Aseda Stanhope-Essamuah

A Brief Reflection of the Bonding Trip

What did you do during the trip?

During my trip, I actively participated in various sporting activities such as football and basketball.
Additionally, I had the pleasure of meeting new people and establishing new friendships.

What did you discover about yourself?

It turns out that my friends see me as someone they can count on to stay on top of things and keep
everything in order.

What was the most interesting/surprising to you?

What shocked me most occurred during the presentation of the conflict in Afghanistan by the IIA.
Particularly what shocked me was the fact that they did not use any written text but used a very
creative media in the form of a play, to convey their topic message.

Explain what you learned from the experience.

I learnt that presentations should not always go by boring PowerPoint slides or long winding text but
can be expressed in the form of creative media to invoke emotion. I also learnt that we should
explore different sides of the story and not only view it from one point of view.

Explain how you demonstrated or developed any of the attributes of the IB Learner Profile during
the trip.

‘Communication’. The ability to freely express myself in a manner that will make one understand my
opinions and interests. This skill is very crucial in group work or teamwork projects because it is the
only way a group project can be a successful one. And I believe the exercise given to us as groups
really forced us to harness and utilize this skill.

Which of the ATL skill(s) do you feel is/are your strength as you did the international-mindedness
task? Why?

Open-Mindedness. I believe I am a very open-minded person, I never put anything out of doubt, or
proclaim that an opinion is invalid or ridiculous. I am always glad to hear the narrative from a
different angle, it makes the work more interesting and unique.

Which skills do you need to improve? How?

Critical thinking. Rather contrary isn’t it? The fact that a person can be very open minded to the
output from outside but cannot think beyond the input within. It seems strange, but it is true. I have
troubles thinking outside my usual thought patterns, which I believe limits the full scope of my
potential. This showed evident during my part of my group presentation. Standing on that stage, I
just read blatat what was on the PowerPoint slides and I didn’t take my time to pause and assess or
even give an insight on the topic. But I know that the by the end of this IB program, I would never be
bounded again by the chains or limits of my own mind.