Tag: #LO3

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Track and Field

February 13th 2020

Investigation:

Last year, I also took part in the track and field team where I was not too bad at running long distance and quite good at high jump. So it is an experience I have done before, but I will try to challenge myself more, by running more often than I usually do, and jump higher and farther in the high and long jump part of the field which I have decided to take part in. Also, I have been thinking of joining the cross country team next year instead of pursuing football. This was because I have started playing football during breaks as I have always done before, and noticed I was a bit rusty but also that with football, the sport I love the most, is the sport I just want to play for fun and not have to worry about competitions, just for the love of it. But with cross country, I feel like it would be a good challenge and something I wouldn’t be too bad at it. With running, one needs to train quite often and keep that momentum going sort of like swimming. My father is a great long-distance runner, and running with him perhaps once a week might make that momentum going. We have run quite a lot together in the past.

February 19th and 21st 2020

Preparation:

Today (February 19th), long jump and the high jump was on the schedule and despite being almost a year since I last trained, I was still able to regain my former strengths and skills. Since I have grown, I able to jump over 1.60m which was the highest I jumped last time. I have a feeling that I will able to easily beat my personal record and perhaps even able to jump over 1.70m. So my goal for this season is to clear 1.70m.

Today (February 21st), I went back into the long-distance running I did last year but started challengingly with interval training. After a hard session of interval training, I did some full-body exercises, and it is a bit different from last year because of the virus. Now we are running in quite unusual places like the Bus Bay for instance or anywhere around the campus. I am looking forward to and hoping to gain some more stamina in my long-distance running and running longer with a slightly higher pace than I am usually comfortable with. In other words, I hope that through Track and field, I will not only jump higher but challenge myself to increase my stamina and running faster.

#LO1,

16th March 2020

For the past few sessions, I have worked quite a bit on my high jumping, beating my personal best of 160cm and now stands at 165cm. With high jumping, it is a bit of luck because it is sort of the jumping at the right time and hoping that when you arch your back as well as lifting your legs you will go over. Also, the more you jump the worse you become in a session because you are putting all your effort in one jump. But I am really happy that I was able to clear 165 and I want to preserve to go higher.

In terms of running, I have been doing some interval training to try to increase both my stamina and speed. I am not a particularly fast runner nor a runner which can run really far (but still a relativity good distance without stopping). However, I am really good at maintaining my speed. Below is an image of the times I did for one 800, then twice 1600 and finally 800 with a relatively fast pace with 3 to 5 minutes rest in between:

What this shows is that I can hold my pace in between 14 seconds in this case and that I can maintain my pace for a sustained period of time. What I need to be working on now, is to increase my speed. Yesterday I tried the Parkrun at East Coast Park for the first time where you can volunteers can time your 5K run and show you where you are at among athletes and the average your age and fitness. Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 virus, it was cancelled just that weekend, but I still did a makeshift run for 5K and resulted in a time of just under 25 minutes. That is not a bad time but not a very fast time if compared to many athletes. So my aim and goal for the next few weeks are to increase my speed in middle distance running.

Aside from track and field, I also climbed with the UWCSEA Dover Climbing team both at the East Campus and the Dover campus this week and last week. It was exciting to climb with others that are really good and it invites a challenge and insight into what a climbing team goes through and how they train. Although the holds and routes are relatively easy at both our climbing walls, to challenge our selves, we tried climbing with only the rock face and smearing, or using only specific holds and routes or climbing with no hands-on an inclined wall. It was a great opportunity and a chance to develop my skills as a climber.

#LO1, #LO2 and #LO4

2nd May 2020

We are unable to have track and field training because of the pandemic but there are still ways that I can exercise and continue my running. My family and I have created a challenge for all of us to run a marathon but split it up to 2 km a day every day. So we have been running 2k every day and right now I am on my tenth run so 20km in. The route is quite small as we are not allowed to go so far from our house and my challenge is to go at a slightly paced run so it is still quite a challenge. I actually injured my knee from roller-blading just before the circuit breaker which is sort of Singapore’s version of lockdown, but it is getting better and hopefully, by the end of the challenge, my knee and my pace will get better. This is a great opportunity to continue my training and to prepare for Cross Country next year. Yesterday, it took me just over 10 minutes to run 2k and I am hoping that time will get smaller.

Not only that, but I am also doing some other exercise at home from time to time to improve and train other areas of my body that running might not. I guess it is important to stay fit and healthy during this circuit breaker because we aren’t moving that much and are almost only at home. One realises how much one moves every day on any given day.

