Jumpstarting January
My start to 2023 :)
January Overview:
I started off the year watching a beautiful parade in Cape Town (photos below). Huge groups of people paraded the streets with dancers, music and marching bands. There was so much energy and vibrant colours and I loved it. Because of covid, this parade hasn't been able to happen for two years and so people were sleeping on the street for two weeks prior to reserve a spot to watch! One of these groups of people invited us to join them and their generosity was truly appreciated and quite unexpected. That gesture really made an impact on me because this group of people was willing to share something they had worked hard to get with total strangers. Not only that but they didn’t expect anything in return. I think everyone should strive to have that kind of generosity.
I then spent a week with my mum in Cape Town. When she wasn't doing yoga or working and when I wasn't completing assignments and working on TKS, we explored the city. We went to different restaurants, walked through art galleries and hiked Table mountain. It was an amazing experience seeing the night life of Cape Town city. The first Thursday of the month all of the art galleries open up on Bree Street and lots of stores have DJs.
I loved being in the middle of the city but I think it would be hard for me to live there. It felt like a vacation and not like a home. The constant noise and events made everything feel rushed and I missed the beauty and stillness of the mountains.
Hiking Table mountain was a beautiful and exhausting experience. We took quite a steep path up and it felt amazing to reach the top. It turns out that only a small part of Table Mountain is actually flat if you are hiking up it. The view looked a lot more beautiful this time than when I had gone up to see it by cable car. I think that this was because I noticed and appreciated the small changes in the view as we climbed and climbed… and climbed.
I started grade 10 and noticed a couple changes in my grade. I think that last year my grade was quite restless and unsure of our place in the high school but now everyone seems to have settled and I am really excited for this term. I think that this year is going to be full of opportunities, both in school, in TKS, and in general. I feel like TKS has boosted my desire to learn and my curiosity and so I will likely seek out more adventures this year.
TKS Hackathon
The hackathon was very exciting. The team I was in collaborated really well together and I am proud of our completed idea. One difference between this hackathon and the last one was time management. We made a clear plan on how we were going to use the 24 hours we were given and then stuck to the plan. We decided on the idea of creating CRISPR-Cas9-induced probes for the regeneration of endangered coral reefs. Here is our slide deck.
Unfortunately, we did not get chosen to present to the panel of judges but I learnt a lot about Biosensors and it was a lot of fun. Our general idea was that we would send Biosensors to coral in the ocean and, using CRISPR, genetically modify the coral to become less temperature-sensitive. This would make the coral reefs less affected by the rising temperatures of the ocean due to climate change.
Update on Goals:
One of my goals was to time-block for TKS and I did manage to start doing this. I think that I can still improve on this goal by setting action items for the time-blocks so that I can use them in the most efficient way possible.
I wanted to set deadlines this month so that I learn to follow them and I think that this could have gone better. I feel like the work I had this month did not include assignments that I had to turn in and so I struggled to make smaller deadlines to complete tasks because there was no end deadline.
My last goal for the month was to choose a focus* and I have chosen Personalised medicine. I am really excited to start working on it.
*Focus is a part of the TKS program where you dive deep on a specific technology or area of science so that you can learn a lot more about one specific thing and start to apply your knowledge.
Goals for Feb:
I have a week-long Waterpolo tour coming up and my goal is to do some fitness and swim practice before so that I can have better endurance in the water.
I’m really excited for the TKS Challenge and my goal is to finish the challenge really proud of my contribution. I also want to learn something from the experience.
Concept of the month
Tolerating something vs Welcoming it
Tolerating something is very different from welcoming something. Tolerance is accepting something as it is and living with it, but welcoming is looking forward to having that thing in your life. I think that everyone should strive to welcome differences rather than just tolerate them.
I believe that the best way people learn things is through listening to other peoples opinions and views, however, if you just tolerate those views then your mind is not necessarily open to reflecting and understanding their opinions.
If people welcome other opinions, perceptions and people, it will allow them to expand their knowledge. I think that tolerance is the bare minimum when it comes to coexisting with other people. We should strive to go that extra mile and seek different perspectives so that our own opinions can be even more well-informed.
Always aim to keep your mind open and have a growth mindset. It is beneficial to keep in mind that everything can always be improved, even if it is ‘good’ as it is.
