Here is the link to my final CAS interview.
Category Archives: CAS
CAS Reflection – Music Therapy with Apex Harmony Lodge (Service)
This year, I was able to join a new service and I chose to join Music Therapy with Apex Harmony Lodge. What the service does, is to find songs from the 1950s and onwards that were popular in Singapore and then present them in a certain way to some of the dementia patients that they converse with at the Lodge in hopes of stimulating some sort of memory or cognitive response to the music. Being a part of this service, I have felt as though my skills of conversation have been heavily improved and I have understood how different people may require different forms of communication in order to exchange ideas and messages. From going to helping out in a day care, to a cerebral palsy centre, to an old age home, and now to a dementia home, I have been able to understand how when we converse with different people the manners and methods of our communication change and adapt in the necessary manner in order to ensure that we fit in with the environment we are in as smoothly as possible and I think this is an extremely important skill.
2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
The biggest challenge for me this year, was that I had never experienced communicating with someone who unfortunately suffers from dementia. What made it even harder was that we were online due to the pandemic, and it was quite hard at some instances to keep the concentration of the client with us. Saying this, however, our adaptability was tested and we were able to come up with some interesting solutions to the problem posed to us. For example, if the client was not responding to the song we were playing, I would pick up a guitar and then start to sing and play along. This elicited a much more active response from the client and it showed that there was space for adaptability and change in our plans, and that sometimes spontaneity can be the best solution. It also showed me that there is always a possible solution in the face of challenge, and that to persevere through a challenge to find a solution is a crucial character to have, something very transferrable across my life.
6. Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
When I joined this service, the one thought I had in my mind was that initiatives like this were crucial in reducing inequalities that our world still faces. I feel as though certain groups of people, especially those who may be underprivileged or suffering from illnesses/old age, are susceptible to certain forms of discrimination and stigma and have witnessed this myself in our society and in other societies. Being able to take part in such an initiative means that I can do my best to try and bridge the generational gap experienced between the two generations and understand that the first step to defeating social inequalities is by taking the effort to communicate and connect with those of different backgrounds.
CAS Project – Project Week Summary Reflection
Investigation
The investigation process consisted of us doing a ton of research on the location that we would want to go to. We also had to decide the manner in which we wanted to layer our trip, deciding to have an equal balance between fulfilling a service component and an activity component on our trip. We originally thought about a whitewater rafting trip to Nepal, but that proposal got rejected. We then shifted focus to SE Asia, where we found that a good decision would lie between Lombok or Rawa Island. We finally ended up deciding to go to Rawa Island after doing research and finding out that our activity component could encompass the service component as well in a diving trip.
Preparation
The next step for us was to actually start preparing our experiences. We did this by calling one of the representatives of OrcaNation, which was the organisation that we were going to be working with in staying at their dive centre and helping with some conservation efforts too. Their representative came to our school and we signed some waiver forms before we had a discussion about the manner in which we wanted to plan our trip as well as how we wanted to incorporate the elements of service and activity in our weeklong expedition. We were also able to sign up for some diving lessons in a local pool that were required in the wake of travelling to the location, and also do some research and booking a bus to the ferry terminal in Malaysia from which we needed to board the boat to the island. Overall, this part of the process was heavily based on logistical planning and we were able to keep on top of things, for the most part.
Action
Unfortunately, we could not undertake the action part of our project week trip… due to the COVID pandemic, we were not able to go through with our plans.
Reflection
Although we were not able to go through with the action part of our trip, we were able to have plenty of opportunities to reflect on the process of planning. I think that we all understood the importance of independence and organisation in the process leading up to the action part of the project, because it was paramount that we all understood how to collaborate effectively. Since I am also undertaking the NYAA award, I found that there was ample opportunity for me to reflect on the planning process, and I was able to document the first half of the process that we undertook, such as meeting with our teacher supervisor as well as the diving centre representative. Being able to continuously log evidence for our planning stages made me understand the importance of self organisation as well as collaboration and responsibility sharing, in that we each had an equal role to play in planning this experience and making sure it would be a cohesively enriching experience.
Demonstration
The demonstration, or being able to show the lessons that we have learned from this experience, really shone through in the rest of the academic year I felt. I think that being able to understand the importance of self management, independence and collaboration really showed me why something like the ATL skills are important to the IB course. I feel that I was able to implement these ideas of teamwork and self organisation into the projects and group discussions that we had to do during the rest of the school year. Although we could not go on our project week expedition, I definitely think that the independence I had to show in helping to plan this trip as well as the collaboration skills I needed to help my teammates in shared responsibilities has been something very transferrable to daily school life as well.
CAS Reflection – HS History Society (Creativity)
1. Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.
