Looking back at this year, and all the experiences I’ve gained in it, I’ve learned many things about myself as a person, as a student and as a Canadian.

Starting with myself as a person, this year showed me how I enjoy learning new things and meeting new people. Coming from Oman, where I lived almost my entire life, I never really met that many new people. My closest friends are still mostly the ones I met in kindergarten or elementary school. But when I came to York, I met a lot of new people, and it really made me realize how much I enjoy talking to new people. An example of when this happened was early on in the year when we went to Kensington Market with 9C. At this point, I’d met a lot of people and become close friends with many of them. However, on that trip, I talked a lot with new people, especially some people from the other class, and made some new friends. That experience was interesting because it was all new for me. In Oman, we didn’t have a lot of day trips- there were one or two camping trips, etc. during the year, so that aspect was new for me. I’d heard a lot about places like Kensington Market, so actually going there was also a new experience for me. And the people around me were also new to me, and so it was a lot of new things but I enjoyed that trip a lot because I met so many new people and became friends with them.

Another thing which I discovered not just about myself but just generally is this: it was really interesting how when I came to Toronto, there wasn’t much that could connect me with the people at school because we’d had completely different experiences and lifestyles. But instead, when I met people, I realized how many similarities we had and how similar people can be even if they’ve been living completely different lives in different parts of the world.

At the beginning of the year, I didn’t even think of bringing my new iPad to school, because I didn’t think I could do much with it. But soon, I was bringing it every day and discovered a completely new way to take notes and present my work. Having teachers who supported the idea really helped me and helped me to take risks by using the iPad to present my work. For example, for the ICE Final Task, in the beginning, I was considering just creating an infographic on Piktochart for my final product. But later, I decided that even though I wasn’t 100% sure how I would do it, I was going to create my own infographic/PDF-style product. I ended up loving to make it and experimented a lot with colors etc. The process showed me that it’s important to take risks and not wait for the perfect moment to start something, even if you feel like you’re not 100% ready.

Another thing which I learned about myself as a student early on in the year was that I hate uncertainty. When I don’t understand something, I get frustrated, and usually, the learning stops there! But, after the Winter Break, I started to work on that and sit with uncertainty and tried to learn how to be okay with not understanding something as soon as I start working on it. This really showed me how this could also apply to other aspects of my life as well. Definitely not saying that I don’t still get frustrated when I don’t get concepts (you can ask anyone in my family), but I’ve worked on it and I’ve become more curious as a person because I’m okay with waiting for some time to understand something. But, something which hasn’t changed is that I still always want to figure the concept out fully, which I guess is a good thing but it can make things really long.

This year taught me about myself as a Canadian in quite a unique way. Having lived away from Canada for most of my life, I didn’t really see myself as a Canadian that much for many years. But coming into the ICE program this year really showed me what it means to be Canadian and showed me who I am as a Canadian. One moment which stood out to me was when we went for the ICE Winter Camping Prep Day. That whole day was a completely new experience for me. I had never built a fire or done half of those things, but it really showed me how unique Canada's character is and how much it's geographical characteristics create it's character just as much as the people within our country. I loved trying out completely new things and had a lot of fun with my friends! I also chose two topics that taught me about myself as a Canadian:

1. Building Character: Immigration

2. Post-War History: Canada’s Character on the World Stage

Firstly, the immigration unit showed me how Canada as a country is so diverse and made up of people from so many different countries and how that has created our unique character. The unit showed me how my family and I, just like millions of other families in Canada, are a vital part of Canada’s character.

Secondly, when we learned about Canada’s role as a peacekeeper during our unit of Post-War History, it made me feel proud to be a Canadian and made me realize that I should recognize and embrace my identity as a Canadian more often. It showed me that as a Canadian, I have the responsibility to do my part in maintaining a peaceful society and to use my voice to stand up against racism and discrimination and make our Canadian society a fair and happy place for everyone to be.

Overall, the ICE year has been an amazing experience, especially for my first year in Canada because it really taught me so much about Canada and all aspects about it, from its geography to its diversity. The ICE year allowed me to have so many new experiences, from the ICE Winter Camping Prep Day to exploring downtown and different neighborhoods. It showed me what it means to be Canadian, and it helped me make so many new connections! Even small things, like watching all the Raptors games (and even going to the one where they made history this year (the 12th game in their winning streak- the first time they'd ever won more than 11 games in a row!)) all built my Canadian character and showed me what it's like to be a Canadian and be part of our Toronto/Canada community. I've loved the ICE experience both as a person and as a student and it’s taught me so many new things and developed both my personal skills and my learning skills. I'll definitely carry the experiences and learning I got from the ICE program with me forever!

For my ICE Final Task this year, I decided to focus on how COVID-19 has affected air travel. Using Air Canada as a case study, I created a hand-drawn infographic/PDF on my iPad for my ICE Final Task.