Anyways, track and field was a great experience because running, in some ways and sometimes, is quite fun especially when running with others. I met a lot of new people and improved my running over the course of just a few weeks. I pushed myself from the very beginning despite not attending the cross country early this year. Also, what I miss most about track and field is the high and long jump part of it. I beat my record and jumped 165 and that was amazing. I wish I could try harder because I know I could, or rather have more time to do it. However, hopefully, next year I can be apart of it. The high jump was really the highlight for me of this activity because of how much joy I have of jumping over a bar and landing without the bar falling. This will be an experience I miss but there are other similar opportunities next year.

#LO4

12th May 2020

Today was the last day of the 21-day marathon challenge where I split each day to run 2k. I feel like it was a great experience for my whole family and me, and a good way to stay fit and exercised during the COVID period. Through this experience, I noticed that even though I was getting faster, it wasn’t by that much and some days I ran a lot slower. In total, if I add up the time, I would have run a marathon in 4 hours and thirty minutes but taking into account that I would be much more tired in a marathon than 2k, it would more realistically take me 5 hours. Although much slower than the best marathon runners, I still feel it was that bad of a time and I can get better. I do aim to do at least one marathon in my life and this is sort of like a warm-up to it. I am not a particularly fast runner nor a runner with great stamina, but that is something I can continue working on.

My fastest pace was 4:42 per km meaning that it took me about nine and a half minutes to do 2 km. Although the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge would have easily run 2 k in less than 6 minutes, I still feel like under ten minutes is a pretty good time for myself. Perhaps in the future, I would aim to run less than 8 and a half minutes and I feel like this can be very realistic because 2k isn’t particularly long and sprinting for a large chunk of the distance wouldn’t be that difficult I think.

#LO1, #LO4

14th June 2020

In some ways during the Circuit Breaker period, I feel like I have been running a lot more often than I usually. This is obviously because there isn’t much to do, and is an easy way to do some exercise. I have definitely noticed an improvement in my stamina and speed. For instance, running a 10k would be very difficult for me and I would stop many times to rest or stop. Now, I don’t need to nearly stop as many times to rest in a 10k and last time I did a 10k, I only stopped for 4 times compared to about 8. I haven’t really been that great at speed and stamina at very long distances, but this is a great chance for me to improve those skills.

Track and Field, as I have said previously, was a great experience and hopefully I will join the cross country team next semester. I am a bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to attend track and field training sessions as they were quite fun. A lot of activities are of course closed and it’s the same feeling for all activities as they were all great in each of their own unique ways. I guess what I have to do is to make most of the situation I have now and one way is to, because I have more time on my hands as I don’t have as many activities, running more often can help me to improve many of the skills in running and ultimately make me a better runner.

#LO1

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High School Urban Gardening (Propagation)

September, 12th, 2019

Investigation:

For parts of Grade 9 and 10, I was with the Urban Gardening service group and I really liked the experience, both because I was interested around the issue of the environment and because I liked the actual gardening part of it (it was a bit meditational). Unfortunately, I do not have the time to do the Urban Gardening service due to having other CAS experiences that cross over the time for that service, so I chose to do the parent service—Urban Gardening Propagation. However, this will be a slightly new service experience yet will still retain some elements of my previous service. I have some skills in gardening so I can develop and use these skills in this service. I hope that through this service, I can make some sort of difference at school in terms of the environment and gardening.

In today’s session, we just did a few Ice breakers to get to know each other as well as exploring the gardens at school. So today, was more about investigating what propagation is and what it involves in this service.

September, 26th, 2019

Preparation + Action:

In this session as well as the last session, is that we’ve been planning to give some seedlings and plants that we’ve grown from cuttings and seeds to some members of our communities that have asked for it and for grade 1 classes (where they will learn to grow their own plant). We’ve transplanted and propagated Thai basil, sweet basil, holy basil, parsley, peppers, and lots more. We’ve decided roles in each of our groups and the benefits of working in a group in gardening are that we get things done a lot faster when we work well. Below is some evidence of what we did in our sessions:

  

In these images, I have shown me planting and propagating some of these plants which includes the holy basil and sweet basil. I am also preparing the soil (the darker in the foreground has more nutrients and the behind where a member in my group is preparing with peat moss and pearlite which is good for propagating seeds).

#LO5

October 3rd, 2019

In this session, we made a video with Mr Erikson (A Spanish teacher here at school, is the head of the gardening services here and has a degree in horticulture) on the theory of propagation including propagating seeds and propagating cuttings from plants, a well as transplanting when the plants are big enough. As mentioned in a previous reflection, I can use some of my previous skills in gardening including that of transplanting and growing plants to propagating as well as learn new skills and develop those skills from it. In this theory session and in the process of making the video, I learned a lot about propagating plant including where one should take cuttings from so the stem cells will grow into roots and how to plant seeds. Some of this knowledge and skills, I had learnt before but others were unfamiliar and new to me, mainly the theory.

