Discovering Your True Passion: A Key Ingredient for a Successful Y6 Exhibition

As a part of the Year 6 PYP Exhibition, one of the key elements is choosing the topic. Some people may find that easy, and some may find it more of a challenge. However, if there is one thing that everyone should have in common when choosing their topic, that is that they are passionate about it. In this post, Mr Jackson will be telling you his experience with how he found his passion for the exhibition which could then possibly help lead to finding yours. He will also explain why having a passion is a key ingredient to a successful Exhibition.

Throughout my life, I have always found myself as someone who has been different from the rest. Someone who stood out. In primary school I was never the most academic student, nor am I now. I was always that student who was behind in class. The student who didn't start memorising their times tables until secondary school. The student who was behind with their reading. I was the student who took extra time to process their learning. At the time when I was in Year 6, it was really frustrating for me because of the fact that other students where ahead of me, while I was still having to catch up. However, I found that I turned that frustration into a curiosity. I asked myself, why is it that I am taking longer to process my learning? Why is it that I so behind in class? But I then asked my self this; am I really that behind? What if I learned better using other methods of learning? Of course this was 6 Years ago, when I was starting my Exhibition process so at the time I thought to myself, how I can turn this genuine interest into a Exhibition topic? Having to find out why and how everyone learns differently was a big question to ask, maybe too big, but the reason why I wanted to find out was because I could relate to that personally. I was passionate about it. Therefore I did my Y6 Exhibition on learning styles and how everyone learns differently.

Now you may be asking, why is it important to choose a topic that your interested in for the Y6 PYP Exhibition? Well ask yourself this: Are you going to be motivated by learning something you are interested in or something that you are doing just for the sake of easiness and because everyone else is doing it? By choosing something you are genuinely interested in and passionate about, or even better, something you can relate to, you will be naturally interested and therefore more eager to find out more about it. This will help you with your research process. Not only that, when it comes to the final Exhibition day, you will have to showcase your learning. I am sure you would you rather be talking or presenting about something you are interested in and passionate about. Nevertheless, the audience would rather see someone who is interested in what they are talking about rather than someone who looks bored and doesn't want to be there. All of the reasons mentioned above are key elements to a successful Exhibition. It all starts with a passion.

You may be wondering now, how do I know if it is a passion? Ask yourself this, do you think you can remember three key facts on your topic six years later? Let me tell you this, if I asked my peers who were in my Y6 class about shark finning, they wouldn't be able to tell me one fact about sharks off the top of their heads. You see, they did their Exhibition on shark finning, however, if you choose a topic you are truly interested in, you'll remember the key facts for life. The reason; because you are passionate about it.