Final CAS Reflection

~ "What feels like the end is often the beginning." ~

Creativity

For this final year I tried to limit my after school activities in order to focus more on my academics and this reflected especially on those to do with Creativity. As opposed to last year, where I was a part of the SGA and the Drawing Club, this year I was only able to attend Piano Lessons on a regular basis and Art Club on a semi-regular basis. While Art Club was used as an excuse to relax and unwind while doing something I enjoy, like drawing, learning to play piano was more structured and allowed me to Develop new skills as well as to Show perseverance and commitment in my activities due to having attended the lessons for 2 years or so.

(Photo credit: OSC)

Action

In keeping with my goal of trying to focus more on my studies this year, I was not as involved with all of the sports I enjoy playing, although I did try out for an entirely new sport and so Undertook a new challenge. My main focus in Action this year was to try to get a leadership position for one of my teams and I achieved this for Volleyball. Another overall goal for action was to Increase awareness of my own strengths and areas of growth as well as to Work more collaboratively with others. Aside from Volleyball, the only other SAISA sport that I was on the team for was Badminton, which was a new experience for me. I had never played before trying out, except briefly in PE a few years back, but enjoyed the game and playing with my teammates, as well as playing individually which took some getting used to as I usually play in team sports. After Badminton in the second quarter I opted not to go to SAISA for Football but still attended practice to keep in shape and because I do love playing the game.

(Photo credit: Ms Lockwood)

Service

For Service this year I wanted to join an entirely different group from Alzheimer’s Awareness which I was a part of last year, and so I picked a new group called the Checkmates. As this was a new group however, we all had some say in Planning and initiating activities, although not as much as the service leaders. The main goal of the group was to teach less fortunate kids from other schools how to play chess, which is highly beneficial for building academic skills and recreational purposes, both of which lend to Engagement with issues of global importance, as it is a universally acknowledged game and to the Consideration of the ethical implications of our actions, specifically relating to the people we meet and affect.

(Photo credit: Checkmates service group)

DP1 Final CAS Reflection

Increased their awareness of their own strengths of areas for growth
This outcome was one of the harder ones to achieve, as I had to make an objective judgement about myself, and how I have grown by identifying my strengths and fixing my weaknesses. Awareness of myself mostly had to do with the Activities section of CAS as I had to consciously work on my weaknesses and perfect my strengths through training and practice for SAISA.

Undertaken new challenges
Joining the Alzheimer’s Awareness Service Group was a bit of a challenge as I had never really interacted with patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease before and am nervous by default around new people. Another new activity that I undertook was piano lessons. I had always wanted to play the piano when I was younger but became more disinterested as I became older, so learning to play was a challenge in and of itself, as well as sticking with it.

Planned and initiated activities
Though I did not take any major leadership roles in any of my CAS projects, I was still included in some of the decision making processes and event planning processes involved in Alzheimer’s and the Student Government Association.

Worked collaboratively with others
Collaboration was immensely important in the sports teams that I was a part of. Teamwork is an integral part of basketball, football and volleyball as they are team sports. Collaboration was also used a lot in the SGA, not just in the group but also with the SCN (School Connection Network), the school staff and other groups to plan and create an event.

Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
Commitment applied to all of my CAS projects, as dedication is very important to the different activities. I tried to attend all the sessions that I could because being present is just as important as collaboration and participation. Perseverance was a bit of a challenge for me with regards to piano lessons as I was not as interested in it as I was when I was younger.

Engaged with issues of global importance
This learning outcome was mainly applied to my work in the Alzheimer’s service group as the disease is an occurrence worldwide and raising awareness for it and caring for the people suffering from it is equally important around the world.

Considered the ethical implications of their actions
Questions of ethics came up a lot during sessions in Alzheimer’s. For example, was our continued visitation of the Alzheimer’s centre beneficial to the patients? Were we unwittingly causing further damage or causing the patients to feel bad about their disease? Was the entire process done to help the patients or to make ourselves feel better?

Developed new skills
When undertaking any new activity, a new set of skills need to be developed to meet the challenge. For example, in SGA I needed to learn about advertising and marketing events and how to take minutes in a meeting.

Next year for the DP2 I hope to make as much time for CAS as I did this year, but this is unlikely as I will be focusing more on my studies near the end of the year. Hopefully next year I will also focus more on reflecting and updating my blog more than I did this year. Though I did not complete all of my goals, I am still satisfied with my CAS work this year, and hope to do just as well in the following year.

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.