DP2 Semester 1 Reflection

Service Before Winter Break:

Over the past semester, I have noticed how much my service, Housing and Habitat, has grown. We were put in an awkward position thanks to the lockdown and lack of access to both one another and school. Being a relatively active service with our primary objective being deconstructing wooden palettes and building chairs, we had to find another way to contribute, work and function as an effective team while online. Our first couple meetings weren’t as productive as we hoped they’d be, spending time welcoming new members and our new supervisor into the service, as well as assigning roles for people to take care of our various social media accounts. Nonetheless, we tried harder on the next meetings to remain focused and engaged in the online setting, discussing our next steps and what we wanted to focus on with limited access to our materials. I am proud of our group’s ability to recuperate and persevere in a situation that seemed hopeless.

 

Creativity and Activity Through Winter Break:

Over the 3 weeks of Winter Break, I was able to work on all of my CAS goals. I aimed to practice the bass guitar frequently, and practice Russian with Duolingo. I found this to be very helpful, as I have little opportunity to practice the language at home and have been told that while I can speak coherently and easily, my grammar and sentence structure need some work.

I really enjoyed playing the bass, practicing usually for around 10 minutes a day, usually playing between my online classes at break or after school. I am able to play several melodies and can keep up with most songs if I know them already and have a bass tab to follow. I still need to practice my finger work and strumming, but I am happy with my progress, able to easily play some of my favourite songs: Not Today and Ode to Sleep by Twenty One Pilots, Needing and Getting by OKGO, the What’s New Scooby-Doo theme by Simple Plan, Bandruptcy and Toy Boy by Stuck in the Sound, and Vacation by Still Woozy.

As I grew more comfortable with the sound of the instrument, I felt more confident in my ability to learn new things and began trying to play my father’s acoustic guitar. The biggest challenge for me currently is consistently picking and strumming only the strings I need. This is likely due to the fact that I was used to playing with four thick strings on the bass and not the 6 thin ones of the acoustic. Nonetheless, I developed my skills and my callouses until I could play a few chords and the opening to some songs I like: Mess is Mine by Vance Joy, Freaking out the Neighbourhood by Mac DeMarco and Howling by RY X. Practising by myself has had it challenges, namely reading the chords and hitting the right strings consistently, but I will continue to practice both instruments.

My journey in being active has been messier. I wasn’t able to stick to my original goal of working out twice a week, and due to the pandemic, Basketball practice, as well as SAISA, was cancelled. For Christmas, I received an adjustable dumbbell set that goes up to 20kg. On Boxing Day I began compiling some exercises to create a workout that would work different parts of my body and that would utilize the weights as much as possible. I began using 4 kg weights with a workout that was 2 sets with a 30-second break:

  • 10 bicep curls
  • 8 lateral raises
  • 8 tricep dips
  • 8 dumbbell lunges
  • 8 overhead presses
  • 10 bent-over rows
  • 8 weighted squats
  • 8 pushups

I increased most of the exercises to 10 reps instead of 8 almost immediately after the first workout. It took me about 2 weeks to add more exercises, and another week or so to increase the weight to 6 kg in each hand. Maintaining the same rest times, but increasing the routine to 3 sets, I ended up with this revised workout:

  • 10 pushups
  • 18 biceps curls
  • 8 lateral raises
  • 10 triceps dips
  • 10 dumbbell lunges
  • 10 overhead presses
  • 16 bent-over rows
  • 10 weighted squats
  • 14 crunches
  • 10 bicycle crunches
  • 10 dumbbell side bends

I think that revising my initial workout plan and picking specific exercises really helped motivate me to continue working out. While routine is important, and the days I had picked to work out on seemed perfect, I was met with unforeseen challenges like lack of motivation that followed the end of class, and the increase in workload that came with DP2. Furthermore, picking specific exercises allowed me to explore the things I could do in my space with limited equipment and also showed me the kinds of exercises I enjoyed doing. All in all, I think the routine I have now is more enjoyable, more focused, and seems more sustainable in the long run.

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