#LO1, #LO2

November 7th, 2019

During the last few session, we have been propagating a few new seeds and cuttings and mainly transplanting plans like chilli, aloe vera, dill, basil and other plants into bigger pots so they grow sturdier and larger.

Action:

November 28th, 2019

In the past few sessions, I have been continuing taking care of plants that we have propagated and in addition to that, I have been in charge along with another member of the service, to track the plants and seeds. Besides, we have made a few of our first deliveries to K1 students who have a unit on growing.

Although in a way, we are making an impact, I felt like by delivering these orders, was really the moment in which I felt that I have made a difference. And another project and client we are going to work with is from my friend’s service for an elderly home and we are planning to design a system in which the elderly can take care of plants which is good for both the planet and their mental health well being, which will be a great opportunity.

January, 23rd, 2020

For the past few weeks, we have been getting orders from various teachers, staff and grades. For instance, this week we have got orders from middle school about a few plants that we have propagated and that will be delivered after Chinese New Year. These plants include coriander, peas and lettuce.

Some plants have been successful such as the peas, watercress, dill and basil. While on the other hand, other plants such as lettuce, watermelon and other plants haven’t’ been as successful or have died. One really needs to get the conditions right and some plant that we have grown are not native to Singapore or the climate, so these plants are even harder to propagate and take care of.

This service has been quite relaxing and I think it may be because of the tranquil and almost zen-like experience of gardening. I feel like these sort of gardening environmental services are not only good for the planet or at least the school community, it helps also a lot with the mind and gives the mind to relax and not worry about any of the stressful environments and thoughts we mostly experience every day.

  

#LO4

February, 27th, 2020

We have got recruits and surprisingly my brother joined and it was actually a complete surprise but I guess we have common interests. Anyways, as a team-building exercise with the new Grade 9s and one FIB (Grade 10) last week, we grew together as a team and getting to know us better. The benefits of a fresh team are usually that they will work harder and listen more, however as time progresses, that productivity will get lower. However, I have a goal, along with the grade 11s to work harder and increase our collective productivity. Today we also had a little intro session into propagating, transplanting, planting and mixing soil for the new students. It was quite satisfying to teach and to realise we actually know a lot about horticulture and gardening.

With this new journey with the Jazz Band, which has rehearsals on Thursday after school at the same time as the service, there will be a clash. However, talking with both the supervisors and jazz conductor, we have come to an agreement that I will go to Jazz band every second week and perhaps a little less often if needed and during my frees and free time, I will plan the session and record any updates. I have free on Thursday morning so it will be perfect for that. Urban Gardening, as a reflection mid-way about, has been very meditational, fulfilling, relaxing and enjoyable. Of course, the environment is important to me and is a significant issue I think needs addressing, however, gardening is also quite relaxing after school and is quite meditational and relaxing. I am even having a lot of fun with the other students in the service so it really is an enjoyable time and something I look forward a lot. So with that good news, I will try to work harder to make more out of this amazing time I have with this service by building relationships with others and improving the sustainability at our school which makes me feel more valuable (and more valuable to life that I am doing something productive and helping others/nature even if it is quite small) I guess.

#LO4, #LO5

April 29th, 2020

SERVICE IN THE CIRCUIT BREAKER

During COVID-19, we are not able to reach our garden on the 6th floor, yet we are all trying to continue our learning progress at home. In the boarding house, the boarders in our group have collectively started a watering programme for all the green spaces at school to keep them healthy and alive during the circuit breaker. There is even a  herb garden where a couple of times a week, it is watered and weeds are removed. This is one way of continuing our learning and an act to keep our school and community green. Others from our service, including myself, are also working from their own gardens nursing the plants and experimenting with new species.

Examples of some of our gardens at home and the boarding house:

Mine:

      

 

We are all trying our best, and we encourage everyone else to do the same. Our service would under normal circumstances provide young plants but we also promote the benefits of being outside with nature which we should appreciate, especially in these times. A small pot in a sunny window is a starting point – use some seeds from the fruits and vegetables you have and try it out! We are all looking forward to returning to the garden and helping people again, but we are all trying to get the best out of the situation, and we would encourage everyone else to do so as well. 

