English
For English this quarter the task which I have selected to be used is the essay. Well this quarter we have been working on a novel study regarding a book called A Single Shard. The book is basically about how a homeless kid named Tree-ear who dreams to become a potter. Well one day Tree-ear was admiring the work of his favorite potter from the village "Min." Accidentally, Tree-ear broke one of the pots and Min accused him of robbery. But Tree-ear got to his knees for forgiveness, in the end Tree-ear worked for Min. The book describes adventures of how Tree-ear achieved his dream, in the process there were countless challenges which were to be faced. The goal of this study was to figure out how Tree-ear gained strength, spiritual and physical. The essay I made is about how I gained strength, to make sure it was a in-class essay which meant I only had 1.30 minutes to finish.
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Aditya 8.1
English Literature
Terri Davis
01/12/2011
HOW DO WE GAIN STRENGTH?
Strength is needed in our lives. The concept of strength can be seen through many aspects. The way I see it is that strength is when you feel strong in something particular. When I have strength in something particular, it gives me confidence and motivation to go further. However, strength isn’t easily attained. Gaining strength is tough, it isn’t something that could be obtained by studying and reading books. Personally I have gained strength through my dad, basketball team, church and past experiences.
My dad has given me strength through many actions, especially through his wisdom. I would consider my dad as one of the wisest man I know. He would give me advices and lectures which actually made sense, he has taught me how life works. For example, my dad frequently tells me how working hard is essential in life. He would tell me how money doesn’t flow to your hands. Hard work and responsibility are features needed to live life. Whenever I am feeling depressed, my dad would be the one saying the most meaningful words. For example when I joined a tennis tournament and lost, he told me how it doesn’t matter because I have tried my best. My dad has taught me how to be responsible, to have endurance, perseverance and many other life lessons. How my dad lectures me is very similar to how Crane-man lectures Tree-ear. For Tree-ear, Crane-man must have been the wisest man in his life. Crane-man taught him countless life lessons, for example how Crane-man said stealing isn’t right. The same goes for my dad, every night during dinner there is always something wise he would say to me. My dad is someone who I look up to and who I want to be. He is someone who could make me smile in tough times. He does not only give me strength through his advices, he is my strength.
Other than the strength from my dad, my basketball team also gives me strength. My coach, Coach Alex is a person I admire. Besides teaching us how to run sprints, he teaches us life lessons. Personally, I feel how my coach teaches us endurance and how we shouldn’t give up. He would say statements like “If you can’t endure running around the blue court, how would you endure life?” He tells us how lucky we are to be able to enroll in such a school. Despite my coach, my basketball teammates also give me strength. Honestly, I am not the most talented basketball player in the team. Whenever we are running back and forth the stairs, there are times when can’t go on. However, my teammates give me support to go on, sometimes we push me from the back. I believe being in the basketball team isn’t only to improve your basketball skills, in my team, it’s also about character building and friendship. During practice, coach frequently tells us how we are a team. When one fails, the whole team fails which means when a person missed a shot, the whole team has to do push ups. When I first joined the team, this was a rule I couldn’t accept. But when I reflected, I also missed shots which makes it fair. My basketball team has truly given me strength, especially during practice. The lessons I learned from coach and the support given from my teammates gives me strength.
A third aspect in which I have gained strength would be from my church. The strength which I have gained from church would be prayer. Honestly, I am not a person who is open and share testimonies every week. I prefer to listen to others. However there are times when I have to share. For example when I grandma died, my grandmother was a really kind person. She would cook me food which was delicious and the ones I liked. When she died due to cancer, I was really sad and I said it to the pastor during Sabbath school or Sunday school. He understood and prayed for my family and me. He prayed to give us strength, at that time I had to be strong because it grieving it constantly would influence my grades in school. My church is a place where I feel cared and tolerated. It is a place where I gain strength. Everyone is kind there, they all support me during hard times. The same happens when others are in hard times, we would then support them.
