Whenever a project is solely focused on us, I get really excited. 

I love it whenever we get an opportunity to largely present ourselves in a project. At this point in high school, we can put ourselves into our work in many different ways. 

Projects like this, where we are the specific focus, offer an even grander opportunity for growth.

This time, the project focused on telling our own stories through a podcast. Everything, from the story to execution, was up to us. This sort of worried me, because it isn’t too often where a project is fully about ourselves, and I didn’t want to waste this opportunity.

Podcasts are a really interesting format to create stories in, I’m still relatively new to the creation of them… but I know they can be immensely powerful ways to share not just your writing, but your own voice.

I wanted to use this project as an opportunity to present sophisticated work and participate in introspection in sharing more of me.

As we began this project, reviewing story structure and other technical aspects of crafting our own story effectively, my head was mostly in the clouds. Thinking about the story I wanted to tell.

In the past, I’ve struggled with maintaining a lively, narrative voice. The whole pivot from videos to podcasting is interesting. I have to think about pacing, tone, and how to make my delivery sound natural rather than just reading off a script. Editing was another layer, cutting out awkward pauses, adjusting the flow, and making sure my words carried the right weight. 

Podcasts demand a balance between structured storytelling and conversational authenticity, and learning how to achieve that was one of the most valuable parts of this project.

During this project, I had been reading The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

It was an interesting read, looking at the Great Rewiring through the eyes of a parent and psychologist. The notes I made on the book helped me connect his ideas to my own.

I was one of the first iPad kids, which has dramatically shaped my life. Ideas from The Anxious Generation provided me more of an understanding of the Great Rewiring, and opportunities for my own growth.

It helped me understand how to use my time wisely and made me more aware of what these ‘poorer choices’ (watching Netflix, playing video games) were doing at a deeper level, and why.

My episode centred on my own experiences growing up as an iPad Kid, incorporating my perspective on what is happening today.

We can all see societal norms shifting around us, and we can all bring our own views.

I want to present myself as a person who is knowledgeable about others and human behaviour through personal development. Being able to learn and grow from experiences in my own life.

I realize that PLP serves as a pretty spectacular way to do this, as we aren’t just doing some sort of presentation about something, we are also working on ourselves as we learn about something else.

In my MPoL I mentioned that I want to spend my remaining years at high school learning more about myself and spending time wisely. This project served as a perfect example of how I can spend my time here wisely, and still have opportunities for future growth.

I am not naturally someone who can tell great stories, but I’ve realized that storytelling isn’t about perfection.

It’s about honesty.