AR Concentrations

  Day 15: 5/23/2023 6 hours (8:00am-2:00pm) 75 hours total Submitting the CAQ application finally, as of this morning, has become an exercise in patience, as I encountered constant error messages, slow loading times, and plain malfunctions on the Quebéc government’s portal. In addition, the lack of clear and accessible information from the immigration authorities made it difficult to find answers to my questions and concerns. Navigating through multiple websites and forums in search of accurate information has been a frustrating and time-consuming task. After sending the last of my numerous forms across the border online, I went back through my Concentrations paper and video to quickly revisit any lat minute details that I might’ve missed that the AC leaders let me know of. Sometimes, when you’re stressed for time and foggy with writing excess, you can forget the minute parts of your project that could use a little of polish. Though this basically just applies to a few interchangeable

  Day 13: 5/22/2023 6 hours (9:00am-3:00pm) 69 hours total Today has been an incredibly challenging day as I continued to navigate the process of applying for Quebéc's study permit as an international student. Firstly, the sheer amount of documentation required has been overwhelming. From academic transcripts to financial statements, I've spent hours meticulously gathering and organizing crucial documents. Secondly, the application forms themselves are complex and confusing, requiring detailed information about my educational background, language proficiency, and financial resources. Understanding the specific requirements and ensuring that I provide accurate and complete information for a whole new country (nevermind the government's stubborn use of French in every single form) has been a daunting task. Furthermore, the online application system has been experiencing technical issues, causing frustrating delays and hindering my progress. I haven’t even submitted the CAQ ye

  WEEK 2 REFLECTION: Over the course of the past week, I delved deep into the world of globalization and its intricate relationship with dialects in the developed world, particularly in my ethnic origin of Austria, birthplace of the UK, and upbringing here in the US. As I reflect on this intensive period of researching and writing my Capstone essay, I’m struck by the complexity and significance of the topic, as well as the valuable insights gained from the exit interviews of the Academic Concentrations program. Exploring the impact of globalization on dialects has been an enlightening journey. I began by investigating the interconnectedness of our modern world, where advances in technology, travel, and communication have collapsed geographical barriers. Globalization has undoubtedly brought people closer together, but it has also led to the homogenization of dialects. Local speech patterns, vocabulary, and grammar are being influenced and, in some cases, supplanted by a globalized lang

  Day 12: 5/20/2023 3 hours (9:00am-12:00pm) 63 hours total To me, it seems that everyday the farther away I stray from Proctor and the closer the reality of college life becomes. We may be three months out, but the precautionary steps toward a successful, and, in most cases, grueling first year of universities are undoubtedly vital to the survival of every college student. As I continue to prepare for college ahead of time, I’m finding myself more and more overwhelmed both by the sheer amount of information at my fingertips and even the lack thereof. On one hand, I find myself to be very punctual and meticulous, so planning appointments, contacting future advisors and faculty, and uploading any last minute documents comes naturally at this point. On the other, though, registering for courses feels incredibly dubious and I’m personally still unfamiliar with the internal movements that college students already at my school may know about, like housing preferences, professor requests, an

  Day 11: 5/19/2023 5 hours (8:00am-1:00pm) 60 hours total As my time at Proctor closes out, I’ve had to in turn think and plan ahead for the next part of my academic future: college. So, today has been spent going through all sorts of steps in preparation for the academic, residential, and social aspects of university life that I’ve never had time to truly process before. This also becomes even more clear when talking about moving to a whole new country and abandoning my previous notions of what an educational system looks like, as well as the social dynamics of a Canadian university. Add a necessity to speak French into this mix, and you’ve got a big mix of predictable obstacles that might be best to tackle straight out of the gate instead of the typical “wait ‘til the last week of August” approach. I’ve taken French placement tests, scheduled language interviews and classes, and even attended webinars this morning on the immigration paperwork essentials that I’ll need to attend a Ca

