Well its the end of the first semester. I think that throughout this time, I managed to complete a majority of the goals that I set out for myself and even more.
With my Recycling service, I felt as if we've done a good job this year. Each session has been productive and helpful to our environment. Instead of just throwing out paper, cardboard, and plastic in the garbage, we take it to a local recycler who pays us money for the amount of goods that we give him. Each time we go to him, we bring with us all of the school's recycling which is a testament to our efficiency. We are also looking for new leaders to take over the service. Next year we are going to look in more detail for people who possess leader qualities.
When it came to my excersize program, I wasn't able to use the treadmill that often as I had hoped. However, I was able to excersize every week by using my weights. I used them 3-4 times a week. Then I would go outside and excersize with my body bag. It was also my first time ever using weights like these and a body bag. I believe I used them to their full potential. So, despite not having a program with the treadmill, I still managed to do some excersize at my house with the equipment that was available.
SAISA Soccer has also started now, and I have had practices last Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. We are going to continue with this training schedule for the rest of the season. Today, we even have our first game despite our small amount of practice time. Hopefully, after today's game I will learn what I need to improve on and if I need to learn new skills in order to be competitive. Also, the trainings give me an opportunity to excersize. However, with the December break approaching, I have to create some sort of program where I can excersize during the break in order to ensure that I don't get fat over the holiday.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Halloween Events
This holiday season, I once again served my American community by volunteering for the Haunted House. The one who was in charge was different then the one in the previous year, so things were different this time around. The setting of the Haunted House was changed and I had to play as a vampire and psycho. These were different roles then I had last year, so it was intresting to see how I acted as them. I also had to work with a variety of people who had little or no experience in a Haunted House. I found the experience both fun and profitable as it gave me a sense that I was donating something to my community.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Progress on my Goals
So far, I have managed to use the weights that I have in my house and have been recording my use of them on my calender. I still need to form some sort of schedule for the treadmill due to the amount of work I have from school. I have gone to each of the Friday after-school soccer matches, which has helped develop my skills in soccer. Luckily, my coach for Varsity Soccer managed to set up a game against the Colombo Lions last Saturday. The match really put things in perspective for me. It showed me that I greatly had to improve my stamina since I had the skills to play against the Colombo Lions, but lacked the stamina to keep up with them. This has fueled my drive to finish a schedule for the treadmill so I can improve my stamina before the SAISA Soccer season starts. Recycling has been going well this year. We have a larger group than before, so it can get a little chaotic. However, Mr. Lockwood, Shin, and I developed an idea to create a workshop for the school staff to understand what recycling does.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
New Goals For The Senior Year
My goals for my CAS for my final year at OSC have slightly changed since my last reflections at the end of my 11th grade. At the end of the year I had failed to accomplish my goal of going to the gym on a weekly basis due to my lack of time management. However, for this year I have decided to make up for that by using my agenda a lot more. This way, I'll be able to keep track of the amount of work that I have to do, which will enable me to manage my time better. I've also decided that instead of going to the gym, I would just use the facilities that I have in my house which I fail to take advantage of. There is a treadmill, some weights, and a punching bag and I'll keep track of the amount of time that I use it via the calender. I'm still continuing with Recycling as my service with Shin as my co-leader. I've found out who is part of the Recycling group and I'm looking forward to working with them to help our world in any way possible. Unfourtently, I have chosen not to continue with Yearbook due to the new system that was develped of offering it as an after-school activity. On the other hand, I have chosen to play soccer on Friday after-school in order to keep in shape. So far in school I have been playing soccer during lunch with my friends which I wasn't able to do last year. As a result, I'm developing my soccer skills through multiple ways before SAISA soccer season starts. During the summer I visited different Universities and I met with Professors of the Major that I was interested in. After discussing with them, and with the help of my Mom, I discovered a computer class that was being offered in Sri Lanka. I'm planning on taking these classes after the October SAT's in order to develop some new programming skills which will help me in the Major that I'm going to pursue in University. So for this year I'll learn new skills through my undertaking of the programming classes that I will take after the October SATs, I'm contributing effectively through my commitement to the Recycling project, and I'm keeping in shape by refining my soccer skills and using the excersize equipment available at my house.
