what makes me unique.