Zuhair Alam

School is almost over. Grade 9 was a year full of memories and experiences. When looking back, the journey through the ICE programme has allowed me to learn many things. From early memories such as looking at my schedule and being disappointed that I have so many ICE periods throughout the day to the end of the year where I now see myself as a new person. The ICE program has allowed me to learn so much about myself as a person, an IB student and as a Canadian. Throughout this blog I will be reflecting my time as a Grade 9 student and the important memories which made it a year to remember

Let us start off at the beginning of the year. Camp Wanakita. A memory which will always come into mind when thinking of Grade 9. When arriving on the Bus on the early morning of September 4th, I was a student who was nervous yet excited for the year ahead of me. This experience especially taught me more about myself as a person because of how I had the first opportunity to interact with my peers. Throughout the few days interacting with the new students allowed me to understand how good my collaborative skills were. Reflecting back, I feel like this experience really was an important part for creating the friendships I have today. Not only did I feel as if I learned about my collaborative skills but I also feel as if I was also being a risk taker. I was trying to get closer with people who I have barely talked to and even people who I have never met. Thinking back to it I feel like this was a great start to the beginning of the year. For more about my Wanakita experience you can visit my blog.

During the time where I was learning about myself as a person, I had also learned so much about myself as a student. During the beginning of the year I would not consider myself to be ummmm...organized. If you were teaching me in one of my classes during October you would most likely notice that I usually could not find most of my homework as I used to just stuff worksheets in my bag. In some classes I could barely finish the worksheets assigned to me because of how I could not find it in my bag. These worksheets did eventually show up… a few months after they were due. Who knows how deep they were in my bag. Over time I learned how bad this was and how it affected my learning and my organization skills. It was one advisor class where Ms. Lampard introduced what is called a BINDER. I was not very familiar with a binder as I had never used them and I had complained that they were heavy. Ms. Lampard had me separate the worksheets I needed into binders for each of my classes. Ms. Lampard had also advised me to create a schedule for my homework so that I can guarantee it is being done. I wish I had this from the beginning of the year, because of how it helped me improve my organization skills. That advisor class was a turning point, because of how I learned a new way of always staying organized. Reflecting back, I have really learned the importance of organization skills during the year of Grade 9 and how important it is to stay organized.

Last, but not least. The ICE program has allowed me to develop the knowledge of Canada and it was important for me to grow as a Canadian citizen. Before this program I was not familiar with much of Canada’s history. To be honest, I did not think that there was that much history behind Canada. Now as the year comes to a wrap my understanding of Canada has developed and I have learned so much about Canada’s history which I had known before. During the beginning of the year I was not very familiar with the treatment Indigenous people had received for many years. Once reading the novel, “Indian Horse” and watching the movie my understanding of Inuits has developed. Before I thought that Inuits received racism during the early times of Canada but as I learned more I later understood that they are mistreated to this day, which surprised me. I had educated myself about this topic and the ICE program has allowed me to understand the importance of knowing about how Inuits were treated and how it was wrong. I felt like reading this book was very important and I recommend it to everyone. As a Canadian it is our responsibility to heal relationships of the past and create an environment safe and equal for all.

To wrap up. The ICE program was an important part of me developing as an IB student. The memories I had created and the lessons which I learned, I believe will truly be important for me to succeed in the future. I would like to thank my classmates and everyone who were around me throughout this memorable ICE experience.