Quarter 1 Reflection - Creativity

SGA

The Student Government Association was very busy this quarter. As Communication’s Officer I’ve had to make a ton of posters promoting SGA and sports and drama events. It’s been a lot of fun, and I’ve gained a lot more experience on digital design as well as on paper. I’ve also gained a bit of experience on how business meeting are run and how meeting minutes work.
The first SGA event of the year was the Back-to-school event. We decided on a movie night this year, playing Shrek 2. My first promotional poster was a digital one made with Photoshop and posted on Facebook.

The next SGA even was a spirit day which we had themed as Nerd day. This time I made several small A4 posters and put them up around the school as well as employed the help of some of the reps to make digital posters to post on Facebook.

Our next spirit day was in support of the various SAISA teams and the senior drama production competition. This time it was Halloween themed and I employed the same methods of advertising as last time, with the addition of sandwich boards to use as walking, talking, advocating advertising. I think that the sandwich board method worked best as they were very flashy and unorthodox so it stuck in people’s memories and reminded them to show their support. For this spirit day we also made it a contest for the grade who had the most people dressed up, and the prize would be a mini party with cakes and candy. This spirit day was by far more successful in terms of people who dressed up, most probably because of the advertising and prize, not to mention the fun theme.

Next, I made a lot of posters (both digital and handmade) promoting the sports matches and meets, and the drama production, as well as some good luck posters for the players and performers from the SGA.

One of my other duties as Communication’s Officer includes taking the meeting minutes every week for the SGA meetings during lunch on Wednesdays. By getting advice from my dad, the internet and the other SGA members, I was able to make my own template to summarize the discussions during the meetings and to efficiently give out jobs and assignments.

Drawing club

This quarter I used up a lot of my drawing club time making posters for the SGA. I have not really been able to fulfil my goal of trying to improve my drawing skills. This is something that I definitely need to work on next quarter and semester.

Private piano lessons

I forgot to put this in my DP1 goals at the beginning of the year, but I have been taking piano lessons since last year at school. My goal for this year is to play a piece completely without marking the notes on the paper or the keys on the piano. So far, I have improved a little bit by not needing to write down the notes for the treble clef but I still struggle to remember the bass.

Quarter 1 Reflection - Action

This quarter was very eventful in terms of action. I joined the SAISA Girls' U19 Volleyball Team. I had been on the team last year, and so my main focus this time around was improving my individual and teamwork skills. My serving and receiving were already pretty consistent, so I mostly wanted to focus on my spiking and being more aggressive, which I have a bit of a problem with in all sports. In terms of teamwork, I wanted to work a bit more on combos with the setters mostly, but the other member as well. One combo that we worked on a bit was a quick, where the setter sets a ball quickly to the spiker, to surprise the other team. I think we had a pretty good team this year in terms of teamwork as well as our awesome powerhouse captain Greta. One problem that came up a lot was support for the team, and so as my combined roles of team member and SGA Communications Officer, I made a few posters in support of our team and to encourage people to come watch our matches.

The SGA Spirit Coordinators made a promotional video, with video from one of our practice session, to play during assembly and on Facebook to spread the word even more.

Later on, we made our way to Mumbai, India for the SAISA tournament. I think that this was the time when our team bonded the most, through sharing cheering and chants and junk food, through dance parties and slaps on the butts, and through winning the entire tournament undefeated. Our toughest matches were probably the last two, especially the second last one against Dhaka. We were close to losing and making silly and avoidable mistakes, and we fought and shouted a bit at each other before our coach intervened. That was when we decided that winning did not matter unless we were having fun and enjoying being part of the team, and through our more relaxed outlook we won!

(Image credit: Diana Vargas)

This was probably my favourite SAISA to date, not just because we won, but because I really felt part of the team and genuinely enjoyed the sport and everyone’s company. I can’t wait until next year!

