https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b6MVH_l7iYDeKwzCnyHlsiH_2ly-jJgt/view?usp=sharing
Category: CAS
Cancer awareness : Wrapping up
My wonderful teacher facilitator hosted a warm celebration to thank us four chairs and the whole group for our successful Movember. I feel an immense amount of gratitude to have joined this service in grade 9, and to have worked with a group of amazing change-makers.
Cancer awareness has been instrumental in teaching me about how cancer awareness is a global issue that ties everyone together. Cancer is a disease that has the potential to affect anyone, even those who cannot bear the costs. As a result, it creates a social divide, between those who have resources for treatment, and those who must deal with it until it takes over. Therefore, I feel honoured to play a role in conducting this event, as it reminds me of how this is important to people that I may not meet, but I know exist. (LO6)
The ethical aspect of conducting this event and supporting this cause has also become clearer as I approach my last year in cancer awareness. We talk in class about the stigma surrounding cancer, and the idea of blaming individuals who have gotten cancer by zooming into their lifestyle habits. It’s taught me a lot about how to approach and interact with people who have been either directly or indirectly affected by cancer. Through Movember, I hope to play my part in eradicating the stigma of cancer and revealing the emotional impact cancer can have on an individual (lo7)
Bersama : Finishing up in Grade 12
Getting into Bersama after submitting my audition was a gratifying experience. I felt overjoyed in realising that I could carry on the moments I had in grade 11 over to grade 12, with new faces and new projects.
This year, I’ve taken on a different role by transitioning from alto to soprano. This change felt small at first, but I realise that becoming soprano has changed my perception of our songs. Rather than singing the melody, I’ve had to learn to complement the alto singers by singing in a higher key. Although higher keys are not my strength, I worked on them outside of bersama rehearsals and practiced the techniques my teachers have taught me (LO1).
Additionally, our group has changed a lot this year, the collaborative aspect of Bersama has remained unchanged. I find it exciting when we, as a group, brainstorm ways to edit certain parts of our score, change the tune/melody, or even deciding what song we should learn next. Bersama never fails to remind me how collaboration is an opportunity I’m eternally grateful for, as without it, I wouldn’t be the singer I am today (LO5)
Videos of me and my friend singing in class (Dancing Queen, Eleanor Rigby) :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yc-weuQv4FrExuYcix1YJvvNTJTZzl1H/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T4QItQ_tRPnINQ8n-pqkvD4eQEihgh5y/view?usp=sharing
Raw Beauty : Grade 12 reflection
Introduction presentation I made for the first session
: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19djZSgBkjVOAaV_pZVKBBhEAipTEd6T9/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=118120026354714215299&rtpof=true&sd=true
As I begin the process of handing over this service to the new grade 11 chair, I’ve begun to reflect on how Raw Beauty has changed me. It was my first experience becoming a leader of a service that didn’t have history, therefore, I had to co-plan and initiate many aspects to get it off the ground. It was a very fulfilling experience, as I garnered skills ranging from soap-making to leading (LO2) which are skills that remain with me even after Raw beauty.
But more than this, I realise that I’ve come out of Raw beauty with a different mindset than I had when I entered. I had never researched or explored the topic of child labour, specifically mica-mining, until I learned about it on my first Raw Beauty session. It changed the way I consumed not just beauty products, but everything in general. I’ve learned about what indicators to look for when seeking environmentally and ethically-friendly products (LO6) as a means to engage with an issue bigger than myself, one that is globally significant.
In relation to this, my awareness on what is ethically right and wrong has amplified thanks to my learnings in Raw Beauty. As a member, I realised that the new habits I incorporate into my life as a result of my learnings can be applied to the rest of my household. In realising that ethical consumption is not a act of service, but rather, a moral obligation, has helped me to frame my consumption patterns better and align them with my values. I’m thankful that a service like Raw Beauty has not only given me practical skills, but also, values like global and ethical awareness to tackle other issues I might face after my time at UWCSEA (LO7).
Our first soaps we made, using sustainable materials :
Teaching our grade 9’s how to make soaps from scratch using lye water. We had to inform them of the safety precautions we must take when handling pure NaOH.
ITP: Grade 12 reflection
In ITP, I have the opportunity to direct the lesson and choose what I want to learn. As a result of my many years in Carnatic (Indian classical) vocal music, I tend to request my teacher to teach me unfamiliar areas of music. An example was musical theatre, where I didn’t know how to sing a musical number, but dove into it so that I could audition and be part of the school musical.
For a university application, I decided to submit a musical supplemental video, to showcase my experience in the vocal arts. One of the requirements was to include a western classical piece, which I didn’t know. My teacher and I began the planning process. I began to line out my goals for where I’d want to be leading up to the final date (where I would film the video with a pianist), and began listening to other western classical pieces to gauge the style of music. This helped me become garner skills in planning and initiating CAS experiences (LO3) as I understood the important of goal-setting and having a long-term perspective with respect to my CAS experiences.
Additionally, since western classical was an unfamiliar area of music for me, I realised that my weaknesses were quite explicit in the start. The style of singing and performance was not only unfamiliar, but it was based on skills that I didn’t require, therefore didn’t garner, through my years of singing pop, Indian classical, western jazz, etc. There were some basic improvements, like how to carry yourself when you perform western classical. Then there were deeper improvements, like how to change your pronunciation to enunciate and produce a better sound. This helped me with developing my areas for growth and improvement (LO1), as I became engrossed with a style of music that initially played against my strengths.
Lastly, this mini-project helped me reiterate skills like perseverance and commitment (LO4). I was entrusted with the responsibility of organising a pianist, extra rehearsals, appropriate room and filming materials, and although it was overwhelming, especially in the midst of school and other commitment, I felt joy and gratitude in realising how far my commitment had taken me. I enjoyed filming this video as it was an amalgamation of my vocal training and experiences.