#LO3, #LO4

 

Update on the garden:

I have learned a lot through gardening at home. For instance, the challenges of protecting seedlings from lots of water/rain, sunlight and other factors since they are so vulnerable. I think one has to take care of seedlings every day because one day they just might die and could have been prevented if one monitored them every day. In this environment, anything can happen but you get an amazing feeling when things grow really well. For instance, this week has been a rainy week and the mint looks amazing. So what I have learned is that mint and other herbs need a lot of water which I will make sure to do. But because of the rain, the snails arrive to munch on many of the herbs, especially the basil, which has been a bit of a problem. Also, by putting the papaya and banana into bigger pots, they are now growing extremely well and hopefully, we can get some fruits soon. There was one moment where the lemon tree produced more than 50 flowers but only two survived. Thankfully just today, I saw new flowers sprouting so perhaps more lemons will grow!

Beans grow really quickly and since they are sort of a vine plant, I have put a small bamboo stick so it can wrap itself around. Most of the other plants are still just small seedlings and it may take weeks until they will grow to a substantial size, making gardening also a patience exercise. I have noticed that plants do seem to grow a lot slower here than at school but that might be because the soil, pots and the irrigation system (I don’t have one at home) are of better quality and allow the plants to grow better and more quickly, despite myself having better access to the plants every day. So good tools are also important in gardening.

14th June 2020

In terms of the update of the garden, I’ve more lemons growing on the lemon tree and two are almost ripe so that’s great. The banana is growing as well as always. We got papaya but they died out really quickly and I think it was because there weren’t actually pollinated. All of the herbs are growing well including the mint, parsley and basil. I have eaten some of the lettuce and spinach that I am growing. They are difficult to grow as they have originated from Egypt and Persia modern-day Iran, so it is a different climate than here in Singapore. Anyways, I have got help from my Uncle who is an expert on plants on how to take care of tomatoes, and they are growing fantastically well. the beans, unfortunately, died out. My uncle said that the chilis need their soil to dry out but once in a while to be drenched in water. So I have done so with the chilis as they seemed to wither and they are still growing strong today. (add photographs later). What I will try to do is to grow more plants that are native to this region, not only to help the local ecosystem but these plants will most likely grow better than the plants suited for a European or western Asian climate that I am trying to grow.

In terms of the urban gardening propagation service, I am really disappointed that we couldn’t do much. As soon as the circuit breaker period began, almost nothing has happened in the service and a lot more could happen. I love urban gardening because of mainly two reasons. The first reasons are obvious, and that is that gardening is a really meditational and enjoyable way to in some ways albeit small to help the environment around me be growing own food instead of buying in stores where the air or freight miles have some carbon impact. Providing a small little ecosystem, if it is big enough, for a variety of species and provided it is big enough, may cool a building or the surroundings a bit. Also, it takes in carbon dioxide and gives fresh oxygen and cleans some the of pollutants in the air.

The second reason that I have noticed is that it has been really fun to work with others, especially when I find that I have common interests in gardening and other interests not even related to gardening or sustainability. I have made new friends and built existing relationships from being in Urban Gardening and working in groups hasn’t hindered much progress but rather made gardening more productive by bringing in different skills and help each other out. It has also made it very enjoyable. The benefits of collaboration have really helped me out in friendships and making gardening a lot more fun.

That’s why I was disappointed with the progress we have made. I missed the experience so much and not only did I think it was a great way to continue the service, which we were also asked to do by the service executive team but to connect with some of the people that I have found really fun to talk and work with. So within two weeks of the circuit breaker, I made a hangouts group with all of our members discussing what we could do such as weekly or occasionally google meets, growing our own garden and lots more. The response was great, as a few of us were interested and things seemed to go underway. Then it seemed as if nothing happened for a while but our adult supervisors than contacted us and for a while, we had weekly goals to complete like growing something new, eat something from the garden, take a picture of something interesting in the garden, share ideas or videos that could help with gardening and so on. I thought this was great, and it was for just a few weeks as we commented on each of our discoveries and updates and things seemed to be going great. However, not everyone contributed and after a short while, it died off. Of course, I can’t just bombard them with lots of activities and challenges to do or to get angry that there hasn’t been much progress. They might be busy with other things and don’t have the time to work on service.  But, next year, I might in some ways be able to continue the friendships I have built-in urban gardening. Now urban gardening has just plummeted and that really fun experience is now gone. I won’t be able to join the service next year I think so it has been very disappointing. I have liked my environmental services in the past, but urban gardening was the service I was always keen to partake in every Thursday afternoon. It was an amazing experience. However, we did do at least something productive, where we did attend a session on the service expo next year. Of course, not everything has been the most productive, but there have been elements of service despite covid.

