This year in JAGS, I experienced the pillar of Investigating the World when I researched art programs across the world for my documentary project. By putting the focus on multiple countries, I was able to compare and contrast the programs in other countries versus programs in America. I was able to broaden my perspective on how things are globally, which I believed helped me to be a more well rounded and globally competent citizen. 

This year in JAGS, I experienced the pillar of Recognizing Perspectives when I was able to think critically about the effect of art in school's during the research portion of my documentary. I was able to place myself in the shoes of parents and students at Canton City Schools and learn about what the new school plans would make their future look like. That was super interesting because it was a completely different experience in the same city as me. I was also able to learn about how the usage of art has been able to affect adults and other students at Jackson in bigger ways than I imagined. By putting myself in other people's shoes and looking from their point of view I was able to become more aware of the effects of events that I had previously just seen as unimportant. 

This year in JAGS, I experienced the pillar of Communicating Ideas when I got the privilege of collaborating with Avery, Liv, Alana, and Aivery during our GO Night project. Since we didn’t have any classes in common, we had to make sure our communication was very clear and stayed on task. Most of us were able to hold each other accountable, and I learned to be flexible to benefit the whole group, rather than just me. We had a schedule, and multiple group chats where we would remind each other of due dates and activities. By doing so, we establish good boundaries and communication skills that will be able to benefit us long past high school. 

This year in JAGS, I experienced the pillar of Taking Action when I was able to reach out and actively doing something for the custodial staff at Jackson High School during our Thank You Project at the beginning of the year. My group was able to plan a special after school surprise for the custodians and make them cards. It was a smaller surprise, but we were able to plan it out and make the effort to do something for others. Seeing how much they appreciated it made me realize that it's very easy to do something for others and inspired me to try to do small things for people more frequently. 

Next year, in Model UN, I feel that I will become a more globally competent citizen because I will be able to hear other peoples experiences and learn about other circumstances that events could fall under. My goal is to look at it as more than a letter grade and a class. I would like to be able to learn more and apply it to my life. I hope it’s able to grow my knowledge and my ideas. I anticipate being able to use my empathy and compassion for others to guide me through the class and allow me to expand my knowledge on world ideas.