Global Voices

JANUARY 2018

VOL. 1

GLOBAL VOICES PAMOJA GLOBAL STUDENT COUNCIL NEWSLETTER

Evelien Conference Coordinator

Lydia Content Editor

Bylasan Wellbeing Officer

Sherina Media Editor

Julia Content Editor

Kaymin Publishing Officer

Harneet President

Emily Vice President

Travis Social Media Officer

Radha Social Media Officer

Manaswi Maia Sahana Shane Publishing Community Community Communications Officer Outreach Officer Outreach Officer Officer

What is the GSC? IN THIS ISSUE Meet the GSC, p.2 Hometown: Atlanta, p.3 New Year's Traditions, p.4-5 Tips to Stay Motivated, p.6 Film and TV Reviews, p.7 Student Artwork, p.8

PAMOJA EDUCATION

The Pamoja Global Student Council (GSC) is a group of year one and two diploma programme students from around the world that are all taking an online course (or more) with Pamoja.

We all work together as a group to make interesting content so that other Pamoja students can connect and feel more together as students taking on the challenge of the DP! We’re going to make this as interactive as possible with fun articles, forums, and social media accounts where everyone can interact with one another.

Overall, the goal of the GSC is to unite Pamoja students so we can have an exciting and comfortable environment to meet and share common interests!

Meet the Global Student Council We come from all around the world!

Evelien

Emily

I am the conference coordinator! This is my second year studying Mathematics HL through Pamoja. I am 18 years old and I love to travel and play basketball.

I’m your GSC Vice President. I’m 17, and was born in Sydney Australia, but have lived in London for 6 years and I love to travel. This is my second year learning Business Management HL on Pamoja.

Lydia

Bylasan

I am one of the content editors for this year’s Pamoja Global Student Council! I am 17 years old and live in the United States, and a fun fact about me is I placed seventh in the world of Destination Imagination in scientific in 2015!

I’m GSC’s wellbeing officer, and I'm 16 years old. I'm Studying Spanish on Pamoja. My main interests are sports and social sciences. I'm Palestinian, but was born and grew up in Northern Ireland. I'm currently living in Beirut, Lebanon.

Sherina

Julia

I'm your media editor! I’m 17 from Indonesia but currently living in Sweden. I love all things Visual Arts, guitars and swimming.

I’m one of the content editors for the Global Student Council. I’m 18 years old and currently live in Colombia.

I take Psychology HL with Pamoja and am obsessed with anything related to medicine!

Kaymin

Harneet

I’m an Aussie-Canadian living in Singapore. I am one of this year’s content editors and look forward to producing quality material for such a global audience!

I have not stayed in a single country for more than 3 months for the last 2 years!

I am your Global Student Council President. I am 16 years old, living in Canada. I love all things to do with fitness and music. Currently, I am hooked on Kendrick Lamar’s new album!

Maia

Manaswi

I’m 16 and I live in the Cayman Islands. This is my first year in HL psychology. I love dance and music and I read a lot. My dream is to travel around the world.

I’m one of the publishing officers. I’m 17 and I was born in India, although I live in Singapore . This is my first year in economics SL and I love art.

Travis

Radha

I live in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I’m currently a Year 1 Diploma student and my favorite class is Theatre HL. I love mock trial, the American legal system and food!

I’m pleased to say that I am one of your social media officers, along with my partner Radha.

I am one of your social media officers! I’ll be running the social media accounts along with Travis. I’m 16 years old and in my first year of the DP, and I take Psychology SL on Pamoja. I currently live in Barbados but I am from Aruba and have moved all around the Caribbean!

Sahana

Shane

I’m 17 and live in Chennai, India. I’m one the Outreach Officers on the GSC. Psychology HL Year 2 is my Pamoja course. I love dance, movies and travel.

I am a Year II Economics HL student from Dublin, Ohio, USA. I currently serve as the Communications Officer for the 2017-2018 Global Student Council. I love finance, playing the piano, and hanging out with friends.

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Hometown: Atlanta

by Travis One of the best aspects of Pamoja is how global it is. We all come from different places around the world, have lived on almost every continent and all have different ethnic heritages.

Personally, I’ve visited places all around the world; however, I’ve only lived in one place my entire life: Atlanta, Georgia.

My hometown is a city that isn’t infamous, like New York City, or as known as Washington D.C; yet, it is a city that has been constantly moving and progressing since its beginnings. During the American Colonial times, it was the railroad hub - everyone came through Atlanta to get to their destination. It was also the centre of the American Civil Rights Movement; Martin Luther King Junior’s birthplace is in the heart of the city. Even today, Atlanta has the busiest airport in the entire world. But beyond this, what makes Atlanta special is its people, and that rings true for any and every city around the world.

Where do you come from? Get in touch with us on Instagram:

So, take pride in where you come from because it is you that makes your hometown special!

@pamojagsc

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New Year's Traditions One community, many ways of life.

by Shane With the arrival of the new year, the Global Student Council began to consider the breadth of traditions probably celebrated by our fellow classmates. As a truly international classroom, we wanted to share a list of seven of the most intriguing New Year’s Eve traditions from around the world.

#4. Finland has a unique tradition of pouring molten tin into a container of water and interpreting the shape after the metal hardens to determine how the next year will treat them. A ring, for instance, could represent love or a marriage approaching! #5. In Romania, dancing in a real bear skin has historically been a tradition to cast evil spirits away in between Christmas and New Year’s Day. As part of a larger ceremony, participants would roll over and die before being brought to life again, symbolizing the coming of spring.