Despite this, I have made progress in my garden but I have been worried about the minimal impact I am having on the environment. Of course, as I mentioned, there are many ways that gardening can help, but I feel like, at the small scale that I am doing, it doesn’t provide much help in the local or even global environmental issues and ecosystems. If a garden is big enough then yes it can contribute or if many around the community have their own small garden, that can also help. I am making some impact, for instance, I seem many grasshoppers (although I try to move them away from the lemons as they love them), dragonflies, bees, ants, snails, squirrels, bats and lots more that perhaps wouldn’t bee there without the plants and garden. But the impact I am having is very minimal. But ethically, it better to do something than nothing and the experience we have had in urban gardening has inspired many of us to focus on our own gardens that together have a much larger impact.

Urban gardening has been great, and I hope that the friendships, and learning that I have developed in this experience, can to be further developed outside the service and I will always remember the great times we had.

#LO4, #LO5, #LO6, #LO7

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High School Gili Eco Trust

September 10th, 2019

Investigation:

I have been with this GC (global concern, a group at school that works with an NGO) since Grade 8 and I am going to continue this service in Grade 11 and 12 aiming for a leadership role, which will most likely be vice-chair. As with many of the activities and services I am with, this has an environmental focus where we raise money for the Gili islands to help restore the coral reefs and taking care of the island through bio rock technology (a structure with an electric current that runs through it, that allows coral to grow on the cage-like structure), eco-tourism and waste management. (For more information visit their website).

Image 1

Image 2

Sources:

Image 1: Gili Eco Trust. (2012). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 10 September 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gili_Eco_Trust

Image 2: Gili Eco Trust. (2012). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 10 September 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gili_Eco_Trust

Preparation: 

I used to be the media advisor, where I was working on our blog (link), but now I will be moving up to a leadership role. The leadership team from last year (now in Grade 12) will remain in leadership until Swimdonesia which is an event that will happen on the 11th of October. This is an event where we work together with tow other GCs, Surf Aid and Jakarta Street Kids,  to raise money for our respective Global Concerns. During Swimdonesia Gili Eco Trust we responsible for the managing of the obstacle course named “The Destroyer”, selling our merchandise and products throughout the event by the pool, and providing entertainment for the visitors. The Chair, Vice-chair and I have already had a meeting with the other GCs, reflecting back on what we did and preparing some ideas for Swimdonesia this year.

During this session today, we helped the new members by teaching them about what the GC is and what are major events are. We asked them to create presentations about what the GC is, what our events are, what are some solutions to the problem we are addressing and a bit about the Gili Eco Trust NGO.

———————————————————————————————–

Sep 24th

Preparation:

Carrying on from the last session, we discussed some of our roles, contributions and ideas for the Swimdonesia event in October. Our GC has the role as the games and in a sense, the carnival manager at the Swimdonesia event to attract more people than just swimmers. Last year, the use of the Destroyer was really effective but we want a bigger audience. The other two GCs are head of the food and drinks, and the actual Swim for Life contribution.

Our GC will be there to MC, sell our products and be head of the games. Below were a plan and map of what we might be doing.

We decided to of course have the Destroyer where we will have lifeguards around it. We have also decided to add an area for pool games where the guests (mainly children) play around with noodles, balls, frisbees and more. We’ve also got two games and a quiz where if you win, you get a free express pass (one time) to go cut the line (because last year the lines were long and to incentivise people to learn about our GC and come to the event). These games include the water gun game and a ring toss. We also have a quiz on our GC and the event.

#LO3

October 11th, 2019,

Action and Reflection:

Today, we had the Swimdonesia event and a lot of things happened. Some things were better than last years and previous events, and other things were not as good. Anyhow, it was still a great event. To reflect on this, I will use a SWOT Analysis or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

Strengths:

  • A lot of people showed up including a few middle and high schoolers which are quite unusual for such events as many students in this age range, mainly high schoolers, are not as willing to give up time to support a service event even if it involves something really fun like a giant obstacle course. Also, this was despite the quite short advertising period which I think was about two weeks.
  • A lot of young kids, mainly primary school, showed up to go on the destroyer and play in the water play area from, and there were still about 20 people who still wanted to go on the Destroyer (the obstacle course) at 7:30. So it was very popular. When we started the event, almost a hundred kids ran to wait in line and that was exciting to see
  • Our GC helped a bit in food stalls and we sold a lot of pizza and a few drinks as well as other food.
  • The Swim for Life went well as always.
  • Regular announcements as well as publicity on our cause and why we are hosting this event
  • Lifeguards and no one got seriously injured.
  • Quite a few people stayed back to help clean up.
  • Time was utilised effectively by cleaning up early

