Topic Choice

A. What is your topic and why?

I chose Taekwondo as my topic because I have been training and practicing Taekwondo since I was about five years old and it has changed my life completely both physically and mentally and it has made me become the person I am today. Ever since I was little I always watched things liked power rangers and dragonball z and I always wanted to do the things they did, but I couldn't because I was always been on the heavy side and it hurt my self esteem a bit. When I joined Taekwondo I gained a lot of confidence, loss weight, I became much stronger and I learned new things I didn't know my body was capable of doing. Over the years I grew a strong passion and love for this sport and the fact that I was able to earn my black belt at the age of eight it helped a lot. When I reached my teenage years I faced new challenges more difficult than the previous ones. Things such as national competitions and becoming a referee and even becoming an instructor. Recently I have competed in the 2012 Taekwondo national competitions and reffing for tourn but it doesn't even compare to being an instructor for the school I train at. In the past I have always been a helping instructor but not until this summer I have actually tried becoming the lead instructor in the classes. I have learned that I love working with kids of all different ages and sizes with the most interesting personalities. Yes there might be the naughty kids that don't listen but the fact that I am teaching to become a better person brings a smile to my face. I even worked with kids at the age of three and even adults and other teenagers. I feel if I never did Taekwondo I would've never may have experienced these challenges and adventures and so for that reason I am grateful.

B. What do you hope to accomplish this year with this topic?

Well Ipoly taught me how to tolerate different people with different personalities and it gave me a huge advantage on how to become an instructor because I work with so much kids with different backgrounds and I knew how to react and respond with any challenge or situation that was thrown at me. Basically what i want to accomplish with Taekwondo this is year is to hopefully become a full time instructor and eventually go up the ranking and go to Korea to test for my master degree. Right now I'm a second degree and I plan on testing for my 3rd degree at the end of senior year and earning the title as an instructor. My dream vision is becoming a Taekwondo master and owning my very own Taekwondo school.

• As an I-poly citizen I plan to use Taekwondo to help me become a better citizen because I won't do anything disrespectful to anyone both at Taekwondo and at I-poly. I also will use Taekwondo to try to become a better leader and follower when I ever need to be. If any negativity or stress is put upon me ill use Taekwondo as a stress reliever in my practicing sessions so I can keep calm and think straight.
• As a effective communicator I plan to be very positive with criticism whether it is good or bad because in Taekwondo I can use criticism as a tool to improve my teaching skills and I can use criticism at I-poly to improve my work. 
• As an effective learner I plan to be very organized and get due dates and get my work done ahead of time. I plan to make sure I don't slack off or procrastinate because that was the demise of my grades in previous components. Becoming more organized will help me become a better learner because if I am organized there will be less stress for me and I won' t forget anything.
• As an effective user of technology I plan to make sure I completely understand how to use the blog and any other programs to use that will help me in any presentations. By knowing how to use the blog I will contact any teacher if i need help with any core work or senior projects. Also by learning how to use any other program can help my senior project or any presentation because it can help with bringing my grade higher.