Tech Tinkers, as an environmental initiative, has come a long way. During the past few months, I have been planning on initiative an e-waste week that will be held annually during October in order to spread awareness regarding the issue of e-waste as well as our initiative. In order to prepare for this event, I directed the production of a video, with the rest of the leadership team, that explores the issue of e-waste as well as provides information regarding Tech Tinkers to the wider school community from Junior Schoolers to High Schoolers to Teachers. This video will not only spread awareness but will also allow Tech Tinkers to receive more electronics donations from the school community so that we can further donate the electronic devices to our local service and GC partners.

Currently, the video has been released to the school community and we have received positive feedback from teachers and students. Since we are still in the earlier stages of the initiative, significant changes in donations cannot be seen, however, we predict that as our video is further shared within our school community, the community will be more aware of the issue, rethink their choices of throwing away their old electronic devices and hopefully donate them to us so that we can help others with technological needs.

E-waste Week: Introduction to Tech Tinkers  

While I not only planned the Science Fair, I also participated and presented. Although I participated in the science fair, I did not participate in the award as this would be ethically wrong considering that I was also involved in determining winners. I really wanted to participate and compete for the Applied Sciences Awards as my presentation was about CaproGlu, a newly invented medical adhesive, which applies aspects of biology, chemistry, and physics in the real world. Since I am a part of the leadership team, if I were competing for the awards, there may have been an aspect of bias from my team members, which is ethically wrong, hence, it would not be fair for the other participants. Therefore, I had to make the ethical decision to not compete for the awards, but still, participate and present during the Science Fair. Alongside making an ethical decision of my participation, I also had to think about the ethical implications of assigning dates to presentations. It was only ethically fair if all groups presented for the same duration, hence, when assigning dates and times, I had to take this into consideration as well.

My presentation

Therefore, through planning and participating in the High School Science Fair, I have learned various things, in terms of making ethical decisions based on specific scenarios as it is extremely important to understand how my decisions impact others around me as well as whether they are ethically correct. Additionally, through this process, I have improved my skills of collaboration, communication, and time management. The many obstacles faced by my team and I in terms of the COVID-19 regulations have further developed my problem-solving skills. Therefore, this CAS project in general has allowed me to improve many of my skills and accomplish my goals.

The High School Science Fair has just ended and over the past few months, as the logistics officer, I have been quite occupied with organizing the logistics of the science fair as well as preparing my individual science fair project. Due to COVID-19 safe-distancing policies and other restrictions, I have faced quite a few problems with allocating spaces to each group in order to adhere by the COVID-19 rules. In order to overcome these challenges, the leadership team and I decided to split the number of groups participating into 2 main groups in which the 1st group will present on Monday and Tuesday and the 2nd group will present on Wednesday and Thursday. This way, we were able to adhere to the COVID-19 restrictions as well as have successful presentations during the Science Fair.

Moreover, at the start of Science Society, my goal was to introduce more interactive sessions as well as try to make the science fair more inclusive in terms of the number of participants from different clubs and I believe that my goal was accomplished since we had various interactive sessions which consisted of watching videos as well as discussions on new and pre-existing scientific discoveries. Additionally, this year, we had over 60 participants in the Science Fair which is double the amount of participants we had last year and we formed new partnerships with other clubs such as Neuroscience Society for the Science Fair.

Overall, I  believe that I was able to fulfill my goals set a few months ago and I was able to overcome the challenges faced when figuring out the logistics of the science fair.

My Science Fair Project

The High School Science Fair has just ended and I am extremely happy about how smoothly it went. I had implemented the different logistical additions that I had decided to implement during my investigation and preparation process. Additionally, even after the preparation stage the leadership team and I discussed different ideas as well. While I was brainstorming this with the leadership team, the members had many disagreements regarding potential solutions alongside the ones we had chosen to implement. However, I was able to take into account everyone’s ideas and combine them to create a plan. Collaboratively, we realized that some people may unconsciously break the one-meter rule, hence, in order to further ensure that a one-meter distance was maintained between the presenter and the viewers, placed safe-distancing stickers on the floor to remind them of the regulations. I was really happy to see that the rest of the leadership team had helped me set up all of the tables, boards, posters, and signs the week before the science fair. Through our collaboration, we were able to quickly set everything up and ensure that everything went according to plan and our vision was accomplished. Even during the Science Fair, we would walk around (I would walk around when I was not presenting) the presentation areas to ensure everything was going smoothly because safe-distancing ambassadors were also present, hence, if they found that regulations were not being followed, then they may complain to the government agencies. Through our collaborative monitoring system, we were able to ensure that COVID-19 measures were enforced. Therefore, while collaboration amongst strong-minded people can cause disagreements when making important decisions, it can also be proven to be beneficial as things can be done quickly and efficiently when all minds are put together and concentrated in specific areas.

