Hello world! Welcome to my first ever learning intentions post, something new this year where we set goals for each project and decide what we want to focus on.

This project is the perfect follow-up to our authoritarianism unit, taking the same ideas of power, control, and lost freedoms and imagining what they might look like if pushed to the extreme.

 

We’ll be diving into the world of dystopia! I didn’t really know what that word meant until now, but I’ve learned that a dystopia is an imagined, often negative future world that exaggerates problems or patterns from our present and past. I’m excited to explore this genre further and to read 1984 by George Orwell. Even though I originally wanted to read The Handmaid’s Tale, I know 1984 is a classic with incredible reviews. One of my all-time favourite dystopian books is The Hunger Games, and I didn’t even realize that it was considered dystopian until now!

To launch into this project, we watched a really good movie called V for Vendetta, a dystopian thriller that was dark, suspenseful, and kept me hooked the whole time. It gave me a first real look at what a dystopian world can look like….one filled with control, propaganda, and fear.

My learning intention for this project is to focus on communication and creativity. I want to be able to express my ideas clearly and creatively, and I believe a great opportunity to do this is in the short story I’ll be writing as the final product. My goal is to craft something original, imaginative, and meaningful. A story that reflects my own ideas and connections while also being clear and well-structured. 

This connects to my vision because leaders need to communicate their ideas with confidence and think creatively when faced with challenges. One of the goals I set in my mission is to become the version of myself who’s ready to take on any challenge. This project will push me to do that. It’s a chance to strengthen my confidence, independence, and ability to trust my own ideas. I want to be someone who communicates with purpose and isn’t afraid to take creative risks.

In last year’s Write Stuff project , I learnt that there isn’t one recipe for good writing: you have to make your own. The best pieces come when you add your secret ingredients: your personality, perspective, and creative flair. Writing becomes powerful when it’s honest and genuine, not just polished. I want to bring that same mindset into this project by writing with confidence and using my voice to create something that feels completely my own.

I haven’t written a story since grade 9, so I’m a little nervous, but I see that as a good thing. Growth usually starts where comfort ends. Creativity has always been one of my strengths. I’m constantly coming up with fun and original ideas. This project I want to keep pushing myself to refine my ideas, not just come up with them.  I want to prove to myself that I can take risks, be creative, and use writing as a way to explore how I see the world.

I plan to stay on top of my reading schedule and be engaged in class discussions, making connections between 1984 and the world we live in today. Sharing my thoughts in discussions will also give me more chances to practice communicating with clarity and confidence, both things that align with the kind of leader I want to become. By the end of this project, I hope to feel proud of both the story I’ve written and the voice I’ve strengthened along the way. I’m excited to see how my creativity grows and how this project might change the way I see the world around me.

Stay tuned for my summative blog post, I’ll be back in November. 💥