LO1

Kahaani: Investigation and Preparation

CAS

LO1-Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth

Kahaani is something that I look forward to every year. I see it as a celebration of my incredibly diverse culture and it is something that is very close to my heart. I signed up for it last year and I knew I would sign up again this year. The cause it supports (to empower the blind and raise funds of Voice of World) is also something very important and impactful.

This event is a dance showcase, which meant that I would be doing something a bit unfamiliar to me. I was a little apprehensive at first especially because I would have to perform in front of so many people but I wanted to challenge myself through this experience. I wanted to gain more confidence and also develop a new skill. This was why I was quite happy that I was assigned to a dance with all of my friends; they helped me overcome a lot of my nervousness about performing on stage.

The initial stages of rehearsing were quite tedious. I was put into the back line of the dance and I found it hard to keep up with steps as I was quite short and not noticeable. I was also finding it hard to keep up with all the new moves being added every session.

Here is one of our very first practice sessions as a group:

ITP (Season 1)

CAS

LO1: Identify strengths and develop areas for growth

This is my third year doing ITP singing. However this year I decided to do my grade 8 exam for singing which is definitely going to be something unfamiliar and challenging.

I love singing and I work quite hard at it. My strengths are my creativity and my ability to immerse myself in any song that I sing. Despite this, I genuinely need to work on managing my time and making sure I get enough practice before each lesson since this exam will demand a lot of work.

This half term, I got a very good idea as to how much work I need to be putting in and I realised that I needed to make time for singing practice, just like I had to for piano. This was my major struggle but I hope to change that next term by using my free blocks to practice in the music rooms as well as practicing at least three times every week at home when I don’t have activities after school.

 

Memoirs of a Pioneer Generation (Planning Sessions)

CAS, Local Service

photo taken from: lionsbefrienders.org.sg

LO1: Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

The heart of a country is in its people, their experiences, their thoughts, and their stories. For this reason, it was very important to me to sign up for this service again. I wanted to connect with the local community in Singapore directly through its pioneer generation. This service will definitely be a way I learn about the rich culture and history of Singapore.Over the course of the last two weeks, I started my local service, Memoirs of a Pioneer Generation. I already did this service last year and thoroughly enjoyed it which was why I signed up for it again. This service is about visiting old-age homes in Singapore, interacting with the elders there, and writing their stories. I found it so unique and interesting when I did it last year. To me, it was a way to give a voice to the people who shaped Singapore.

I left the first session looking forward to all the work we are going to do. Although there were some minor changes (such as the location we would be visiting) to the service, the fundamental part of the service which entails capturing the stories of these people stayed the same. In the second session, we began to develop our skills as interviewers and journalists.

These couple of weeks were so important in gaining foundational skills to start visiting the location next week onwards and I definitely learnt a lot. I became more conscious of how sensitive we need to be around the elderly since many of them would have dementia or we would have a language barrier between us. However I also learnt that this was part of challenging myself to find connections with people without even having to say anything. I’m very excited for this week.

Yoga (Season 1)

CAS, Uncategorized

LO1: Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth.

I signed up for yoga primarily because I have asthma and I thought it would help me outgrow it through its focus on breathing exercises. I also thought it would be a good way to relax and manage the stress from the IB. Going into the activity, I had a bit of experience with doing sun salutations but that was it. The unfamiliarity of what we were going to be doing was definitely a bit daunting at first. However some of my strengths are to be able to adapt to new situations and to approach challenges with perseverance. This helped with my attitude towards the activity.

Something that was challenging for me was the physical aspect of the activity.  I’m not a very athletic person and some of the poses were quite hard to do. It made me realise that I need to do these exercises outside of the weekly sessions as well to improve my progress.

Another key component of yoga is the meditation we have to at the end of every session. It’s actually quite challenging to empty your mind of everything and just focus on your breathing. Trying to do this every week has made me so much more self aware about my most frequent thoughts and emotions. It helped me identify some of the stress factors in my life and has motivated me to try and get reduce them.

I think something that has improved for me during these past few sessions is my mental state. I’ve become so much calmer and relaxed when dealing with stressful situations. I hope this continues for the rest of the term.