After several sessions of the activity, we noticed that no one in our club actually has sufficient coding experiences to code for such complicated, fully automated robot by themselves, and we started to wonder if this is really going to be a wise idea to continue doing the same project when we made barely any progress in terms of coding. We were all passionate and motivated at the start when we were coding for the very basic movement of the robot and building the prototype with cardboards, however as this adding on of new features such as adding another automated servo that will attach onto offensive parts, I was absolutely clueless how I should edit my code. I have made hundreds of attempts to try and get the new code working, and every time I pressed the “Verify” button to check if the code works, I was faced with different error messages which slowly drained my motivation to work. Similar was happening to all the other members, so we decided that we need to discuss this issue and find out the possible solution, as I and the others did not want to just give up this easy and dispose our few months effort into bin simply because we were faced with an obstacle (LO4). Fortunately, through the discussion, we concluded that we should change our project to substituting our Arduino robot with this new robot kit that already contains pre-made exterior parts hence we can make in less than an hour, and also has minimalistic coding system that does not require complex coding skills to get the parts moving (LO3). I was extremely glad about this change, as this would make my learning of coding skills in this club much more efficient, knowing that I do not have to waste so much time simply trying to figure out what each line on Arduino means and asking people around. Therefore, this will open up a better and easier pathway to learn new lessons without ruining the goal of our activity.

New MOVEmini Kit from microbits: Kitronik and its internal components

Today I contributed to the School event ran by a number of GC’s, Swimdonesia. My job as 0-WES member was to provide cups to the visitors so that we have zero disposable one-time-use plastic cups lying around the pool. We gave cups to people for two SGD and paid them back when they returned the cup to ensure that people don’t just leave the cups somewhere we will never find. Once we get the used cups back we took it to the sink and washed them clean with the soap, so that we can return the cups back to the storage after the event. The task, in general, was not too hard, and due to my previous experiences in Grade 10 it wasn’t too stressful, and it was actually a lot of fun working together as a team with other people, doing something quite valuable in life.

As I was doing my job, I’ve noticed the problem with the relatively high price of ‘lending’ the cups. which is the fact that too many people, especially the young children, get too frightened when they hear the word “2 dollars” because they instantly think that they have to buy the cup permanently for two dollars, which is obviously an unfair trade. Half of the time they would quit listening to me before I say “you get the money back” and run away to other stalls, which obviously reduces the customers to the juice & drinks stall. As I’ve been experiencing this couple of times from G10, and I am fully aware of the consequences of letting this situation continue, I’ve decided to make moves to better fulfil aim of this event, which is raising funds from selling snacks & drinks for donation. I repositioned the poster to more visible place (in front of the cups, so that as soon as people spots the cup they can read the text), and I made sure to quickly let them know that they will get the money back if the cups are returned, before they run off. I definitely believe that this was beneficial for both the thirsty customers and the GC hosting the event, and I am very proud of this (LO7).

So far the service sessions were mostly about introducing our motto and goals to the newest members to the service. We also went through the election process for the leadership roles including the Chair, and I applied for logistics manager since I thought it would be a great opportunity to experience what it is like to have a leadership role and have more responsibility so that I can possibly develop my leadership traits. Although I may struggle with keeping up to the high expectations and heavier workload as I lack experiences in leading such a big group of people, I always wanted to participate further to the service that I have been part of for more than a year, and also overcome new challenges that I may face throughout the year and use the lessons I will learn through in the future to pursue any sustainability actions, possibly in the university.

In addition, I volunteered to provide aid to one of the school’s biggest event, Swimdonesia, on the 11th of October Friday. This is the first event we 0-WES are participating in this new academic year, and I am glad that I am part of it.

The first few sessions of my Creativity, Sumo Robotics, have been huge fun for me. First, it was great to see my DT teacher back in G10 again, and second, it was good to return to the DT works that I have missed out ever since I started G11. The first lesson was focused on the introduction to the world of mechatronics and codings, and installing the necessary programs. Afterward, we are started with making the internal parts of the Sumo Robot. Throughout the process, I was faced with countless obstacles and struggles, since I have zero prior knowledge in coding, however with collaboration with other students we were all able to successfully build internal parts of our robots (LO2). This taught me the importance of collaborative work and sharing knowledge (LO5), and I am glad I joined this activity. Plus, I have developed my coding skills and I am willing to make use of it in the future when I have a chance to start my own project.

The first week of CAS has ended, and I had my first lessons for Sumo Robotics and 0-WES service. It was a great start of my Grade 11 CAS journey, and I am very much looking forward to my next 2 years of CAS.

The first class of Sumo Robotics we ran into the technological problem hence could not get much work done, however, we all came together as a group and brainstormed to figure out the solution to the first obstacle we ran into. Eventually, we managed to solve it by the end of the lesson and get used to using the Arduino application. It did not go exactly to the plan, but that is the reason I am even more excited for next Tuesday.

Thursday I had first 0-WES class wearing the white uniform, and it felt really strange meeting new, young members as a senior student. We started off by presentations prepared by the chair and played some ice-breaker games. It was cheesy, somewhat boring, but it always feels great to get to know new people, especially if they will be participating in the same service for a year.