As DP2 is coming to an end and our final IB exams are nearing, I am coming to the end of my OSC experience. Here is my final reflection on each of the learning outcomes and how I have done my best to meet each of them in the different aspects of CAS. There are many experiences that I have done that I did not write CAS blogs about yet, due to a lack of time. If I have some time after our exams, I will add some more of my CAS experiences to document my time here! 🙂 For now, I will reflect on all of these experiences below!

LO1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Students are able to see themselves as individuals with various abilities and skills, of which some are more developed than others.

Creativity: These past 2 years I participated in TAFA, coaching young footballers (soccer players) to improve their technique and skills. The act of coaching is a massive area for growth in me, and I can recognize my strengths (communicating with the kids, explaining drills well, creating a welcoming feeling), and areas for growth/improvement (assertiveness, the volume of voice, confidence level, technical knowledge, etc). I also had many other experiences where I completed L01. When working on nail painting, I recognized my strengths (doing simplistic designs and re-doing when I failed with commitment), and my areas for improvement (precision of the paint, working on details, making thin lines, etc). I also did this when working on my singing in Senior Voice to prepare for the GALA Concert. My strengths include; staying and signing

Activity: For activity, there are countless times when I identified my own strengths and developed my areas for growth. This is because, in general for sports to improve, I must reflect on my abilities and try to improve my weaknesses to get better. Some of these include the After School Activities for Volleyball, Football/Soccer (where I have spent the past few months captaining and playing friendly matches), Surfing, Wall Climbing, and even playing Basketball. In Volleyball, my strengths are my consistency as a player (good passes/bumps, serves and sets), my positive attitude and my strong understanding of the game. My areas of improvement include spiking consistency (keeping the ball in, keeping it powerful), making my serves more difficult to receive, making sure my passes always go to the setter and working on jump-serving. In Soccer, I play mainly as a center-midfield and have just begun playing as a goalkeeper. My strengths are my knowledge of the game, knowing which position to stand in, making passes into space, staying agile (as a goalkeeper), and reading the game. My areas for improvement include my stamina/endurance, my speed (as I am often a bit slow), my passing quality, my reflexes and reading the ball as a goalkeeper. In Wall climbing, my strengths (as both a climber and bilayer) include: finding the best/most efficient paths to take up the wall, encouraging kids to keep trying when it is difficult and belaying safely with the correct technique. My areas for improvement include; belaying quickly with a figure-8 or learning how to belay with an ATC, climbing with a better technique, and my finger strength.

LO2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process A new challenge may be an unfamiliar experience or an extension of an existing one. The newly acquired or developed skills may be shown through experiences that the student has not previously undertaken or through increased expertise in an established area.

Creativity: I have faced many challenges, and developed many new skills throughout my
experiences these past two years. In terms of creativity, I faced challenges in terms of my work with the SGA, as both a spirit Coordinator and a grade representative. Some of these challenges included challenges collaborating with classmates, coming up with good ideas for fun events, and trying to successfully organize concerts and OSCars (school prom), with the new challenges of COVID-19. I also faced challenges when singing in voice, trying to memorize certain songs was very challenging for me, and I developed my skills singing in the choir. I have noticed an extreme improvement in my skills at keeping to my part, and have developed the skill to successfully hold my part with only two people singing!

Activity: I also faced many new challenges that I overcame in the activities I did. These include challenges when wall climbing, surfing, playing football (soccer), and volleyball. Some of these challenges that I learned from and overcame included; playing as a goalkeeper for the first time (in different matches and in a penalty shootout in the finals!), wall climbing and bilaying for the first time after 3 years, captaining the volleyball and football teams (introducing new players to volleyball, helping them develop a better knowledge of the game), learning how to surf in different areas/beaches (as some waves in other beaches were significantly more challenging to surf than others), and also facing the challenge of developing my own skills as an athlete (the challenges of getting my fitness back into check after getting dengue fever, as well as developing my individual skills in volleyball and football – serving and ball control).