Quarter 1 Reflection - Service

The first quarter of the year, in terms of service, started out well. Service sign up was on August 21, and I was trying to branch out from my previous service groups and try something new. I eventually signed up for the Alzheimer Service group with 3 other students. The beginning of the semester was a bit confusing as we had a small group and no supervisor, but these issues were soon sorted out when Ms. Lenk became our supervisor and we worked in conjunction with her sixth grade service group. This expanded our group while at the same time raising awareness on Alzheimer's disease through the younger students.

Our first service session with the 6th graders went well. We were trying to see how well we worked as a service group and we were having a test run to see how to interact and treat the patients at the Alzheimer's Center. The rest of the sessions with the 6th graders went this way, with the addition of memory games and Alzheimer related activities and informational session. I learnt a lot about the disease and how to interact with both the patients and the 6th graders.

Students working (Photo credit: Anjleen Hannak)

Memory posters (Photo credit: Anjleen Hannak)

Alzheimer Service group (Photo credit: Anjleen Hannak)

Our first trip to the Alzheimer's Center was preceded by a planning session, where we brainstormed activities with the 6th graders and told them what to do (protocol & how to make a proper introduction) and what to bring. We hoped that the kids could apply these instructions, not only to Alzheimer's but also to the entire service program and the MYP and DP as a whole. This would give them a more global perspective as well, as this can be used in life outside of school. Unfortunately, for the first visit of the year, the younger students were unable to come with us to the center because they were denied permission to do so.

The visit was on October 15. Since I was the only new member I was introduced to the patients and we interacted and made puzzles with them to break the ice and to get used to each other. Afterwards we played Pass the Parcel and had a dance party (where the parcels and the music selection was organized by Anjleen, our service leader, before the visit). Granted, some of the patients could not move around a lot or very well, so the dancing was pretty limited, but everyone seemed to enjoy themselves all the same.

(Photo credit: Sonali Fernando)

(Photo credit: Sonali Fernando)

(Photo credit: Bella Grieve-Darcy)

(Photo credit: Bella Grieve-Darcy)

(Photo credit: Bella Grieve-Darcy)

Something I need to improve on is definetly updating my blog more often after sessions and not as a one huge post at the end of each quarter. Because of SAISA Volleyball I was unable to attend a session and a visit, but I think that this was a good start to the service aspect of CAS. 

IB Orientation Trip

In September of 2014, the DP1 students all set out to Bordelands River Camp in Kitulgala for three days. The purpose of the trip was to get to know our fellow classmates better, as we would be working with each other for the next two years, and to build on our ladership and teamwork skills. Its other purpose was to get us out of our comfort zones and face up to the challenges presented. Since I had already been to Borderlands before in Grade 9 for Week Without Walls (a week long school trip), I did not find it as challenging as the last time, but it was just as fun. During the trip we were exposed to components of the CAS program as well as ToK (Theory of Knowledge) and we could connect the activites we did back to our school subjects.

The first day, we jumped straight into the action and "took the plunge". After a long bus ride, we were given a lecture on river safety measures. By then we were almost asleep, before we were given a rude awakening and pulled into the river, then taken canyoning and rafting. Canyoning was just as unpleasant as I remember it being - with maybe even more leeches this time around. Here I was challenged when having to jump from high places down into questionably safe waters. However, it wasn't that hard - all it takes is one stupid, reckless thought to jump. Rafting was much better this time around, mostly because we did not capsize again. I must admit that I was kind of sad that I did not have another epic story to tell my grandchildren, but I suppose only one capsized raft story will have to suffice. ~Action

Rafting prep (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

Ha, we look like warriors waiting for battle (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

Random river circle dancing! (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

One of our guides (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Rafting (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

So majestic (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Canyoning prep (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Canyoning (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

Epic canyoning pic (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

The second day started with warm ups and a few teamwork exercises before we went on a hike to a cave, then to the waterfall to absail. In the cave, we learned about the history of our surrounding environment and did a few activities in ToK and art such as making artworks using only materials found in our environment (like Andy Goldsworthy). After that we went up the mountain to the waterfall and absailed to the pool at the bottom. When we went to Borderlands in Grade 9, I really enjoyed this part of the trip and it was a lot of fun doing absailing again. ~Creativity

