Looking Back on 2015

Year 8 is over, and before I begin Year 9 I want to again reflect (as I did for Year 7) on the highlights of last year, 2015. I have never had such an exciting year to reflect on!

The year started well for me at the St Vincent’s Swimming Carnival. If you asked me what sport I liked best, you would get the answer “swimming”. Like most people my age, I love sport and have a go at lots of different activities. However, swimming is the one I put the most time into. This year all those early mornings didn’t go to waste! I was lucky enough to be awarded age champion!

This year my school did the production “Birds” by ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. Head of Performing Arts, Ms Catherine Johnson gave the script a modern twist and the cast ranged from Year 7 to 12. It was a fantastic experience and well worth the two afternoons a week of rehearsals, after school for a whole term. We performed in front of our parents at Waverley College Performing Arts Centre and it went off with a bang!
play

I was also involved in a few speech competitions. Writing and delivering a speech is something I really enjoy and want to get better at. I think it is important to learn how to get your ideas successfully heard and understood. I have done a few major speeches this year which went pretty well.

The first was a speaking competition at the beginning of the year called Rostrum. A number of Sydney schools choose representatives to compete at MLC School Burwood. I wrote a talk about being murdered. I didn’t win. I might have frightened the judges :)))

For my term 3 English assessment, we had to make a speech. I chose to speak about Uber, you will see why in my video. It is the coolest app on my phone. For this speech, Pippi and I got through to the second round and were chosen to represent our year for the Oratory competition.

The last speech I did was the one I was the most proud of. It was at AHIGS Festival of Speech. Again the schools in Sydney choose representatives to compete in the speaking, reading, debating or poetry sections. I choose speaking and for my section I had to first make a prepared speech (I choose the topic of overpopulation), then did the impromptu speech they gave us with 5 minutes of preparation time.

I was very proud of both speeches I delivered, but I wasn’t a winner. It won’t stop me from trying next year!

I also joined the school debating team. Since we do it after school it feels weird to choose to do this… It is like choosing to do more school work! However, it is fun competing and being with my friends. I ended up joining the year 9 team (a year above me) and although it was a challenge, it was great fun.

Video making is a passion of mine, but I had no idea how useful this skill would be in high school! This year, I had to do at least one video at some point in every subject. I was shocked when even my maths teacher Mr Nicholas Garben also required a video!

Here are a few:

Maths videos…

Geography video…

PDH (Physical Development and Health) video…

And those are just the highlights!

I had a lot of fun in art this year. Here are a few cool things I created.

Year 8 is the first time (in our Australian education system) when a student has any choice in the subjects they study for their next year. This choosing of subjects (known as “choosing electives“) was very exciting for my friends and I and it was a popular topic of conversation. Our school offered us an array of 10ish subjects to choose from. I picked Drama and Visual Arts. It was a very hard choice. I’ll be excited to let you know how that goes next year.

2015 was an amazing year. For all the amazing opportunities I have been given, my teachers who guided me and my family who supported me – I am truly thankful. I hope your year was also one to remember and I wish you all the best for 2016!
family

-Eve

5 Comments

  1. Selwyn Garwell on 07/01/2016 at 9:06 pm

    Another successful and fun year!! Congratulations
    May this year mirror or surpass it.

    • evecogan on 13/01/2016 at 9:45 am

      Thank you, Selwyn. Wishing you a prosperous New Year too!

  2. Stephanie Robertson on 12/01/2016 at 11:40 am

    You are certainly making the most of your opportunities! And grateful for them as well – which is just as terrific.
    All the best for 2016. I look forward to hearing about your next exploits!

    • evecogan on 13/01/2016 at 9:48 am

      That is very kind of you! All the best to you as well, Stephanie.

  3. My Reflection on 2016 - on 03/01/2017 at 3:15 am

    […] has drawn to a close, so with this in mind, I have taken the time again (as I blogged in 2014 and again in 2015) to look back on some highlights of my past […]

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