In this year’s dance showcase I had the opportunity to learn a new style of dancing, contemporary. It was a challenge that really pushed me to try my hardest to keep up with more complex choreography. It used a lot more flexibility and physical skill than any of the other dances I’ve done before. I saw a significant improvement when I watched the videos from the beginning of the activity and the end product. I definitely wasn’t the best dancer there but I learned a lot more about the hard work people put into their art. It was fun working with such motivated and talented dancers who taught us so much about dance. I also learned a lot about dancers in general and the way they hold and express themselves with more confidence than I ever realized. The way some of the dancers around me expressed themselves through dance was very inspiring. I hope to continue learning different dance styles and hopefully become freer and start to express myself through my dance.

Other than contemporary, I also continued to learn the Cuban salsa in the salsa activity, which I had joined in Grade 9.  The salsa choreography was more repetitive which made it easier to learn. It was really upbeat and fun to do especially because of the amazing group of people who participated in the activity. This was the second dance showcase that I participated in and I am looking forward to the one next year. Hopefully, by then the coronavirus epidemic will subside so that more tickets can be sold and I can share my improvements with my close friends, family and everyone else that watches.

For the second year in a row, I joined the Urban Gardening College service. I really enjoyed doing it in Grade 9 and decided that I would like to continue doing it. I enjoyed being part of a service when you could see the fruits of your labor ;), every week we could see the progress we made and that was really inspiring. I also feel strongly about having a more sustainable school where at least a part of what we eat comes from something we grew. 

This service also had a lot of people, hard-working people, who were focused and that created the ideal environment to be productive.   I feel like I want to continue with this service and move towards gaining a leadership role. I also had the opportunity to interact with grade 11’s who gave me advice on the upcoming subject selection forms firms which are due soon.  I look forward to working with his service and seeing a bigger change being made within this school.

Participating in Kahaani for the second year was an amazing decision that gave me different experiences to the ones I had before. In the previous year, I was lucky enough to have my friends in the same kahaani dance as me. This year however I was I my dance group included none of my friends. At the beginning of Kahaani people from my grade quit and I considered it too since I was the only grade 10 there. Part of Kahaani is spending time with your friends and learning some new choreography. I decided to keep participating because I felt that Kahaani is more than that. If you enjoy dancing it is an opportunity for you to continue learning and improving your skills. More importantly, it is an activity held by a Global Concern that is trying to raise money for girls in Kolkata. I really admire the Kolkatta GC’s aim to provide voices for girls in Kolkata who have escaped domestic abuse or other dangerous situations from the streets and are trying to use dance and arts and crafts to create a brighter future for themselves. I think doing this activity without my friends taught me a lot about being independent more about being social. I definitely didn’t enjoy it as much as I did last year but I think that the skills of being independent and learning to be comfortable in groups where you are by yourself is also a very important skill.