This is surreal. I still can’t believe it’s over. So soon. Our high school experience comes to an end, without any exams. That is very strange as well. But I’m so glad I got to do an IB Diploma in a school like OSC, with lovely friends and supportive teachers. I really couldn’t have asked for me. In these 2 years, apart from academics, CAS has also become a big part of my life. It was challenging in the very beginning but as I kept doing the things I’m really interested in, I grew to really like it. CAS has helped me develop to be a holistic person who is an avid risk-taker.

LO1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

For activity, I took on Zumba in DP1 as I knew it was an area of growth for me and I was able to develop this through the course of one whole year. Before Zumba, I did wall climbing to strengthen my upper body and I was focussed on doing better every week. I continued cardio-related activities in Personal Fitness with Savi, Shivani, Disara, and Rashmi in DP2.  For service, I chose Peer helpers/OSC Ambassadors in DP1 and continued with it throughout DP2 because it appealed to me the most and I knew that I could help people in need but I also wanted to develop this area because I want to build a career in the future.

LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

For creativity, doing Small Bites with Yearbook, were intensive creative activities I did and these undertaken challenges helped in developing new skills throughout the course of the two years. For activity, I started doing Zumba in DP1 and this was a new challenge and a very unfamiliar experience I took. This helped me acquire and develop new skills and also helped me work better with my peers and these skills that I’ve learned can be used in the future since I enjoyed the cardio workout and I can do it on my own. I finished off my Activities with Personal Fitness because I knew the skills that I would gain in this specific process would benefit me in the long run. For Service, the challenges I undertook were discussing sensitive topics and the fear of speaking publicly which I could overcome by regularly putting myself out of the comfort zone by leading advisory sessions in DP1 and service sessions in DP2.

LO3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

I knew that I wanted to make a website for my CAS project because I really wanted to help put the objectives of the service group out there and what better way to advertise than a website? So I identified my target audience- students and parents who want to join the OSC community and are new to Colombo and with the help of my service members- Jed and Ashna, put every relevant topic onto our website and published it. I wanted to put some details and information about our service group and its members so that the readers are familiar with who we are and what we do and can also be familiar with Colombo and the things there are to do in and around Colombo.

LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

For creativity, I chose to be a part of the yearbook club and I was committed for a whole year. I was also able to finish my pages on time and reach all of the expected requirements. For activity, I chose to do Zumba and Personal Fitness and since all of them are group activities, I could be committed to doing them and I was regularly involved in doing both of these activities. For service, I was a part of the Peer Helpers/OSC Ambassadors for 2 years and I helped be a part of regular advisories with both students and parents and I have also initiated plans personally. I started working on spreading awareness about the Eating Awareness Disorder Week with my service group and I had a lot of other initiatives in mind during the Brain Awareness Week (16-22 March), Stress Awareness Month (April) but we couldn’t go forward with them because of the coronavirus pandemic.

LO5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

For creativity, in Small Bites, I was working together with more than 5 people to create one dish, which definitely got messy at times and it was a challenge but overall we all were able to strengthen our skills together and help each other out by distributing the work. In Yearbook, I worked collaboratively with more than 10 people to decide the color scheme, font, and the theme of the yearbook. Working collaboratively with different ideas helped us decide the best features of the 2020 yearbook. For activity, working collaboratively in Personal Fitness helped us motivate each other and it was never a challenge or a “burden” to do it because we were there and inspired each other to do better. For service, the benefit of working collaboratively was that it taught me how to tackle major projects and learn how to approach people to get them to work.

LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

In service, we often talk about issues of global significance related to mental health. From anxiety and depression to eating disorders, we cover it all.

LO7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

We make a lot of posters to be put up around the school for service but since the content we cover is generally sensitive, we are ethically bound to write it in a way that is not offensive or insensitive.