August 10th Journal Post
This year is my second year of EMC and I am excited but a little bit nervous about how my time management will be. I think the first semester will be really hard because I have sports and SATs until December. The second semester will most likely be a little easier since I will have fewer extracurriculars. I plan on playing tennis in the fall and that is usually until mid-October. Last year, managing EMC and tennis was pretty easy. Last year, however, I was not doing SAT prep. This year, I plan on taking the SAT in either November or December. This will probably make EMC a little harder. Last year, I dedicated all of my music study halls during tennis season to EMC which helped a lot. I plan to do the same thing this year to hopefully make my EMC workload at home a lot easier. Outside of school, I also do a lot of volunteer work as well as taekwondo. Last year I did not do much volunteer work during the first couple months of school and I think that was a good move. This allowed me to have more time for homework and overall adjust to my classes a lot better. I plan on doing the same thing this fall too. Taekwondo is not too much of an issue because I can go whenever. If I am behind on EMC or other school assignments then I can skip taekwondo and instead go a different time. I do not see taekwondo interfering with EMC and school this year.
If I could be any character from a book I would pick Hermione Granger, but honestly any character from Harry Potter. I feel like going to school at Hogwarts would be so cool and the whole magic concept would be interesting. The "houses" would be kind of nostalgic because of the FMS houses but competing for the most points would be fun. Overall, just the whole magic concept would be so fun.
August 17th Journal Post
My biggest challenge is getting motivated to start studying or researching for EMC. Once I am "in the groove" I am focused and very productive. During February and March, I lost a lot of my motivation to work hard in EMC, but once I sat down and started researching or working, I was fully focused and doing my best work. I think that one thing that kept my motivation going was the symposium (which was very different from what I thought it would be). Now that I know what the symposium is like and how fun it is, I will have a lot more motivation to work hard this year.
My favorite in-the-classroom moments were in chemistry because a lot of my friends were in that class and doing labs with your friends is super fun. Some of the labs we did were also really cool. My favorite one was when we made popcorn. My favorite outside-the-classroom memory would probably be either the Cultural fair or tennis season overall. The cultural fair was really fun because I got to learn about other countries and try new foods with my friends. Cultural fair is also the one day of school where it doesn't feel like a school day because of how the atmosphere is. During last year's tennis season, I made a lot of new friends and I also got to play against people who I went to tennis camp with. I also got to hang out more with my friends while doing an activity that I love.
I think that traditional grading is not fair. Most traditional grading follows a rubric and sometimes if a student interprets the rubric in a wrong way then they could get points off even if they put a lot of effort into that assignment. That is not fair either because they put a lot of time into an assignment and just because they interpreted something wrongfully does not mean that they deserve to get points taken off. If grading is based more on effort, then it would be more fair to everyone. I like the way that EMC assignments are graded (satisfactory/unsatisfactory) also I love how even if a part of our assignment is wrong (even though that is pretty hard), we still get the credit just for the effort we put in.
This school year I am looking forward to driving and maybe even driving to school by the end of the school year!
August 24th Journal Post
This year I want to research the History of Punjab and Sikhism and basically how my family got to where we are today. I am interested in researching this topic because Punjab, India is where my mom's side of the family is from (and some of my dad's) and I want to know more about it. I already know basic Indian history and a little bit of Punjabi/Sikh history. This is NOT related to my last year's topic in any way.
I have been brainstorming some questions, however, these are not my final questions. What was going on in Punjab in the 1980s (the time my mom's side decided to come to the US)? When/how did Punjab become a mostly-Sikh state? Has it always been this way? Who are important historical figures in Punjabi History (NOT Indian history a.k.a. not Ghandi)? What were the first civilizations in Punjab like? What are the differences between Punjab, India, and Punjab, Pakistan? This question could be modified to many other questions such as cultural differences. What were Punjab empires/kingdoms like before Sihkism?
