Explain a situation where you have had an ethical decision to make. Discuss how you weighed up the values involved in that decision, the decision you made, and the consequences of your action.
Our values isn’t something we were born with, it’s something we acquire daily based either on our own actions and decisions or the environment we live in. My values from today may differ a lot from few years ago. The biggest change Happened to me after coming to New Zealand and realising how far this country progressed ecology wise. I learned what impact fashion industry I was working in has on our planet. Once I got the knowledge of how things are behind the scenes, what conditions people make fabrics and other supplies in, how much land and water it takes to produce one piece of garment, I knew I don’t want to contribute to this problem anymore and I have to find an alternative. I started making clothes out of fabrics and clothes I found in op shops. This way I ended up with new authentic clothes I could wear or sell, rescued old garments going to a landfill and saved water by not getting new fabrics. We’re facing ethical dilemmas everyday. It’s our daily choices and habits that shape the person we become. Do we choose something cheaper knowing it won’t last that required a big amount of resources, do we throw our recycling in the bin because we can’t be boThered cleaning it, do we throw away a lot of food because we don’t feel like it and didn’t plan our shopping well? We can’t always live just in the moment but have to think about consequences of our actions and how it will affect future generations.
Describe how your culture has influenced your values and identity.
I come from Ukraine, a country with a very long history which main values also changed over the time, influenced by the countries it was controlled by. Main value that stayed unchanged is the strive for independence and freedom. My country, being a part of Soviet Union, adapted ideas of communism that in my opinion taught the society to be respectful, generous and hardworking but on the other hand it made people humble, content with what they have and not being able to ask for more from life. This mood transferred over the generations and you can still notice these treats in some people including myself. Despite of all of us being a part of one huge ecosystem, what really makes our life unique and memorable is our individuality and being able to add value to this system. So I’m still trying to learn how to fit into this modern individualistic world.
Evaluate your strengths and limitations in terms of your learning and career development.
First thing that come to my mind when I think of my strength is independence and being able to work without strict guidelines and constant clarifications of next actions. However it comes with a consequence of having less communication and building stronger relationship with whoever i work with. I would call myself and action-oriented person and I find it so much easier to just do the thing and learn in the process rather than spending hours thinking of how to do it and why. It sometimes also can result into bad communication and difficulty in trying to describe my work.
Identify which of your strengths might help you in your learning journey and how they intersect with learning obstacles.
I think my independence might be helpful in the learning process, by being able to find the information I need to solve the problem I need to have. I’d also like to believe that I have good problem solving skills.
Share an example from your experience of where you were trying to work productively with others, but there was resistance or tension. Discuss the strategies you used at that time, how effective they were, and your reflections on what other strategies you would try now and why.
Back at university I had to do a fashion collection collaborating with another designer. I found that our approaches to work were different and we were working with different speed and attitude. Because we were taking part in a competition I wanted us to succeed and present something great with good quality. The deadlines were close and half of the planned job hasn’t been accomplished. So I decided to talk to her and understand what was the thing stopping her, I persuaded that the benefits and opportunities after completing this collection will be worse putting a bit more effort at that point of time. Eventually we made the collection on time and made the competition.