The last form in which I gained strength is due to my past experiences. Past experiences is actually very general. However the experience I am going to share really gave me strength. It also taught me how to gain strength. This is a story only my family knows, it happened when I was at fifth grade. During this time my cousin and I was asked to go accompany my grandparents in Singapore. I certainly agreed because Singapore is a exciting place. However, I have never been so far away from my parents. Which made me unable to sleep during the first night, I felt as though I have suffered from amnesia. At first I prayed, however it didn’t really worked because I was scared of not being able to sleep at all. The final act I did was to call my mom who was in Indonesia. It was in the middle of the night, I was scared that she would be sleeping. However, she replied surprisingly. I immediately felt relieved, the fact that I heard her voice gave me strength. The fear I felt during the night vanished. She told me that it’s going to be okay, just count sheep. After I finished calling her, I was then able to sleep. During this moment, I learned how words can give strength. If my mom didn’t reply, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.
The four aspects I have shared was how I gained countless strengths. How I learned perseverance, endurance, friendship, responsibility, leadership and other characters. It is clear that everybody has different strengths, the strengths I have and the strengths my brother have aren’t the same. But that doesn’t matter, what matters is what we do with the strengths we have. Personally I would say that the strengths which I am strongest are responsibility and leadership. With these strengths, I am able to make a difference in the world. Even though it’s only a slight difference. For example whenever there is a conflict among my basketball teammates or my siblings, I could use my strength as a leader to stop them. However, I am just a student, I am not able to do much. Unlike my father, he probably has people admiring him due to his strength as a leader. But being young will not stop me from trying, whenever a friend is in need, I will do my best to help them. I believe that actions like that is a good start because actions like that is my foundation to a better future.
English Literature
Terri Davis
01/12/2011
HOW DO WE GAIN STRENGTH?
Strength is needed in our lives. The concept of strength can be seen through many aspects. The way I see it is that strength is when you feel strong in something particular. When I have strength in something particular, it gives me confidence and motivation to go further. However, strength isn’t easily attained. Gaining strength is tough, it isn’t something that could be obtained by studying and reading books. Personally I have gained strength through my dad, basketball team, church and past experiences.
My dad has given me strength through many actions, especially through his wisdom. I would consider my dad as one of the wisest man I know. He would give me advices and lectures which actually made sense, he has taught me how life works. For example, my dad frequently tells me how working hard is essential in life. He would tell me how money doesn’t flow to your hands. Hard work and responsibility are features needed to live life. Whenever I am feeling depressed, my dad would be the one saying the most meaningful words. For example when I joined a tennis tournament and lost, he told me how it doesn’t matter because I have tried my best. My dad has taught me how to be responsible, to have endurance, perseverance and many other life lessons. How my dad lectures me is very similar to how Crane-man lectures Tree-ear. For Tree-ear, Crane-man must have been the wisest man in his life. Crane-man taught him countless life lessons, for example how Crane-man said stealing isn’t right. The same goes for my dad, every night during dinner there is always something wise he would say to me. My dad is someone who I look up to and who I want to be. He is someone who could make me smile in tough times. He does not only give me strength through his advices, he is my strength.
Other than the strength from my dad, my basketball team also gives me strength. My coach, Coach Alex is a person I admire. Besides teaching us how to run sprints, he teaches us life lessons. Personally, I feel how my coach teaches us endurance and how we shouldn’t give up. He would say statements like “If you can’t endure running around the blue court, how would you endure life?” He tells us how lucky we are to be able to enroll in such a school. Despite my coach, my basketball teammates also give me strength. Honestly, I am not the most talented basketball player in the team. Whenever we are running back and forth the stairs, there are times when can’t go on. However, my teammates give me support to go on, sometimes we push me from the back. I believe being in the basketball team isn’t only to improve your basketball skills, in my team, it’s also about character building and friendship. During practice, coach frequently tells us how we are a team. When one fails, the whole team fails which means when a person missed a shot, the whole team has to do push ups. When I first joined the team, this was a rule I couldn’t accept. But when I reflected, I also missed shots which makes it fair. My basketball team has truly given me strength, especially during practice. The lessons I learned from coach and the support given from my teammates gives me strength.
