“Success comes from curiosity, concentration, perseverance and self-criticism” – Albert Einstein

Overview

The CAS program has a rather crucial role in helping DP students in balancing their lifestyles in the midst of closing in on the the daunting workloads we are expected to complete over the course of the next 2 years. It it is important to me that I achieve personal growth in the areas of Creativity, Activity and Service as I find the healthiest and most holistic students are most often capable of extending themselves to these ideas, applying themselves to extracurriculars (as well as the school’s academic work)!

Below is a flexible plan I have devised in order to help me complete my DP CAS Program successfully. Despite being in the midst of a global pandemic that has created a massive grey area of what could be expected of the future, I have set myself goals that will show my personal perseverance as well as, ability to grow outside of my comfort zone in this time. I have also separated my goals into areas wherein the reader can identify if the goals can or cannot be completed during lockdown; with clear mentions of implied backups that could be used  in the case of there being to be no improvement in the outlook of the current situation; demonstrating my adaptability to the situation. This structure should help in enabling me to complete my CAS projects to the best of my ability regardless of the challenges I will have to encounter on the way.

My CAS Goals

KEY:

r (can only be completed without the constraints of CO-VID)

h (hybrid goals can take place regardless of the situation)

Creativity 

This academic year, I plan on applying myself to the area of creativity by building my skillset in the areas of music and videomaking (mastering a new editing program).

Goals – 

1. To participate in the school’s guitar ensemble over the course of the next two years, in hopes of  effectively improving my performance skills by the time I would have completed a spring or winter Gala performance presented by the school. This goal would also improve my aptitude in musical knowledge as it requires me to learn guitar notation and fingerstyle guitar which I have never taken up nor learned before. This project would also improve my awareness of different musical genres as I will be transitioning from learning pop acoustic pieces to classical guitar rather abruptly. This is a continued program from last year, an effort which unfortunately got shut down due to the closure of school amidst the coronavirus. However, with the start of a new term, we have decided to continue zoom ensemble lessons to learn pieces until we re-group in school and will continue to do practices regardless of the certainty of the Gala performance. (h)
2. To take supervised guitar lessons for half an hour each week (with regular practices of 15-30 minutes each day in between). I have been learning this instrument on an off since the 2nd grade and have taken a great liking to it, however, I have decided to make a clear commitment to teaching myself how to play simple pop songs of my choice this year, with the help of a mentor. This way, I can also simultaneously improve my performance skills by playing for family and friends when the occasion arises. (h)
3. To continue to create and post video edits that I have made over the course of the last year and upcoming years on a social media site such as Instagram in order to promote, empower and advocate for the women’s game in football / soccer and even basketball. This was an effort I took up leisurely a couple of years ago; I consider myself incredibly passionate about sports and find myself shocked on a daily basis at the blatant disregard and hatred expressed towards females in the sporting industry who fight, not only to compete for medals, but for respect and things as basic as equal pay. I created an edit account which gradually gained popularity over time, my following resting well above 1k followers having received from various sporting icons and celebrities such as US Women’s National Team players Carri Roccaro and Lindsey Horan and FIBA player Sushantika Charvrotty to name a few. This effort tests my technical abilities as I have to learn the ins and outs of using a complex editing program like Filmora 9 while also learning how to manipulate audios to fit a certain timeframe and to transform it to avoid being copyrighted. Overall this is one of the most exciting endeavors I have taken on and I hope continue to build on my successful start. (h)

Activity

For my activity goals, I intend on improving my overall technique, skills, strength and health with the purpose of helping me prepare and retain my fitness and competency for competing in SAISA badminton and football.

