Project week is the biggest CAS experience, and arguably the most different one. While we will still be working within the realm of Creativity, Activity or Service, this week will bring about many new challenges and in a way it already has.
This past week has been a tumultuous one as it was the week when I began to actively think about Project Week and all the variables that could impact this trip that seems a lot closer now than it did just last week. The initiation of this CAS experience has already brought about many challenges and I have had to work hard to get through them.
One of the biggest challenges was conceiving a plan for Project Week. Many different things had to be considered, who would I go with? Where would we go? Who would be in charge of what? What would my parents think? These challenges involved a lot of thinking and communication on everyone’s part. Communication was of utmost importance when answering the aforementioned questions. Social politics played a huge part in these beginning stages of our planning, thus to ensure that decisions would be made I had to communicate effectively with friends and my parents.
After having found a group, collaboration and resilience were really needed during this stage of my planning. Many different factors have to be considered when deciding where to go and what to do. The power dynamics in a group such as this differ from a GC or local service, where the last call is made by a chair (upon hearing the views of members of course). Here everyone has an equal share in the decision making. At certain points, I felt like taking up a leadership role and making the last call, however, I had to ensure that a decision was made where everyone felt comfortable. This required a lot of collaboration, discussion, and resilience. Working together to make a decision, while it took a long time, was in the end, beneficial as it stopped one person from making what could turn out to be the wrong decision.
I hope that as our planning gets more detailed, and as we begin to execute our plan, that I am able to continue to develop and use these skills to help my Project Week Group have a fulfilling CAS experience.
By identifying your challenges/difficulties, you will be able to learn how to overcome things that might arise in the future. I think you should also comment on what went well, and think of the positive impacts you might have.