Reflection
I’ve always known that I wanted to do something relating to my experience with cancer and this project gave me the time and resources to actually make it happen. Since my journey with cancer was fairly recent, talking about it in the form of a podcast really helped me process what I had been through and knowing that sharing these experiences actually helped people has been very rewarding. The research I conducted about different types of cancer treatments and side effects helped me talk about my experience in a more scientific way and gave me a lot of knowledge on the matter. This project allowed me to speak to other cancer patients all over the world and getting their input and talking to them about our shared experiences helped me heal and form new relationships with people who I can relate to, I also had the opportunity to do a Zoom call with fellow bone marrow transplant survivors where they told me how much my podcast has helped them feel less alone . Cancer will be a big part of my identity and is also a big part of other patients lives so talking and educating about it can help us, these factors helps tie in with my global contest of Identities and Relationships.
I have acquired and improved on many IB learner skills, the main one being communication since my podcast requires me to put my thoughts and experiences into easy to understand 10 to 15 minute videos so I think doing that has helped me become more concise and clear. Speaking to the many other cancer patients via zoom and texts also helped me improve my communication skills with new people and taught me how to communicate without being able to use body language since it was online. Another skill I developed was inquiry skills which got better as I researched more about cancer and interviewed and asked more patients about their experience. I also inquired on my Instagram what people would like to see in a podcast so that I knew what my audience was curious about. A skill I could work more on is risk taking as I don’t get as vulnerable as I could on my podcast since my aim was to resonate with other patients, I think that taking the risk and pushing more boundaries on the topics I talk about would work in helping me develop this skill.
I have acquired and improved on many IB learner skills, the main one being communication since my podcast requires me to put my thoughts and experiences into easy to understand 10 to 15 minute videos so I think doing that has helped me become more concise and clear. Speaking to the many other cancer patients via zoom and texts also helped me improve my communication skills with new people and taught me how to communicate without being able to use body language since it was online. Another skill I developed was inquiry skills which got better as I researched more about cancer and interviewed and asked more patients about their experience. I also inquired on my Instagram what people would like to see in a podcast so that I knew what my audience was curious about. A skill I could work more on is risk taking as I don’t get as vulnerable as I could on my podcast since my aim was to resonate with other patients, I think that taking the risk and pushing more boundaries on the topics I talk about would work in helping me develop this skill.