Weaknesses:

  • Almost no one came to our stall to buy our stuff and I don’t think we sold anything. Also, the only thing we could sell was Surf Mud (a zinc cream that is more sustainable than regular sunscreen). So from that perspective, we couldn’t help our GC or NGO (Gili Eco Trust), however, the sales from the tickets were really good.
  • Not everyone from our GC showed up or couldn’t make it (or perhaps skipped)
  • The lines were sometimes ridiculously long and it kept a lot of people waiting
  • The event was not targeted to parents, adults and older students (although some came)
  • Perhaps not everyone really understood the cause despite the announcements, which could be because of the Destroyer is a big part of the event
  • Although most of the Destroyer and stalls were set up, we were not as prepared as we could be, for instance, our banner was in the wrong place, it took a while for the event to start rolling and took a while to get the hose in place.
  • The entrance band would fall off in the water
  • A few issues in checking the wristband ticket as some parents just needed to pick up their children so a confusion there on who can pass.
  • We didn’t have that many opportunities to interview the swimmers because they were hesitant and they said no to us
  • The instruction for some roles was not clear-for instance people doing water safety didn’t really know what exactly to do in the water (or even where to start in the first place until asked a teacher) Additionally some roles were also assigned to people in our GC and another GC, communication was lacking in that there was an overlap of roles.
  • An excess of sugar for the candy floss machine – not estimating consumption well enough?
  • Switching roles-sometimes hard to find the next person after the 1-hour slot is finished
  • Wristband check seemed redundant because they were already checked by wristband sales

Opportunities:

  • There was good weather, lots of sun and no rain or thunder.
  • Despite the short advertising, it was effective enough to catch the attention of many people who came to the event.
  • Since the event was going on for a long time, most people could attend despite the activities they may have had after school as there would be at least some time on that Friday afternoon that they were able to come.
  • For food sales, collaborating with sustainable food distributors
  • Advertising to parents, using it as an opportunity to educate them on issues relevant to GET → spread it to the community through them
  • Communicate better with other GCs
  • Selling other products, finding other successes like Surf Mud
  • Starting advertising earlier so it is fresh in people’s minds at the beginning of the year
  • Perhaps the last meeting before the event can have all the relevant GCs meet together to clarify 
  • As an MC we are allowed to hype up the event and keep everyone’s energy going.
  • Merge the food ticket and entry ticket stall
  • Roles should be distributed to GC’s as early as possible, so that extra manpower can be calculated and games can be planned ahead of time with all variables in mind.

Threats:

  • Not everyone from our GC could attend and that could be because they were willing to, although a few came. The reason for this is that not everyone joins a GC because they are really passionate about the cause or want to help. Some people come because they have to or they think its a good idea, or their friends come. That is the consequence of having services so freely available at this school because there is almost a guarantee that not everyone will have enough care or will to do the extra or take part in events that we host. So that is quite a big threat meaning that we lose manpower at big events like this.
  • Some events happened on the same day as Swimdonesia such as Friday Night Lights and other sports events, as well as regular activities. Also, MUN (Model United Nations) had a conference on that day.
  • Only the near school community are allowed to join (due to Singapore regulations)
  • Unable to do all the activities we had hoped because of the short time frame.
  • Some disorganisation around sessions before the event (G10 and G11 3-way conferences causing confusion)
  • Need more merchandise to sell 
  • We had to work very long tiring hours, we stayed for the whole event which was a bit boring because we didn’t have much to do.
  • Didn’t communicate enough with other GCs – unorganised distribution of roles through time, as sometimes too many people (until 5) and then not enough (later on) – especially Water safety
  • The destroyer was the biggest attraction if it rains almost no one will show up.

In order to improve we need to:

  • Stricter rules and make sure everyone in our GC comes
  • Get of class earlier to help set up
  • Make sure we have more time to prepare, advertise and be ready for the event during the weeks leading up to it.
  • Have more time to prepare for other activities to cater for more people
  • Include activities and amenities that will attract a larger audience so more donations and proceedings going to our NGOs and cause.
  • Be more organised
  • Have a line system organised and more activities so the lines don’t have to be so long.

