Final CAS Relfection

Final CAS reflection – When evaluating my CAS (Creativity Action and Service) element of the IBDP, I believe that I have grown and changed significantly over the past two years. I began this commitment in 11th Grade, in September 2010, and was somewhat unmotivated in the early stages. One of my first CAS activities was Library Service, which I eventually decided to pursue for the entire two years. I became a leader in this CAS activity. I went on to join the after school activity of Badminton in hopes of achieving more action and develop my personal fitness. In addition to fitness, I also gained in badminton skills. In addition, I developed a personal fitness regime which consisted of cardio and weight lifting exercises. From there I started giving guitar lessons to other students. Although this did not last long, it was a valuable learning experience because it taught me patience and responsibility. When we were in Grade 11, we participated in ‘Week Without Walls’ in January 2011. I took up a leadership role as the entertainment coordinator which involved organizing activities for OSC students as well as the local community members. This experience demonstrated achieving the eight prescribed CAS criteria. I went on to participate in other entertainment type of roles, such as being the Master of Ceremonies at the OSC Oscars and at various assemblies. I was promoted to a leadership position in Library Service in April, 2011. Later that month I had a resource conservation article published in the school paper. In Grade 12 I continued my leadership responsibilities with Library Service. In September, I participated in after school badminton again as well as SAISA football. Eventually, I was chosen to travel to Dhaka to represent OSC. We almost came third, but placed fourth due to missing the final penalty shot. In October I facilitated a UN Day workshop on children’s rights. In November I was the Master of Ceremonies in the Battle of the Bands, a fund raising event for cleft palate surgery in Sri Lanka. During this event, the Library Service was in charge of selling beverages and the profits were donated to the organization, Room to Read. In February, 2012, I assisted with the Charity Chic Fashion show by mentoring the Master of Ceremonies. This event was hosted by the CAS group, Hope for Kids – Cancer Hospital.
In retrospect, my experiences in the CAS program have enabled me to achieve the eight expectations in the IB CAS syllabus, as follows:

1. I increase my awareness of own strengths and areas for growth. This can be seen through all of my activities since I have grown through participating in them.

2. I certainly have undertaken new challenges. I believe the IB CAS program is the epitome of this since it provided many opportunities, challenges and learning experiences.

3. I planned and initiated many activities during the past two years, in my involvement with Library Service as well as in other activities.

4. I believe that the CAS program has strengthened my ability to work cooperatively and collaboratively with others.

5. I demonstrated perseverance and commitment to each of my CAS activities and gave more than was required of me.

6. I engaged in issues of global importance when I facilitated the UN Day workshop on child rights. I also promoted literacy in Sri Lanka by donating text supplies and funds to the organization, Room to Read.

7. In each of my activities, I consider the ethical implication of my actions, as an individual and also as a member of a community.

8. Finally, my experiences in the CAS program have enabled me to develop new skills, such as organization, leadership and working with others.

Ultimately, when I look back on these past two years, I feel a sense of accomplishment that would certainly have surprised me two years ago. I am thankful for the opportunity to study in the IB program, as well as the privilege of participating in IB CAS activities.

Library Service: Final Reflection

Library Service final reflection: – Looking back on the two years that I have participated in Library Service, originally under the leadership of Keiko, I have come to realize that this service has taught me patience and organization. I remember when I first joined I was reluctant since I consider it a serious and somewhat boring activity. But now I have gained an appreciation for text resources and literature in general and realize how important it is to be well organized when helping others access information.
When referring to the eight expectations in the IB CAS syllabus, I can say that I have achieved the eight prescribed expectations. First of all, I have certainly increased my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth. This can be seen in the strengthening of my own organizational skills and ability to work with others. Next, I have undertaken new challenges, such as promoting our CAS service during school assemblies as well as managing a small stall at the Battle of the Bands charity concert. It is apparent through my actions that I have planned and initiated activities which can be supported by the previously mentioned tasks. I believe that one of the strongest areas that I have developed is working collaboratively with others. I feel that since Library Service is particularly group-based, it gave me many opportunities to build this skill as well as develop meaningful friendships. I have shown perseverance and commitment because I attended every single meeting and gave extra time for CAS related activities. Although our Library Service CAS activity is primarily focused on the OSC community, we did donate funds and supplies to an organization that promotes reading in developing countries (Room to Read) and in doing so, we did our part to help promote literacy in Sri Lanka. When we were donating the funds, we considered the ethical implications of our actions. Finally, through this service I certainly developed new skills, such as organization, planning, leadership, working together, and promotion.

