Pathways Meeting Midway Magazine -5th Edition by Guru charan Kumar

MEETING MID-WAY A SENIOR SCHOOL PUBLICATION 2021-2022

CONTENT: INTERVIEWS

1-7

WORD SEARCH

MEMES

IF PATHWAYS FAMILY HAD INSTAGRAM

SPOTIFY PLAYLISTS

MEMES

STUDENT EXPERIENCES

13-15

INTERVIEWS What made you fall in love with your subject? Fiona Ma’am: There’s so much information, and there’s so much that you don’t know. As a student, I loved History, and even after teaching this subject for about nineteen years, there is still scope to learn more. I think it was that passion to know more that drives my love of history. Guru Sir: Life of Birds" by David Attenborough is a fantastic documentary that I first watched in grade 10. People are often inspired by Sachin Tendulkar, Swami Vivekananda, Abdul Kalam, but my inspiration came from "Life of Birds" and David Attenborough. David Attenborough is the one who inspired me. People say I'm the guru of ESS, but my guru is David Attenborough.

Vaidehi Ma’am: In my family, we are three sisters, and I was the only one who had the opportunity to study in a Medium English school. My English teacher gave me lots of books to read. I think my interest in the language and the subject started from there. I try to understand the world around us by reading fiction and non-fiction. It is possible only with English as a subject and not with any other subject like Math or Science.

MEETING MIDWAY | Teacher Interviews

What made you fall in INTERVIEWS love with your subject? Shally Ma’am: This question is not difficult at all! Art is my passion and it is what I enjoy most in my life. I was not interested in any other subject, and art was something I knew I always wanted to do. That's what made me realise that it's best option to choose for my career.

Nikita Ma’am: I selected Language and Literature because it has a substantial component of literature, which I believe is excellent in giving exposure to different ideas and concepts across the globe that are important for school-going students to be aware of. So, that is one of the main reasons I like this subject.

Mona Ma’am: I think my subject is very contextual and everything that happens becomes a base for my subject. So, if you have to live in this dynamic world, you have to learn Business. Hence, that made me love this subject. Tathagat Sir: I think I've been in love with Film ever since I can remember, ever since my toddler days. Just the very fact that it is all about emotions, it's dramatic, cinematic grammar—just Film in itself, the charm of cinema. And so much of life is reflected in cinema. That's what made me fall in love with it.

MEETING MIDWAY | Teacher Interviews

INTERVIEWS What made you fall in love with your subject? Jaydip Sir: I didn’t “fall in love,” but I realized that my colleagues , schoolmates, seniors, and some of my juniors hated Chemistry. And I always found that Chemistry was interesting and it was simple. I used to teach them in the hostel, and each time they would say, “oh, this is easy! But I didn’t understand in the class”. That could be for one of two reasons: either they didn’t pay attention or they didn’t like that subject. It is not that I fell in love with chemistry. My love was art, and I still love art. I wanted to be an artist, but I didn't become an artist. So, I took this as my challenge. I believe that most Chemistry and Mathematics teachers are, apparently, rude stern-looking, and their body language is very unwelcome, which makes the subject unwanted. I don't think Chemistry is a bad subject. Chemistry is everywhere; it is in your toiletry box, and you should be interested in what you're applying to your skin. Is it good? Is it bad? Will it have any longterm effects? My inspiration is that I want my children, my next generation, to love Chemistry. Pramod Sir: There were so many reasons. I started playing in grade 5. I joined one of my favorite coaches working in one of the academies in Calcutta; he appreciated my work, and my health related fitness component was good so I joined football. From there, I got motivated and started my career in football. I played for the Santosh Trophy, in the highest national tournament in football. Right now, I’m doing my PhD in physical education.

MEETING MIDWAY | Teacher Interviews

INTERVIEWS What made you fall in love with your subject? Amit Sir: When I realized Mathematics is everywhere around us. Especially the real-life applications of this subject. Mathematics is the one subject that exists within all other subjects as well.

Estelle Ma’am: I value languages, and I love languages. I come from a family where many languages are spoken– Italian, Spanish, Arabic, French, English, Serbo-Croatian. I'm always curious to understand what people say when I don't know the language. My pleasure in teaching French is equipping students with the skill to speak my mother tongue, and it is always an absolute pleasure to see students progress and reply to me in French. That makes my heart beat a little faster.

Ila ma'am: I love Economics because of its potential for real-life application. Once I started studying Economics, I could relate everything around me to the theories I learned. That developed an interest in me and encouraged me to delve deeper into it. In Humanities, when we were students, there weren't many challenging subjects. So, I found Eco was a good, challenging subject, and of course, my professors made the concepts simple to understand.

