Something I found difficult in the training sessions was that it was hard to stay energetic and focused in training as some days I was tired from school and wanted to rest. Collaborating with my friends in badminton helped me a lot in this as talking with them helped me stay positive and distract me from homework and stress. (LO2, challenges) (LO4, commitment) (LO5, collaboration)

One of the ways I used my management skills in badminton was planning the warmups. I found that in the beginning of when I first joined badminton, I struggled to keep with the coach’s warmup and decided with my friend to do a few warmups together so that I could handle the groups practice better. We stretched our body first and then did some simple badminton exercises to warm up our body. (LO3, planning)

In season 1 and season 2 I was able to join pottery club, and so I already had a familiar experience with being a member of an art club.  I think my strengths are that I collaborate well in art sessions as it pushes my creativity more, and enjoy taking an interest in creative stuff, therefore I found art society engaging and the atmosphere encouraging. Some of my weaknesses I would identify is that I procrastinate a lot, so it takes me some time to start drawing or creating something. (LO1, strengths and weaknesses)

Some people I collaborated with in art society are my friends and the younger students. Since it is a club created by students and not a teacher, the overall mood of the sessions are fun and comfortable. I was able to apply my collaboration skills in situations where I was not as confident in my art abilities and required help from other students. (LO5, collaboration)

Some previous experiences I’ve had with a service like this is babysitting my neighbours kids and my little cousins as well as doing this service for 3 years so the service has been fun and easy for me to adjust to. An area of improvement I would need to work on is being more confident in my social skills as I still find it hard to engage and interact with the children, especially since I’m not that familiar with them. (LO1, strengths and weaknesses)

(LO5, collaboration)

So far in pottery all the sessions have been really enjoyable for me and I really like the activity as it helps me to unwind after school and just relax. A challenge that I’ve faced in pottery is remembering all the techniques I learnt in middle school and think of something creative to make. As I struggled with finding something to create I decided to ask my close friends and family around me to see if they needed anything so that I would not be wasting clay and being sustainable. (LO2, challenges)

(LO5, collaboration)

Reflecting on my progress throughout the pottery sessions, I noticed that towards the end I found it extremely relaxing to just sit down, listen to music and create something. It was a really good method of relieving the stress and after talking with the supervisor, he told me about therapeutic art which was really interesting to me. In therapeutic art, it affects a person’s health and well-being and was a way for people to deal with their own trauma. After hearing this, I think I might join another art activity to learn more about this issue. (LO6, global issue)