Library Service: Handing Over Leadership Position

On March 15, Charity and I handed over our leadership positions to Humza and Satyanchu during Library Service. We built up their capacities for their new roles during the past year so I feel confident that they will make us proud. Their first responsibilities as the new leaders was to conduct the library service on that day, under our supervision.

Food, Fun, Fair!

On March 10 OSC held the “Food and Fun Fair”. This social event was a chance for the OSC community to bond and have fun together. Each grade in the secondary school was in charge of one activity/stall. The Grade 12 held two activities; the Candy Jar game (guessing the number of candies in a jar) and a Pillow Fight on a Beam. The pillow fight consisted of two contestants on a beam, hitting each other with pillows until one of them fell off. High jump mats ensured that no one got hurt, since small children were also allowed to participate. Although we had planned a schedule for Grade 12 students to take shifts to run these activities, it fell apart because eventually a big group of us all did it together. I was one of the few people who stayed at the station for the entire fair (3 hours). I did not mind doing this because I enjoy entertaining younger children. A few others also stayed as long as I did. By the end of the fair, the sum of our collected tickets was over Rs. 30,000 (or over $230).

Charity Chic Fashion Show: MC Assistance

On Saturday, the 11th of February, I was invited to assist/motivate the two Master of Ceremonies for the Charity Chic Fashion Show. The Fashion show was a Charity event that celebrated the unique clothing designs and their respective designers from the Colombo area. Their were also various performances, such as dance performances from the Natanda Dance Group and musical numbers by students from OSC. The donations and proceeds of the show were given to the Cancer Hospital by the hosts of the show, the CAS service “Hope For Kids”.

My job during the afternoon was quite simple. I helped the MC’s of the event become more confidant in speaking. Due to the absence of one of the MC’s, I temporarily volunteered to help speak during the fashion show’s rehearsal.

Although I did not attend the actual event, I herd from others that the show was an enjoyable evening of fashion!

Library Service: Session 12

This past Library Service meeting was a little discouraging. The reason having been the lack of attention by the younger members of our CAS activity. While I am aware of their lower ages, I feel that some of the new 6th and 7th grade students of our program are less than attentive to the projects they perform.* This occurrence indicates that I should find ways of capturing the attention of these individuals in more effective ways.

I am not trying to be critical of the new students to the CAS program, but rather, making an observation perhaps for future reference.*

Other than experiencing less participation from some members, the rest of our CAS group are swiftly taking to the Library Service program.

Resumed Library Service

In January, 2012, when we returned to school after winter break, we did not resume our CAS services immediately due to preparing and taking IB Mock Exams, while the rest of the secondary school participated in Week Without Walls. As of Thursday, Feb. 2, library service was resumed. We had a number of new students in our group and we introduced them to this type of service. We checked with our library service advisor, Ms. Raina, about transferring the leadership of the library service to one of the other students.

Goals for Semester II – Senior year

My goals for the final semester of my senior year are to follow the IB CAS requirement goals, but also to include more creativity activities to my CAS blog. Some of my creative ideas include musical performances and video creations. However, since this is the last few months of my senior year, I will be leaving my CAS library service in March, 2012, in order to study for my final IB exams.

Reflection of Battle of the Bands: Master of Ceremonies

The Battle of the Bands was a fun and entertaining night of musical performances. I know that the Cleft Palate service group was unsure of whether this event would be a success or not, but they were surprised with its popularity. In addition to the band performances, they held a raffle draw (which I was in charge of) with many different prizes, such as gift cards and dinners at fancy restaurants. Although there were no rehearsals before the show, the other MCs and I were able to improvise our lines and coordinate well.

This was a great experience for a number of reasons: I enjoy performing on a stage but more importantly it helped me build my leadership and performing skills and gain confidence in front of an audience.

 

Library Service: Drink Distribution at Battle of the Bands

The library service drink distribution at the Battle of the Bands turned out to be a great success. We made around Rs. 21,000 and donated it to “Room to Read”, an international charity organization that promotes literacy in Sri Lanka. Although we had organized the schedule with designated time slots for work shifts, by the end of the first hour, we all joined in to help sell drinks because of the overwhelming number of customers wanting to purchase drinks. The clean-up after the show was massive but we all joined together to accomplish it. Everyone was helpful. I personally wasn’t able to always be at the drinks selling station because of my duties as MC, but I helped out when I was free.