MEETING MIDWAY | Teacher Interviews

INTERVIEWS WHAT MAKES YOU LOVE THE PATHWAYS COMMUNITY?

Sudha ma'am: I like most because Pathways has a warm and friendly environment that we don't find anywhere else. I have worked with so many institutions, and Pathways has something different. The warmth of the children, the staff, the faculty-- it's like a second home. I think it's something different and I enjoy working here.

What are you reading right now? Vaidehi ma'am: I’m reading “Klara and the Sun” by Kazuo Ishiguro. It is one of the top ten books suggested by the Times.

What part of art making do you always look forward to? Shally Ma’am: I like to do mixed media works because you can experiment and innovate. I'm always ready to take on the challenge of experimenting with different mediums.

MEETING MIDWAY | Teacher Interviews

When did you play your first tournament? Pramod Sir: I played my first national tournament in 2002-- under-17 at Goa. I enjoyed it a lot because it was the first time I played in a tournament where the competition level was very high. From there, I got motivated to play at a higher level. I participated in the Under-19 national tournament, the Under-21 tournament, the Federation Cup, and the Santosh Trophy. The ISL (Indian Super League) was not yet established during my journey. That's why I moved to the education side; I completed my Bachelor's and Master's, cleared my NET exam for assistant professor, and joined Pathways World School Aravali. This is my ninth year working here.

INTERVIEWS NIHAL W.

DP PSYCHOLOGY TEACHER

Question: How often do you see schema influencing social connections?

Very often. Let’s take for example participating in a social situation: you are with a group of friends, and suddenly your group plans to go out together for dinner or a party. And it was just a certain plan. If you are an extrovert or an outgoing person, and you're very comfortable with that part, you will probably go, because you don't find it difficult. You don’t perceive it as something that is out of your comfort zone where you will have to take an extra step or make an extra effort. However, introverts or people who might have had negative experiences struggle a lot more to get into social groups. So at times you might have seen, even in our school, some people just fit in, and some people have a fixed group. But some people are in multiple groups and they may not be connected to these groups forever; they keep hopping from one group to another. That could be because of good reasons– because they are comfortable with that situation– or maybe because of some other reasons. Conversely, there are some individuals who don't get along with anyone. Question: Does social media impact empathy? Yes and no. Social media can impact empathy, but it depends. Let's take an example. In our generation, relationships are very common and they come and go. When in a relationship, we tend to stalk our partners on social media. We will probably use that information to put together a good experience in the future. For example, if you saw that your partner likes a certain dish, you will probably choose a restaurant which serves that dish for your next dinner together. Now, let’s take an example to explore the other side of the argument: you are going through a phase of detachment or a breakup. Now, although you have empathy and feelings for the other individual, you might stalk your previous partner after a longer period of time and find that you might not feel the same connection with that partner anymore. Why? Since you have already moved on. It changes from situation to situation. FULL INTERVIEW AT: HTTPS://YOUTU.BE/J437BRC3YJI MEETING MIDWAY | Teacher Interviews :

SSEEAARRCCHH

W WOORRDD

Five to seven, Hypothesis, Valentine, Field of inquiry, To what extent, Euler form

LIST OF WORDS TO FIND:

MEETING MIDWAY | Word Search

MEETING MIDWAY | Memes

IF PATHWAYS FAMILY HAD INSTAGRM

MEETING MIDWAY | If Pathways Had Instagram

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST'S MARCH IN DIPLOMA PROGRAMME

SPOTIFY CODE

EXPRIENCES DP 1 Vidhi Channa The first semester of DP1 was nothing short of a tumultuous and an exhilarating experience. From having our first in-class experiences in around 2 years, to celebrating events again, to writing exams, the semester left me with a different feeling of not only pressure, but excitement for the things to come. Meeting my friends and seeing people after years made me enjoy school much more than I did online, and leaving the confines of my bedroom allowed me to focus more, although I did miss eating home food. Overall, the first semester of school was a sudden and drastic change from MYP but also showed me the various possibilities in DP.

Ojas Katiyar When teachers say DP is a marathon, it truly is. While the pressure hasn’t gotten to me yet, I understand the sentiment behind it. With the never-ending submissions and need to present quality work, the strain is at the highest level yet. In spirit with keeping an optimistic mind, I’ll be talking about one of the many progressive facts which the diploma programme offers.