Teamwork exercises (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Learning about the history of the cave (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Meditating (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

At the cave (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

Inside the cave (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

View from the top (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

At the edge (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

"I got this" (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

"No, don't cut the rope!" (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

"Yay! This is fun!" (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

"Oh my golly goodness, I'm going to die" (Photo courtesy of Mr. Lockwood)

On the third and final day, we went out around Borderlands in groups to have interviews with some of the people living in or around Kitulgala. The language barrier was a bit of a problem, but we were able to ask one of our guides to act as translator. The method of questioning and protocol when asking questions had to be carefully planned before hand, so as not to offend our interviewee. Our interviewee was a tuk tuk driver who will lose a lot of his business from a dam being built on the river the next year. By the river being blocked, many tourists will stop coming to Kitulgala to go rafting on the river, meaning less customers for our interviewee. This change in the environment will also impact a lot of the community also dependent on the river. Our interviewee and other members of the community have takn to protesting against the dam being built. They also have a Facebook page called "Damned - Save the River Kelani". ~Service

Overall the trip was a great experience, and I met a lot of the new people and learned a bit more about the people I already knew, as well as about myself. I really hope I can go absailing again.

Class of 2016 (Photo courtesy of Borderlands Ltd.)

A few weeks after the trip, we made a presentation during assembly about what happened and what we had learned while we were away. My group also made a short skit about our interview with the tuk tuk driver. Below is a link to a video compilation of photos and video that were taken on the trip by various people:

Borderlands Action

(Edited by Prerna Das and Yannis Grimm)

My Goals

Creativity

• SGA - My position on the Student Government Association is the Communications Officer. This allows me to expand on my marketing skills, in regards to advertising and informing the school of SGA event. This will also help me work on my art skills when making eye-catching posters and on my computer skills when working on the SGA page on Facebook. My position will also help me on my leadership and teamwork skills as the members are the representatives of the students and we have to work together to be successful. My organizational skills will also be exercised as I am in charge of keeping the meeting minutes every Wednesday, and my job is to inform the members of their jobs when working on an event.
• Drawing Club - The club has a good non-stressful environment where I can develop my art, design and drawing skills on my own time. This is a contrast to my work on the SGA where I have to make posters and such on a time limit and about a specific topic or event. This club gives me more freedom to work on aspects of art that I want to do and when I want to do it.

Action

• Volleyball, basketball, football - These are the SAISA athletics sports that I definitely want to take a part of. I have already made the SAISA volleyball team and plan to do the same with basketball and football. My goal for joining these teams is to keep fit, build on my teamwork skills, and hopefully my leadership skill as well, if I become a captain or vice-captain.
• Scuba Diving/Wall Climbing - Scuba diving is something new that I have never done before and would like to try out next quarter (as long as it does not clash with any of my other activities). The past few WWW and the IB Orientation Trip have showed me that I enjoy doing new and adventurous things, so hopefully I will be able to explore this new feeling and try this out. If I am not able to, wall climbing would be my second option in trying something new.

Service

• Alzheimers Service Group - This is my first time participating in this service group and it is different from my previous service group in that now I work with the eldrely that suffer from the disease called Alzheimers where as in my previous group we worked with children our age and younger. My goal for participating in this group is to learn more about the disease and the people who suffer from it, as well as how to build up my communications skills to know when to avoid a topic while still being able to keep the conversation going smoothly.
• Other (Pursuit of Happiness) - Next year in DP2 I would like to participate in another service group for variety. This will not allow me to become a service leader, but I think it will be more important to learn more things before really focusing on the thing you like the most. As ervice that I would consider joing next year is the Pursuit of Happiness Service Group. This group tries to provide a service to people who they photograph, by trying to take a picture of them that serves as a glimpse into their lives and who they are as a person in contrast to their environment. This allows them to bring awareness to certain issues through photography. The primary skill I would like to develope here is photography.