InvestigationÂ
Starting up project week, my friend group split up into those who wanted to do certain activities, so we went into planning with the aim of doing rock climbing, pottery and baking. At this stage, we chose our roles and I became the project manager meaning I was in charge of planning and keeping the group on task as well as organised. The only struggle we had in that stage was that another group had issues with their group members so one joined our group. Luckily, this new member was relatively happy to join the activities we had planned.
PreparationÂ
Preparation was a more difficult stage of the project. As project manager I was mainly in charge of the planning with the help of one other group member. The other 3 where not as involved. While part of what this taught me was the importance of delegating it also taught me about taking initiative which is a useful skill when planning and deciding for a whole group. The group member that did help allowed us to organise a good trip where we got to do things from creativity, activity and service so we got a really nice mix of activities
ActionÂ
The majority of the week went really well we had a great time with activities such as baking and soap making being a huge hit. There were a few flaws for example in the rock-climbing course we did the coach we had was very strict leading to it not being a super enjoyable experience but we pushed through and enjoyed the cycling later in the day a lot more. Another issue was that our service was really early in the morning so a few group members had trouble organising transportation so were a little late. While this was irritating it only happened once and they did eventually make it meaning they did not miss out on a lot.
Reflection
The overall process was really enjoyable and while some stages of planning caused some irritation within the group we were all able to move on from it and have a really enjoyable experience. In the future, some more free activities rather than courses such as the climbing one could be useful but overall the group really came together. The only thing that I would consider is whether or not there should have been one leader or if delegation could have happened differently with one person in charge of one day or type of activity. However, even though we did not take that approach it all came together in the end.
Demonstration
Over the CAS project I learnt a lot about being a leader and also about scheduling. When many activities only occur on specific days at specific times it meant we had to keep shuffling what activity happened when. This is a really useful skill both the scheduling and the flexibility that came with having to change things and in the future I am sure it will often come in handy. Through doing activities from all elements of CAS I feel we had a very well-rounded experience and even though I preferred the activity and creativity elements of the week I am really glad we included service as it did add some value to the trip as it was a very hand-on approach to service that I don’t get very often especially due to COVID having stopped local services meeting with their partners in person,
Photos
