Project Week CAS Reflection – Planning

For my project week trip we organised 5 days of volunteering with Voice of World an NGO partnered with our school, they function as an orphanage and home for disabled children, providing them with a safe home and the medical care they need. VOW also organises various trips for them like mountain climbing expeditions for the more able kids and various other outings around India. As our school raises money for them through Kahaani a dance showcase I was involved in planning we decided for our activity we would undertake dance classes and we were fortunate enough to learn from one of India’s best classical dancers Tanusree Shankar which was an amazing experience as although Kahaani had sparked a love of dance in me I had never had the opportunity to attend a dance class. We also attended some painting classes at an art school as our creativity aspect which was a nice experience however not as impactful as the activity and service elements of the week.

Planning Project Week was a really interesting experience for me as I had never organised any trip before myself, and had never communicated with an NGO as although I was part of a GC in school I was never chair and therefore didn’t communicate directly with the NGO. This was a really vital experience as it not only taught me how to communicate professionally with organisations but how to utilise connections and build relationships with organisations abroad. We were also travelling to a part of India I had never been to and don’t speak the language for so general communication with some of the organisations was very difficult due to the language barrier which is something I learnt to overcome through this

 

MUAY THAI – 2nd Reflection

I have been boxing for almost a year now and although I have been actively trying to avoid my academic life and active life colliding my schedule has left little to no time for boxing towards the end of Grade 11 although I do still go for 3 hours a week (Mon, Wed, Thu) I had hoped to be going far more often and to be engaging in two hour sessions to test my stamina and allow me to reach the next level quicker. I am also afraid that at the beginning of Grade 12 as my workload increases boxing will have to take a back seat however I intend to do everything I can to prevent this and will still set outside a guaranteed 3 hours a week to box no matter what is happening in school. This clash between my activities and my academics had actually improved my planning skills as now to ease my workload throughout the week and free up time to box I am far more productive over the weekend (which also means less last-minute homework), which reduces my stress levels on its own as I’m not staying up late at night writing essays or IAs as often now.

I don’t want to compromise on my boxing too much as I do ultimately want to pick up a second Martial Art (my 3rd in total) at my gym so that I can begin my MMA training as I do not yet know a ground Martial Art so I was considering Brazillian Jiu Jitsu but I am afraid that there will not be enough time to achieve this as I am struggling to find time to practice one discipline, scheduling a second and extra session for my MMA training could negatively impact my Academic Career as I will have far less free time to complete any work set.