With this post I wrap up my experience in CAS. These past 2 years I have worked on creativity, activity, and service to become a well-rounded individual in the diploma programme. Before I graduate, I must reflect on all the learning I have done in my creativity, activity, and service areas, and what better way to do so than with my 70th CAS post.

Learning Outcome 1: Strength and Growth

Even though most of my activities are chosen out of my own passions, there is always room for improvement. By focusing on my strengths I am able to identify areas for growth.

In my creativity posts I found my passions for the performing arts. Although I have already participated in many a play, I have never found myself to be the lead role. That is until I landed the role of Antigone. Since Ms Jackson was also looking at our skills in theatre classes, I pushed my acting abilities in class too. I learned to become a better actress, but also a better cast and crew member. I worked closely with my peers to help devise moments of the play, many of which ended up in the final performance. I pushed myself to remember the copious amount of lines that come with a main role, and learned to reach out for help to co-directors and cast members when I was unsure of how to tackle a scene or perform a line. In this way, I have not only grown in these creative areas, but also in my classes and personal life as I push myself to reach out for help when I need it.

In my activities I did some literal growing. Stretching my body with yoga not only made me more flexible, but also taught me stamina. To remain in one position for long time without trembling takes a lot of effort. At first my body wanted to seize up, and clench every muscle I have. It was only by letting go of this tension that I could truly achieve this stamina. Going to the gym taught me one important thing: to be aware of what your body needs. My legs were powerful, I could withstand tough cardio, but my arms could barely support my own weight. I focused on my biceps and triceps, altering between them and leveling up with weights. However, I also learnt how to listen to my body. At a certain point I saw how I was losing weight which for me is a huge risk because of my height. So I brought down the intensity of my exercises and pushed myself to eat more protein based foods. This is a significant growth for me as I often neglect my own body’s needs.

Many already know my passions in service when it comes to the environment. I know what is wrong with our planet and the way we must tackle that. My boundaries of knowledge got pushed when the opportunity for more events presented itself after we came back to campus full time. In the past I did not work in a group, so would isolate myself with all the tasks at hand. But through my role as a service leader, I learned how to distribute the tasks to others and playing to their strengths to work as a cohort.

Learning Outcome 2: Challenge and Skill

With every achievement, there are some challenges in the process. It is by overcoming these that we acquire new skills.

A major challenging component in my creative endevours was SGA. Particularly when it came to organising events like pep rallies and OSCars. The main challenge I had to overcome here was balancing the student populations interests. Having sat through many assemblies I know exactly what the students like and what they find boring. I had to work well with my fellow student representatives and EXCO members to organise the event in time and to have a solid plan of what we were doing. A challenge indeed was the mixing of different age groups with both primary and secondary students in attendance. Primary students have a lower attention span compared to their secondary counterparts so we had to keep the rallies engaging. By getting the crowd to cheer, commentating on the activities the SAISA players were doing and videos we were able to have something for the students to always look forward to.

I am a fond hiker as I get to enjoy the lovely landscapes Sri Lanka has to offer, whilst exercising my body in a way that isn’t too strenuous. I have done this in a multitude of trips such as Duke of Edinburgh, and my DP orientation. Another manner in which I overcame challenges in these trips was by building up strength to paddle for hours on end during my silver sea-kayaking experience. This proved to be a challenge on the practice journey as previously mentioned, my arms are the weakest part of my body. When I came back from the practice trip I found ways to involve my arms into more exercises to strengthen them. The skill of rowing soon became better as the days passed on the silver award journey and by the end I could proudly look back at my achievement.

Service wise, challenges come with deadlines. When organising the COP 27 relay race I had a tight deadline. I was only informed about the possibility for this event 2 weeks before it was scheduled to happen. This meant we had 2 service sessions to organise everything, and had to drop some of the other things we were planning to do for a while. I managed to work well with the then older grade, who gave me invaluable advice and helped me host the event. Everyone from teachers to students pitched in their ideas, which made it easier for me as a service leader to bring everything together once I knew what we all wanted to do.

Learning Outcome 3: Initiative and Planning

The founding of any project is of course taking initiative and setting up a plan to set the idea into motion, turning it into a reality.

When working in the yearbook committee, it took a lot of time to get a hold on all of the pictures we needed for the pages. I had to email teachers several times to ensure pictures would be sent in time for the printing of the yearbook. Since I could not insert the pictures at the time of me working on the yearbook, I instead created a template. This way, I could insert the pictures once they were sent through but still organise everything on the page to see how much space it would take up. By planning ahead I was able to achieve the strict deadlines set and push through any issues faced.

To even begin with any exercise I had to plan what my goals were and how to achieve them. When I wanted to get fitter, I had to identify my targets and plan my workout accordingly to achieve the results I wanted. I set up my workout according to what I wanted and planned to see how quickly my goal could be achieved. If at any point in the journey I found it to be challenging, I would adjust my plan accordingly giving myself more time for an exercise or granting myself a break.

As with any event, Eco-Schools events required a lot of planning. For the Earth Day assembly, our service had to plan a 45 minute assembly that presented the information clearly, but also made it accessible and understandable for all the age groups present. We had speeches, a small performance, and talked about the importance of taking care of our environment in our community. Planning involved us having to meet during lunch times to rehearse the performance, working ahead to make the assembly an electricity switch off for the whole school (apart from the mics) and finding ways to engage with the audience that would encourage them to participate. By working as a team we divided up the tasks and were able to make a memorable assembly.

