HR
2 SMART learning goals:
1. I need to take challenges and not get away from them. I can measure them, because I know what I normally would not do. This is a realistic goal, because I need this for my education but also for my job later. This adds value to my study and my work later. I think that this will take at least 2 years.
2. I need to be more assertive. When I have something to say in an (project) group I just need to say it and not think that they will not like it. I also have good ideas. This is a realistic goal, because I can work on it, and it is not too much to ask for myself. This again adds value to my study now and later my work, because than I will also need to work in groups. This will probably also take 2 years at least.
How did I work on the goals ?
1 One big challenge for me is not doing all the work in a group project when someone does not do their part. This semester I really tried to worry less about if the others finished their work or not. Sometimes I could forget it and just sleep, but that was not always the case. I will keep practicing with this next year. (and the other years) A challenge I took outside off school is volunteering at the EO youth day in Rotterdam. This was new to me and to be honest I was quit scared in the beginning, because I did not know anyone from the volunteers.
Year 2: One challenge I faced was playing Piet during Sinterklaas at my primary school. You can read about this under Who am I?
2 During the project of the last semester I was more assertive and taking the lead. When something was not finished I said something about it and I did not do all the work. One off the nights of the deadline I finished my part and texted the others that I was going to sleep and that one of them needed to hand it in.
Year 2: During the first semester I worked in a project in which I had to speak up. I have practiced with this and I can see some improvement.
Presentation skills
Have more control of my breathing.
I want to have more control of my breathing during a presentation. I can measure this with being out of breath or not. This is a realistic goal, and it is relevant because I need this skill for the rest of my career. I do not know how long it exactly will take but at least 1 year maybe even a few years.
I want to have the attention of the audience for the whole presentation so that they can follow me. I can measure this with asking a few people in the audience if they could follow me during the presentation. This is a realistic and relevant goal because (again) I need this skill for the rest of my career. This goal will probably also take a few years.
Stay confident about my subject.
Kind of an addition to goal 2, I need to be more confident about the subject of the presentation otherwise people will not believe it and do not pay attention. Measure this you can again ask someone from the audience if they found my story confident and believable. This is a realistic and relevant goal because you can evaluate every presentation good, and it adds value to your presentations. This again I find difficult to say how long it will take but probably a few years of mast it completely.
How did I work on the goals ?
1 I notice more during presenting when I am out of breath and I try to calm down and take a second to breath. When I am preparing for a presentation I try to implement moments of breathing and calming down when needed. Most of the time I try to breath in between every topic.
2 I forget to measure it with someone from the audience but, I try to implement more questions in the presentation.
3 Again I forgot to measure is with the audience but, I am trying to make my story appealing by using normal language so not to difficult and sometimes make a joke.
Intercultural awareness
1 Gaining more knowledge about why I act a certain way and what relation does it have to the Dutch culture.
This I can do with researching what specific Dutch thing are and if I do them. I could also compare it with other cultures and aspects of cultures (for instance punctuality). I could ask my dad and granddad what the culture in Nepal and India is and what differences there are. With this I hope to realize what are the things I do that are related to culture and that that may not be normal to everyone/ every country.
For this process I could also use the cultural dimensions of Hofstede.
2 Getting to know more about the norms and values of other cultures. This
can be very helpful when working in project groups or during your year
abroad. I can achieve this by attending the lectures next period and asking
my classmates about their culture, so there are no mis understandings
during the project
How did I work on the goals ?
I think I worked on both goals in a similar way. During the 3rd period I had a trip with one of the exchange students, I needed to help her with her thesis. We got on a bus to the Forum and academic library, during the bus ride and walking we talked a lot. We talked about grades and how they are different here and in her country. It was very interesting. The IA lecture was about food from other cultures, this was a very good idea. I noticed that eating together with the family is important in many countries and they make a big meal a party out of it. In my project group I also noticed some differences. One of my teammates had never really worked in a group before so that was hard for her.
Year 2: For the intercultural competences lectures we had to interview someone from about culture. (or who lived in another country) I interviewed my grandfather who lived in Nepal for several years. I enjoyed doing this interview, because I did not know a lot about Nepal.
Goals for next semester
To be less doubtful and to be less harsh to myself. I hope to achieve this by sticking to my schedule and allowing myself to relax afterwards. If I finish an assignment I do not need to get it checked by 4 people, but 1 or 2 is enough. When I am done I am done. This will take a few years.
Being able to write better in a more professional way. The Academic English course will help with this. I noticed that during the research plan and advisory report I found it difficult to write more professionally and I want to improve that. I think that besides the Academic English course you also just have to do it a lot and look up examples from other people.
How did I work on the goals ?
1 Like I mentioned at HR I have been trying to let go of some things regarding the project. I think that overall I am already more confident. Some reports I did not even let anyone check or let one person to check if everything was in it.
Year 2: I am working on this in kind of the same way.
2 When writing the reports for the 2nd project I thought more about my use of language and not using ‘I’ or ‘we’ in the reports. Unfortunately I could not attend the Academic English course, but this is also something you just have to keep practicing over and over.
Year 2: I notice that I do a lot more in English like, thinking and reading. This helps also for my reports.