Service – In service, with regards to my work with the “Care for Paws” service group, there were also loads of challenges we faced. With the struggles of COVID-19, for the past 2 years, we had not been able to do our annual sterilization and vaccination camp. However, we overcame this challenge by fundraising for the 2 years we couldn’t do the camp (donating money to vets to do the camp for us, without us), and we finally did our first sterilization and vaccination camp this year. We also faced the challenges of starting the year off last year with very little money, and so we overcame the challenge by coming up with the idea of tie-dying t-shirts and selling them (which was also my CAS project!). We used this money for our camp! We also overcame this challenge by doing a bake sale, raising enough money for a second sterilization camp!

LO3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience Students can articulate the stages from conceiving an idea to executing a plan for a CAS experience or series of CAS experiences. This may be accomplished in collaboration with other participants. Students may show their knowledge and awareness by building on a previous experience, or by launching a new idea or process.

Creativity: I planned and initiated a CAS experience when doing my CAS project- tie-dying t-shirts for Care for Paws with my group members. We went from conserving the idea to executing our plan successfully in order to sell the shirts to raise money. We did this in collaboration with each other, and we built on our previous experience of selling t-shirts, but launched the new idea that the t-shirts were tie-dye! I also demonstrated LO3 when coaching in TAFA. On the days when I had to plan my own sessions, I coached the kids by planning the session for them and then executing the plan by running the session. This was done in collaboration with my coworkers – the other coaches, and I also built on the previous experience and knowledge I gained from doing the Scottish Football Coaching License courses. Additionally, I did some other individual activities that I planned and carried out, such as making candles, and die-dying one of my own t-shirts, and baking brownies.

Service: In-service, there are also many times that I initiated and planned a CAS experience with my group, Care for Paws. Some of these planned experiences include our sterilization camp, our t-shirt die-dying session, our bake sale to raise money, and the Home Run (which is a 5km run that we did, collaborating with the service group Housing and Habitat). All of these events took loads of planning, and many of them were building on our previous experiences (the sterilization camps, Home Runs, Bake Sales, and t-shirt selling that we have done as a service group in the past). With my service group, doing online school, we also planned and initiated an “Animal Support Week”. All of these events were done in collaboration with the other members of my service group Care for Paws. For some events, we collaborated with Adopt-a-Dog Sri Lanka, and Vets for a better future, as well as another Service group called Housing and Habitat. I also did tons of planning and initiating as my role as both a grade representative and the Spirit Coordinator with the SGA. I helped plan spirit weeks, pep rallies, OSCars, Gecko factor, Halloween haunted houses, and many other school events. This built upon my previous experiences as a grade 9 representative, and I collaborated with the other SGA members and the EXCO.

LO4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences Students demonstrate regular involvement and active engagement in CAS.

Creativity: I showed regular commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences creativity. I was involved with the SGA to do meetings on Wednesday weekly, for the past 4 years. In 0th grade and 12th grade, I was my grade representative, and in 10th and 11th grade, I was voted on to be the Spirit Coordinator. This also involved lots of my time outside of school, writing sponsorship videos, editing many posters, doing extra meetings, and taking lots of extra time to organize big events. I also have participated in the senior choir Voice for 4 years (9th to 12th grade). Before Voice, I participated in middle school voice from 6th to 8th grade. This also involved weekly meetings and extra rehearsals and dress rehearsals before the concerts.

Activity: In terms of Activity, I also showed regular commitment and perseverance. I was regularly involved and active in the sporting community at OSC. I played in the SAISA volleyball and football (soccer) teams in 8th 9th 10th and 12th grade (in 11th grade there was no team due to COVID, but I practiced daily in my backyard), and have captained the teams this year. The SAISA training happened for 2 hours, 3 times weekly, and the training more recently happen once a week. I also have been an active participant in wall climbing, volunteering my time each Friday to bilay younger kids. Additionally, I have participated in TAFA, a soccer organization outside of school as both a coach and a player for the past few years. This involved up to 5 training sessions a week that I attended, switching between coaching the U12s and playing with the senior girls’ team. I also surf regularly and take the opportunity to further develop my skills each time my family goes to the beach (every long weekend).