These are some pictures from the science fair:

In Kolkata GC, we planned Kahaani, the annual dance showcase, and as the Head of Finance, we devised a successful solution to raise funds from the showcase. Due to COVID-19, we could not have a live audience, therefore, we decided to film the event and share it with the UWC community. To raise funds, my team and I collaborated and found a solution that raised funds from the show from lunchtimes. During lunchtimes, we decided that we would go around raising awareness regarding Voice of World and the mentally and physically disabled community in Kolkata and ask for donations. Additionally, when the recording of the show was sent to the UWC community, we also attached a donation link which received quite a positive response. These methods were quite successful were we able to raise a total of $3494. Although this amount was lower than what we have raised in the past pre-covid, this amount is still a very big amount which can bring about a large impact on Voice of World in Kolkata. I believe that I showed great initiative by launching this new idea. In the future when the condition of COVID-19 improves, and there are live performances for Kahaani, I believe that the current solution we found will also help us increase the amount of money raised.

The High School Science Fair is an annual fair that is hosted by Science Society, a club that I am a part of. This year, the science fair was quite different due to COVID-19. Due to the COVID-19 safe-distancing measures that needed to be enforced, planning out the logistics has been quite difficult. As the logistics officer of the Science Society, I am in charge of organizing the event with the Chairs of Science Society. In order to ensure a successful science fair, firstly I had to investigate whether the Science Fair was a possible event to happen in lieu of COVID-19. After we received confirmation from the school, my team and I proceeded to plan the logistics of it. As planning the event in COVID times is a challenge, in order to overcome this, we decided to ensure that there is a one-meter distance between the presenter and the viewers by placing a table in between. The table will not only allow the presenters to keep their computers and other items of their project on the table, but this will help enforce the one-meter safe-distancing measure. Additionally, in order to reduce the crowd, we decided to use the science pod as well as different science rooms as these were spacious areas.

After we finalised the award categories (Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, & Applied Sciences Awards) and the dates, we published the Science Fair advertisement posters online in our school portal and put them around the school. When we sent out the registration form for the science fair, we had an influx of registrations with approximately 80 participants. This put us in a dilemma as this was the highest number of registrations the science fair has received in many years. This meant that in terms of the logistics, the areas we chose may be too small and there were no other venues and places available. Therefore, to tackle this issue, we decided to allocate specific dates for different projects to reduce a large crowd. Additionally, we have allocated 2 science teachers for each project for marking in order to determine the winners and runner-ups for the science fair for each of the award categories.

The process of investigating and preparing for the event has allowed me to develop and improve my skill of adaption because, through the investigation and preparation process of the event, I learned how to better adapt to the COVID-19 situation and find solutions to problems around them. The High School Science is in 2 weeks and hopefully, it goes smoothly.

 

Last month, I completed my Grade 5 ABRSM Theory Exams with a distinction. I am quite proud that I was able to overcome my challenges and convert my weaknesses into my strengths as well as become more confident with the new syllabus during a short period of time. I believe that perseverance played an important role during the process of preparing for these exams. With other major commitments to school as well as my extracurricular activities such as the services I am a part of, I was able to balance the preparation of my theory exam as well as my school life. I had been preparing for the Grade 5 theory exams for more than a year, and I was able to commit to continue practicing the prior knowledge I had as well as be flexible with learning new concepts with changes in the syllabus as a result of the pandemic. I believe that my commitment to this has been quite fruitful and I hope that I continue to persevere for the upcoming Grade 5 ABRSM Online Practical Examination during July.

Now that Kahaani is over, through this experience, I believe that I have significantly improved upon my traditional dancing abilities through the help of my dance leaders.  Additionally, the significance of teamwork and collaboration shined through the performances. Through the extensive collaboration and teamwork within our dance group, we were able to successfully synchronize our dance moves, including the most difficult ones, which resulted in the display of a beautiful performance.

During rehearsals, our group faced various challenges associated with the synchronization of the dance steps which needed good collaborative skills in order for the output to be excellent. In order to overcome our problems faced, we came to school for extra rehearsals to practice every step as a group in order for the dance moves to be synchronized. Moreover, since I was at the front of the stage for the majority of the performance, my role as a dancer was quite important as the people behind me had to ensure that their steps were synchronized with mine.

Below are the images of me during the performances. From the images posted below, the results of working collaboratively have successfully accomplished our goal for the performance.

Dress Rehearsal Video

 

 

Kahaani is a dance showcase that is run by Kolkata GC in order to raise funds for Voice of World, an NGO that supports those that are physically and mentally disabled.

I had participated in Kahaani last year and I had a lot of fun. So this year, I decided to participate again. Last year, my goal was to overcome my fear of performing in front of large audiences. However, this year I intend to take part in Kahaani with a different goal in mind. This year I have been allocated in a dance group where the choreography is mostly ‘bhangra’, a Punjabi dance style. We have already had one rehearsal, and I had noticed that the dance style is quite different and unique. Since I have never learned this dance style, it was quite challenging to learn parts of the choreography. However, the leaders complimented me on my energy. Although I am aware of my strengths in Indian dance styles, I would like to work towards developing my skills in the traditional dance styles of different states, and this will start with Punjab.