Link to the video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uLxSwyXOQeZztZa50bzs-Bh2h7z-pZG3/view?usp=sharing
Cancer Awareness : Movember 2021
My last Movember was an incredible success! Having raised more than 8000 dollars, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to be part of such an important event that supports an amazing cause and organisation.
This year, aside from co-leading the event, I also focused on handing over the service to the grade 11 chairs, who were so organised and responsive in conducting their first Movember. Regardless, I come away from my last Movember with a better awareness of my strengths and weaknesses, as well as the importance of the cause I’m fighting for.
I got the opportunity to delegate roles again, but this time, based on the new restrictions COVID posed for our event. I learned more about how to delegate roles effectively, such that people are assigned jobs that they enjoy but can also improve by bringing in new ideas. This was important when I was delegating where students would bring donation bags and sandwich boards (as you can see in the photo below) to areas within the school. I had to choose it based on how many people would be there, and whether students could effectively promote our cause to that audience. In the end, I thought that students could present it to people in their own grade, so that the level of familiarity could help in a deeper engagement and awareness of this event (LO3 (LO1)
Additionally, I come away with an understanding of how cancer awareness is not just a service event, but it’s a global issue that ties everyone together. Cancer is a disease that has the potential to affect anyone, even those who cannot bear the costs. As a result, it creates a social divide, between those who have resources for treatment, and those who must deal with it until it takes over. Therefore, I feel honoured to play a role in conducting this event, as it reminds me of how this is important to people that I may not meet, but I know exist. (LO6)
The ethical aspect of conducting this event and supporting this cause has also become clearer as I approach my last year in cancer awareness. We talk in class about the stigma surrounding cancer, and the idea of blaming individuals who have gotten cancer by zooming into their lifestyle habits. It’s taught me a lot about how to approach and interact with people who have been either directly or indirectly affected by cancer. Through Movember, I hope to play my part in eradicating the stigma of cancer and revealing the emotional impact cancer can have on an individual (lo7)
CAS intermediate interview
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K-cBhK5fXia1PJOnIGPXB880T-0Y7HRX/view
Second reflection
I’ve been able to be a part of this service for a few weeks now, and I’m slowly seeing my role and skills within the service develop. I’ve begun participating more in activities rather than just contributing during brainstorming conversations. In one of the sessions, I acted as the main character in ‘The Gruffalo”, which was really fun and I enjoyed entertaining the kids online very much.
One of the learning objectives that I’ve seen relate to my experience in this service is planning and initiating (LO3). Every session we end with a plan of what to do next week, and I’ve been contributing to these planning sessions more with each week. After about 3 weeks of trial and error with different activities and feedback from the teachers at Lighthouse school, we’ve come up with several things that the students enjoy the most :
- dancing
- singing 1-2 songs with sign language
- reading books out loud and then again but with acting out (for both the hearing impaired and visually impaired students)
I’ve been able to use my planning skills that I learned in my other services, such as creating an outline/framework for a period of time, or beginning the planning with a set of objectives to help direct suggestions, to contribute to ideas in the group when we decide what songs/stories we should do. It’s been really helpful building on the planning skills I’ve had before with the new aspects from this service.
Collaboration is always a big part of this local service, especially since we’re a group that has goals to meet on a weekly basis. Compared to my other services, we don’t have specific roles to play as members. This can be quite helpful since we can choose our responsibilities based on the situation, and what we are better at. This service has helped me appreciate the value of collaboration, especially when it is between a group of people who have no particular roles but a common interest (LO5)
Initial reflection
I recently joined the local service Music and Movement with Lighthouse school. This service aims to create fun, interactive, engaging sessions with students aged 7-18 who are visually and hearing impaired. Lighthouse is a special needs school that provides students with the education, and our service collaborates with them on a weekly basis to read/act out stories, dance and sing. After the first 2 sessions, I can already see how my understanding of the Persons With Disability (PWDs) community in Singapore face tremendous challenges pertaining to access to vocational training, which then hinders their opportunity to develop their collaborative and communicative skills.
I initially chose to join this service because I wanted to experience a direct service, where we could interact with the vulnerable community either in person or virtually, but still make a contribution in some direct manner. So far, this service has not only given me that, but also, the taught me the ability to plan and initiate sessions for the following weeks. At the end of every call, we all sit together as a group to decide what went well/bad and what to do for the next session. I’ve also noticed that at the end of every call, we ask for the teachers in Lighthouse school to give any feedback/suggestions, to which they respond with really useful advice (what the kids liked/didn’t like). This is something that I would consider applying to not just my other services, but other areas of reflection, where I can ask myself what went well/wrong and how I can improve it (LO1).
Another recurring theme I’m seeing is the collaboration between us members. Sometimes, things don’t always go to plan, for example a video may not be working or the teachers prefer a different song/story, in which case we all adapt and collaborate accordingly. I had the chance to do this when we were reading a story book, and in the last minute we decided to act out the parts to make it interesting and engaging for the hearing-impaired students. (LO5) Although I was still new to this service, I decided to partake and play a role, depending on my peers for guidance while relying on my own observations from other people’s enthusiasm. I ended up enjoying it very much, and I was very grateful to have a supportive group of peers to work with.
I was also very lucky to be introduced to singaporean sign language, a method of communication I was encouraged to learn just like the other members so that I could introduce myself for every call. It was a challenge at first, especially since the group had already been practicing and became somewhat familiar. But I overcame this lack of confidence once I saw how sweet and welcoming the students were, and how engaging they were with the activities we planned. Now I can introduce my name, and speak a few words such as sister, brother, family, thank you. (LO2)