The Diploma Programme’s diversity is one of the most beneficial aspects of it. DP is rightly said to be the gateway to college life; we are finally able to go in-depth into the subjects we thought we knew. While we are still scratching the surface, we are learning large chunks of content instead of honing only our skills (as was the case in the MYP) in writing, investigating and presenting. Such an experience makes us far more informed when it comes to making decisions about college courses. Personally, I was dead set on taking history or economics, being inclined towards the liberal arts. But the diploma programme has amplified my interest and made me contemplate a career in other subjects, such as physics or mathematics. The diploma programme in its entirety is justly called a holistic programme; I couldn’t find any aspect in which it lacks.

Hardik Puri I didn’t have any goals this semester. One thing I felt is that DP is very different from MYP in terms of how concepts are taught or even what is taught. I felt that the gap between MYP5 and DP1 is too great. Due to this, I did struggle a little in my classes but somewhat got the hang of it by the end of the semester. DP is a more thorough and challenging task; however, I like the challenge. I chose Math AA HL, which is particularly challenging. However, because it was challenging, I wanted to improve. Overall, this semester has been fun, and I am looking forward to semester 2.

Alima Shala Frankly, DP has been a crazy ride. Some days you want to leap off a cliff or just remain in the art room so that Shally ma’am and Ashwani sir can heart-warm you. The move from MYP to DP was a significant change because it’s a completely different experience. The first semester was so turbulent, and the ironic part is that it doesn’t get any better. However, I feel your friends and teachers make it a wonderful and memorable journey. My humorous Global Politics classes with Ashwani Sir are just another debate session of movie suggestions and "learning political concepts, not Indian politics''. Additionally, if on any given day you don’t feel like coming to school, visiting Guru sir’s class will 100 percent wake you up because you can’t get the "needed improvement" on his daily class interaction sheet, red text, and attention-seeking. I hope this journey gets better for all of us. I thank all my supportive teachers and Vinay bhiya for welcoming us to this building, and I thank my friends for surviving it and trying their best to not sink in.

Anonymous

Even though we’re halfway through Grade 11, DP still feels completely alien to me. Everything appears to be a mess, and I have honestly never felt more vulnerable and astray than I have these last few months. Getting to grips with the never-ending cascade of work and commitments from different spheres of life has been really tough. Thankfully, I think I’m finally figuring everything out. Some part of me is thankful for this DP ‘shock’ because it has forced me to self-analyze and process my emotions in a way I should have long ago. At the risk of sounding cliché, I actually do feel like I’ve grown as a person. I really think a big picture is materializing for me, and maybe, just maybe, things will sort themselves out soon. Not just for me, but for everyone else going through something similar :)

Krish Jindal The transition from the middle years programs to the diploma programme was a very tough one. The difficulty in both academics and workload increased exponentially with time, and resulted in an utter shutdown of my mental faculties. However, near the end of the hellish semester, the DP programme was suddenly more understandable.

Anoushka Goyal Moving from middle to senior school felt a whole lot like getting on a train: I went from tunnel to tunnel, exploring my potential in almost every field there is. The faculty encouraged me to take part in intriguing events, per se the TOK buzz team. Along with reaching out to students with diverse opinions, I familiarised myself with fields of inquiries that I hope will continually add to my life portfolio.

Mauli Sood

If I would have to sum up my experience in DP in one word, it would be “exhilarating” Once we stepped into Takshshila, leaving Bhaskara behind, a sense of responsibility comes into our subconscious and it is the driving force for us, students, to be able to conduct ourselves in the right manner. Since the beginning of the term every teacher we spoke to, our college advisors, and our coordinator warned us that ' this time would never come back' this set up some kind of continuously ticking virtual alarm within me which assisted me in having a fruitful semester 1. I personally tried to work as hard as I can and get involved in as many activities as I could even though some of them were not in my forte- this aspect made me learn how to be a risk-taker and give a fair shot to everything that comes my way. As a boarder, I got to see how restrictions even though are conventionally rebelled against play a vital role in keeping the community we reside in safe and comfortable for all its members. I look forward to the upcoming semester as I will try and focus most of my time on developing myself every step of the way and I am ready to accept every challenge that comes daunting towards me.

OUR TEAM

Guru Charan. Kumar

Ada Sethi

Teacher in charge

Head of Magazine

Anushka Roy

Ishita Goel

Content

Alima Shala

Myra Jain

Design

Jiye Park Design

OUR TEAM

Aanya Garg

Vidhi Channa

Outreach

Mauli Sood

Gaurvi Sharma

Photography

Savya Bindal

Nikita Raina

Daksh Tuteja

Marketing

MEETING MID-WAY A SENIOR SCHOOL PUBLICATION 2021-2022