IN THEIR OWN WORDS A STUDENT’S VOICE Personal Project BY HILARY LAU, GRADE 10
Growing up being very passionate about art, particularly drawing and doodling, this year, I was given the perfect opportunity to extend and execute these skills as well as my creativity. Being my final year of the MYP program, I was required to plan, create and reflect on a year- long task, the Personal Project. Without hesitation, I knew what I wanted to do, which was to write and illustrate my own children’s book.
“The Hunt Around Hong Kong” features my dog, Machi, and guided by her determination, she makes her way to various landmarks in Hong Kong in search of her toy bone.
Knowing that my style of art appeals to younger kids, selecting my target audience of ages 3-6 was pretty easy. However, deciding on what to write about was more challenging. While browsing through numerous children’s books for inspiration, I noticed that there was a lack of books focusing on specific cultures. For this reason, I thought it would be perfect to teach kids, especially kids in Hong Kong, about the city we live in through visuals. And in addition to that, the book would exhibit my personal values and the inspiration of
my incredibly loving, happy-go-lucky canine companion. It also expresses my identity as an international school student living in Hong Kong. These aspects would ultimately create a unique and successful book that I would be proud of.
Although the illustrations and text in my book are minimal, working on this project was motivating and extremely rewarding. Not only did I get to do what I loved, but I also got to interact with new people throughout this process by sharing with them my art and writing. Overall, this project has definitely allowed me to express myself in a whole new way, making it a very worthwhile experience.
The IB Middle Years Programme culminates in a “personal project”. Students choose their own projects and plan and implement them as a capstone achievement of their MYP experience. For her MYP Personal Project, 10th grader Hilary Lau wrote a children’s book.
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