Grade 12 Choice

Choice #1

Besides the regular drawing and paintings that I did in Studio Art class, I started experimenting with digital drawing. This piece is done with Corel Painter and Photoshop. I like digital drawing because it helps accomplish the effects of painting, but less messy than painting.

Choice #2

This was a AP Human Geography research assignment on natural hazards, which required us to research on a catastrophe, and write a narrative to give information on the event. My story was about a boy who lost his grandparents, his friends, and his teacher in the 2008 SiChuan Earthquake. It was my first time writing a 6-page narrative paper, and using Chicago style citation. I got 100% on the written part of this project, but made some mistakes in citation, which brought me down to a 96%.

Choice #3


This is an art gallery model that I built in the summer Architecture program at Columbia University. The professors took our class to Roosevelt Island to choose a site for our final project. My site has the view of Manhattan on one side, and Queens on another. My first draft of this art gallery was almost symmetrical, with the idea that the windows not only allow visitors to see the art work from outside, but also allow the views to see the Manhattan skyline from the inside. At our first group critique, the professor suggested that I could expand my window idea, and make different uses of the windows. I put some thought into this, and decided to design a two-floor window that allows a better view of the Manhattan skyline. On the opposite side, there is a small window that focuses the view on the Queensboro Bridge, which was the only significant landscape on the side facing Queens. The windows on the other side serve as display windows. At our final group critique, we not only got feedbacks from our professors, but also had some architects as guests. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Grade 12 Geographic Scavenger Hunt

Academic #1

Our first project for AP Human Geography this year is a geographic scavenger hunt. As a group, we had to take pictures at 20 places, collect facts about these places, and fabricate a storyline to connect all the pictures. I went to many interesting places in Vancouver and Richmond that I had never been before. Our group decided to use Prezi instead of PowerPoint, and it was a really interesting and creative way to present out story.

Grade 11 English Visual Journal

Choice#3 

Instead of doing the third private reading, we did a visual journal on the novel 1984 by George Orwell. The journal is a lot of work compared to normal assignments, but it is more fun to me because I enjoy combining academic work with artistic work. I put a lot of effort into the project and tried to be creative at my best.

Grade 11 Athletics Reflection

Athletics

As you can tell from my writing about the Terry Fox Run for my Athletics Highlight, I am not a very athletic person, and haven't done much sport this year. I'm not taking Strength and Conditioning or Yoga class, nor am I on any sports team.  

Since I'm not doing any sport at school, I play badminton on weekends with my mom. Although I am not very good at this sport (or any other sport), I think spending some fun time with family is far more important than winning. In winter, I skate at my Community Centre. My skills have improved since last year, and I have started to love this sport. I am proud of myself for exercising on my own, without the pain of physical education class.

Grade 11 Service Reflection

Service

The experience at the Project Hope high school in Guangxi, China last summer was really a blessing, so I went back to China and visited the Project Hope office in Shanghai with my friends this summer.

Unlike Guangxi, an in-land agricultural province, Shanghai is a prosperous city located on the east coast of China. The Project Hope office in Shanghai raises donations for suburban students who can’t or hardly afford to go to school, and organizes events for these students to meet and talk with elites. I helped out in the office for three day, collecting student information, enclosing receipts for donations, and selecting students’ letters to publish on an advertising brochure. It was really an eye-opening experience, because the letters from those students really moved me. They inspired a different view on all the things that I took for granted.

I’m also doing service at Kerrisdale Academy. I got more familiar with all the work since last year. I became more natural and confident on the phone, and also made some friends who are either doing service or having class there.

The other thing I did was the spring fair canvas. This year I used one of the photos I took during the Christmas Break, which is a seabird standing on a boat with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. I like doing spring fair canvas every year because it’s both a great way to give back to the school and a nice practice of my painting skills.

Grade 11 Architecture Program

Choice #2 

This year Collingwood offered an afterschool architecture program. A teacher from the West Vancouver Museum came to the art portable every Wednesday afterschool and taught some basics of architecture. We did two major projects throughout the ten classes. The first one is a group project to re-design and build a model of the Japanese city of Miyako that was damaged by the tsunami. The second one is an individual project to design a dwelling house for a family. I spent a lot of time on the model of the building, and I’m satisfied with the final product.

This program gave me some insight of architecture, and got me start considering architecture as a possible career path.