March was a tiring, eventful, and nerve-racking month. I have participated in many events inside and outside the school, engaging and experiencing many new things.

Ever since I successfully joined the school badminton team, I have been participating in tournaments every weekend, attending every practice, and initiating team bonding and creating new friends in the club. The practices are usually held twice a week right after school in the school gym. Our badminton team practice together as a whole; we go through our usual routines, gather for meetings about tournaments, and play against many different players. Since we have about 50 players that made the team this year, we all get to practice against many people and gain experience for the upcoming tournaments. So far, I have already participated in two tournaments: The Brooks tournament on the 22nd and the Home tournament (Strathmore) on the 29th. Players play in 5 different categories separated into another 3 different levels: Boys singles, girls singles, boys doubles, girls doubles, mixed doubles, and in junior, intermediate, and senior levels. 

I played intermediate mixed doubles for the Brooks tournament and got 4th place. Brooks is a town similar in size to Strathmore, located about an hour and a half southeast. Junior, intermediate, and senior player games were held in different schools, however; the local elementary, junior, and high school. We left Strathmore to head to Brooks at 6 am on that day to make it by 8 am. The intermediate mixed doubles players I played against in the tournament were good, and both my partner and I had a hard time leading the games in our desire and control. However, we got a final result that was way better than both of us expected in the end. On the way back, the bus stopped by Wendy’s before we headed back to Strathmore. We prepared for the tournament not only by practicing the sport, but also by preparing foods and drinks. On the night before the Brooks Tournament, a few of my friends and I prepared rice balls and sandwiches for the next day. We did it together for over 2 hours and made lots for everyone. It was such a fun and great time, and I enjoyed eating rice balls again after a long time.

Strathmore High School held the tournament the following weekend on the 29th, and I played in the junior boys’ doubles category with a friend. My friend and I had been practicing together more than anyone else, and we were ready to go against the opponents. However, we only won one game and lost two. But in the end, we both agreed that we did our best, and it was a final result that we both settled on. The next tournament is on the 5th of April in a city called Lethbridge, about two hours south of Strathmore. I will be playing in the junior mixed doubles category with a different friend. 

On the 6th of March, I participated in the 2025 New Horizon Conference in Churchill, a town an hour away from Strathmore. It is a leadership event where students from all around southern Alberta come together to bond, join in group activities, and listen to great speakers and listen to their life stories; something similar to ASLC ( the massive event Strathmore high school is hosting this year, with stduents from all around the province gather for 3 days to participate in games, build connections and listen to speakers) but on a smaller scale. Since Strathmore High School is hosting it this year in May, I thought this conference would be a great chance for me to experience and see how other leaders around Alberta handle the massive population, organize the students and events, and what the experience would be like as the participant. The conference was held by the school’s student council. They guided us through the schedule for the day, the activities, and their goals at the end of the day. There were about 200 participants, and the spirit leaders from the hosting high school divided us into groups of 20. The conference started off with a presentation by a university student speaker. It was about her life as an entrepreneur, and the steps, the emotions, and the challenges that she faced through the process. It was such a great presentation, and it moved all of our hearts. Her message was that “Success doesn’t happen overnight”, and that we just have to keep on trying and working towards our ultimate goal. After that, we started our bonding and socializing activities, led by a person from Edmonton who is in charge of these leadership events all around Canada. We played many introductory activities, and participants went to find a random person in the same hall to play these introductory games. For example, asking open-ended questions, talking about yourself for a specific amount of time, and so on. We would have lunch, then continue on a similar schedule with different speakers and activities. It was such a joyful and exciting time, and I enjoyed every second of the event. I made new friends and formed new bonds that helped me socialize and understand the environment.  

In the third quarter of this school year, I am taking food studies intro for one quarter. In this course, I studied hygiene, nutrition and vitamins, and cooking terms and skills. I also cook and bake. So far, I have made cookies, bread loaves, buscuits, vegetable soup, muffins, and lots more. It has been fun and I made, again, many new friends and bonds. I might continue taking this course next year, as it is a chill and enjoyable class, a break from all of the focused, important courses.  

On the 15th of March, the dorm organized a snow-tubing trip at the Olympic Park in Calgary. We all rented big snow-tubes and sled all sorts of slopes. We slid down alone, in pairs, spinning fast, and all sorts of ways. The person in charge of each slope would push us down all these ways so that the ride would become more fun. It was a fun but really cold and icy experience. We were all also excited for the upcoming ski trip in about a month. 

The 19th of March was the day that the whole school was involved in creating the lip dup video. The lip dup is an activity that Strathmore High does, where the whole school together films one big video that goes around the school areas, following the beat of the music. The cameraman started at the entrance of the school where the student council, spirit leaders, and international students gathered for the introduction of the video, followed by the dance class members, the badminton club, the English teachers, and so on. This continued throughout the video and in the hallways and different areas of the school. As the cameraman approaches, we all face the camera and do a little planned action towards the camera. The song used this time was “Shut up and dance”; a catchy and energetic pop song. This was the first time in 13 years that the school had organized this big event. It felt like a great way for the whole school and the students and teachers to join in for an activity, and I thought many schools should do something like this many times. We had a re-take on the 27th to fix some minor issues. The video will soon be posted on the school website and on YouTube for the public to see. 

Spirit week this month was between March 17 and 21. Since this week was near Saint Patrick’s Day, the theme for the week was something related to it. We had a green clothes day on Monday, T-useday, Wednesday was sunglass day, Thursday was jersey day, and finally, Friday was floral day. Not only did the spirit leaders and the members of the student council join in, but students in the school joined in too. I participated on the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The school tries to get students to participate in school activities and engage with other students and teachers.