My First Baby Steps into Computer Appication

              Hello, my name is Dongni Alcantara and I am an 11th Grader here at WBAIS. Before I came here to WBAIS I used to live in Jerusalem, so I didn't live far from here. I lived in Jerusalem for 4 years and went to two different school in this time span. The two school were JAIS (the sister school of WBAIS) and the Anglican International School of Jerusalem. In my previous school (Anglican) we weren't required to bring our own laptops to school however, we were encouraged to do so and many of my fellow students did so. Since it wasn't mandatory to have laptops they did have a computer lab where many students did their digital work. I've previously taken a class called digital design where we learn to create different digital products for a chosen audience. For example I made a magazine with a group a friends that was targeted at people who were interested in current events and news in areas like sports, politics, etc.

              I've used PCs for the majority of my life, but recently (around 3 years ago) I switched to Mac and I don't regret my decision. Ever since I got my Macbook Pro I began to typically use my computer for 3-4 hours a day, but with the recent switch to this school and my new busy schedule I've reduced the amount of time I spend to something around 2 hours. My most used applications include Chrome (which should be obvious due to its usefulness), Word (for school related assignments), and Steam (an app for buying games).

            If I didn't have access to the internet for an entire day, I would probably miss not being able to talk to my friends on my phone because I have friends from all over the world who I keep close contact with and the only way I communicate with them is through the Internet. I greatly value my friendships especially those that I've kept for a long time. There is also an application called Snapchat, where you can get something called streaks with other people. These streaks require you to send a picture to your friend at least once every 24 hours, and it would devastate me to lose streaks I've kept for such a long time.

Snapchat Streaks

     When thinking about my final product I would like for it to be a completely autonomous Arduino project of any kind. It could be a robot that periodically irrigates plants according to either a preset time or according to measurements made by the Arduino that lead to an appropriate judgment. However, I don’t want to set an automatic irrigation system as the only possible product. Perhaps I may find interests in other projects I can accomplish that become my final product. I would also like to refresh my memory on the Arduino Coding language, and clearly understand how all the different parts of my final project work together to produce the intended outcome.

The reason I chose to dive into creating an Arduino project is because of the flexibility that I have for building upon smaller initial projects I create that help give me a better understanding of how to accomplish my final product. I also find it fascinating to create artificially intelligent systems that interact with the world around them independent of another force, because it brings up the highly debated subject of “what is life?” A subject I've pondered about ever since my introduction to Artificial Intelligence.

I would like to start by first familiarizing myself with the world of Arduino. I will do this by first trying out small projects that expose me to the different properties of an Arduino. These smaller projects will then slowly guide me to what I am and am not able to do with the Arduino. Giving me a better picture of what I should truly aim to build. I will also be looking up at online tutorials that will help me learn the Arduino coding language. From there once I have built a solid foundation I will move on to commencing my final product. Using all the resources I have at my disposal to complete my envisioned autonomous product.

Becoming a resilient, persistent, and adaptable achiever is appealing to me because I know that there will be times when I am working on my project and things will get either too hard, or there will be parts that are less interesting for me, causing me to lose focus. However, I’m also aware that if I continue to push forwards eventually I will get to that breaking point where I will feel great. My goal is to become more accepting of unwanted or unexpected outcomes that might arise while I am working, and to make take the unplanned outcome and hopefully use to my benefit instead of letting it bring me down. In order to become an overall better achiever I will require advice from either my teacher or anybody who can take the role of a mentor so that I can lean back on someone else when I encounter frustrating problems.

I feel like being a critical and creative thinker is necessary for me to develop if I want to work with an Arduino. Not only is it necessary for making an Arduino based project but it is also a characteristic I feel like I lack in. I am more of the type of person that likes to be told to do something and then execute that command. However, I am aware that this is not how the real world works and perhaps if I can develop this characteristic it will make me a better student. Resources I will use to help me develop this characteristic is the current project I am undertaking because if I want to create an Arduino project that I want to be proud of I need to force myself to think outside of my comfort zone.

I am choosing to become a more insightful and strategic researcher because I want to strengthen my research skills. I want to become capable of looking for the information that I need as efficiently and precisely as possible. I find this LO to be very important because it is a skill that is useful in all fields of not only academics but also work. I want to understand how and why the Arduino works and becoming an Insight and Strategic Researcher will help me achieve this by being able to thoroughly analyze the different aspects and capabilities of the Arduino. In order to further my Research skills I will require my computer and access to the internet. I might also use books (if it is necessary and if there are for Arduino).