September 14th Journal Post
I am looking to investigate the History of Punjab and how that relates to where I am today. I think I know that Punjab had many dynasties and kings over the many years and I believe one of the empires was the Maurya Empire. I think that there was also a massacre between the Punjabis and, I believe, the British and there is some sort of museum/memorial in Punjab today. I also think I know that there was some event related to the Golden Temple (a very sacred and important place in Punjab) during the 1980s, however, I do not know if this is why my grandparents emigrated to the US. I think I know that Punjab was split into two parts as a result of some conflict (I think the British). I also believe that the history of the name Punjab has something to do with there being 5 waterways/rivers/something to do with water. This is because panj/Punj is the number five in Punjabi and 'ab' is water in Punjabi.
I know I know that agriculturally, Punjab is mostly farmlands. In fact, many people in Punjab have their occupation listed as farmers (Including some of my family). (Punjabgov and BYJUS). I also know that Punjab was part of the British Empire from the mid-1800s till 1947. (Punjabgov)
September 21st Journal Post
Generate at least 10 statements in list form. Start with the phrase, “I don’t know if/the/what…”
I don't know any important figures in the history of Punjab.
I don't know what was going on in Punjab in the 1980s.
I don't know the history of the empires/kingdoms.
I don't know how/what "marks" empires/kingdoms left.
I don't know anything about how Sikhism was formed (besides it was in Punjab)
I don't know how Punjabi became a language and if it has anything to do with Hindi.
I don't know the differences between Punjab, India, and Punjab, Pakistan (a few of my family members were born in modern-day Pakistan).
I don't know fully or understand Sikh history.
I don't know how the Golden Temple became one of the more iconic places in Punjab.
I don't know about any wars or battles in Punjab and if they influenced how modern-day Punjab is.
I don't know what/how the British affected Punjab and specifically what they did to the Punjabis.
I need to know what was going on in Punjab in the 1980s that prompted my Mom's parents to move to the US. I think that this is an important question because it connects the two things I want to research which are Punjab and how my Punjabi family came to the US. By researching this question, I can decide if I want to focus more on the history of Punjab or focus more on My family. I do think I want to research Punjab's history more and save the family part for when we do the interviews. Most of my other questions are still not very niche and I think that this one will help me to create more niche questions. I also think that this is an important question for me to answer because my whole life my grandparents would say, "We came to the US because of the things that were going on in India". I think that this is a really good starting question and will really help me get moving and put me in the correct direction of what I want to do.
September 28th Journal Post
What conflict(s) happened in the 70s-80s in Punjab that led to my family moving to the US?
One of the major conflicts that happened in 1984 was Operation Blue Star. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was a Preast in Punjabi who campaigned for a country for the Sikh people, using Punjab's land, and occupation of the Golden Temple. He was arrested twice and released twice; the second time was a turning point because he was now seen as a person who could defy the government. When India was partitioned in 1947 by the British, Pakistan was created for the Muslims and India was left for the Hindus (and Sikhs). But there was not a real country just for the Sikh people. In the 70s and 80s, the movement for a country for the Sikhs (in Punjab) was brought back to light by Bhindranwale. He tried to campaign for through a rebellion when fighting back against the government. In 1982, he moved into the Golden Temple Complex, stockpiled weapons, and gathered other people who had the same views as him. Over the next couple of years, many attacks on Sikhs happened from the Government and some counterattacks by Bhindrawale. Operation Blue Star was the code name used by the Indian Government to respond to Bhindranwale's counterattacks. On June 5th, 1984, the Indian government sent military troops to many Sikh temples where they were hiding. They also brought military troops to the Golden Temple, considered the most holy place to Sikhs. To put this into perspective, the Golden Temple is to Sikhism as Jerusalem is to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the end, shots were fired at the Golden Temple and Bhindrawale was killed in the attacks.
“Harmandir Sahib | Golden Temple, Amritsar, India.” Britannica, 17 August 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Harmandir-Sahib. Accessed 28 September 2023.
Kundu, Apurba. "The Indian armed forces' Sikh and non-Sikh officers' opinions of Operation Blue Star." Pacific Affairs, vol. 67, no. 1, 1994, pp. 46-69. ProQuest; eLibrary, https://explore.proquest.com/elibrary/document/217677158?accountid=51266., doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2760119.
