This year I decided to participate in the Kahaani Dance. This is my first time performing and I was incentivized after watching culturama and last years Kahaani. I wanted to be a part of the performance and experience the hard work and time the dancers dedicate. Furthermore, given it is my last year at school, I wanted to join Kahaani as I will never get the chance to do so again. So far we have learned 3 quarters of the dance and some parts are challenging. The most difficult task for me is remembering all the moves in sequence especially with the pace of the music. As Kahaani is an Indian dance, the songs and moves are taken from Bollywood cinema. Despite being a little nervous, I look forward to performing on stage.
Pre Season Badminton
Continuing on from last year, I enrolled in pre-season badminton to fuel my obsession to play the sport. After the football season, I started playing badminton to train myself for the school team. My goal is to make the A team this year and through hard work and practice, I believe I can accomplish this target. However this year I am playing doubles whereas last year I was playing singles. This is a new experience and an added challenge because I have to communicate with my partner. Furthermore doubles is fast-paced whereas singles is slower so I have to train certain skills like my flick defense which isn’t as common in singles. Nevertheless, I am enjoying the change.
Football Season
I thoroughly enjoyed playing football this year for the school B team. It was my first time playing for this school hence it was a new and exciting experience. I was selected as captain which helped me improve my leadership skills. I had to connect with all the players because communication and team chemistry is crucial in football. As we progressed through the season the team started to unite more and our football was developing. Additionally, I improved my technique and speed over the 2 month period which incentivized me to keep training and giving my best.
Leher GC Football Tournament finished
The Leher GC Football Tournament finished yesterday and it was pretty successful. This was the first tournament Leher hosted and we were able to have 6 teams sign up. My role in the GC was refereeing the games and helping set up. The weather was horrible as it rained the whole day but luckily there wasn’t a lightning alarm and so the tournament could go on. There were several games and each team played another one and then we entered the playoff stages with semifinals and finals. Some of the games were really tight especially the finals as they went all the way to penalties. The ‘Pink Team’ won the tournament and were awarded a drink and a slice of pizza. Overall I believe the tournament was a success for the GC as it was the first major event we had hosted. For next year we hope to publicise it more as people now know what Leher is and hopefully the tournament next year will be even bigger.
Leher GC Football Tournament
Next week Leher GC will be hosting a football tournament to raise money for the Leher Foundation in Mumbai. The money we raise will be used to buy equipment, shoes and pay salaries to the staff working in the Leher Foundation. I will be a referee for the tournament and will also help set up the fields. I feel this is a unique opportunity or me because I have never been a referee before and therefore I am looking forward to this new enticing experience.
Over the last few weeks we have had a lot of discussions deciding how the tournament will be run and we eventually decided it would be a 5 a side match which would start of as a league and the winners of the groups would go on to the knockout stages. The main problem during these decisions was fixing a price of entry. We ended up at $25 which means $5 per person.
How have I made a difference so far?
I believe I have been able to make a difference through my service in the down syndrome association. Not only have I met new people and interacted with people I don’t usually get to interact with in school but I feel through the singing that we do and the games we play with them, I have been able to boost their confidence and their comfortability around me. Furthermore by getting to know them more I have been able to build a bond with them that they won’t ordinarily be able to build in places outside their home or workplace. Not only have I made a difference but they have also impacted my life because this is the first time I have ever worked with people with a genetic condition and before these experiences I wasn’t so comfortable around them but after learning more about them I feel they are the happiest people in the world and really need to be seen from a different perspective.
I also believe Leher GC is another area where I have been able to make a difference. During the holiday fair I helped sell some products from India and raised money so that the GC could send them back to Leher in Mumbai and help the kids who are less privileged than us.
Russell’s and Arvish’s presentation
Russell’s and Arvish’s presentation was about the sexualisation of both men and women in our society however it focused more on the sexualisation of women. Their presentation forced me to consider the extent to which media sexualises both genders and how sometimes the audience doesn’t realise it because it has become so acceptable to society. Furthermore how the sexualisation has resulted in negative impacts on several victims who have commit suicide because they were ashamed of how they were being portrayed in society.
SEAMC
SEAMC is a maths related activity and later on in the year a selected number of students go to participate in the competition representing the school. I joined this activity because I am interested in maths and it is one of my strengths so I wanted to practice it more. As of now I have mixed feelings about continuing the activity because all we do is individual tests and I am not fond of practicing maths that way. Furthermore I want to do badminton this season to practice for the team next season but the training is on the same day as SEAMC so I will have very little time to do my school work. We aren’t learning from our mistakes either because we just get the test back and see what we did wrong but not understand how to do the question.
Leher GC
I chose Leher GC because it is related to my home country which is India. I would love to have a positive change in this world and in my opinion it will be even better if I am able to perform that change for my own country. So far in the GC we have decided on the chairs, vice chairs and different roles that will be part of the global concern. The football tournament is the main event for Leher GC to raise money and also awareness for their concern so we were put into groups and in my group we planned out the tournament for example how the pitches would be arranged and how many players will be in a team and also what the prize will and as well as the incentive to participate. We also thought about the food and the drinks we will need. We want to raise as much money as possible so we decided to come up with an entry fee however the team that raises the most money gets a prize such as free pizza or a gift. Hopefully when the time for the tournament comes, everything will turn out right. I am also looking forward to project week so I can go to India and connect with the organisation there as well as meet different people.
Student Voice
This year I have opted to be a part of Student Voice, a role which I have never applied for before. The main reason I chose to enroll in Student Voice was because I wanted to be in a position of leadership and be able to present problems and ideas that I come up with as well as those that my classmates tell me to address allowing me to help make a change. So far we have discussed a few problems such as homework given by teachers that is not posted on the OLP and also clarified some doubts related to Project Week. Our first couple of sessions were based around how we would run the activity and whether we would have a chair or who would want to be that chair. In our most recent session we discussed issues related to the lines in the canteen which cause several students to be late to activities they have during lunch. We considered several factors that can impact how many students buy their lunch from the canteen such as: activities and services, price of the food, the length of the line and the time they feel they will waste, personal preference for home lunch and so we sent out a survey asking how many students faced problems with lunch lines at the canteen. I would like to be a greater part as I have not put forth too many ideas as of know primarily due to being new to the school so I am trying to grasp the system. For example I was unaware of what project week was and when the issue was brought up I had to ask a member to fill me up.