CAS

In this activity, we discuss the implications of developments in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Every week a topic is presented and then the club discusses how the topic can effect people and change society. I found this to be much like the MUN club where we discuss global issues. However, in this club we don’t find any solutions, we merely discuss the state of the topics. This way I am able to utilise my MUN mindset in topics of STEM as well. Again, like MUN, we discuss these issues collaboratively, which makes people participative and different viewpoints are raised. However, I found this club to be rather disappointing so far because rather than discussing the actual science behind the topics and making something, we are just discussing these topics, which makes this club less focused than I hoped for it to be. I might have expected something and gotten something else from this club, which would make this issue a bit more subjective. However, I would like it if I could talk to the teacher in charge and request some changes to happen in this club so that the core of the club remains the same, but is becomes more focused and relevant to STEM.

For the past year I have been participating in MUN only to regret one thing- I never joined this club earlier. Ever since my first conference I knew that this would be one of the most memorable and enhancing experiences. Before joining this club I hadn’t been very effective at vocalising my thoughts and I hadn’t been much of a collaborating person either. Because of the experiences I had in the 4 MUN conferences I attended so far I have been able to boost my communicative and collaborative skills while developing my confidence as well. Because of MUN I have been able to see why collaborating on a subject is much more efficient because everyone gets to see different perspectives of people. To come to the best possible solution to anything, every perspective must be considered and the problem should be viewed from every angle before reaching the solution.

More than my interpersonal skills, my research capabilities have improved as well because of MUN. I research more about global and political issues and I am more engaged in discussions in general. I am more aware of global issues and I have also debated some potential solutions to the pressing issues in the conferences. This activity is even more exciting because we have to analyse the real-world implications of the solutions that we propose. Also, because the topics and committees change every conference, I get exposed to many different types of issues which help me develop a more wholistic approach to anything I encounter.

Right now I have only been a delegate in this activity but I am aiming at going up the ranks and becoming a chair soon so that I can also develop my leadership skills and get to know how it is to be a chair at one of these conferences. I am very passionate about MUN and I think that this will be one of my favourite and memorable experience (if not the most) of high school.

The Student Voice is a body that communicates any issues that the students of our grade have to the teachers and the administrative staff. I believe that I display qualities that a member of the Student voice should have such as being responsible, communicative and approachable. I was chosen as a member of the student voice in my previous school as well for these same qualities. Furthermore, I use these qualities in the meetings we have to contribute to the discussion and work collaboratively with my peers to figure out solutions. In these meetings we have to consider many different effects that our possible solutions can have if applied to the school. We have to carefully consider each and every possible plausible scenario that could occur if our solutions are implemented. Hence, I think that this is very important role that I have been given and I must work collaboratively and critically in order to fulfil my duty as a member of the Student Voice.

When I was browsing the activities and services website in search for a global concern that I would be interested in, I immediately felt drawn towards the ambitions of the Green Umbrella Global Concern. I have always felt passionate about helping the environment as well helping people in need. I also like to explain things to people, which generally relates to helping peers in the classroom. I saw that this GC focuses on educating children in Cambodia within a clean and green environment. What this GC is working towards is what I hope to see in the world, a greener, healthier environment and educating people in developing parts of the world. Following the words of Mahatma Gandhi “Be the change you want to see in the world”, I signed up for Green Umbrella because this experience would help me learn how to contribute to solving the concerns that exist all around the globe.

Although my experience is only in its initial phases, I aim to create an effective plan that can be implemented as well. As I will be working in a team, I will do this collaboratively with my peers and we will work towards a sustainable and effective solution to the issues we observe. However, we must be careful about what we do because people will actually be affected by our decisions. (No pressure) That’s why we will have to carefully evaluate any effects, good or bad, that could occur by what we decide to do.

I believe that this experience will be really good for me because I hope to develop a more caring and mindfully aware attitude through this experience which I can use to help more people in my future.

My running experience has come to an end for this season, only in school though. I joined this club because I developed an interest in running over the summer holidays. I started running because I wanted to loose weight an increase my stamina to battle my history with Asthma. Once I started running during the holidays, I slowly started to like it and once I found out that I could join the cross country club at school, I joined immediately so that I could become more physically fit through running. This links to the first learning outcome, which mentions developing areas of personal growth, which in this case is physical fitness. I also think that I learnt many different techniques I could use while running to improve my timing and get faster. Hence, I believe that I undertook the second learning outcome as well, because I developed new skills by going through this challenging course.

All CAS reflections aside, I feel bad that I won’t be able to pursue cross country in a team because I’m not fast enough for it. However, I feel inspired because of this experience and I will continue to incorporate running as cardio into my exercises. In conclusion, this was a very inspiring activity that helped me further recognise my interest in running as a hobby and helped me develop new skills in running at the same time.

Now that we have to submit our choices of activities for this season, I am wondering about what I should take for each aspect of the CAS programme. I have had a few ideas but I think by analysing my skills and strengths, passions and my goals I can come a step closer to choosing my activities.

My skills and strengths are that I am a communicative person and I like to see certain issues from different perspectives to reach a solution. I am open-minded because if an argument is justified, I accept it and consider it before I present my own perspective. I also like to apply the concepts I learn in school beyond the classroom and apply my knowledge in real-life situations. One skill that really helps me is that I don’t hold on to my mistakes and I learn from them instead.

I am passionate about sciences, specifically physics and chemistry. I like to apply what I learn in the real world and I like to see the scientific concepts in action. I want to help the world in some way through what I learn. Some world issues that I want to see abolished are Global Warming and lack of education for the underprivileged and I hope to help take a step towards solving these issues through what I do in the future. In my spare time I like to play the guitar, do some exercise, watch tv and movies and hang out with my friends. I hope to incorporate the first two hobbies into my CAS.

I want to help people through what I do and have a positive influence on the people around me. As a person I want to be a communicative person that people can trust and depend on where it counts. I think that I still have to increase my social skills and I want to have a more cheerful aura. I want to learn how things work and how I can make them more efficient so that more people are satisfied and the technologies become more eco-friendly. I also want to know how I can help people around the world in whichever way I can.

I have a few activities that I currently like such as MUN because we debate on current issues and collaborate to make a resolution that can help the world. I want to continue playing the guitar and jogging and I hope to improve in both these fields. I am also interested in the “Music therapy with Apex” service because I will be helping people through playing the guitar. The STEM club will help me learn about what is happening around the world in terms of science and technology. I hope that I develop and become a much better person in every way through the CAS experience.

I think that CAS is an opportunity for us to grow as individuals as well as develop our skills as a helpful member of society. I think that I will learn a lot from the experience and that I will be much closer to the person I want to become through this course. There are so many activities and services to choose from and I think it will take me some time to go through the ones that interest me and finalise the ones I think that can help me use and build skills that I have and ones I didn’t realise I did. I am looking forward to the CAS experience and I have faith that I will evolve into a better person through it.