 

 

     

#LO3, #LO4

November 19th, 2019,

Demonstration:

Through Swimdonesia, I have learnt a few things and has evoked some important thoughts. Firstly, I have demonstrated as a committed member of the GC and I feel as though we organised the event really well, as there were not too many issues and we raised a lot of money. The biggest issue perhaps was that not everyone did attend and support with the event from our GC. The reason for this is that not everyone joins a GC because they are really passionate about the cause or want to help. Some people come because they have to or they think it’s a good idea (sometimes with intentions that being part of a GC looks good on a CV or resume), or their friends come. That is the consequence of having services so freely available at this school because there is almost a guarantee that not everyone will have enough care or will to do the extra or take part in events that we host. So that is quite a big threat meaning that we lose manpower at big events like this.

This does mean that even in our sessions, not everyone is involved and not everyone is involved productivity. In order to be productive, one has to either care for the issue or the work needed to be done (which could even just mean that you find it fun) or that you have a strong will. Unfortunately, this means that not all our GC members are there or can help as much as they can, however, that being said, it is always good to have more people helping out even if it is not that much, it can relieve the load. Or let them do menial tasks—just kidding. To be frank, there isn’t much I can really do about the situation other than hope that next year’s leadership is as productive and passionately as this year’s leadership. Although I am quite independent and usually like working alone as I find it both easier and quicker (as group work can involve people who don’t share the load with you or use you to do the work. Also decisions can take longer to finalise and sometimes, the work to be done takes longer), there are times when group work is beneficial. For instance, in design, working with other people is really important because you can bounce off of different people’s ideas and in turn make a better design.

This isn’t too different from this year’s leadership of which I am apart of. When you have people that you like working together and are as passionately and productive as you are, then working in a group is great and for me personally, it is quite relieving to take off the load sometimes. In addition, being vice-chair means that I’ll have to become more of a leader (which I am okay with but I do have difficulty talking or rather articulating my thoughts as spoken words, especially with people I am not as comfortable with or new with) which will be a new experience for me.

Our GC is there to both create awareness and to support our NGO (Gili Eco Trust) through fundraising. In the past and this year, our support has gone through events like Swimdonesia and Family Fest and raising awareness and selling products, where the profit goes to the NGO, as well as some minor ways we support the NGO. As you may have noticed if you’ve been reading some of my other posts, I am worried about the environment and in a way, strive to improve it. We’re taking action internationally in a different country to combat life underwater in the form of coral reefs and it’s an ecosystem as well as climate change and material waste on the island. There are many environmental issues but I feel like the biggest involves with energy—that causes climate change—our consumerism and related to that, the artificial nature of the materials we consume. Of course, there are other issues like soil erosion that have little to none correlation to energy or consumerism, and even if soil erosion is a critical issue, and it is, I feel as though our consumerism and climate change is really the biggest issues. In some ways, our consumerism is affecting climate change as plastics and other artificial products are made from oil which increases demand and therefore possibly both the degradation of the environment but even climate change as well.

That’s where a problem and the ethical issue lies in terms of the environment. Although our event is quite environmentally friendly through eco-friendly products that we sell to the reuse of glass to buy drinks in, and that we are supporting an NGO that has some significance although not large, to help environmental issues on the Gili Islands in Indonesia, we are sort of promoting consumerism, through the products that we sell. The best way to help the environment is not to buy eco-friendly products or recycle, but it is to reuse and repair those products. Product selling is not too big in Swimdonesia so we are focusing on Family Fair. So even if we are selling ethically produced products, it’s not the best solution. Yet we sort of has to raise money in order to support our GC. The environment is a complex issue and has many causes and effects and in my opinion, the environment is the biggest, most complex and most critical issue of all, if we are to survive and solve all other problems (which of course is impossible to solve all problems in the world).

Moreover, I also feel like awareness is no big issue here at this school because people are already very aware of environmental issues and the issues we are looking at to help even if it means that most people don’t have enough motivation or passion to help in a more significant way.

Furthermore, now I have become vice-chair of the GC along with another member of the GC. We’ve been working on goal setting, improving our portfolio/blog that I created and working towards finding new products to sell in Family Fair of next year.

#LO4, #LO5 #LO6, #LO7

January 21st, 2020

For the past few weeks, we have started to prepare for Family Festival in March, in which is a big bazaar and event at school where all the services try to raise money along with cultural exchanges through food and carnival-themed events mixed with outside small business to advertise their products or services. We have prepared by planning to make our stall more interactive through posters, presentations and videos. We have also been planning and preparing new products (of course as ethically produced and sustainably sourced and manufactured as possible) to sell at the Family Festival and future events. These products will help us raise more money and support our NGO on the Gili islands.

However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, Family Festival is cancelled. So we have been planning other ideas. Below is a brainstorm of some ideas.