Joining history society this year was a decision that I took based on my passion for the subject; history is something that I want to pursue in the future as a major, so it was something that I definitely see as a strength of mine as well. I think that being a part of this society will also help in personal growth; no one can be perfect at something, and I think that there are a still a lot of ways in which I can develop as an aspiring historian to really achieve the level at which I have wanted to read and write history for a long time. Doing presentations while also listening to teachers talking about how to deduce the significance of certain historical events are lessons that will stay with me along the course of my tenure as a historian.
5. Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
Being able to work in a setting of peers from different grades as well as different backgrounds allows me to use my critical thinking skills, which I have worked on tremendously during the duration of my History course, to understand the importance of alternate perspectives when reading and writing history. I think that having a wide spectrum of perspectives in a course such as History is something that is useful in moulding my own perspectives, while also influencing other perspectives. Working collaboratively in a setting such as a History society means that everyone always has their own unique perspective on things, and amalgamating these perspectives together to form a solid, cohesive argument will be much more concise and strong than a single argument.
CAS Reflection – Weight Training (Activity)
- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
- Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.
Doing weight training this season was a new experience for me, since I have not ever undergone any real formal training in the gym before, and have not really been taught what the proper techniques or different ways I can use the machines. It was a challenge for me in that I was not familiar with this environment, so I knew it would take some time for me to get used to the different exercises and to be comfortable with the new environment. However, after having my first session, I felt that I was able to adapt and understand some of the things that would be very useful to know when in the gym, and am slowly starting to develop and understand new skills in the process. It may still be a challenge for now, but I think that having a good instructor who helps me and guides me through the process, as well as having friends around me will really help me grow into this new experience.
In the same way, I was able to identify areas where I was stronger than others. I think this was really helpful in allowing me to see where I needed more work and what I need to focus on more if I want to really become comfortable with weight training in the future. I think that participating in an activity like this will be really helpful in that aspect because it allows me to understand where I am really lacking the ability to perform certain things, and to be able to understand how I can grow in these areas will also prevent any unfortunate injuries in such an environment.
CAS G11 Review Reflection
Have I made progress? What’s next? What can I improve this year in G12?
I think that I definitely have made progress in my skills in my extracurricular activities, but also in other more transferable skills such as the ability to endure challenges as well as remain open-minded to opportunities to be well rounded.
I have definitely progressed in my activity, finding more ways to diversify what I have been doing for healthy living during the quarantine period while also putting in a lot of effort and time to my commitments pre-lockdown. I think that the biggest way I have made progress in this section is by learning more about myself and what I can do to remain as healthy as possible.
When it comes to service, I have progressed in that I have become much more reflective of myself, and the strengths and weaknesses of my actions and contributions to my service group. Furthermore, service has provided me with a manner of giving back to my community and I think that I have progressed as an individual by interacting with those of different backgrounds; it has helped me become a more well rounded individual.
Finally, I think that creativity does also have its perks in that I have completely progressed in my skills as a musician for the school band and on my own time as well. Being able to contribute to a team setting such as the vocal group with my musicianship has given me a sense of responsibility and commitment to practice and perseverance, and I think that this has transferred into other areas of my life as well. I think that I really have learned the concept of practice making perfect more so in this role than in any other, and I hope to continue this role until the end of grade 12.
With the unlikely pandemic, it may be so that I need to adapt my angles of achieving some of my goals for this school year; I will take what comes on the chin and learn how to adapt and persevere through the challenges to develop myself as an individual.
CAS Reflection – Running, Yoga and Cardio in Summer (Activity)
These 3 months were once more characterised by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made it quite hard for us to go back to our normal sports such as tennis and badminton, due to continuation of restrictions. Therefore, it was up to adapting our exercise routines once more to fit in different ways of exercising both from home and from outside when the restrictions eased up a little bit as well.
I think that the biggest difference these 3 months have made have been in the advent of consistency and consistent, balanced exercise; from practicing home cardio workouts with online YouTube videos, which was easy enough due to being used to it from the April itself, I was able to diversify my exercise schedule to include parts of yoga as well, and ended it with gymming and running too. I think that over time, the stamina and endurance I have built up as a result of meeting my goal of a consistent exercise schedule has helped me learn what muscles to target when, and what muscles to give a break when it is required. This time in quarantine has given me a chance to be more aware about how such fitness routines can impact my body, and I hope to use these lessons of recovery, stamina and perseverance when I am back on the tennis and badminton court hopefully soon as well.
CAS Reflection – Being in the Humanities Magazine (Creativity)
LO 1 Identifying own strengths and develop areas for personal growth
LO 5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
Being in the humanities magazine for grade 11 was a choice I made due to me being able to identify my strength of being a good critical reader and writer. I thought something like being part of a magazine would be a great place for me to put my writing skills to practice, seeing as my 3 HLs are all essay based subjects as well. However, being part of the activity also made it so that I was able to make a lot of identifications of my own weaknesses and where I could improve in not only the way that I write, but the way I work in a team. We were slotted into roles such as editors, layout team, etc. with everyone getting the chance to be a writer. Being someone who is keen about writing and who feels confident in such a skill, I was keen to take on the role of editor and did so with confidence. I was able to edit several articles that were written by members of our activity, and talk to different people of different grades and see what their thought process was about while they were writing the work that I edited. I think that editing others people work was key in giving me insight to my own writing process; for example, recognising something good that someone else did with the way that they wrote something gave me ideas of my own for the kind of things I wanted to write about. It was a beneficial process in that I was able to draw inspiration from reading and editing other pieces of writing.
