Mady Brand

POL Reflection
I came to Animas to learn for myself rather than to simply be handed knowledge that will soon be
discarded. Not only did I find that, but I also became engaged in my learning and became a part of it. Throughout
this year, I feel that I have done an exceptional job at critical thinking and problem solving. I would like to point out
my Model UN Resolution paper. I had to balance the complex needs of China into a solution to deal with the North
Korea problem. I came up with that if North Korea were to ever use their nuclear weapons as a form of offence, the
United Nations would use military force to put an end to the program as well as that sanctions would be placed
particularly on the trade with North Korea to limit the supplies that could potentially be used to make nuclear
weapons. My resolution even made it on the docket. I would like to pull out a quote from my Model UN Resolution
Paper in section 1, stating, "Considers that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear weapons program
be shut down through military force if their weapons are ever to be used." as well as in section 2, stating,
"Encourages the limiting of certain exports to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea." Critical thinking and
problem solving allows me to assess situations and find a solution accordingly. As we head into the next semester, I
would like to focus on improving my collaboration skills. For this, I would like to point out my Rube Goldberg
project. In this project, I was very controlling, I basically took over the project, and I did not accept much input from
my group members. I was not able to come to agreement and find consensus with my group members, as often
happens when I work in group situations. This, however, has taught me a very valuable lesson: if you do not ever
expect someone to contribute, when you go and seek out there help, it will not be there because they had never been
expected to do that before. On a regular basis, I find myself opting to work independently when given the option on
projects and when I do work in groups, I treat it as though it were an independent project. In order to improve, I plan
to check in with group members on a regular basis to make sure that I am not being too controlling and that the work
is fairly doled out. I will keep track of these check ins to make sure I actually do them. This plan will be put into
play as soon as our next group project arrives. Intellectually, I have grown the most through studying Logarithms. I
accidentally stumbled upon them when going about an Exploration problem in way that required me to find a
missing exponent. I consulted the internet and discovered them. I did not understand Logarithms and desperately
wanted to find that understanding. A few weeks later when we actually got into studying them, I was so excited and
found immediate understanding. I wanted to dive deeper into the topic and continued to be engaged through the unit.
I went from my first understanding of Logarithms where Log(10^4) and Log (10,000) both share an equivalence
with 4, to an understanding that Log base 3 of (3^3) is the same as Log base 3 of (27) to applying Logarithms into
solving exponential equations. On a personal level, I feel I have grown the most through the Self-Portrait Project.
Society has led us to believe that a good self-portrait is one that portrays the self at its best. In reality, a good selfportrait is one that expresses the deep and true emotions of the self. When I realized that, I also realized that it also
applies to you as a person; expressing your true self and true emotions is more powerful than hiding behind a
identity that appears to be flawless. When applying this new realization to my project, I wanted to show judgement;
I am constantly being judged and Im constantly aware of that, but I am more so aware of that fact that I over judge
myself and nobody is more critical of myself than me. Judgement makes me who I am and I wanted to incorporate
that into my project. Through taking my education into my own hands, I have discovered realities about my
education and myself that I otherwise would have overlooked.