Service: For service, I have been a member of Care for Paws from grade 6 to grade 12 for the full year, meeting once a week to plan and create ideas for bettering the lives of Sri Lankan street dogs. I also took lots of extra time outside of service to make posters for our events, bake different foods for our bake sales, organize Home Run, do our sterilization camps (which took up a whole day), and do many other events with my service group. I was one of the service leaders from the end of Grade 10 to Grade 12.

LO5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively Students are able to identify, demonstrate and critically discuss the benefits and challenges of collaboration gained through CAS experiences.

Creativity: I worked collaboratively in my work with the SGA, learning the benefits of collaborating with the other EXCO members, my other co-Spirit Coordinator, and other rest of the school community. I faced and overcame the challenges of different ideas, and found a middle ground as a compromise for some of these ideas. I also recognized the benefits of working collaboratively with my work in Voice, as I realized the strength of many singers working together, each singing their own parts to make a song whole. I also learned the importance of each individual singer and musician’s contributions to the song. I also faced challenges with agreeing on who is singing which part, and remembering which person sings which part.

Activity: In activity, I demonstrated the skills of working collaboratively in my role as a captain, as well as a team player in the team sports I played. This includes my role in the volleyball team, and the football team (both in TAFA and in OSC). I recognized the benefits of having so many other skilled players to support each other in the team, and truly recognized the role and importance of each position in football when I was experimental in playing in new roles- including the Goalie, a striker, a wing player, center back, and center midfield. These new roles I practiced deepened my appreciation and understanding of the importance of each player’s role. In volleyball, I faced the challenges of collaborating and trying to play with new players who had so much potential but were still quite inexperienced. However, I also recognized the benefits of this, as it made me change my perspective on the game, and gave me an opportunity to refresh my basic skills and test my knowledge of the game.

Service: In service, I also recognized the benefits of working collaboratively when I collaborated with my other service group members and my teacher supervisor. As a group, we also collaborated with Adopt-a-Dog Sri Lanka, and Vets for a better future, as well as another Service group called Housing and Habitat. The benefits of all of these collaborations were so useful, as they lead to some amazing events (including our bake sales, our t-shirt selling, our Animal Spirit Week, our sterilization camp, Home Run, and many other events). Some challenges included trying to set a good date for our sterilization camp that worked for both our group and the vets, as well as the challenges of working with people online, and with a new group of people that hadn’t met before. However, we overcame these challenges, learning how to interact with one another, and bonding over dogs as a service group in our sterilization camps.

LO6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance Students are able to identify and demonstrate their understanding of global issues, make responsible decisions, and take appropriate action in response to the issue either locally, nationally or internationally.

Creativity: With my work in TAFA, I did a coaching camp in Weligama. In this camp, we coached young boys from Weligama and had a match against them! This helped interact with the global issue of poverty, and lack of sporting opportunities for many people. These young boys were all so enthusiastic to be playing football, and they just wanted to get better and better. During one moment of the training session, a coach had said to the players “you should try to do this every day, just grab a ball, and practice this drill”. Then, in a heartbreaking moment, one of the little boys replied “Sir, we cannot afford a football”. This was so upsetting to me, and I found the inequality between the kids I usually coach and these village kids so devastating, as everyone deserves equal opportunities in life, and this is sadly not the case. We also helped them by giving away football supplies for them to keep after the game, so they could keep practicing! We gave away footballs, cones, TAFA hats, and even sports shirts. This made me so happy to know that these players would be able to keep developing their skills.

Activity: When surfing, I showed engagement with the issue of destroying coral reefs. I made sure that I stayed well clear of the coral reefs, to make sure I am not damaging any of the ecosystem or marine life (which would happen if I was unconscious of this global issue). This was an appropriate action I took in response to the issue, and I made the responsible (and ethical) decision to steer clear of the reefs. I did this and stayed aware of the wildlife every time I surfed these past few years.