I think that the biggest strength of the magazine was that there was a strong sense of collaboration between everyone. By splitting up everyone into different organisations and different roles and responsibilities, it was easy to see how each different department had to work together until putting together the final product meant everyone was working with everyone else. It was easy to see the benefit of such collaboration, seeing as we were able to come to a consensus about a number of things, such as the layout team’s designs, the formatting of articles, deciding on article titles and a lot more. In the end, everyone came together and made it a team process and this was the most important take away for me, to see how such teamwork was beneficiary.
CAS Reflection – NYAA Gold Award
Over the past year of G11, I have been a part of the NYAA Gold Award. This award has required me to be consistent in my reflection process of the different components of healthy living, community project, service and outdoor education. I have been using my sports involvement of tennis and badminton as well as continued exercise routines during quarantine, my involvement in the Voice of World NGO cyclone awareness video for West Bengal in India, my outbound expedition trip to Tioman as well as my involvement with the Bedok Salvation Army elderly daycare centre as evidence for my involvement in this award.
There have been definitely been challenges in undertaking this process; I have had to persevere and constantly remind myself to log and capture evidence of these activities, as well as challenge myself to be completely reflective of any and all processes that I undertake during my involvement in this award too. I think that being a part of this award has also helped me become a more well rounded individual, and brought a sense of balance to my life at school. It ensures that I have taken part in issues of global significance and taken the incentive to play my part in doing so, while at the same time it has given me the opportunity to plan and undertake my own CAS activities. Furthermore, for projects such as the awareness video and the expedition, it has shown me the benefits of collaboration in the enrichment of myself as an individual, and what working with others can bring to the table for the whole group as well as for the individual.
I do believe that I have come out of NYAA a more well-rounded individual, and that the lessons I have learned through my participation in G11 will transfer through to my continued involvement in Grade 12 as well.
Here is a link to my mid-stage reflection.
Here is a link to my NYAA portfolio section, which entails all of the activities that I have taken part in over the year of G11 and hope to continue into G12.
CAS Final Reflection – Music Soundbeam with Bedok Peacehaven Day Centre (Service)
LO 1 Identifying own strengths and develop areas for personal growth
LO 6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
LO 4 Show commitment to and perseverance in your CAS experiences
LO 5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
The final 4-6 months of service in grade 11 were rather unusual; due to the COVID 19 pandemic. Firstly, we had to remain in classrooms for the time that we were in school and could not visit the shelter due to safety restrictions. However, this meant that this was great time for personal reflection and group reflection; we were able to effectively discuss and determine what some flaws and strengths were, both for the group and for ourselves. I was able to understand what my strengths were, being part of a service as such, as well as identifying areas for improvement such as communication and better time management when it comes to planning activities and ideas. Furthermore, after we were forced to go online I feel that having such conversations became a lot easier, even though we had to be online; I think that it had come to a point where we trusted each other enough as service group to recognise where we lacked and where we could do better in a lot of scenarios. Being online consisted mainly of discussions regarding some touch ups of the website, which was my job as communications chair, as well as plans for next year. Here is a link to the website that I developed for the service.
Being able to have such discussions were fruitful in that we were able to go back home and do some more research for the next sessions to really see the places in which we could make the biggest impact. In other words, we felt that we were engaging with the issue on quite a big level, because we poured time into researching the biggest issues faced by our target audience as well as brainstorming some of the best ways that we could help with this issue. Our service leadership team was the one meeting constantly and staying in touch over the online period, so we were able to talk about some plans that we would put in place in order to correct some of the mistakes we had made for our 12th Grade experience in this service. The biggest part of this was really doing some good research that helped us engage with the issue by bringing more awareness to us about it, but also by finding ways to bring more awareness to the community.
Commitment and perseverance were like no other in our service; everyone was more or less always there and on time as well, and when we planned to meet online to discuss things such as how the website should look, or what sort of systems we should implement for the next year, our leadership team was always committed to giving ideas and having great discussions.
Nothing was more important than collaboration in this process, in my opinion; without such a strong sense of teamwork, we would never have been able to experience some of the success that we did during our first year with this service. We understood how there can be so many benefits to brainstorming and experimenting in a group, because it gives us a chance to hear everyone’s ideas for what can be done for the service. It leaves us confident that we will never run out of ideas, and we will always have a good team to back us up with brainstorming and implementation of certain activities. I am really looking forward to continuing this service next year as well, for my NYAA award.