CAS Reflection (Activity) – LO1

For my activity, I have selected Karate as I have already done it for the past 2 years, I enjoy karate as some of my friends are also members, in addition to the fact that It is good for my physical wellbeing. My experience in karate so far has not been very eventful due to the repetitive nature; however, I have realised one of my key weaknesses: flexibility, because karate is a martial art, flexibility is directly tied to the one’s performance, due to the fact I do not often train outside of the activity, and was inactive over the summer break, my flexibility is currently subpar and hindering my progress (LO1). I believe if I improve my flexibility via. stretching I will be able to perform much better, I hope to continue my commitment and develop my skill throughout the activity.

CAS Refection (Art) – LO2

I have also started learning Saxophone through music ITP this season, after a 3-year hiatus, I decided to relearn and continue to develop this skill (LO2) out of self-interest and the fact that I have been given an opportunity to do so. Because my expertise in this area has degraded quite a large degree due to the period of inactivity, and in addition to the fact that my ITP sessions are only 30 minutes long, my first few sessions of ITP were quite slow and in a way monotonous. Thus in order to accelerate my learning and make the most of my opportunity, I am consistently practicing the instrument outside of ITP classes to improve my skill. Although I do not particularly enjoy watching/participating in musical performances, I am quite fond of instruments; having also learnt piano and drums in the past. Therefore I am very enthusiastic regarding this activity and am eager to see how far I will be able to progress.

Levels of Optimism

I believe that although I am not an optimist, I am neither a pessimist but instead a realist. My perspective on events in my life do not follow a positive outlook nor a negative outlook, my belief is to view events as to how it is, in a realistic light. I previously believed that optimism is a futile effort which yielded no results and will only make future failure even more discouraging, however, I now realise the importance of this trait in one’s character. Thus I hope to increase my level of optimism, especially in the field of academics, to view each failure as a learning mistake to a successful future.

CAS Reflection (Service) – LO1 & LO6 & LO7

The first few session of my service, Zero-West, have mostly been about introductions to the service and its new members, and the new vision which it has adopted. Zero-west focuses on improving our school through encouraging sustainable living in various ways, because of this, I decided to join the services as it addresses the preset global issue of climate change, something which I, and the majority of people in our school, believe the future is heavily dependent on (LO6). In addition, because I am now a grade 11 student, I am now free to apply for leadership positions; therefore, I have decided to sign up as secretary for my service, although I may not be able to be an ideal leader due to my poor communication skills and lack of the previous experience, I hope to gain new skills and develop my leadership traits through this opportunity (LO1).  Through this service I have gained a better understanding of what we can do to live more sustainably, as a result of this, I found myself questioning the ethics of  my actions more often (LO7). When shopping, I would take in consideration products made from recycled materials instead of just buying whatever was cheapest, and when I was busy, I still would try to avoid ordering delivery in order to reduce plastic waste.

 

CAS Reflection (Creativity) – LO5

So far, I am enjoying my selected activities and service. In my activity, ‘Sumo Robotics’ I have been able to learn basic coding and gain an understanding of mechatronics, a new skill which I had no knowledge of beforehand. My participation in this activity has also allowed me to display LO5, as because of the nature of the club (being heavily student-run), students with prior knowledge would all share their experiences and assist the new members, whenever I or anyone else encountered an issue, we would work collaboratively to resolve it. This reminded me of the importance of collaboration, especially in a learning environment. My interest in this activity stems from my aspiration for a career in the field of engineering or technology, thus if in any case in the future that I begin to lose motivation in this activity, or find it too difficult, I will persevere and continue to commit as the skills I learn may become an important asset for my future. By the end of the activity, I hope to have developed my coding skills to the extent where I will be able to apply it to my own projects.

Womens Expectation

The representation of women over time have changed vastly in advertisements, from the obedient housewife persona from the 20th century, to the now present independent equal-footing depiction of women in media.

The first panel displays an advert which aimed to boost female worker morale and encourage contribution to the industrial sector during WW2 America. The advertisement is a clear example of the control which social norms and stereotypes have over representation in media, although meant to display a strong working woman, the female character in the ad still conveys the values of that era. The headgear which the woman wears is befitting of a housewife, conveying the idea that although he/she is ‘strong’, she is still a homeworker at heart, and is not on equal footing as other men. In addition, the usage of the word ‘We’ in the slogan ‘We Can Do It!’ denotes that women can only achieve this through collective effort, and are otherwise weak when independent, further enforcing the stereotype that women are dependent beings.

On the other hand, the modern ad uses the word ‘Yourself’ instead of a plural pronoun, this conveys a value that contradicts that which was shown in WW2 advert, the idea that you should be striving for improvement to satisfy yourself, and not others. In comparison, the modern ad also gives the impression that being a ‘strong’ woman is more to do with fitness and ambitions, whilst the WW2 advert gives the impression that women need to be stronger for the purpose of manual labour. This shows the contrast between the values which were assumed regarding women, in the 20th century, it was assumed that women had no desire to become ‘strong’, and only did so due to external circumstances; however, modern era women do so through personal choice. This has been represented through their attire and posture, in the first advert, the woman is fully clothed in work clothing while the second advert features a woman donning sports attire, signifying that her dedication is due to personal satisfaction such as fitness or appearance etc.

The WW2 advert reflects the identity of women in that era, women were encouraged to join the workforce, but nevertheless, are still subpar to men and did not independently strive to become ‘strong’. Contrary, the present-day ad attempts to challenge the out-dated identity of women and enforced the modern idea that all are equal. Through these two ads, you can see how the values and expectations of women have changed over the generations; similarly, the social norms and perspective that the current society has on certain subjects may also follow a similar path. Things which we would least expect to be viewed in a negative light may not stand beside the same opinions it receives today. The state of social structures can never be guarenteed as ‘right’ or wrong’ as they are all suceptable to change, these adverts, being a clear example.