Self Evaluation
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At the start of this portfolio I knew my topic focus and what I would be researching on, but I did not know what I would find. The knowledge I did gain during my research and through my writings is way more than I could have ever expected.
One of the major skills I acquired was the realisation that facts and statistics did not matter as much as a true understanding of the workings of an issue. I read that the United Arab Emirates had 90% expatriates in its population but without understanding the impact this figure made on the community and on the economy of the country, that fact crammed in my brain would have been near on useless. Once I made this recognition, every fact, every piece of information that I read, I seemed to read with a new light. I realised how interwoven and interdependent our lives were, any small change anywhere in the world affected so many other things and other people. That was true knowledge, knowing how specific details affected the general society.
The third world in itself was a new concept to me when I embarked on this portfolio. I did not even know what the term meant. But now I not only know its history and its present state, I also have an idea of what awaits it in the future. Of course, the future can always change with an alarming pace and what I think now may not happen then. While learning about the third world I inevitably learnt about their governments too. While we all suspected that the poorer nations had a weak government I now know how weak it actually is. I see how the lack of proper education and a weak economy has led to a lack of able leadership. This lack in leadership in turn leads to continuing accumulation of debt and an on-going financial crisis. It is has become a cyclic effect. I also have now come to the conclusion that mere financial aid being given to these nations is not really of much use. It does not solve the root cause of all problems. The economy of these countries needs a different approach to their problems. Before the portfolio I never would have imagined that I would be able to formulate such theories and opinions about international governments. I was under the wrong impression that I was too young to indulge in such matters. But I now know that I am already capable of extending my learning to cover such issues. As a future citizen of the world, it is essential that I broaden my understanding of how the world works to play my part in modelling it.
I have always loved to make my brain think, to evaluate and analyse. This portfolio gave me ample opportunity to do so. I did a lot of ‘thinking’ for my summative piece. Also, I love writing and I think it is one of my best skills. As there has been so much writing involved in this piece I have enjoyed working with it. To watch my thoughts take form as words.
One of the drawbacks of this portfolio was my time management. It has always been my greatest setback as I am not very good at planning things. I do everything on the spur of the moment and tend to procrastinate to the last minute. However when things started to pile up nearing the end of the portfolio, I was very stressed out and had to stay up very late many days to get things finished. So I have taken a resolution to get my time management back on track, to plan things and get them done as soon as possible. I also tend to produce better quality work when I am not rushed for time. I also found the lack of other creative pieces in my portfolio a downside. This was also in a way related to my poor time management. I would like to have had more unique and creative pieces in my portfolio that translated my ideas and thoughts.
One of the major skills I acquired was the realisation that facts and statistics did not matter as much as a true understanding of the workings of an issue. I read that the United Arab Emirates had 90% expatriates in its population but without understanding the impact this figure made on the community and on the economy of the country, that fact crammed in my brain would have been near on useless. Once I made this recognition, every fact, every piece of information that I read, I seemed to read with a new light. I realised how interwoven and interdependent our lives were, any small change anywhere in the world affected so many other things and other people. That was true knowledge, knowing how specific details affected the general society.
The third world in itself was a new concept to me when I embarked on this portfolio. I did not even know what the term meant. But now I not only know its history and its present state, I also have an idea of what awaits it in the future. Of course, the future can always change with an alarming pace and what I think now may not happen then. While learning about the third world I inevitably learnt about their governments too. While we all suspected that the poorer nations had a weak government I now know how weak it actually is. I see how the lack of proper education and a weak economy has led to a lack of able leadership. This lack in leadership in turn leads to continuing accumulation of debt and an on-going financial crisis. It is has become a cyclic effect. I also have now come to the conclusion that mere financial aid being given to these nations is not really of much use. It does not solve the root cause of all problems. The economy of these countries needs a different approach to their problems. Before the portfolio I never would have imagined that I would be able to formulate such theories and opinions about international governments. I was under the wrong impression that I was too young to indulge in such matters. But I now know that I am already capable of extending my learning to cover such issues. As a future citizen of the world, it is essential that I broaden my understanding of how the world works to play my part in modelling it.
I have always loved to make my brain think, to evaluate and analyse. This portfolio gave me ample opportunity to do so. I did a lot of ‘thinking’ for my summative piece. Also, I love writing and I think it is one of my best skills. As there has been so much writing involved in this piece I have enjoyed working with it. To watch my thoughts take form as words.
One of the drawbacks of this portfolio was my time management. It has always been my greatest setback as I am not very good at planning things. I do everything on the spur of the moment and tend to procrastinate to the last minute. However when things started to pile up nearing the end of the portfolio, I was very stressed out and had to stay up very late many days to get things finished. So I have taken a resolution to get my time management back on track, to plan things and get them done as soon as possible. I also tend to produce better quality work when I am not rushed for time. I also found the lack of other creative pieces in my portfolio a downside. This was also in a way related to my poor time management. I would like to have had more unique and creative pieces in my portfolio that translated my ideas and thoughts.