 

Instead of planning for Family Festival, we might be planning something small for Ocean’s day and we have ideas to plan for some sort of sale of food to fundraise for our cause. It is a difficult tie as our regular schedule has been disrupted by the virus and we cannot have a group of more than forty people.

Furthermore, I have been in charge of the portfolio and making a variety of posts with a small team to comply with the service standards that we have been set and are targeting. This will be important for new recruits next and allows the school community to research into our GC and learn more about us. We will also improve our portfolio so it is more accessible to all and is easier to navigate.

Gili Eco Trust, although we perhaps make slower progress than my other services like Solar For East and Gardening, there are so many skills that I am learning that I haven’t been able to in other areas. Being on the leadership team, I have definitely progressed more in my communication skills as a leader and working with others to strive for a common goal. I haven’t been the best speaker nor the best leader, but through this service, I have at least improved on these skills which are important later on in terms of going into the working force as an adult and job interviews.

#LO1, #LO4

April 22nd, 2020

We are living in quite a unique time right now because of the COVID-19 situation and almost everyone around the world have had and are having similar experiences with COVID-19 such as working from home, school closures, lockdowns, social distancing and many other methods. In Singapore, we have had almost a complete lockdown where schools are shut down, non-essential business are closed, people working from home, mandatory mask-wearing outside and when outside, only for much-needed exercise and buying groceries. This, of course, will affect the organisation and our service in Gili Eco Trust but despite the Circuit Breaker (that is the name of the lockdown here in Singapore which was extended to June the first from May the 4th), we still do some of the work that we still can.

We will start to have some regular meetings online as we do for our classes and the Service Executive team at our school are going to collaborate with all other GCs and services with their portfolios and placing these portfolios in one place so the school community can find them easily and learn more about what we do. So far things are going well with our GC but of course, it will affect our ability to raise money and to support the NGO.

#LO3, #LO4

#LO1, #LO4

14 June 2020

Gili Eco Trust has taken a sort of a downturn as we haven’t been as productive as we haven’t achieved that much. However, we have recorded a presentation for the AGM or annual general meeting with the service exec team, made a few progress in contacting the NGO and justifying the environmental and ethical impacts of the products we might sell next year and so on. It is not like it has not been any progress but there are always more things to do.

Throughout the whole year, Gili Eco Trust has been for the most a great time and experience. A chance to do something for the environment at a larger and global scale than other services I partake in. We have fundraiser quite considerably though not as much as an average year, and we have had many successes in Swimdonesia and our portfolio. I will attend Gili eco trust meeting next year, but they’ll most likely be to hand off to new members in the service. Since I am considering a Gap year, great experience would be to help out the NGO in the Gili islands at some point so I am in some ways continuing that experience. Hopefully, things will turn out well in the service next year and our team right now will try to make most of it until the end of the year.

November 22nd, 2020

Now it is nearing the end of my time at Gili Eco Trust. Honestly, it has been quite an amazing time and has definitely been a helpful way for me to boost confidence in myself but also to further explore and develop, as well to take action, on the environment and my interest and passion for environmental sustainability. This is the service I have been with for most here at any time at this school. I definitely thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great way to feel like I was making an impact not local but in some ways globally and locally in our school community.

However, there are things that I both wish I could have done and my worries about this sort fo service program. During university, my gap year most likely and definitely who I will be and what I will work with will have big ties and connections to some sort of environmental thinking and action. However, despite taking some action in this service, I don’t nearly feel like it was enough or that it contributes much to the society and world at large. Sure, we did raise quite a large sum of money and it has helped fund for bio rocks to build coral reefs, waste management schemes and aid to the local community in Gili after the Earthquake. However, there are definitely ways we as a service e could have been more productive and expanded our awareness and action. But the things is, of course, that is difficult especially with IB and the age that I am. I would have liked as my deepest desire to have taken a big impact in terms of the environment at this age but it doesn’t seem possible. This is because there is so much work that needs to be done in terms of school, relationships with friends, family and teachers as well as enjoying the life I have. I wish I could do more for the environment but for now, it seems that it has to suffice for small individual action and some slightly larger local and global action that may not be entirely so significant. Yes, I am part of a gardening service, solar installation service and this Gili GC among the individual action I have take and small campaigns I have done in Singapore with a few Swedish organisations like SwedCham and IKEA. I am not entirely convinced or content with my actions as I feel I could if I really tried, even though it is difficult here in Singapore, to reduce my waste to almost a minimum and take more environmental action.

Despite this, hopefully in the future, although if there is a future (but I am still optimistic despite Covid and lurking environmental issues especially Climate change), that who will be and my work/job will very much revolve around environmental sustainability.

#LO6, #LO7