LO2  Challenge

We planned to do circus and cooking during our project week, and cooking is a new skill for me. During the project week, we are going to visit Cambodia, and I have never been to this country before. All of this would be so interesting but also challenging. I am going to learn collaboration since we always work as a team so far in the planning section. I am glad and excited to meet new people and see novel things, so I am looking forward to this amazing trip.

LO3  Initiative Planning & initiating activities

Since Cambodia is a new place for most of our group members, we have to be well prepared when we get there. We did a lot of planning, most of them are to ensure our safety. For example, we did a very detailed schedule of our whereabouts, very specific personal information, researches about the places we are going to travel…… The only problem is that we have limited time for a different phase of planning and sometimes there wasn’t enough time to finish stuff. However, we still got almost everything done on time because everyone in the team is very active and reliable.

Investigation
I used to study drama for a year and I became very fascinated with this subject. I like the feeling of being totally immersed in another world, to feel the emotions of the character, and experience another life. Drama is challenging, performers need to control facial expressions, voice, movements, and so on, and it is challenging to hold full control of body movements. Therefore, with enthusiasm for drama and excitement for challenges, I signed up for the audition and was qualified for the show. At that time, I was very glad to participate in this event and was well aware that I had to take my responsibility and do my best to make this show perfect.

Preparation
A complete drama production must be contributed by many people: director, props managers, costume designers, performers, and so on. I was double cast so I acted both Sarah Summers and Ensemble. As a performer, my responsibility is to carefully analyze my character, hone my dramatic skills, and maintain good attendance.

Action
During the six-month preparation process, I learned to collaborate and gained confidence in standing in front of people. It was hard to perform close relationships with people you don’t know, so I talked to people I worked with, and the problem was solved when we became familiar with each other. In the beginning, I was too nervous to perform well in front of many people. But over time, we practiced again and again, and I gradually overcome this problem. Even when I was facing a larger amount of audience in the actual performances, I was not overly nervous.

Reflection
This was my first attempt at a big acting event, and I was actually a little nervous. At first, I was worried that my mistakes would drag down the team. However, through the warm-up activities organized by Ms. Bye, I felt more adapted to the team and became more relaxed, so I was able to cooperate with others better. When I had questions about my role I would ask Ms. Bye so that I could play my role better. Also, I never miss rehearsals because I want to keep up with the team as best as I can. Through this series of preparation, I was more confident that I could perform at my best in the final performance.

At the end of each performance, everyone would leave the stage singing loudly. Every time to this moment, I will be particularly excited and emotion, and a sense of collective pride springs up. I had a great time!

Demonstration
This project really touched me, and changed some of my habits. In the drama production, I learned the importance of teamwork, which I had never truly realized. In the rehearsals, Ms Bye constantly emphasized that each actor, no matter what role, has its own meaning and story, and everyone is important in the team. Every action of us will be watched by the audience and may bring positive or negative influence to the whole team, so we need to take not only own responsibility but also the responsibility of the team. Which means that we need to care and help others while doing our job well.

In fact, I felt a strong sense of honor and pride that I had never experienced in an individual performance in the final curtain call, as I realized the significance of the team.