How did you make a difference to the communities ( local, college and global) and how did you
change in yourself?
In service, I worked with mentally disabled elderly clients to improve their social skills. I was Head
of Logistics and was responsible for planning the equipment to ensure all clients had fun
activities, based on their behavior. This made it easier for the students to help do activities with
the clients. I also think I made some meaningful relationships with some of the clients, and we
often had conversations that built off of ideas mentioned previously. I could see the progress
that the group as a whole was making as the students stepped out of their comfort zone, and the
clients became more comfortable with is. I think this is really important, being aware of the lives
that these people live which can be very mundane at times. The hour or so they have where they
can be creative and have fun is something very significant to them, and I saw the importance of
the work we were doing as we continued the service.
Pick 3 key moments or turning points in the past 18 months. Consider why they were key- What
were the obstacles you overcame, how did you achieve success?
The moment I learned in pottery, that perfectionism can sometimes be very limiting to creativity is
the most important lesson I learned in my creativity aspect of CAS. This came after I realized how
much time I was spending on minute aspects of my projects. I realized how frustrated I was
getting and ended up not having any projects that I was proud of or any at all since I would
always destroy them. After a while, I realised that I wasn’t as good as a thought I was and decided
to have fun, the experience that I had when making this little character with my friend was what
made me proud of one of the final projects I did and even helped me be more creative as I wasn’t
limited by my skills – even though the final project didn’t look as good as I hoped.
The moment I realized the progress I was making in the communication and conversations
between one of the clients in my service was a turning point as it made me realize how much the
small conversations that we were making mattered to the client’s social skills and happiness. At
first, I wasn’t putting as much effort as I should have been but when I saw Ian (the client)
remembering a lot of the information that we covered the sessions before, and I saw him
becoming more chatty and comfortable in the group, this made me make even more of an effort
to make their time here the best it can be.
The moment in Kahaani, when our final dance was being performed, made me realize how much
the effort and time put into the dance was worth it. The practices could often get very repetitive,
we would often get distracted, but seeing the dance come together was really satisfying, and is
something that will help me step out of my comfort zone in the future as I did with this dance.
Finally, how will you use the new skills, understanding, qualities and knowledge you gained in
your future- at University and beyond? How valuable were the lessons and why?
The ability to step outside of my comfort zone gained from Kahaani will be useful, as I can see
myself taking more risks in university, allowing myself to create meaningful experiences with
different types of people. The communication skills gained from my services will help me in my
emotional connection to people in general and helped me understand the significance of conversations – it also helped me understand emotions better. The idea of letting go of perfectionism will help me in my veterinary medicine university course as I know how stressful life can be, not being able to make all the clients lives perfect, and having to make sacrifices and cost-benefit analysis’.
