CAS

This reflection deals both with the preparation work we were doing leading up to the trip before it was unfortunately cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The relevant Learning Objectives are LO3, LO4.

LO3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience was relevant because we were very careful in this stage to ensure that everything was in order before we left. We had plans for purchasing equipment, checking safety and health concerns relevant to Vietnam before leaving, and ensuring everything that needed to be booked would be booked in due time before we left.

LO4 – Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences was relevant towards the end of this stage, as rumours grew regarding cancellation/postponing of our Project Week trips. Despite what we heard, we continued working hard to make sure our plan was in order in case the trip could still go through. Unfortunately, in the end, it was not meant to be.

Moving forward, our next steps were to contact the Blue Dragon NGO to ensure our trip was well planned out and would go forward on their end.

The relevant Learning Objectives were LO4, LO7.

LO4 – Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences was relevant this stage because it was initially difficult to establish contact. As there were three different groups in our school planning a trip with the Blue Dragon NGO, and the people working there were very busy, it took a few attempts before we could contact them and establish a plan that everyone was happy with. By persevering, we reached a happy medium for all parties.

LO7 – Recognise and consider the ethics implications of choices and actions was relevant in the planning stage in our contact with the Blue Dragon NGO service partner, in which we emphasised that we wanted to avoid “voluntourism” and instead engage with their needs. Trips like this can often be more harmful to NGOs than helpful, and we wanted to avoid that as much as possible by keeping clear communication with our service partners to ensure that we did more good than harm.

For my Project Week, I planned with a group of my friends to undertake a weeklong trip to Vietnam focused on working with the Blue Dragon NGO who are service partners with our school.

The relevant Learning Objectives that I have identified so far are LO5, LO6.

LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively has been demonstrated so far through our working as a group to attempt to get everything in order. Though we all initially had very different conceptions for what type of trip we wanted, we realised that it would not be fruitful for us all to go in with separate goals, and instead decided to align our visions for the trip. Collaboration was also useful in terms of preparing the various paperwork and documentation we needed to submit to ensure we had a safe trip – by splitting up responsibilities, we ensured that nothing was forgotten.

LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance has been relevant in our research and preparation to engage with the Blue Dragon NGO. As they are focused on issues of human trafficking, we had to be very aware of the reality of the situation we would be working with and made sure that every one was read up on the issue before we went ahead.

Though my activity was cut short due to the Coronavirus, I was beginning to enjoy my sessions in Archery, and had finished the Basic training course recently (though any hope of continuing with the Intermediate course has been cut off due to the lockdown).

LO1 – Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth was demonstrated during my time learning Archery as I had to confront my lack of stamina in staying through 2+ hour long sessions of training under the sun. However, I have begin to get better at this through the weekly sessions and was beginning to very much enjoy the long training times before they were completely cancelled by the pandemic.

My choice of sport to fulfil the Activity part of CAS is to start learning Archery.

I have signed up for Basic classes and plan to follow them up with Intermediate classes at the Archery Club of Singapore.

The relevant Learning Objectives that I have identified for this choice of activity so far are LO1, LO2.

LO1 – Identify their own strengths and develop areas for growth is relevant as sport in general has never been my greatest strength and I will have to be willing to recognise my particular weaknesses if I hope to do well in learning Archery. It will certainly be difficult to confront my own failings, but it is necessary for me to do to try and improve.

LO2 – Undertaken new challenges and developed new skills is relevant as Archery is for me a new skill to develop. I am yet unsure as to what particular challenges I will face, but there will certainly be many to tackle moving forward. I will have to put a lot of focus on being willing to try new things and challenge myself if I want to do well at this.

The biggest challenge this Season was in trying to keep our Hackathon a meaningful event through the Coronavirus. As many other events were being cancelled, we strived to try and keep some semblance of the event running. This involved more planning fulfilling LO3 as last time, but the biggest LO I want to talk about this time is

LO7 – Considering the Ethical Implication of Actions, which was demonstrated by all of the measures we implemented to try and make sure the event was as safe as possible. This meant forgoing a larger event size, having to take away outside guests and in general removing many aspects of our event that could not be safely run during a pandemic. By considering how we could run our event ethically, we were able to keep everyone safe and healthy, making our event successful even in the midst of a global pandemic.

In addition to Coding for Good, another service I have worked on this season was the Blue Dragon Global Concern’s podcast initiative. Whilst this has been in the works in previous seasons, I only begin to talk about it now as it starts taking off.

LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with Issues of Global Significance is the biggest LO involved with this initiative, as much of my responsibility in being a host requires me to conduct in depth research into the harsh realities of human trafficking both throughout the world and in Vietnam in particular (in accordance with my GC’s area of focus). I’ve had to read many heart breaking case studies of people trapped in terrible trafficking situations as well as face some sobering statistics regarding how often human trafficking takes place in the world. It is my hope that the podcast will help others see that this is an issue of great concern.

I have continued to lead Coding for Good as part of my CAS Service, with much of this season’s work being focused on preparing for the upcoming Hackathon our service was to run.

LO3 – Planning and initiating activities was demonstrated through all of the logistics work I had to manage to prepare for the Hackathon – including managing multiple email chains, communicating through multiple groups (e.g. coordinating Service and Sodexo to try and provide sustainable food options at the Hackathon) and submitting logistics forms to try and book venues for the Hackathon.

Moving into Season 3 of SEAMC, the elephant in the room was dealing with student’s disappointments as they were not able to participate in their SEAMC rounds. The biggest challenge was that many of them were beginning to lose motivation in the training course as rounds were being cancelled due to the Coronavirus.

LO4 – Showing perseverance, resilience was demonstrated as I tried to help students maintain their motivation even without any further rounds simply through the enjoyment of the mathematics explored. Even though some were beginning to quit the program or simply be absent from training sessions, those that stayed still needed me to run the sessions and did get something out of them due to my perseverance.