  Day 10: 5/18/2023 3 hours (9am-12pm) 55 hours total It feels a bit unreal to be totally finished with the Concentrations program and subsequently, my whole academic time here at Proctor. I’ll still have to nitpick any little details for my essay that need cleaning up like citations and so on, but the true bulk and final package of my work in the program has been delivered. As a result, I’m left with a bit of time for the rest of the week to get my head down and clear out other necessary tasks for my immediate future. So, I can now use my new-found freedom of space and time to concentrate on upcoming college work, immigration document needs, and any other academic pursuits to further prepare for what’s next.Today, I studied for the upcoming June ACT and finished my CAQ application for a study visa in Canada for next year. For the ACT, this involved a ton of full section practice tests and single subject selections throught the morning. The CAQ, on the other hand, has been pretty intri

  Day 8: 5/16/2023 5 hours (12:00-5pm) 45 hours total Today, I’ve been mostly preparing for my upcoming Concentrations exit interview tomorrow as well as doing a bit of preemptive practice for the June ACT test after graduation. It seems a bit jumpy and excessive for senior spring, but that’s just how far ahead you have to plan for standardized tests and what is academically to come next for me. Anyway, as I go into tomorrow and the last key step of the Academic Concentrations program, I’m thinking about how to reminisce but not regret the amount of time, dedication, and resources I put into my project over the course of two years. Besides research and analysis skills, I already pretty much achieved most of the competencies for the Capstone requirements over the summer after Junior year and through the middle of Senior year, though the ultimate guiding question persists. Does or doesn’t globalization and the increasingly interconnectedness of the world hinder/preserve the health and su

  Day 7: 5/15/2023 8 hours (8am-4pm) 40 hours total As I head into the final week of my time in the Academic Concentrations program, I’m continuing to reflect back on my creative and analytical process of developing the whole paper and documentary. Though I only began writing the paper last week and will soon conclude my writing process, these two and a half weeks of Senior Project are truly the culmination of the work I did for more than half of my time at Proctor. Since the end of sophomore year, more importantly junior year, I have been discovering how to intertwine what I learn in the classroom with what I found on my own in the real world, a necessary skill I hope to further pursue in my future education. Today, I finished my paper for good but may need a few minor edits throughout the next two days to smoothen over any fluff or what not in my argument. Two years in and even the very last developments of my Capstone can take a while. I’m also still finalizing my narrative reflecti

  Weekly Reflection #1: Reflecting on my week writing an analytical paper about globalization's impact on the developed world, it was clear to me that this is a complex and multifaceted issue. I encountered a range of different viewpoints and arguments as I researched and analyzed this topic, which definitely challenged me to think critically and evaluate evidence in order to form my own conclusions. One of the key takeaways from my experience writing the essay throughout each hour of each day this week was the importance of considering multiple perspectives when analyzing a complex issue like globalization. It is essential to consider the diverse experiences and viewpoints of different groups of people AND echelons of a society, including those who are most affected by the impact of globalization, such as workers, consumers, and local communities. This required careful research and extensive analysis throughout every minute spent on my screen, as well as an open mind and a willing

  Day 6: 5/13/2023 4 hours (11-3 pm) 32 hours total Today, I finished my annotated bibliography on the Academic Concentrations paper and scheduled my exit interviews and other final activities for the program, too. It seems pretty strange to not have such an overwhelming amount of work to take care of at this moment in time after pretty much being done with all my (excessive) course and exam loads for highschool. Even a full night’s sleep for the past week is definitely something I’ve taken for granted since starting Senior Project Period. I’m also no longer crammed for time and pressure in how and when I need to work on assignments and assessments. That being said, I’m going to definitely still make sure that all the specific and precarious details of my project’s portfolio are tidied up before ending my work in the program over the next week. This will probably involve cutting and editing my Capstone presentation video, finalizing my narrative reflection, and preparing for any other

