MYSELF AS A

LEARNER

Daniel Joel Harrison

 Journey through VARK

Growing up, I have always been a multimodal learner. There just wasn’t any particular learning style that I was
accustomed to or any learning style that I preferred generally over the others. I believe my physical defect plays a
crucial role in that. I was diagnosed with meningitis at 7 months old and recovering from it made me completely
deaf in my right ear. This disability is both a blessing and a curse as I have to focus twice as hard to receive half
the information. Also, because of this defect, I have to rely on other learning styles (VARK) to maximize the
amount of information my brain receives.
• In primary school, I was mainly a kinesthetic and visual learner- my eidetic memory played an important part
in that.
• In high school, I was mainly an aural, reading/writing and kinesthetic learner as majority of the classes were
either lectures, dictation sessions and science labs.
• Fast forward to present day, I now apply an equal amount of all 4 learning styles (VARK) to my life. I find it
a lot easier to learn when you use a combination of all 4 as your brain is more flexible and you are opened to
try different techniques to learn and use the ones you are most comfortable with.
 VARK Scores
My scores after taking the online VARK questionnaire were:
• Visual-10
• Aural-10
• Read/Write-9
• Kinesthetic-10
To reiterate, according to these scores, I have a multimodal learning preference which means I apply all 4 learning styles
in my learning.
I am in full agreement with these scores. Before taking the online questionnaire, I knew that I wasn’t interested
specifically in one method of learning, but it was after getting the results from the questionnaire that I realized there is a
specific term for those persons- multimodal learners.
These results gave me confirmation and a more defined name to the type of learner I knew I was while growing up.
 Multimodal Abilities

My learning style can be considered multimodal as I use a combination of all four

learning styles: Visual, Aural, Reading/Writing and Kinesthetic. Knowing which style
to apply is dependent ultimately on the subject area.
For example, when practicing mathematics or in a math class, I need complete silence
to focus 100%. Using that technique, I am applying the Aural Learning style.
Another example is, for chemistry, biology or any other science related subject,
listening to the teacher (Aural) or just writing notes (Reading/Writing) is not enough
for me to learn fully what is being taught. I need a more hands on approach
(Kinesthetic) to fully grasp the content. i.e. labs and group experiments.
 My Personal Mission Statement

My high school in Jamaica, Munro College, has a mission statement for its
students which is:- Munronians are young men of honor; pursuing excellence
and leading by a positive example. I carried this mission statement with me
throughout my high school life but now that I'm not there anymore, it feels a
lot like plagiarism if I continued to use this mission statement.
Although I will forever be considered a Munronian, I needed a personal
mission statement so I concised a list of core values in the attempt to create my
own.
 My Personal Mission Statement (ctd.)

The three core values I think I possess that stands out above all others are:
• Religion
• Integrity
• Knowledge
The Personal Mission Statement I devised from this top 3 core values list is as follows:
With God as my guide, I will overcome this journey called life. I will possess
the mental strength, intellectual capacity and sterling character required as I
gracefully trod the path to success with honesty and dignity.
 Conclusion

Learning that I am a multimodal learner has been helpful to me as I now know that in the future I should scout
out different ways of learning before settling for just one.
Although I am currently pursuing an Associates Degree in Engineering, my educational goal has been set from a
tender age of six years old when I first went to the airport. Ever since that day, my mind has been focused on
becoming a pilot and I will not rest even after that goal is accomplished.
After receiving my Associates, I will transfer to a 4 year University for a Bachelors of Science in Engineering and
from that, transfer to a flight institution to chase my dream.

As the words of Leonardo Da Vinci says, “When once you have tasted flight, you will continue to walk the earth
with your eyes turned skyward because there you have been and there you will always long to return.”
So if you see me waking around with my head turned to the sky, please don’t think I’m weird. ;-)