October 19th Journal Post
My SDA addressed a major historical topic: an attack at the Golden Temple in Punjab, India. This event led to widespread terror in Punjab and prompted my grandparents to bring their three young girls to the US. The whole event is now a heavily debated political topic of whether should Punjab have been made into a third country for Sikhs. The fact that the attack took place at the Golden Temple made people very mad because it is a sacred place. This is why I want to research, "how the Golden Temple was built". My three subquestions are: What is the purpose/significance of certain features of the Golden Temple? Who built it and what was the reasoning behind it? What "was it like" to be a person who went to the Golden Temple (to pray) at the time it was built? Was it looked down upon (to not attend Hindu/Muslim places of worship)? What do the white buildings around the main gold part mean/what is their purpose?
I decided on my sub-questions because when researching, I found that Guru Arjun Dev Ji, a Punjabi teacher, and Martyr, had helped initiate the building of the Golden Temple. Since it was being built during his time, there was a lot of religious conflict and therefore, there must have been a reason as to why he decided to build a place for Sikhs to go to. While reading, I noticed that many different sources mentioned the specific fact of the main building being connected to land on the West side. Other sources also mentioned other specific facts that probably have reasoning behind them and I would like to touch base on those specific concepts. I noticed that one article stated how a Muslim person laid down the foundation stone of the temple. I wonder why the article specifically stated that fact when they could have just named the person without specifying their beliefs. When briefly talking with some of my older relatives who attended school in Punjab (and therefore understand Punjabi history better), they said that back in the day, Sikhs did have a lot of conflict with other religions and they had a power struggle over Punjabi empires. I also noticed while researching, that not a lot of thought/time is given to talking about the white buildings that surround the main temple.
**Sources can be found on my Works Cited page**
October 26th Journal Post
My need-to-know question is What are the origins of the Golden Temple? I think that this falls into the knowledge section of the HOTQs. I think this because they answer the questions of "What is…? and How is…?". My first sub-question is What is the purpose/significance of certain features of the Golden Temple? My second sub-question is Who built it and what was the reasoning behind it? I think that both of these sub-questions fall under the knowledge section, specifically in the "How did _____ happen? and How would you explain?" This is a historical research-type topic which is why I think a lot of my questions are under the knowledge section. I think that I will have to do a lot of research to answer these questions and that makes sense as the knowledge section requires a lot of research. My third question is How does the way things were established in the past relate to how Golden Temple is run today? I think this is more of an application question and it fits right into many of the types of questions. I chose this question because I realized that most people do not know the basics of how the Golden Temple is run today, so I will try to answer my first two questions and then answer my third as well as give a brief overview of how the golden temple works and key features of it today. My need-to-know and my first two sub-questions did not change, but my third one did because of the reason discussed in the preceding sentence.
I think that my best sub-question to help my need-to-know is Who built the Golden Temple and what was the reasoning behind it? This will help because it indirectly helps address the need to know. Figuring out this question will also help me with my other need to know.
Resources:
“History of Sachkhand Sri Harmander Sahib.” Sgpc, sgpc.net/sri-harmandir-sahib-2/. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.
Singh, Satbir. “Interesting Facts: Golden Temple: 10 Lesser Known Facts.” ..../../../Best-Travel-Guides- India/Amritsar/Golden-Temple/Interesting-Facts.Php, www.goldentempleamritsar.org/best-travel-guides- india/amritsar/golden-temple/interesting-facts.php. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.
YouTube, 8 Feb. 2015, https://youtu.be/rD3SGn8f9wQ?si=Tuq9QGXO17Ft1dxI. Accessed 26 Oct. 2023.
November 2nd Journal Post
My need-to-know questions are important because they will help establish a basic concept of what the Golden Temple is as well as a basic history of this significant building. This is an important place that holds a lot of Punjabi history. This question affects pretty much everyone because the answer to my question will benefit everyone except native Punjabis. If I had to choose a group of people who my topic affects, I would choose the American Public (including myself) because not many people know any information about the Golden Temple. Most Americans do not even know it exists (I think you briefly see a picture of it in a lesson about Gandhi in 10th-grade History). This information is valuable because it is an important place in Punjabi history. Understanding who built this place and the reasoning behind it can help give context to the history of Punjab. I also am attempting to provide a resource that people can go to to learn about the Golden Temple (many resources are in Punjabi or other Indian languages). This will also end up guiding me towards where I would like to take my research next.