A third aspect in which I have gained strength would be from my church. The strength which I have gained from church would be prayer. Honestly, I am not a person who is open and share testimonies every week. I prefer to listen to others. However there are times when I have to share. For example when I grandma died, my grandmother was a really kind person. She would cook me food which was delicious and the ones I liked. When she died due to cancer, I was really sad and I said it to the pastor during Sabbath school or Sunday school. He understood and prayed for my family and me. He prayed to give us strength, at that time I had to be strong because it grieving it constantly would influence my grades in school. My church is a place where I feel cared and tolerated. It is a place where I gain strength. Everyone is kind there, they all support me during hard times. The same happens when others are in hard times, we would then support them.
The last form in which I gained strength is due to my past experiences. Past experiences is actually very general. However the experience I am going to share really gave me strength. It also taught me how to gain strength. This is a story only my family knows, it happened when I was at fifth grade. During this time my cousin and I was asked to go accompany my grandparents in Singapore. I certainly agreed because Singapore is a exciting place. However, I have never been so far away from my parents. Which made me unable to sleep during the first night, I felt as though I have suffered from amnesia. At first I prayed, however it didn’t really worked because I was scared of not being able to sleep at all. The final act I did was to call my mom who was in Indonesia. It was in the middle of the night, I was scared that she would be sleeping. However, she replied surprisingly. I immediately felt relieved, the fact that I heard her voice gave me strength. The fear I felt during the night vanished. She told me that it’s going to be okay, just count sheep. After I finished calling her, I was then able to sleep. During this moment, I learned how words can give strength. If my mom didn’t reply, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.
The four aspects I have shared was how I gained countless strengths. How I learned perseverance, endurance, friendship, responsibility, leadership and other characters. It is clear that everybody has different strengths, the strengths I have and the strengths my brother have aren’t the same. But that doesn’t matter, what matters is what we do with the strengths we have. Personally I would say that the strengths which I am strongest are responsibility and leadership. With these strengths, I am able to make a difference in the world. Even though it’s only a slight difference. For example whenever there is a conflict among my basketball teammates or my siblings, I could use my strength as a leader to stop them. However, I am just a student, I am not able to do much. Unlike my father, he probably has people admiring him due to his strength as a leader. But being young will not stop me from trying, whenever a friend is in need, I will do my best to help them. I believe that actions like that is a good start because actions like that is my foundation to a better future.
Reflection
For this task I believe I have done well because I prepared my very best for this test. Ms Teri, our teacher allowed us a sheet of people as preparation. So the night before the assignment day, I prepared the points that were needed in the essay. Factors which would had reduced the points for the essay would be the grammar and the ending paragraph because we definitely wouldn't be allowed to use the internet/spell check so I had a huge disadvantage. Also, I didn't really made a point to how to end the essay so that was quite a bother. The IB learner profile which I have learned from this assignment are many. However the main one would be knowledgeable and thinker because I had to think fast and used all the knowledge I had about the topic in the 1.30 minutes. The fundamental concept which I have learned would be holistic learning because the goal of the essay was to find how I gain spiritual strength and one of them was from church and God.
For this task I believe I have done well because I prepared my very best for this test. Ms Teri, our teacher allowed us a sheet of people as preparation. So the night before the assignment day, I prepared the points that were needed in the essay. Factors which would had reduced the points for the essay would be the grammar and the ending paragraph because we definitely wouldn't be allowed to use the internet/spell check so I had a huge disadvantage. Also, I didn't really made a point to how to end the essay so that was quite a bother. The IB learner profile which I have learned from this assignment are many. However the main one would be knowledgeable and thinker because I had to think fast and used all the knowledge I had about the topic in the 1.30 minutes. The fundamental concept which I have learned would be holistic learning because the goal of the essay was to find how I gain spiritual strength and one of them was from church and God.