Monday, August 9, 2010
End of Year Results + Future Plans
June 14, 2010:
Now it’s the end of the second semester of school and my final post for now. I felt that I had a good year with my CAS. I managed to complete most of my goals and more. I volunteered for my Embassy with the Haunted House and participated in “The Crucible”; both great and unexpected activities. I stuck with my Yearbook throughout the year and I’m now contemplating whether or not to take it next year as well. I tried out for SAISA soccer and stuck through the grueling practices and eventually was chosen for the team to go to New Delhi.
I’m now the leader of the Recycling project and hopefully this summer, I’m going to be able to develop some new ideas that will benefit the project.
I’m also taking a summer job right now in the Embassy. I’m working in the Consular section and I’ve been assigned to organize the records of past student Visas that were handed out in 2007-2008. It’s not a very demanding job, but it’s extremely long project to complete. Already I’ve created a table in Excel in order to organize all the information I collect from the records. So far, I have over 300 applicants and I’m not even in the records from October. However, from what I can see from this job, I’m going to develop great organizational skills and it will increase my knowledge over Excel. This is extremely beneficial since Excel is highly used in this school.
Now it’s the end of the second semester of school and my final post for now. I felt that I had a good year with my CAS. I managed to complete most of my goals and more. I volunteered for my Embassy with the Haunted House and participated in “The Crucible”; both great and unexpected activities. I stuck with my Yearbook throughout the year and I’m now contemplating whether or not to take it next year as well. I tried out for SAISA soccer and stuck through the grueling practices and eventually was chosen for the team to go to New Delhi.
I’m now the leader of the Recycling project and hopefully this summer, I’m going to be able to develop some new ideas that will benefit the project.
I’m also taking a summer job right now in the Embassy. I’m working in the Consular section and I’ve been assigned to organize the records of past student Visas that were handed out in 2007-2008. It’s not a very demanding job, but it’s extremely long project to complete. Already I’ve created a table in Excel in order to organize all the information I collect from the records. So far, I have over 300 applicants and I’m not even in the records from October. However, from what I can see from this job, I’m going to develop great organizational skills and it will increase my knowledge over Excel. This is extremely beneficial since Excel is highly used in this school.
"The Crucible" over
May 2, 2010:
Finally, “The Crucible” is over. I feel very relieved that it’s over and also proud of myself. This is due to the fact that this was the first time I was ever in a drama production and especially one consisting more of a mature plot. I managed to remember all my lines and perform them adequately in front of the audience. I’ve managed to develop more confidence in myself because of this production.
Finally, “The Crucible” is over. I feel very relieved that it’s over and also proud of myself. This is due to the fact that this was the first time I was ever in a drama production and especially one consisting more of a mature plot. I managed to remember all my lines and perform them adequately in front of the audience. I’ve managed to develop more confidence in myself because of this production.
SAISA & WWW
March 6, 2010:
Well, the soccer season is over. In this SAISA tournament we went to New Delhi. I felt nostalgic as we got off the plane due to the fact that I had lived here for five years. I spent my 3rd grade to my 7th grade in the American Embassy School where the SAISA tournament wa
s held. We played a lot of great matches, but in the end we got 7th place out of eight teams. However, we still had a great time and we won the sportsmanship award. As a result of my time playing soccer, I’ve improved my physique (slightly) and I improved in both my soccer skills & my leadership skills by observing how some of my other teammates took charge of the game. This was my first time in participating in the SAISA tournament, though not the first in a sports tournament. In my previous school in American Community School, I played for my school team twice; once in 9th grade for the Junior Varsity team and second in my 10th grade for the Varsity team. I am proud that I've been able to remain commited to the sport over the years of playing. As I look back on all the tournaments that I’ve been on, I think this one is where I developed more useful skills since I was thinking about how it would affect my CAS.
“The Crucible” practices have been going well in my mind and soon I’ll have all my lines memorized for the April plays. I still also have to work with others in order to make sure that my positining in the play is correct. As a result, I have to stay after school for some sessions where different people in the play and I work together to re-create the actual play on stage. This gives us the opportunity to feel how it will be on stage during April and how we'll need to stand or move around on stage.
This semester, Week Without Walls occurred in February. The 11th grade went down to Hambantota where we assisted a couple of schools with painting. We were separated into 2 groups where Thishakya and I were appointed leaders of one group. It was our job to assign people different jobs and to assign them the room in which they would be staying. However, an ethical problem arose where Thishakya and I would only assign people to tasks and we ourselves wouldn't participate at all. I believe that we solved this by making sure we kept ourselves busy with any task which anyone needed help in. It was a very interesting trip and I developed better management & organizational skills
because of it.