If I had to pick a school subject, I would probably pick social studies/history but my question could also relate to ethics or maybe even science (in terms of the coloration of the golden temple-chemistry). I do not fully understand the "Supposition" part of the assignment, but if I were to state a question I would say the following. How might the history of the Golden Temple be different if it were built in a different time period (1700s, 1900s, Modern day)? During these different times, India (including Punjab) was/is going through different circumstances. Some examples include a foreign ruler or religious conflicts.
November SDA Reflection
My thoughts about this SDA are mostly positive. I had great time management and had my research done way in advance. I don't think I clearly specified why I was communicating, but I think it was kind of implied that I was trying to inform others. Although, at the end, I did say, "I hope that when you think of India’s most prominent structures, you will now think of the Taj Mahal and the Golden Temple.". After my coordinator meeting, I had so much motivation for the three following days. During that time, I had great time and attention management. That is when I got most of my work done (about 6-8 hours). After that, I just worked on it a few hours over time and my attention management did not meet my time management.
I think I am hitting almost all of the C's except collaboration. The only way I can think of how I collaborated was by asking my peers to look over parts of my video. I think that creativity is the easiest C for me, and curiosity and collaboration are 2nd and 3rd.
The most important thing I learned about myself is that when I am just starting on a project, I have really good attention management. The most important thing I learned while researching was that a person who was briefly mentioned in my video is a very important figure (Maharaja Ranjit Singh). My first SDA of this year was more difficult to craft than my second one. I think the reason is I am much more comfortable/better at making videos than using Canva. I am most proud of this SDA because the result was close to my expectations/visions. In the past, I have not gotten an SDA to be similar to how I wanted it to be.
I want to work on better time management with my journal posts because I struggled with that aspect. I think that for my future SDAs, I want to work on stepping out of my comfort zone and becoming more creative with my SDAs. I want to use this information gained in the future by incorporating some of the events in Punjab's history and then maybe relating it back to a group/time period when violence was happening at the Golden Temple (I am not really sure yet). I think that the HOTQs were okay. They kind of helped, but I do not think I needed them. I do think that this is a good lesson and it helped me a lot more with my last year's topic.
I used scholarly sources last year in EMC, and I briefly used them in English class freshman year. I like them and became a pro at using the "advanced search" last December.
December 7th Journal Post
This podcast is important because it talks about translating from one language to another and the certain "rules" for translating. This podcast affects anyone who speaks or is learning another language. Youhanna and I are both dealing with topics relating to different languages, so this podcast's message directly affects both of us.
The podcast is trying to prove the point that there are certain ways to translate and interpret what historical texts mean as well as there are different translations of the same thing. Some of the things that they said were that we will never know the exact history facts and websites might say slightly varying information which is okay. An example they say is we don't know what Chopin looked like since there is only one photo (so ppl say different things).
This is significant to my topic of research because I am essentially doing a history project and this statement assures me that it is okay to see slightly different answers to the same question. They also talk about how words have different meanings/contexts/uses in other languages. An example of this is the word serious is not used in communicating mood in East Africa (it is more of an action). Certain words have certain connotations even if they mean the same things and they produce different reactions from people. Both of these statements show that translations using Google Translate may not always be correct (and this is true for all languages).
This connects to other classes such as world language class, history class, and even literature classes. Language class and history class make the most sense because, in those classes, you have to translate things or understand documents from different periods. In history, you also have to research and understand what certain articles/sources are saying about a topic while keeping in mind that there may be differences in the facts from website to website. In literature class, you have to interpret and put into context what the writing pieces mean. You also have to use your intuition on certain things which is another concept the podcast talks about.
If the podcast was talking about math and formulas, they might talk about the concept of math identities. Math identities are formulas that mean the same thing but are written in different forms. Math is a little more strict, so there is not a lot of room for different interpretations. However, they could say something like there are many different ways to get to the number four: 2+2; 1*4; 2^2; the square root of 16; 132/33; and so many more ways. Just like the poem could be translated from French to English in many different ways, you can use math to get to the number 4 in many different ways.
