Communication: Communicating 

I believe that when it comes to communicating my core competencies lie in reading and writing. Writing is my best form of communicating because I can really express how I feel when I write. Writing comes naturally to me and I always pour out much more detail writing than I would if I were speaking. Writing has always been a much easier way for me to communicate, hence why it is one of my core competencies. If I had the choice of how I would prefer to display my learning, I would choose a form of writing because that is how I best communicate my knowledge. I also really enjoy reading and it thoroughly improves my communication skills because my vocabulary has increased from all the material I have read. One area that I believe I could improve on is my speaking abilities. This is because I have never been very confident in my speaking abilities, especially when it is in front of an audience. I tend to get very nervous, and I never communicate what I want to the best of my abilities. I always know what I want to say in my head, it just never comes out how I want it when I speak it aloud. That is why I prefer writing because I can always show what I know to my best capabilities.   

Thinking: Creative Thinking  

I believe that I am a creative person. I love to come up with new ideas and strategies on how to accomplish those ideas. Many things help me to think up of new ideas; for example, listening to music. Music has always brought out my creative side because I listen to the lyrics or the beat and it inspires me to make something of my own. For example, if I am trying to write a poem for English class, then I will listen to music to help get some ideas flowing. Another thing that helps me to get new ideas is to go for a run. Running clears my mind and allows for it to wander. When it wanders, I start to think of new and creative things. My only problem however is following through with the ideas I come up with. I always have the ideas ready; it is the execution and the motivation that I sometimes lack, which is something I plan to work on for myself.   

Personal and Social: Personal Awareness and Responsibility 

Everyone has bad days, but it is about how you overcome those bad days that reflects your personal awareness. When I notice that I am feeling discouraged about something then I will take a break from what is discouraging me and do something that makes me happy. Once my spirits are higher, then I will go back to that discouraging task, but this time it won’t feel so discouraging anymore. For example, if I have a project for school that I just feel is never ending, I will take a break and go for a walk in the forest with my dog. This relieves my stress and builds up my mood, so that when I go back to that project I am refreshed, and my mind set has positively changed. Overall, I think I do a very good job at knowing myself and knowing when I need a mental break to rejuvenate. One of my learning goals is to improve my public speaking skills. Presentations have always been a weak spot for me, therefore I need to focus my energy on improving this, so that I become an overall better student. This is because public speaking is something that you use throughout your entire life, therefore it is a skill I must become accustomed to. I will work on this by putting myself in situations where I might have to speak in front of an audience, even if it is just a small one. The best way to improve public speaking is by actually doing going in front of people and speaking.