Creativity, Activity and Service have been apart of my everyday life for the past two years. If I’m being honest, at first it was challenging and it felt unnecessary but along the way I realized how important it was to keep me sane with the insane workload and I truly looked forward to some of the activities at the start of every week and the experiences I’ve had have helped me to grow in many ways and I’ll cherish them for a very long time.

CAS helped me to be balanced, a risk taker, good communicator, open-minded and finally reflect on all the activities that I had taken part in. I took a look at the seven learning outcomes now and it made me realize how much I’ve grown over the course two years in each of the seven areas and it’s amazing!

LO#1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

I’ve had a constant battle with performance anxiety and stage fright. I’ve been playing the cello for a couple of years now but I never got an opportunity to play for an audience and I wouldn’t have even if I had because of my performance anxiety. I play the cello in the school concert band and I’ve had many opportunities to play on stage with the rest of the band members. I was a little nervous to perform at my first Winter Gala but I wasn’t nervous at all for the other Gala concerts because I was performing with my friends and I felt safe and comfortable. As a Higher Level Music student I had to have 20 minutes of solo performance in front of an audience. My music teacher was worried for me because she knew how nervous I get when I have to perform for an audience but I still had to do it. I have the ability to perform and it was only the performance anxiety that I needed to get over in order to do well and it’s one area that I needed to grow in. So I practiced a lot, every day. I was a bit nervous on the day of my performance but I just went for it and everyone was surprised to see me do it, I too was surprised. I don’t think I have performance anxiety anymore, I think I conquered my fear!

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2020/03/30/band-semester-2/

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2020/02/12/music-ia-solo-performing/

LO#2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

The IB Diploma Pogramme has been a challenge to me, constantly pushing me out of my comfort zone and making me a risk taker. One such challenge was SAISA Band and Choir 2019. Ms Duncan my music teacher wanted me to try out for SAISA choir last year and I was very nervous and didn’t know what to expect because I had never been voice trained, never sung in a choir and I was nervous since I had never been a part of an international experience like SAISA before but I told myself why not give it a try? I  must say that it was one of the best experiences I’ve had. I got to make a lot of friends from different parts of the world who share the same passion for music and I was hosted by an amazing host family with whom I still keep in touch with. It was challenging because I had stage fright but I realized that it wasn’t a competition and I was there to share my passion with the others. I learn’t a lot of voice training exercises and overall I learnt to sing to a key .

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2019/04/12/saisa-band-and-choir-19/

At first, I didn’t want to go on the trip to Sinharaja because of all the hiking, leeches and snakes but I had to do it since I needed to gather data for my geography IA. I wasn’t prepared at all to do the Mulawella hike and I told myself that I was not going to do it and my teacher didn’t force me to do it. In the end I decided to do it. I came to the realization that it was my mindset that I had to change and of course, I had to channel my endurance. I told myself that I can do it and I knew that the view from the top will be rewarding. It was taxing since it was the second time that I had hiked. This trip really motivated me to develop my endurance hence I’ve been working out at the school gym doing exercises to improve my endurance and it’s one skill that I still want to develop. This hike has really wanted me to do more hiking and I can’t wait till I get another chance to do so.

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2019/10/13/should-i-have-mentally-prepared-for-this-trip/

LO#3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

As the service leader of the Temple School service group, I’ve had to plan and initiate many activities along with the other service leader of the group, Hamda. At the start of this academic year (2019-2020) I made a service plan with Hamda focusing on what we wanted to achieve at the end of the year and at the end of the first semester, we looked at our weaknesses as a service group and re-assessed what we had planned and looked at what we could do to make our service better. Before every service session we’d take a look at our plans and we continued to do so till the end. Planning activities ahead of time helped us to get permission from the teachers in charge beforehand to do some of the activities such as baking and visiting the Temple School.

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2020/03/30/service-update-2/

LO#4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

I have been a part of the school Concert Band for two years now and I attend practice sessions once a week for an hour. I play the cello in the band and I also take private cello lessons and both of these have helped me to develop my skills. Signing up for band was a big commitment because the school band has to play for school events such as Graduation and Founder’s Day, Gala concerts and the school musicals. Practice sessions got more intensive last year when I had to attend both Concert Band practices and Musical Band for Oliver. I didn’t play the cello for the musical but instead I played percussion instruments and it was a big commitment to make because at the time I was applying to college and most of the course work were due around this time hence, it got a bit hectic. Yet, I had to power through even though there were times I felt like giving up. It was worth it in the end because I got to contribute to my final high school musical and looking back at hard times makes me remember that I am a strong person!

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2019/12/15/reviewing-the-situation/

I didn’t participate in any competitive sports throughout my high school years but I have been engaged in activities that help get me moving like Zumba, yoga and working out on my own at the school gym. It’s really important to keep our bodies moving because it has many positive effects on our mental health and helps us focus more on what we’re doing. Even though Zumba was once a week and there weren’t many people who had signed up, I decided to continue and do it because 1 hour of cardio really helped me to take my mind off school work for a bit. Now that I’m at home during curfew, every morning at 06:00 am I go for a walk down the Baddagana Weltand Park Road with my dad. I do feel very tired after the walk but I feel healthy at the end of the day after sitting for 4 hours during DLP (Distance Learning Programme). I’m still trying to improve and will continue to do so after I graduate.

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2018/12/26/zumba/

LO#5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

The Temple School service group have been functioning with two service leaders who plan activities and implement them with the help fo the service leaders. I decided to change the organizational structure so that the service members also get a chance to plan and implement activities along with the leaders. This poses a chance to hear everyone’s ideas. Allowing everyone to implement activities help to develop leadership and communication skills. At the beginning of the year, we made a list of activities that everyone would like to do with the kids which also sparked their interest in service working productively while growing our friendships. We have been able to do a lot of fun activities such as visiting the zoo with the kids, baking and painting.

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2020/03/30/service-update-2/

LO#6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

Sri Lanka’s rate of poverty in the 2016 was 4.1% according to Asian Development Bank. This percentage remains to stand at around this value. The Temple School service group helps out children from less fortunate families and these families are subjected to poverty. Therefore, I wanted to help these children. I feel very grateful after each service session for what I have and there are a lot of mundane things that I take granted for everyday. For Christmas our service group throws a little Christmas party for these children where all the service members bring a snack each to share with the kids. During my time as the service leader I decided to change how we celebrate Christmas. Christmas is a time of spreading love, joy and kindness so I came up with the idea of organizing a Toy and Stationery drive and give the items that we collect to the children for Christmas. I thought that giving stationery items which the children will need at the begging of the new school and toys for will make them happy. I created a poster asking for old toys which are in good condition and new stationery and stuck it around school. It was a success, we were able to collect a lot of items. I then made gift bags and gave them to the children on the day of the Christmas party and give the rest to the Temple School.

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2019/12/02/cas-project/

LO#7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

Being a part of a diverse community and participating in activities which require collaboration have helped me to consider the opinions, choices, beliefs, values, feelings and be open to people’s ideas. I’ve grown to understand how my words, choices and actions could affect someone and myself. Traveling for WWW, class trips and SAISA have taught me to behave appropriately given the right situation. I’ve learned to appreciate others for they do for me. This was quite evident during SAISA where I was  hosted  by a Danish family. Since they offered me a place to stay with food, I wanted to thank them by helping around the such as doing dishes, clearing the table after dinner and spending time with the children. I believe that I still need to grow in this area where I consider my choices, ethics, actions and how it might affect those around me.

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2019/04/12/saisa-band-and-choir-19/

https://asamarasinghe20.edublogs.org/2019/02/17/www-jaffe-anuradhapura/