CAS was a part of the IB Programme I was excited to
participate in. Being able to document and identify each and every one of my
experiences in the Programme was really interesting because I was able to
deeply analyze each activity and figure out how it was helping me to better
myself as a person and as a well rounded student. The consideration of my
activities were mainly through the 8 Learning Outcomes; Planning and
Initiation, Development of New Skills, Increased Awareness of Strengths and
Weaknesses, Engagement with Global Issues, Consideration of Ethics, Undertaking
New Challenges, Commitment to Activities, and Collaboration with Others. CAS
has been a huge part of my IB Experience and without it, I may never have
stretched my self to try new things, set different goals, and understand the
world around me.
Planning
and Initiation was a Learning Outcome that I considered to be easy but it in
reality it required lots of time and lots of commitment. My involvement in the
Student Council, Drama, Bubble-ball, Advisory Committees, and Sports really
helped me stay rounded because of all the different kinds of activities I was involved
in and it help me to actually figure out what needed to be done, make a plan,
and actually perform it.
The next Learning Outcome I feel I achieved was Development
of New Skills. For this Outcome, I was involved in Drama, Student Council,
Sports, and several committees. This was a difficult outcome to achieve because
it’s always hard to stretch myself and try something new. For example, Student
Council required lots of public speaking, which is a weakness of mine, and I
was able to develop and overcome my weakness, developing a helpful skill.
Similarly to Development of New
Skills, Increased Awareness of Strengths and Weaknesses helped me better
understand the areas of myself that needed growth. This Outcome involved
activities like Student Council, Drama, several committees, and Sports. An
example of when this Outcome came to be was in Sports when I realized that the
reason I didn’t feel like I was doing the best I could was because my stamina
was bad. This was a weakness of mine that Sports opened my eyes to. Luckily, I
realized it early on and was able to gain of stamina and become better at
things like full court lay-ups in Basketball.
Another Learning Outcome that I was
involved in my CAS experience was Engagement with Global Issues. This Outcome
included my Advisory Committee and my House Projects. For Advisory, we involved
the whole school in Earth Day and created activities for lower elementary grade
levels to participate in and learn about Earth Day and its significance. In
House, we created a mural in the Café of trees and wilderness with facts and
human interference with nature to raise awareness of the human impact on the
world.
A more difficult and ambiguous Learning Outcome involved was
Consideration of Ethics. This aspect
played a role in my Soccer career in High School. During one of our games, our
team was winning by a lot; 6-0. This made me wonder if it was even ethical for
us to continue playing. This could cause them mental harm and a lower
self-esteem because of how much we beat them by. Because of this concern, we
switch out the older players on the team and let the younger ones play more.
The next Learning Outcome accomplished was Undertaking New
Challenges. This Learning Outcome included activities such as Drama, Student
Council, Bubble-Ball Committee, and Soccer. New Challenges are similar to New
Skills because it is a challenge to try something new and have it become a
skill. Like in my New Skills section, I feel like a new challenge I tackled was
public speaking. In Student Council and Drama, I had to speak to large groups
of classmates, teachers, and parents, which was difficult, but after practice
and perseverance, I was able to overcome me fear and speak with confidence and
volume.
Another Learning Outcome accomplished was Commitment to
Activities, which included Drama, sports, several committees, and Humanitarian
Club activities. This Outcome was an obvious inclusion in all of these because
finishing them to the end is an important part of the IB Program and community
integrity. The first time this really came into play was with the first play I
did while in IB, “Mean Girls”. Because the script had been written as a movie
rather than play, we had to change it to a play, which was time consuming and
difficult. Then we had to try and prepare for the performance which was also
time consuming because people kept dropping out and we kept having to find new
people to fill them in. By the time we actually put the play on, it had been
about 5 months, double what we had expected. This play required extreme
commitment on my part because so many had dropped and staying committed was
important to getting it done.
The final Learning outcome I feel I accomplished was Collaboration
with others. This Outcome covered most of my activities; Drama, Student
Council, Sports, and Humanitarian Club activities. This is a vital part in the
Programme because we all have to let other people help us and help others to
come to the end goal. In all the plays we had to stick together as a group and
practice, stay committed, and help each. Without collaboration, none of the
plays would have even been able to perform.
CAS has been a valid and helpful way to express my activities and evaluate my individual contribution to each level of participation. I feel that CAS has helped me through my IB Programme and has rounded me as a person and as an active individual in the world community. Through the Learning Outcomes I was able to specifically see what I could improve on and what I feel I am strong in. Overall, CAS has been a fun experience and I hope I can continue this kind of experience in the future.