  Day 5: 5/12/2023 6 hours (8:00am-12:00pm, 2-4pm) 4 hours AP German Exam, 2 hours on Concentrations work 28 hours total I suppose I can finally say that I’m now *actually* officially finished with my intensive academic endeavors, as I surprisingly breezed through the AP German Language and Culture exam this morning. After a sleepless night being sick and fogged with vocabulary words and all, it was kind of a blessing to have such a straightforward major assessment for me and I definitely didn’t take my “slight” German-speaking advantage for granted. As I went through each of the four sections of the test, I even started noticing how similar my cognitive language skills were between German and French when I almost began speaking French into the exam’s audio recorder. It made me realize how I structure sentences, conjugate verbs, and grammatically style myself in the same fashion in French as I do in German, which I hadn’t even really paid attention to until this morning. However, after

  Day 4: 5/11/2023 6 hours (8:00am-12:00pm, 1-3pm) 4 hours AP Exam, 2 hours writing Concentrations essay 22 hours total After four arduous hours going through multiple portions of the elaborate and brain-drain of a test that is the AP French exam, I’m now one exam away from being officially finished with my  actual academic calendar (regarding an overflow of AP courses) for highschool. As long as I can keep my head above water with the AP German exam tomorrow, which, given my slight advantage with heritage, I think I can, I’ll be all set to completely center my attention on the rest of the Concentrations process by the end of tomorrow. The French exam definitely took a heavier burden on my brain as it relies on so much complex vocabulary, grammar, expressions, mere exam components (multiple choice to writing to oral conversation), so it’s a gift to finally be finished with my most laborious task of the year. After getting out of my exam seat, I quickly ran to lunch, decompressed a litt

  Day 3: 5/10/2023 6 hours (8:15am-2:15pm) 16 hours total   Today, I continued to study for my AP French exam and began further integrating my quotes, surveys, statistics, and other evidence into my expanding rough draft. For my exams, this meant merely doing some more vocab and grammar exercises throughout the day, as it’s the primary objective for me to brush up on before actually sitting the AP exam tomorrow at 8 am. After a good two days of intensive study on each of the four major exam components, I’m feeling prepared enough to go in with both a grounded understanding of material and general vocabulary and a growing confidence in my timely writing abilities. Also, I’ve spent a good portion of today starting my narrative reflection for the whole Concentrations program throughout the last two years. It’s kind of bringing me back both to the arduous and wonderful experiences abroad I had while collecting information for this paper and my culminating documentary, as I had to remind my

  Day 2: 5/9/2023 5 hours (8:00am-1:00pm) 10 hours total  As I continue to write my Concentrations paper, I’m now settled with evidence outreach and beginning to nail down my main ideas for the essay. My sources are already annotated, and I’m getting started on crafting a six to seven page rough draft with a barebone outline but mountains of sources to comb through. I would actually say that finally having some breathing space and a refreshing lack of classes really suits my writing style, since it’s giving me more time to really clearly think through my writing approach and creative thought process. I can’t say that I’m exactly laser-focused at the moment on this paper (who ever is when it’s this nice out), but the free range with which I’m working this week makes for better, more precise, and thorough assessment performances. As such, I’m splitting my time in the Concentrations program early in the week with some more general studies for my remaining AP exams. I’m currently preparing

Day #1: 5/8/2023 Program: Concentrations - Global Citizenship Adam Radwan  5 hours total  Today, I began formulating my thesis and bedrock argument for my Concentrations program’s final essay on the impact of globalization on language and dialect in the developed world. This involved a holistic approach to formatting my paper somewhat between that of your typical analytical paper and a memoir of personal inquiry, as well as a well-rounded review of my experiences abroad last summer in the UK and Austria. In order to back up my hypothesis, I thus used and am incorporating the words, valuable lessons, and insight of people like my grandmother, British scholars, and American columnists to form a good consensus on the state of language at this time. At the moment, I’m pretty hard-wired on writing the essay, so not much else is really happening for me during this period besides a few upcoming exit interviews and reflections on my time in the Concentration program itself. I’m currently also