Some possible themes that connect my topic, Youhanna's topic, and the Podcast include:
linguistic diversity
communication
language as an identity
December 14th Journal Post
The theme that we have decided on is Communication. We chose this theme because it is broad enough to connect both of our projects and allows for a lot of creative freedom. Communication is shown as significant in the podcast because the main points are about how when communicating between languages, you must preserve feelings/emotions. Communication affects both of our topics because we are researching topics related to regions of the world where communication is/was different.
We would like to use SoundTrap, however, if that doesn't work we will use WeVideo. We chose SoundTrap because two people can simultaneously work on the same project from different devices. This will be beneficial to us if we are unable to meet in person.
My need to know is, how did the Punjabi Language evolve from Hindi, and continue to be a language in India? This connects to our theme, communication because communication throughout India sometimes requires translations since there are many diverse languages. The main language is Hindi, so when people who speak Hindi go to Punjab, they would need to translate and communicate in Punjabi (the local language).* This connects to my partner's topic because he is researching Coptic Language which is a language that evolved into other languages.
*https://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/india/indianlanguages.htm
This link helps visualize all the languages spoken in India
December 21st Journal Post
The articles I have chosen are important because they discuss how linguistic minorities work and continue to operate in India as well as the similarities that the two languages share from Sanskrit (Sanskrit is to Punjabi/Hindi as Latin is to English/French). This is important in answering my essential question, of how Punjabi evolved from Hindi and continues to exist because I am learning about how Punjabi maintains its title as a language (although a minority language) when there are many other languages in India.
This question affects historians/researchers who are dealing with the foundations of languages. This question also affects all speakers of Punjabi/Punjabis themselves. This affects them because I am researching the foundation of where their (myself included) language originated from. I do not fully understand the "point proven" part, but I think I am going to prove my point (using the articles), that Punjabi is a language in India that coexists alongside Hindi and other minority languages. These articles prove that by stating the criteria for a linguistic minority as well as the rules to allow them to continue to be studied.
These articles connect to other fields such as English. Yes, an article about other languages does in fact relate to the English/Language Arts class. This is because, in high-level English Classes, you read and annotate texts in other languages that are translated to English to analyze them. People could take Punjabi/Hindi translated texts and annotate them. This article also connects to religion/religious books. One of the most famous is the Bible. The Bible is a part of Christianity which is a religion found almost everywhere, including India. The Bible must be accessible to those who speak all kinds of languages, including Punjabi. Priests in remote parts of the world should be able to read and understand their holy test. The rules for making sure linguistic minorities are given a fair chance could also relate to political rules. If these rules were used in politics, we would kind of be saying all politics are given a fair chance and if the people do not like them/the way politics is done, they can choose a different way (It is kind of a form of democracy, but not like US democracy).
Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. “Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica.” RSS, www.iranicaonline.org/articles/punjabi-indo-aryan-language. Accessed 21 Dec. 2023.
Mallikarjun, B. "Chapter 10: Minorities and language choice." Language In India, vol. 12, no. 9, Sept. 2012, pp. 71+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A303010503/AONE?u=nysl_ca_guild&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=0e6f1d98. Accessed 20 Dec. 2023.
Oracle Translation. “Hindi and Punjabi: Identifying the Differences and Similarities.” Oracle Translation, 1 Mar. 2023, www.oracletranslation.co.uk/2023/02/hindi-and-punjabi-identifying-the-differences-and-similarities/.
January SDA Reflection:
When it came to responsibilities in our podcast, I played around/created the SoundTrap podcast and I exported the file. I think that the contributions were pretty balanced. After our outline was done, I don’t think we needed to do anything except record which is obviously a group effort. For editing, we really just had to add music that we chose together. Everything else was minor details that we each offered to do. For most of the communication, I initiated the talking mostly because I told him that I had a physics midterm as my afterschool priority, and he was open to any time. I think that we worked well together as there were not any big challenges in communication or collaboration.
When it came to decision making, we did not have any problems. For the most part, one of us had an idea and the other person either agreed or stated their idea. This lead to compromises rather than “one or the other”. For responsibilities, I do not think there were any except just practicing. We recorded almost everything in a single 2.5 hour period, so I guess our only responsibility was to practice and be prepared. For the slide show, we set up times to collaborate on the slides that required both of our input, so our responsibility was to show up (I may have forgotten once…). There were no major conflicts that we had. We pretty much always found a solution to match both of our ideas. Compromising and sometimes sacrificing was the best strategies we used.
