International Tutors' Magazine February 2019 | Page 4

INTERNATIONAL TUTORS’ MAGAZINE Dear Readers, Welcome to the February issue of the IT Magazine 2018-2019, the first issue of 2019 and the first issue in this Year of the Pig! I, the whole International Tutor team, and all the hard working students who helped to put this issue together wish you all very happy new years! These holidays are often times for reflection. We think back on the past year and reflect on what went well, what went badly, and how we were as people, friends, sons, daughters, parents, teachers, students, and global citizens. Did you achieve the things you wanted to achieve? Did you try your best to be the best person you can be? We also tend to use the new year to think about the year to come. What are your goals, desires, and hopes? What would you like to improve about yourself? What kind of person do you want to become in the next year? These kinds of reflections, not only about ourselves but about the whole world around us, can be very confusing, but they can also be very rewarding. This issue is a collection of reflections. Student contributors reflect on a variety of different things, from personal things to worldwide issues, in a variety of forms, from critical to creative. Aamenah Khurram reflects on her engagement in CLE’s first ever Cultural Talent Show, while Christine Yip Hiu Nam thinks about her experiences studying and interning abroad and applies her self-reflection to help guide other students in “Letter to Confused University Students”. Lin Myat Kyu also reminds us of how we can use our past experiences to help shape our futures in her creative poem, “Investment”. And in “Popular Culture of 2018”, Ella Ho takes us through a highlight tour of the events, movements, and ideas that defined the past year. I hope, dear readers, that you can find some new insights or shared experiences within these pieces. I also hope that after you read, you can learn something about reflective practices and apply it in your own lives. Spend a little time to think about what you learned in the past, and make a promise to use it to improve the future. Sincerely, Noga Zaborowski EDITOR’S NOTE