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In our anxiety-related group context, effective coordination and supportive strategies could at times significantly benefit from communication. I am someone who makes it a point to express myself without disdain or insult, giving others room to share their stories and ideas. After engaging in active listening, I developed insights into my teammates' perspectives and emotions, which further established our connection and enabled us to deal with anxiety empathetically. We organised and sustained our discussions in applications such as group chats and shared documents. This open channel of communication worked to prevent misperception, as well as helped to develop trust in order to make participants comfortable telling us their story.

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Citizenship was present in the way we supported each other and built a respectful, inclusive group environment. I made sure to treat everyone’s contributions with kindness and encouraged a sense of community. We created ground rules to ensure that everyone felt safe sharing, and we promoted compassion and understanding. By demonstrating empathy and responsibility, we built a space where we could all work together toward a common cause, which was reducing anxiety

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We needed to work together to get to the same goal that we shared: develop tools to cope with anxiety. Everyone had their own strengths to bring from personal experience, research skills, and emotional intelligence to everyday interactions as a supportive community. I was a helper as I helped plan group discussion and brain storm and I also supported others by cheering them on and writing proto scripts and power points for my other members to revise, edit and update. We all had our areas of strength that we would work in, which made us super efficient and effective. For instance, when one led mindfulness exercises, I helped develop a weekly mental wellness calendar. Jointly, we developed

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Using creative thinking allowed us to develop solutions that went beyond traditional methods. Instead of relying only on generic advice, we brainstormed original activities and tools tailored to our group. Expanding on current ideas that exist and making them more realistic and helpful to our target audience. These creative approaches made our solutions more engaging and personal, helping individuals feel more connected and supported. Thinking outside the box made a noticeable difference in how we approached anxiety and turned our group work into something both meaningful and enjoyable.

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Critical thinking helped us assess which strategies were realistic, helpful, and backed by evidence. We researched mental health resources and reviewed articles to ensure our methods were informed and appropriate. When a strategy didn’t seem to work well, we discussed why and made adjustments rather than abandoning the effort. Being able to analyze, question, and refine our ideas helped us stay focused and improve our solutions over time, as well as reasearching credible sources and collecting ideas and information

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Overall, working in a group to create solutions for combating anxiety allowed me to strengthen key skills in communication, collaboration, creative thinking, critical thinking, and citizenship. Through open and honest communication, we built a supportive environment where everyone felt safe to share their ideas and experiences. Collaboration allowed us to combine our different strengths, resulting in well-rounded and thoughtful solutions. Creative thinking helped us explore unique methods such as music, art, and journaling, making our approach more engaging and personal. Critical thinking enabled us to evaluate the effectiveness of our strategies, adjust our plans when needed, and make informed decisions based on research and feedback. Lastly, by practicing good citizenship, we created an inclusive, respectful space where each member felt valued and empowered. This experience not only helped us develop practical tools to manage anxiety but also showed the importance of working together to support mental well-being. It reminded me that addressing mental health challenges isn’t something we have to face alone—by using our individual and collective strengths, we can create meaningful and lasting solutions. This project helped me grow both personally and socially, and I now feel more confident using these core skills in future group settings.

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This expo was a great learning experience and helped our group develop the pitching and public speaking skills that are vital in day-to-day life in adulthood. Throughout the expo, we had various interactions, and very nice parents approached us and asked us about our idea. We were able to explain and pitch our ideas to the general public confidently. One extremely unexpected success was the ability to use the TV screen, which immensely helped with our ability to market with everyone in the room. We attracted many more people and also got ourselves into the top 3. This experience is something I will carry with me forever, as I really developed over the period of one night and learnt many lessons that I will cherish forever.

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Maybe the most revealing moment of the expo took place in the middle of our presentation. We were explaining our product, the Anxiety Ring, and one of the judges interrupted, "Why not just wear an Apple Watch?" For a moment, I was taken aback. It was a tough question, and it was the kind of thing we knew people would ask. It felt like the whole world was hanging in the balance on how we reacted to it.

That could have derailed us or gotten us panicked, but it did not. Hugo stepped in and reacted firmly. He asserted that Apple Watches are loaded with features and notifications that pummel you all day long, and sometimes they can get you more stressed out than less. He clarified that the Anxiety Ring was to be the opposite, simple, targeted, and made with only one purpose in mind: to help people reduce stress at the workplace. It does not beep all the time or try to do everything. It's just there to track signs of stress and make the wearer feel more relaxed and assured.

The way that Hugo did it really made it clear that we had worked hard on our idea.

That experience really left a mark on me. It wasn't about responding to the question, it was about proving that we truly felt what we were doing. We weren't just selling something. We were trying to change the way people think about mental health and technology. After that, our whole group relaxed. I could see everyone standing a little taller, speaking with more passion, and truly believing what they said.

What could have been a stressful point proved to make our group stronger. Instead of letting the question upset us, we used it as a way to prove we were ready. We didn't just give a solid answer, had a good function, had a real function that our product had, and we understood what the issue was. From that point on, our presentation went more smoothly, and we were more focused on the judges and audience.

Looking back, I learned a lot from the experience. I realised that you can be pushed around and still learn and grow, especially if you've set your head straight beforehand and know what you stand for. I also learned to appreciate team work, Hugo's calm response kept the rest of us focused. It taught me that regardless of how good an idea is, it won't work if you are not able to explain it well and then convince others of it confidently.

In the end, the judge's query did not discourage us, it gave us a chance to thrive. The experience was all we needed to confirm that we were not just prepared for the expo, but we were also passionate about our idea and ready to defend it.