From the start, we knew we were going to put off recording until close to the due date (because of finals), so we made sure to rehearse a few times per week. We also had an idea of what we were going to say on our main recording day. I guess we were nervous because we were cutting it close to the due date, but we knew we’d get it in on time. One challenge I had was exporting and being able to access the file that I exported. Overall, our attention management was really well when we were recording and editing.
One thing I learned is that collaboration usually requires one person to initiate the conversation, but that does not mean you will be doing most of the work in the group. I think that one skill I developed was learning to work with people who are not my friends (aka communication). During this whole process, we would share Google Docs with our information and the other person could leave feedback. We also gave feedback when we met during homerooms or over text. In the future, I would try to share more of my ideas because I tried to avoid so many compromise situations (not saying my partners idea’s were bad, but I did not always share my ideas). Overall, I really liked this project as it forced me out of my comfort zone. Working with others and no script speaking were my two biggest take aways from this project.
February 8th Post
From here, I want to go back to researching the actual location of Punjab. Researching the language spoken there was fun, however, that is not something that interests me as much. I think that my need to know will be: What are the impacts of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's actions?
The reason I chose this is because two known fun facts about him that I was taught are he put the gold on the golden temple, and he could speak Persian. This is surprising because he founded and was ruler of the Sikh empire and the court language was Persian even though the spoken language was Punjabi. In my last SDA, I talked about where the Punjabi language was derived from, and this will enhance this fact. In one of my other SDAs, I briefly mentioned who put the gold on the golden temple (Ranjit Singh). The Sikh Empire, which he founded, is located in current-day Punjab. Some of its effects are still seen around the world and in most cases, they trace back to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. One example of a worldwide "Ranjit Singh Effect" is the Kohinoor diamond which originally is India's but is on the Queen's crown. Some people in India still argue today that Great Britain stole the Kohinoor Diamond. This diamond originally belonged to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Since this diamond is a big part of many Punjabi's (and Indians) conversations, maybe I could research more into the diamond. I feel that this question will be a good way to connect back to last month's research which was a little different and try to get back on track with my more typical research.
For my next SDA, I would like it to be informational. I also want to step out of my comfort zone at least a little bit. I like all of the ideas for informational, but am leaning toward the presentation or the picture book. I like the scholar and documentary as well, however, I have already done a video, and finding a mentor for my topic is hard. I like the presentation idea as it will help with my public speaking although I feel like getting people to come might be hard. I also like the engaging activities because you get to be a teacher which is fun. If I were to do this, what would I upload to my site? I like the picture book because I can make sure the information I present is easy to understand, especially since in the past I have assumed that people know things when in actuality, they don't. The ripple effect would also be cool, but there isn't an event all of these things are related to (rather the person himself). I could maybe incorporate parts of the ripple effect into a presentation or a picture book.
February 13th Journal Post
I am looking to improve my creativity. I think that my creativity has been lacking (not just this year but also last year in EMC). In the past 1.5 years, all that I have done is infographics, videos, and podcasts repeatedly. Although those are all creative, it is kind of repetitive. I think that both of these SDAs are unique and can represent creativity. I think the picture book specifically will show creativity with the combination of pictures and words.
I am choosing to do the Picture book for my March SDA. I chose this because I want to get out of my comfort zone and using artwork is one way I am going to try and do so. I know I am not a good artist and my drawings will not be the best, however, there are no actual photos of my person therefore I can interpret him in my way (using the available drawings). By the end of the month, I want to have a completed book (either online or physical). I want to have an informative picture book that is easily comprehended by elementary schoolers (third grade and up).
My essential question is who was Maharaja Ranjit Singh and what are the Impacts of his actions? This question is important because there is not much available information on him, so I will be making a more accessible resource for my local Punjabi community. Ranjit Singh is kind of like a well-known person but not everyone knows exactly what he did. I am already looking at other picture books to help me figure out what exactly I want to do. I have a few sites in mind. The databases barely have anything on Ranjit Singh, however I did find one article about him. This question will be valuable to not only kids in elementary school but also to the children at my Punjabi School. I am looking to change the assumptions or theories around Maharaja Ranjit Singh and his diamond. This is a controversial topic and I am going to try and tell people who the Diamond belonged to.
