by curri58987@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg | Oct 23, 2018 | Grade 9, IGCSE Archive, Service (CAS)
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23rd October 2018
Ladakh GC: First Impressions and Ambitions
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The school year is finally in full swing, with introductory units and final adjustments complete, and activities ramping up to season 2 already. We’ve all had adequate time to settle into our new places, perhaps returning back to an old routine or making a completely new one. For the first 8 weeks of school, I’ve been trying to adapt to high school life, and I’ve been trying a lot of new things that I haven’t done before, one of them being in a high school GC.
First impressions of Ladakh GC:
I’ve found that being in a high school GC is actually quite similar to being in a middle school GC. The only thing that is really different is that we students have a lot of responsibility and freedom, which gives us more opportunities to become leaders. I feel quite positive about being involved in Ladakh GC this year, and I do not regret my choice to join at all. The environment is comfortable, and we all have the space to share our ideas. I also feel like we are not unproductive at all, so I look forward to working with members of my GC in the future to achieve our goals (which we just set before the holidays!)
Our goals as a GC:
Our goal as we have stated officially is to promote Ladakhi culture whilst aiding the efforts of Lamdon school; this will be by providing necessary classroom materials and organising 1 key event that we will raise majority of our funds by. Lamdon school has also just communicated with us their plans for upcoming projects that they wish to undertake, and after our chat with Ladakh GC Dover next week, we are going to finalise goals for fundraising.
My personal goals for the GC:
Personally, as a member of Ladakh GC, I really want to raise funds specifically for the toilets in Lamdon school. The school has told us that their bathrooms are inadequate and need to be renovated, so I think that this issue is definitely a priority, for obvious hygienic reasons.
However, for me as a person, I would like to gain something from my experience in Ladakh GC, and one of those things is knowledge of Ladakhi culture so that when I am in Grade 11, I will be able to take my project week to Lamdon School and work there. This is a very long-term goal, but my initial intention when joining a GC was to stay loyal to it so that eventually I could do my project week there.
I also really want to host an event this year. Despite not having been in Ladakh GC before, I think that this GC is definitely a place where I could grow a passion for the issue, and I think that by organising an event, not only would I gain important organisational skills, but I would also learn about Ladakhi culture and be able spread this knowledge to the rest of the school, just like our official GC goal states.
So, these were my goals and first impressions of Ladakh GC, and I definitely look forward to working with the team and accomplishing our goals so that we can all have a meaningful service experience. Thank you for reading!
by curri58987@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg | Oct 3, 2018 | NYAA Healthy Living, Youth Achievements
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NYAA: Healthy Living
September Progress Report
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My Healthy Living Goal: To reduce and find better ways to deal with my stress through Music.
Why have I chosen this goal?
I personally am very invested in Music and it is the one creative art I take solace in. Playing the piano and listening to a lot of music are things that I do regularly, and I want to bring this into the award as it is something that I am very passionate about.
How am I achieving this goal:
Currently, I participate in an activity called ‘Piano Masterclass’, and in this class I learn a lot about not only playing actual pieces of music better than I already do, but also side tactics to enhance things like performance, skills and control.
So far, I have learned about creating a better warmup when starting my practice session to prepare my fingers for the pieces I am playing and to make playing a lot more comfortable for me. However, one of the main highlights of this month in Piano Masterclass has been working together with Marianne from the music group ‘Crossing Borders Music’ who visited our school and our piano masterclass specially to work with some of us on improving one of the pieces in our repertoire. I was one of the lucky few working one-on-one with Marianne herself, and the experience taught me so much.
Firstly, I learned a lot more about attitude when performing, to not let myself be so nervous and to pretend that everything is going as I want it to. Not only will this lessen my own stress when performing, but it will also lessen the people around me’s. Secondly, I learned about touch and control, leaning more weight into separate fingers to create chords that have one dominant note among a harmony, but only using one hand. This practice has helped me become a better pianist, and I know that further practicing this skill will allow me to play more of the pieces that I love.
I also got to listen to Marianne work with other pianists, and that experience also taught me more about technique and performance attitude. However, sitting and listening to others play and improve also taught me more about other composers like Brahms, Beethoven and Chopin that I haven’t had a chance to play yet, and I think this information will further help me define my preferences in music.
Overall, this experience helped me to develop further my growing passion for music, and I think that this passion will provide me comfort and good mental health in the future, providing me with an important escape when the world gets too stressful.
Link to Marianne and her group’s website: http://crossingbordersmusic.org/
Link to their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CrossingBordersMusic/ (you can see some photos from the event here!)
What am I looking forward to?
Well, upcoming at the end of October is another recital where I must perform at Esplanade, in a concert called ‘Bach to the Future’ linked on the Esplanade library website here. I think that this experience will further develop me as a pianist and a performer especially, so I am looking forward to it!
I am also looking forward to International Women’s day in March 2019, and the jazz piece that I will be playing there. Attached below is an image of the sheet music that I recently received for the piece. I have lowered the quality as to avoid copyright claims.
That’s all for September! Thanks for reading!
Link to my tracking log