Service: In service we constantly engage with issues of global significance. In our camps, our purpose is to vaccinate and sterilize street dogs in Sri Lanka, control the street dog population, as well as to take care of and look out for the health and wellbeing of street dogs in Sri Lanka. This is an issue of global significance, as street animal abuse and overpopulation are predominant issues in many parts of the world; especially Sri Lanka. Care for Paws has taken appropriate action in response to this issue, locally; in the Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte Army Headquarters; where there is an abundance of street dogs. This year, over 30 dogs were sterilized, vaccinated and cared for during this camp, and 3 dogs were treated for ttb. Additionally, there was a c-section of 3 newborn puppies, all of who were healthy at the end of the camp. We also do all our fundraising events (bake sales, home run, t-shirt selling), to raise money to support this issue. Additionally, we also did our Animal Support Week, which got over 70 people to sign an Anti-Animal Tourism pledge, gave people an opportunity to eat less meat (With recipes), got people to help/feed animals (and raised so much awareness about the importance of animal rights). I also engaged with issues of global significance when I participated in the “Save the Wetlands” campaign. The wetlands are a crucial and important aspect of the environment. This fits really well with the global issue of Climate Change, as the destruction of wildlife and wetland communities through urbanization and developing roads. Building a highway would affect the local ecosystem and surrounding environment, as well as stopping the local ecosystem from reducing the amount of CO2 going into the air. Nationally, not constructing a highway will definitely improve the environment, and help the whole country reduce its carbon footprint. Every country in the world impacts and contributes to climate change, so every little effort contributes, which is why this is a global issue.

LO7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions Students show awareness of the consequences of choices and actions in planning and carrying out CAS experiences.

Activity: When surfing, there is lots of surfing ethics that I took into account. I made sure to not steal anyone’s waves if they were also paddling for one, and I made sure that I did not drop in on anyone else surfing either. I made sure to steer clear of the reefs that I could possibly damage, and also the tourists swimming, to make sure I don’t injure anyone with the fins or run into them.

Service: In our Save the Wetlands Campaign, we took into consideration the effect of gathering a large group of people together during COVID. Since there were so many different people there, during the COVID-19 times, all proper social distancing and health precautions were put in place to make sure everyone was safe, and that there were no resulting issues with the Virus. To do this, everyone attending wore a face mask, sanitized their hands beforehand, and stayed at least 1m away from the other strangers who are not a part of their family (or close friend) bubble. Also, in terms of the signs used, everyone only had one sign, and they were not shared to prevent the spread of germs. Additionally, there were precautions to make sure that there was an ethical treatment of the surrounding environment. All of the signs were collected afterwards, so they were not littering the surrounding area, and any garbage used by the people protesting was collected afterwards to keep the lake and wetland area clean.

For Care for Paws, this is a huge part of the sterilization camp, as there are massive ethical implications and different potential opinions on sterilizing animals. The ethics of sterilizing street dogs and cats is debatable because it sounds quite chauvinistic and superior to have the mindset that the dog population (which is significantly lower than the human population) must be controlled. After a dog/cat is vaccinated, they can no longer have children. These are the consequences and implications of doing a sterilization camp. However, it is morally ethical to do a sterilization camp in Sri Lanka specifically. This is because, in 2012, there was an abundance of rabies cases in Sri Lanka, and the government decided that the solution to rabies cases was to kill the dogs. Over 3 million stray dogs were killed to avoid humans getting rabies, but animal-rights protesters argued with the government and suggested a sterilization program to reduce the street dog population without murder. Sterilization camps were the compromise to this situation. It is also useful to have a smaller dog population because it means there are more people to look after, feed and care for each dog. The sterilization process is also beneficial to the health of the dogs; giving them vaccines against viruses, and help prevent cancers.