Beginning of Semester Two
January 23, 2010:
Two weeks into the second semester of school and already we’ve begun soccer practice. No matter what weather we’re in, we always have a practice. I hold it strong in my mind that I have been able to attend each and every one of the practices. This demonstrates my commitment to the sport. One of the best ones we’ve had was when it was pouring down rain and still we practiced. It was rather refreshing playing in the rain, but eventually our uniforms became drenched with water and for me at least, was starting to constrict my movements. Still, I found it to be an enjoyable handicap.
I’ve also been informed by my two Recycling leaders that they’re going to step down soon and so they’ve decided that Yi-Seul (Shin) and I will become the new leaders. I feel confident that I will do a good job as I’ve already been a coordinator, which has given me some skills in being a leader. However, there is also the ethical problem that Shin and I will just order the students around than rather physically participate in the service. As a result, we have to demonstrate an example to the students by actually assiting them in the collection and by taking the recycalable goods to the Recycling center.
I’m still continuing my Yearbook elective and intend to see it through to the end, despite the fact that I’m a slow worker and have a very little experience using Adobe Photoshop unlike the other members. Luckily, I’m participating in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller which fits into my Creativity part of my CAS. It's my first time being in a serious drama production, so hopefully the new experince will be enjoyable. I play a man called Cheever and we’re going to have practices on alternating days depending on what act we’re in. The play is scheduled to occur in April and hopefully I’ll be ready by then.
Two weeks into the second semester of school and already we’ve begun soccer practice. No matter what weather we’re in, we always have a practice. I hold it strong in my mind that I have been able to attend each and every one of the practices. This demonstrates my commitment to the sport. One of the best ones we’ve had was when it was pouring down rain and still we practiced. It was rather refreshing playing in the rain, but eventually our uniforms became drenched with water and for me at least, was starting to constrict my movements. Still, I found it to be an enjoyable handicap.
I’ve also been informed by my two Recycling leaders that they’re going to step down soon and so they’ve decided that Yi-Seul (Shin) and I will become the new leaders. I feel confident that I will do a good job as I’ve already been a coordinator, which has given me some skills in being a leader. However, there is also the ethical problem that Shin and I will just order the students around than rather physically participate in the service. As a result, we have to demonstrate an example to the students by actually assiting them in the collection and by taking the recycalable goods to the Recycling center.
I’m still continuing my Yearbook elective and intend to see it through to the end, despite the fact that I’m a slow worker and have a very little experience using Adobe Photoshop unlike the other members. Luckily, I’m participating in “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller which fits into my Creativity part of my CAS. It's my first time being in a serious drama production, so hopefully the new experince will be enjoyable. I play a man called Cheever and we’re going to have practices on alternating days depending on what act we’re in. The play is scheduled to occur in April and hopefully I’ll be ready by then.
End of Semester One
December 20 2009:
The first semester of school and of my CAS is over. I believe that with Creativity and with Service, I’ve done fairly well. Action is something I will have to work on in the next semester. However, before the Christmas break, SAISA soccer tryouts started with 3 a week practice and we’ve already had quite a few practices. Next year, we’re going to train until the tournament which will be held in February.
The first semester of school and of my CAS is over. I believe that with Creativity and with Service, I’ve done fairly well. Action is something I will have to work on in the next semester. However, before the Christmas break, SAISA soccer tryouts started with 3 a week practice and we’ve already had quite a few practices. Next year, we’re going to train until the tournament which will be held in February.
Progress in CAS
November 4, 2009:
So far this year with my CAS, I’ve been doing a pretty good job. I’ve managed to attend all my recycling sessions that occurs after-school on Thursdays. Luckily, the two main leaders (Ankit and Juho) decided to make me a sort of coordinator. This way I would act as a group leader of multiple students who would gather all the recyclable materials from different specified buildings. Not only did I help assign them tasks, but I also assisted them in the actual collection of the recycable materials. By doing so, I worked collaboratively with others in this service. This was a sort of grooming for me in becoming the next leader of the recycling group. I learned some valuable leadership qualities from my time as a coordinator.