Two of my Sources:
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A251364478/GPS?u=nysl_ca_guild&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=25d26879
https://www.sikhnet.com/news/how-did-koh-i-noor-diamond-come-hands-sikhs
**Citations can be found on my works cited**
March SDA Reflection
I spent a lot more time on this SDA than I have on any other SDA. I started my project on a plane, so my attention management was not so good. I think that if I did not do drawings, then this SDA would have been similar to the time spent on my past SDAs. The fact that I had drawings to make and I had no idea how to draw added to most of my time spent on this project. On Sunday night, I finished my research and "rough sketches" of a majority of my drawings. This left me with 5 days to work on my drawings, yet I was still finishing my SDA on Friday evening. I think my attention management was really good this week. I would say the content (drawings) was hard, therefore it took a lot of time. Next time, I would probably spend more time on my drawings and fine-tune them even more, but I do not know how much better they would get. I also would prefer to not make one of the two SDA weeks a break week as I struggled to find any time to work on this project since I was not here at all.
I think I have gotten better at using databases and looking for credible sources. This might be an English skill, but I have terrible grammar and do not write well in narrative form. I also struggle with introductions and endings when storytelling. When looking at a research article with facts and statistics (which I have not had to do much of this year), I pretty easily can figure out and interpret reasonings as to why certain results were found. Honestly, my topic is really hard to find research papers about, so I have not had as much experience with research papers this year as compared to last year.
I feel like Maharaja Ranjit Singh kind of connected everything that I have researched this year. So my new need to know is:
Was the effect of the British Rule (the people who took over Punjab after the Sikh empire) on Punjab?
My reasoning for choosing this is that the British ruled Punjab from the end of the Sikh empire to the partition of India. This is kind of the gap "event" between the Sikh empire, and Operation Blue Star (my first month's research). My last month's research kind of connected everything other month's research, but this need-to-know will connect my project chronologically. Out of everything I have learned about this year, this is the only event that we have remotely touched on in Global History class (and we do not even talk about Punjab in school). The Jallianwala Bagh massacre is an event that took place during this time period, and parts of the reasoning behind this massacre relate to the curriculum taught in American Schools. This massacre took place near the Golden Temple, so I could also tie in parts of the Golden Temple. I feel like this month's research could possibly set me up for a timeline-style presentation for symposium time.
March 13th Journal Post:
PSA Video#1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YdMoElIR82VumQtiO-XHoUnTkwi04xAD/view?usp=sharing
March 20th Journal Post:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cZJTIfY_PSRAzwM7oaV8e-Px7IZNBjoj/view?usp=drivesdk
March 27th Journal Post
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W3GD3pTsE7UKT_hrt4J6_xz2M4y6Iwkp/view?usp=drivesdk
April 11th Journal Post
The topic I am choosing to explore in my speech is to take the time to educate yourself on topics that you do not learn about in school. This is important because many people can relate to this sense schools do not teach enough about many other people's cultures. I am going to prove my point that you should educate yourself by kind of talking about my experience researching my own history this year. Taking the time to learn about the country/place where your ancestors are from is even more important than just learning about cultures that are not taught in schools.
Rough Draft of my possible introduction:
Thank you all for coming to watch me and my peers present. Everyone here has ancestors who came from a different country. Or maybe you were born in another country. But do you really know about your ancestry? My name is Kiran and this year I researched the History of Punjab which is a state in India. I chose this because this is where my family is from and I felt like the one day of 10th grade global history that we spent on India was not sufficient enough to give me a good understanding of where my family is from. Throughout the year, I studied the Golden Temple, the first ruler of the Sikh empire-Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and the origins of the Punjabi language. Tonight, I am going to show you the important things I learned about my own culture this past year in hopes you will also become inspired to learn about your own or even other cultures. Taking the time to educate yourself on topics that you do not learn about in school can be a truly eye-opening experience. It allows you to gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and appreciate the diversity that exists.