Learning Outcome 4: Commitment and Perseverance

To achieve a goal, one must commit to it and persevere through any challenges faced.

It should come as no shock to anyone that performances take a lot of rehearsal. Coming to all these rehearsals twice a week after school and then several days in the weekend. It is a longstanding commitment from memorising lines to showing up and remembering where on the stage you must find yourself. I had to persevere through days where many cast members were absent, something that made it hard to rehearse scenes as we constantly had to find someone else to stand in which ended up confusing people when those people returned. However, we made it work. We found times both in and out of rehearsals where we focused on specific scenes and pieced them together at the end. First run throughs were of course lackluster, but the more and more we did so the better they became.

With no surprise whatsoever, when doing copious amounts of exercise one does want to give up. I know I did. Duke of Edinburgh had me panting and my lungs bursting while on the trail. Carrying my day pack and hauling all our equipment made the hikes and kayaking a lot harder than what I trained for but with my group by my side I was able to push through the challenges of the day.

When working on the green flag and sustainability accreditation, there was a lot of behind the scenes work involved. From filling in a document with all our achievements thus far, to creating a slideshow with all our talking points and organising reasons why we should become a green flag Eco-Schools we showed perseverance in moments where we ourselves wanted to give up. I’ve faced many a challenge before but this really pushed my limits. It was a long nail biting commitment I had whilst focusing on my own studies as well. It proved to be a worthwhile effort because we became the first Eco-Schools in Sri Lanka, and the first to have this green flag accreditation. For the MSA Sustainability accreditation, we became the first in the world. An achievement that I will fondly look back on my whole life.

Learning Outcome 5: Collaborative Skills

Working with others is a steadfast way to achieve a goal. Through collaboration we learn managing and problem solving skills.

There has been nowhere else where I have used my collaborative skills any more than when I participated in Little Shop of Horrors. Not only was I a cast member, but I actively helped in choreographing dancing sequences and staging for the ensemble. With hits like ‘Dentist’ and the prologue, I got to push my theatrical boundaries with my ensemble and choreograph a street scene. For the song ‘Dentist’ me and the rest of the female ensemble came up with a choreography to do in the background that didn’t take too much attention away from the main character of Orin Scrivelo DDS, but also didn’t leave us looking like statues. My favourite staging moment was when we had complete control over the final song ‘Don’t Feed the Plants’. The female ensemble had complete control over the staging, the male ensemble was busy still practicing songs, which allowed us to choreograph the most iconic moment in the play – the finale. I love how we came together and joined our ideas to make one final high school theatre memory for me.

In DP orientation, it was crucial that we worked together to ensure that we remained safe whilst canyoning. Since it was raining we had to take extra caution on the slippery rocks which had darkened with the absorption of water. By giving everyone sufficient time to gather, jump, and recover we ensured a smooth transition downstream to our final goal of jumping from a 20 metre high rock into the water below for some, or zip-lining down for the rest. By working together we were able to safely make our way through little and big slides, plunging into cold water, and rafting down the river.

With all the events I have done for Eco-Schools, I wouldn’t be able to achieve any of them if it weren’t for my team. From teachers to students to staff members who helped set up all the technical aspects, I couldn’t have done it without their continued support. From helping me MC an event, to managing the slides every person made it count. I would not be able to be the leader I am today without my incredible team backing me up.

Learning Outcome 6: Global Engagement

As citizens of the world, and IB students who aim to become well-rounded individuals, it is important that we do not isolate ourselves in our own bubbles. Instead expanding our knowledge and understanding to different places around the globe.

Breaking it down into creativity, activity, and service is not that easy so I will speak of them together. I created public pages for Eco-Schools social media and helped create content for them, I spoke to the world in my TEDx talk about our attitudes towards caring for the environment, I created awareness about what we can do to help our environment and the mistakes we need to stop making. Through service I was able to engage with a wider world than I previously had access to. Becoming a world citizen means more than making up a part of society, its also about building it up. I look forward to take my place and push for the rights of others and the environment, showing my continued support.

Learning Outcome 7: Ethics of Choices and Actions

As we navigate the world, we must remain aware of the consequences of our choices both good and bad, and how they might affect others.

In my projects I learned to be self-aware and reflect before setting something into action. How would this affect people close to me? How would it look to a wider audience? In this way I was able to interpret multiple perspectives before I even began. This self awareness is crucial to reflect on our choices and actions. It makes us more mindful of the way we can impact others. By going through these questions with other people I learned how to tackle different viewpoints and create peace.

Final Reflection

If my CAS blog has taught me one thing its this: that I can put myself out there. Often times I saw a fun activity and decided to take part because I could add it to my CAS. But soon this transformed into other people reminding me that I could put it onto my CAS. I discovered that I enjoy taking part of things not solely for academics but also for the memories it would bring. As evident by my 70 blog posts I love reflecting on my journey and look forward to what the future may bring. I could perhaps begin my own personal blog! For now I thank everyone who has helped me realise my full potential and given me these opportunities.