2022 In-Depth Post #5

Hello, welcome to my final in-depth post this year!

I cannot believe how fast the past four months have gone by. I have learned so much from my mentor and I am excited for the in-depth night where I can share highlights of my learning with people.

Project Progress
Since my last blog post, I have been working on tying up loose ends. I knew my Squamish hiking trip was quickly approaching so I changed my fitness plans to help me prepare for that. I worked on training specific muscle groups that would be engaged a lot throughout the hikes. With the help of my mentor and physiotherapist, I was able to complete all of the hikes that we set out to do on the trip. I was also able to get out with my family to hike in preparation for the hiking trip. My favourite hike that we did was Admiralty Point. It was quite short, but it was a very beautiful hike, not too challenging and not too busy. As a part of my preparation for the hiking trip, I also did a lot of cardio because I knew we were going to go on some pretty long hikes. This ended up paying off. While on the hikes I was not out of breath as quickly, however, I was still not able to go as fast as I would have liked to with the amount of pain that I was in. Overall, it was a great trip and I learned from and enjoyed every moment.

Preparation for In-Depth Night 2022

Below is a summary of my thoughts on the following questions regarding the project:

What was a highlight for you and why?
A highlight for me during this project was the countless opportunities I had to share my learning with others. I got to talk to my friends and family who were interested in what I was learning about. There were many times throughout the project that fellow TALONS kids asked me what had been doing recently for my project. I used that as an opportunity to tell them all about the cool new health and fitness practices I tried as well as what I had recently learned. I also had opportunities to apply my knowledge to myself and share it with others through sports. I was able to motivate my teammates and teach them a bit about what I learned in-depth. Also, I just really enjoyed talking with others about the different mental health practices and facts that I learned. It was extremely interesting recognizing patterns in happy people and learning about what makes different people happy.

What was particularly challenging and why?
One part of this project that was particularly challenging at times was staying consistent. My meetings with my mentor were consistent for the most part. However, there were times throughout the project when we met less often than others. It was also challenging at times to stay consistent with my fitness plans. There were times the weather discouraged me from getting outside or I had a lot of homework to do on certain days and never got around to working on my project. I had to work on my prioritizing skills during this project. There were times I had to put my in-depth on the back burner, but I always made sure to get back on track as soon as possible.

Where might this skill take you next?
There will always be space in my life for practicing and prioritizing physical fitness as well as mental health. I can apply my in-depth skill in my day-to-day life and I can continue sharing my learning with others. Every piece of information that I have learned in-depth this year will help me be a better leader on my sports teams. I can help motivate others and educate them on the importance and personalization of health and fitness. My learning may also come in handy during my summer job this year at Pedalheads Bike Camp. Who knows, my passion for health and fitness may continue to grow. I may start thinking about a future career in the health and fitness industry.

Which of these elements will you capture? How will you present your learning?
I am going to capture the bulk of my skill through an interactive survey that people can take. I will have a QR code available for people to scan which will take them to a survey that they can take to personalize health and fitness plans. Creating this will put my skill of putting together personalized health and fitness plans to the test because there will be a wide range of people. Their fitness levels, interests, and desired areas of focus will all differ. Creating plans personalized as best as I can for each individual will be challenging but also a lot of fun.

During In-Depth Night this year, I am also planning on having a collection of health and fitness plans that I followed. People who stop by will be able to flip through the collection of plans I made for me and may draw a little inspiration through that. I will also work on finding a way to provide people with other significant resources I came across throughout my such as links to videos, articles, and websites.

How I will evaluate my learning and apply my learning to other situations, acknowledge my mentor and celebrate my learning during an in-depth night.

My evaluation of my learning this year will come through my reflection and the marks I give myself on the criteria sheet where I recently added a few pieces of criteria. I will also make sure I take some time to reflect on the entire process and appreciate how far I have come and how much I have learned throughout this project. Just because in-depth is coming to a close does not mean that I will stop pursuing my passion in the realm of health and fitness. I will continue to learn about the topic and look for ways to apply it in my life as mentioned above. After this project and all of the information and wisdom that my mentor passed on to me, I will continue to do my best to share what I have learned through conversations with people, research, and personal discoveries.

 

Since in-depth is coming to a close for the year I am planning on getting together with my mentor one last time and expressing my appreciation for all that he has done this year to support me throughout this project. I have learned so much from him and have been able to learn so much during my time with him. I truly do appreciate all of the time and effort he has put into helping me succeed throughout in-depth this year. Other than thanking my mentor and putting together my learning centre for In-Depth Night I do not have much else to do.

I have learned so much through my in-depth this year. Looking back to the beginning of this project as well as what I accomplished last year it almost seems unreal. I am thrilled that we get to celebrate our learning on In-Depth Night this year in person!

Thank you for reading my final in-depth post!