Learning Outcomes:
LO3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences. Students can articulate the stages from conceiving an idea to executing a plan for a CAS experience.
LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.
LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with an issue of global significance.
Being a part of the Swimdonesia event was a completely new experience for me and I feel very grateful that I had the opportunity to help organise it. Above I have listed the learning outcomes that I feel most apply to the experience, with learning outcomes three, four, and five fitting under the category of planning. As such, in this reflection, I will intersperse them, rather than write separate sections for each.
Understanding that I had never planned an event of this sort, I relied extensively on the knowledge of my fellow GC members. The first couple meetings beginning the planning process for Swimdonesia revolved around reflection on the successes and challenges faced in prior years. I think this was a very valuable and productive use of the time, as it allowed us to learn from the prior events and created an opening for brainstorming solutions; This was where the new members could really engage, in that we could begin suggesting new ideas and improvements based upon the feedback. Building on this initial investigation stage, we felt it was necessary to establish a specific goal, making sure it was achievable with the resources available. This was definitely one of the factors that contributed greatly to the potential productivity of our planning because it provided a coherent direction that everyone understood. After we had collected all the feedback and were aware of specific areas of improvement, the service head distributed tasks among the members and we began the preparation stage. Several members, including myself, were given the task of brainstorming potential activities we could set up near our stall to supplement the clothing sale. With a primary focus of attracting children and parents to the stall, we leaned heavily on experiences of those who planned Swimdonesia last year to guide our ideas. Noticing that this stage of the process required someone to organise everyone and make sure we were being productive, I made the decision to step into the leadership role. By funnelling the group into two areas – research of activities online and focussed sharing of ideas, including creating original games – we were able to generate and source the activity within multiple GC session.
By then, we were only a
few weeks away from Swimdonesia and I felt content with our progress. Though I cannot speak for the other members with different tasks, the general attitude at each meeting suggested we were making ample progress. Unfortunately, due to other commitments, I was unable to attend the meeting the week of Swimdonesia. Though I was quite pleased with the organisation of the group so far and felt confident we would be ready. However, despite my comfort with the level of organisation, I began to expect difficulties with staffing at the event once I had seen the list of available Gili members. This staffing deficiency manifested at the event around six, with multiple members having to stay past the time they allocated. I had scheduled to leave at six but ended up staying until eight after being informed that we needed more people staffing the obstacle course. If I were to connect this particular situation with a learning outcome, I think it fits quite well into number four, under foresight of challenges and demonstration of adaptability to changes.
All the issues represented at the event are of great global significance and do not only concern the regions working with the respective Global Concerns. Understanding this, I am proud that I was able to be part of an attempt to resolve them and understand that this is a very small step in the process. Nonetheless, I would also like to recognise the success of Swimdonesia in being a reliable device for each GC and the communities they represent. I believe a quote that represents this situation well is, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” – Neil Armstrong(1969).
