When I first heard for the winter exhibition my classmates and I were going to debate, I worried, thinking of all the possibilities for me to mess up and blanking on the spot. Although after watching the movie The Great Debaters, it made me believe in myself a little bit more. The movie didn’t only focus on debate, but how no matter what background you come from, your personal preferences and morals, or even who you are. All you have to be is confident in yourself and your arguments, and believing in yourself is the best way to portray your best ability within debate.

The first activity, where my partner and I each had a minute to debate why watching the movie was educational. While my partner went first, I focused on her body language and the pace of her voice, taking into account what I should and shouldn’t do. Not only from that activity but also in the movie, one of the most powerful things was their confident stance, when they took pauses, and the pace while they were speaking, so everyone acknowledges what they are trying to present. 

I found when it was my turn to speak, I started off with some key points, half way through it became nonsense, and at the end I summarized the point I was trying to make. I’ve learned from this that I need to be more confident in voice and thoughts, and learn to slow it down instead of talking when I don’t need to be. 

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I know this project will push me out of my comfort zone and help me improve my public speaking skills, which will set me up for success for my future. With AI increasingly improving every single day, it’s important to be strong in areas such as public speaking, collaboration, and thinking on the spot. Looking back to grade eight me to now, I would be very proud with how far I have come. PLP has pushed me to keep focusing on my areas I can improve on, so I can be a confident, strong learner, and I know this project will help me grow within public speaking.

Like I said under my mission in my Visions Missions and Values, I want to challenge myself in my learning, and contribute to collaborative projects and keep on building skills for the future, and this project takes all of that into account. I’m excited, nervous, and curious of what’s yet to come, and the end product. Along with how well I can prove to myself anything is possible, as long as I put my mind to it and not doubt myself.