Yearbook has been going well so far. I’ve managed to complete a couple of pages, but I personally feel that they lack some real art. I believe that I spent more time on the pages, I could come up with more intresting methods to make the pages more artsy. However, I’ve been able to develop some new skills while working with Adobe Photoshop and I find this to be extremely helpful since in the future, I hope to pursue a course relating to computers.
Surprisingly, Action is the one part of my CAS that is suffering since the soccer season hasn’t started. I’ve tried going to the gym, but I didn’t count on the amount of work I would receive from the school and so I’ve only gone twice maybe 3 times since the beginning of the year. As a result, I will have to develop some new time management skills.
However, some good news is that I volunteered for my Embassy by helping out at the Haunted House. I had a lot of fun and it was possibly some of the best work I have ever been able to do. Scaring both kids and adults for around two hours, what more can you wish for.
So far this year with my CAS, I’ve been doing a pretty good job. I’ve managed to attend all my recycling sessions that occurs after-school on Thursdays. Luckily, the two main leaders (Ankit and Juho) decided to make me a sort of coordinator. This way I would act as a group leader of multiple students who would gather all the recyclable materials from different specified buildings. Not only did I help assign them tasks, but I also assisted them in the actual collection of the recycable materials. By doing so, I worked collaboratively with others in this service. This was a sort of grooming for me in becoming the next leader of the recycling group. I learned some valuable leadership qualities from my time as a coordinator.
Yearbook has been going well so far. I’ve managed to complete a couple of pages, but I personally feel that they lack some real art. I believe that I spent more time on the pages, I could come up with more intresting methods to make the pages more artsy. However, I’ve been able to develop some new skills while working with Adobe Photoshop and I find this to be extremely helpful since in the future, I hope to pursue a course relating to computers.
Surprisingly, Action is the one part of my CAS that is suffering since the soccer season hasn’t started. I’ve tried going to the gym, but I didn’t count on the amount of work I would receive from the school and so I’ve only gone twice maybe 3 times since the beginning of the year. As a result, I will have to develop some new time management skills.
However, some good news is that I volunteered for my Embassy by helping out at the Haunted House. I had a lot of fun and it was possibly some of the best work I have ever been able to do. Scaring both kids and adults for around two hours, what more can you wish for.
Goals For CAS
September 1, 2009:
This year I have just joined a new school which uses the IB system. Part of this system is CAS and though my previous schools had some form of community service, this is the first school to actually take it seriously. As a result, I have decided to set some goals of what I’m going to accomplish as part of my CAS.
1) Service: I decided to do Recycling as my service to the school since it was one of the few that interested me. I felt that by doing this, I was making a direct contribution to my community. Also, I feel that I'm doing something better for this world since the preservation of our planet is a global issue and Recycling is just one step of many at accomplishing this.
2) Action: Out of all the parts of CAS, Action is probably the easiest for me. I’ve already got a membership to a gym and I’m planning on going there on a weekly basis. This is the first time that I've had a membership so it will be a new and intresting experience for me. I’m also planning on trying out for the soccer team in both my junior year and my senior year. So, I believe that I will be able to get my Action part of the CAS done.
3) Creativity: This one is a little more challenging for me. However, for my Wednesday elective, I have chosen Yearbook in order to complete the requirements. This also gives me the opportunity to work with Adobe Photoshop and gain new skills with the program.
This year I have just joined a new school which uses the IB system. Part of this system is CAS and though my previous schools had some form of community service, this is the first school to actually take it seriously. As a result, I have decided to set some goals of what I’m going to accomplish as part of my CAS.
1) Service: I decided to do Recycling as my service to the school since it was one of the few that interested me. I felt that by doing this, I was making a direct contribution to my community. Also, I feel that I'm doing something better for this world since the preservation of our planet is a global issue and Recycling is just one step of many at accomplishing this.
2) Action: Out of all the parts of CAS, Action is probably the easiest for me. I’ve already got a membership to a gym and I’m planning on going there on a weekly basis. This is the first time that I've had a membership so it will be a new and intresting experience for me. I’m also planning on trying out for the soccer team in both my junior year and my senior year. So, I believe that I will be able to get my Action part of the CAS done.
3) Creativity: This one is a little more challenging for me. However, for my Wednesday elective, I have chosen Yearbook in order to complete the requirements. This also gives me the opportunity to work with Adobe Photoshop and gain new skills with the program.
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