Goals- 

1. To make the SAISA Football team – like I mentioned earlier, football is one the most important things in my life right now. I have been playing the sport since I was in the second grade and it has easily won over my heart, become one of my favorite past times, whether it be watching or playing. I have been travelling competitively for the sport since I was 12, and just last year, I had the honor of making my first SAISA trip for the game. Unfortunately the arrival of the pandemic cut my time with the team short and it still remains unclear if SAISA will happen this year… Regardless, I believe that it is essential to prepare for the game; to be at peak fitness even after a void in practices. Therefore, I plan on coming up with my own training regime to help me keep in shape. I plan on using the exercise bike for 30 minutes a day, spending another half an hour a day to practice skills, shooting and passing drills with the help of the internet,  to regularly completing targeted body conditioning and other workouts. In addition I will occasionally try and meet up with a teammate who lives close by (when safe) to practice together. Once school starts, I would join the after school scrimmages the high schoolers play on Thursday afternoons for extra game time and experience. These actions should ideally keep me in shape for when the tryouts roll around again and make my transition into the team much smoother. (h) 
2. To make the SAISA Badminton team – another of my goals is to make a 2nd SAISA team during the academic year, this time, with focus on badminton. Last year’s tryout period concluded with me securing a position for myself on the A team, only for the tournament to be cancelled last minute because of corona. While it was disappointing, I am now more prepared than ever to take that challenge on proving my perseverance to the sport and my intentions to improve my match performance. I have started taking lessons for 2 hours each weekend outside of school, thus giving me time to practice competing with others my age from across the country while also enabling me to improve my technique and skills like speed and agility with the guidance of a coach. These practices are currently halted due to a relapse of the pandemic situation but are sure to start again with a smaller group involvement that allows for lessons to be conducted safely. In the meantime, I will take up practicing with my brother in the backyard to playin recreational matches, while also applying and adapting my football workout regime to best suit badminton’s requirements. This should serve the same purpose of helping me stay fit during quarantine in the time leading up to potential tryouts. (h)

Service 

On the subject of service, I intend to apply myself in a way that I can make valuable contributions to my community and causes that I am passionate about supporting and advocating for.

1. To continue my participation in the Hope for Kids Service Program – In the upcoming years, I hope to show continued contributions to the Hope for Kids program which has enabled for OSC students to visit the CCC Cancer Home in Maharagama, in order to interact and provide for the children that are cancer patients at the home. I started my involvement in this service last year, and since have not been let down by my participation in it. The results of the work that we do is always incredibly fulfilling, seeing the children and their parents light up with smiles- it really warms my heart to say the least. In the past, my experience has made me realize how often we take things for granted, and has reminded me to give my best efforts to make the kids’ uncertain childhoods something memorable and happy. I intend to contribute in any way possible interacting, spearheading and working towards miniature projects we will later establish to aid the children and their families. This year, our visitation rights to the home will most likely be limited, understandably, considering that the virus possesses too much risk in our interaction. The continuation of the service is currently undecided, but if it were to continue even virtually, I would be sure to partake in it. (h/r)
2. To take up a volunteering based position of co-coach at Decathlon’s The Academia Football Club to teach football to young children between the ages of 5 and 11 – I have thus for pointed out my dedication to the sport time and time again in my writing, so once again I reference it, in my most recent service project. As of October 2020, I took up a non-paying role as co-coach at Decathlon’s football club under the supervision of two professional coaches. They have been mentoring and monitoring me through the process of engaging and teaching this sport the children who I have been introduced to and have thus far, had the opportunity of coaching multiple times during the past few months. It has been an absolute honor, spending my weekend teaching my favorite thing in the world to these young excited and energetic players. It has been equal parts draining and fun getting work experience to an extent in this field and it has not only taught me responsibility, but good work ethic and perseverance. Most importantly, I have been developing my leadership skills as a 16 year old coach. I have loved my experience so far and look foreword to continuing it (as of right now via zoom calls, hopefully to be changed in future after the threat of the pandemic subsides).(h/r)
3. To plan, organize and carry out seasonal dive cleanups in Trincomalee with the additional task of logging data onto the Project AWARE Dive Against Debris Campaign -this goal would be a continuation of my MYP 5 personal project, an endeavor I took on, which was to carry out a single dive cleanup in Trincomalee’s Swami Rock dive site to remove debris content from the popular tourist and pilgrimage location. I am now an advanced open water diver and I try to visit Trincomalee as regularly as possible to retain my skills. After careful consideration, I have decided that want to make the dive clean ups a regular occurrence (once – twice each season). I will plan and organize a series of dive cleanups in partnership with Sri Lanka Diving Tours (my dive center), and visit locations around Trincomalee and perhaps Negombo to conduct the cleanups. This time my prospects could even potentially be improved as I could organize a larger dive team by advocating within the school. After the cleanups are completed, I will log the data regarding what I collected and other logistics onto Project AWARE’s campaign website which is a global catalog for ocean pollution data used to pass laws and protect reefs legally using evidence that divers across the globe collect. This course of action can only happen when there is a minimal risk of coronavirus involved for the sake of the safety of those involved. (r)

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