#1. In Spanish cities such as Madrid and Barcelona, as the clock towers strike midnight, revellers eat a grape for each chime. The grapes, washed down with wine and tapas, are intended to symbolize good fortune and travels for the upcoming year. #2. Residents of Denmark smash old cups, plates, and glasses against their friends’ houses and doors to bring themselves luck for the next twelve months. In the same vein, some Danes jump off of chairs together as part of a long-standing tradition to literally leap into good fortune in the new year.

#6. In Estonia, during the New Year’s Eve feast, it is suggested to eat twelve different meals. However, these meals aren’t finished; rather, they are left out overnight for the spirits of ancestors so they can partake in the celebration. #7. Brazilians typically spend time at the beach on New Year’s Day. Jumping seven waves (one for each day of the week) is said to be a good omen. They also make offerings to the water goddess Lemanja in the form of flowers; if the flowers come back, Lemanja did not accept the offering, but if they sink or are taken away by the water, it is a sign of good luck for the next year.

#3. Across Scotland, “first-footing”, where people aim to be the first person in the homes of friends and family after the clock strikes midnight, is a common tradition that comes hand-in-hand with gift-bearing.

Massive bonfires also occur, especially in the village of Stonehaven, where townspeople parade swinging giant balls of fire (intended to represent the sun) to purify the coming year.

How did you celebrate this holiday season?

Tell us @pamojagsc and #pamojagsc on Instagram!

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Top Tips for Staying Motivated

by Maia

Take study breaks: Study breaks may seem counterproductive, and if the break continues for too long, they can be. However, brain breaks are an important part of motivation. If you work your brain too much, you can start to burn out, which won’t be good for your motivation. Study breaks allow your brain a chance to rejuvenate so you can remained focused and motivated while working. Generally, study breaks should never exceed five minutes. Some good brain breaks could be reading, daydreaming or watching videos. If you know you’re the type of person to lose track of time during your breaks, set a timer to help you get back on track.

Minimize distractions: Distractions are plentiful when trying to work. When living in a world where so much is constantly happening at the same time, it can be hard to stay on task. Social media is a big distraction for many people. The best way to deal with this distraction is to put your phone, or any other device that allows for social media, in a separate room. However, some distractions are not so easy to get rid of. People, especially friends and family, can also be distracting, even when they don’t mean to. Often, dealing with this isn’t as easy as walking into a different room.

Headphones can definitely help with this problem if you are able to work well with music. The music helps to drown out any noise that could distract you from your work. The best music for this is generally instrumental music, as lyrics are known to be distracting. By minimizing these distractions, you can maintain your focus and motivation.

Take care of yourself: Two of the most impactful factors to motivation are sleep and food. You need both for a healthy body, which leads to a healthy mind. They also provide your body with energy. Without sleep or food, you become more sluggish and your level of motivation decreases.

"Set a timer to help you get back on track."

Prioritize:

Set small goals:

It’s important to assess what assignments are most important before you start working. This would most likely be determined by their due date and their degree of impact on your grades. Once you have this figured out, you should rearrange your time schedule and focus on your most important assignments first.

When doing work, it helps to look at the work wholistically, create a plan and set small goals for yourself. When thinking about any large project that needs to be done, it is generally easier to break it down. As a whole, all your work may seem like a lot, but when broken down into small goals, larger amounts of work are often perceived as more achievable.

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Film and TV Reviews

by Sherina STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Unsurprisingly, this is the ultimate film of the season. Fans are reunited with their favourite characters in an exciting addition to the Star Wars franchise. This movie is beautifully made and has an absolutely fantastic storyline. We learn that there is hope for the Rebellion, lead by Leia Organa, in its battle against the First Order.

We also get to see more interaction and character development between Kylo Ren and Rey, as well as their relationships with Luke Skywalker. Overall it's a wonderful family movie, especially if your family are as big Star Wars fans as mine are!

BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (SEASON 5) Following the stories of detectives in a police precinct in New York, this fun comedy series is an easy to watch, light show for when you want to relax and have a laugh. The show is on its fifth season and as usual, does not disappoint. The character development is also great in the show, as it strives to move away from any stereotypes and predictability. New addicting plot lines are being formed constantly, which will make you hooked on the show before you know it.

RIVERDALE (SEASON 2) This show is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. Based on the Archie comics, Riverdale is at its second season, after the thrilling season 1, back with an interesting new mystery regarding a murderer on the loose, terrorizing the city. For those of you who have watched the show you may be joining us in speculating the true identity of the Black Hood, as his supposed unmasking indicated there is still more to the story. Although I admit, season 2 has some disappointing plot points, and the acting can be questionable sometimes, what’s to come still remains exciting as I await every Wednesday for a new episode. If you haven’t started watching it yet I recommend starting at the beginning of season 1 if you’re a fan of retro American teen dramas and dark mysteries.

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Student Artwork

by Manaswi This sketch was originally made by an artist named Emmy Kalia who inspired me to make this. I have always been fascinated by how complicated little parts of a human body are and seem to go unnoticed. This is the last sketch I made of an eye before I decided to focus on other parts in a face. I also used charcoal for the first time in this sketch which unexpectedly turned out to work well.

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