What is CAS?

CAS is an essential part of the IBDP program. It consists of Creativity, Activity and Service, 3 parts which are essential to our own development as human beings. It ensures that we have a balanced life throughout the difficult DP program. Setting CAS goals are a great way to start the CAS experience as it allows me to know where I want to be in relation to my Creativity, Activity and Service. This blog will be where I document my journey to reach my goals.

Creativity

Many activities can pass for creativity. I do Art in school, however since it is a part of my school subjects, I can’t pass it as Creativity. However, I am currently enrolled in the COMUN After School Activity, which does count for Creativity. This is my first year of COMUN and I am excited to try it out and see how it goes. My goals for COMUN are;

• To attend the sessions and participate in the practice debates and final conference.
• To make a successful presentation during UN day, in which this year we will present issues about gender equality to secondary students.

Activity

For activity we have to do a sport. The sport that I will be doing for CAS is sailing. I have been a sailor for almost 5 years, however, in sailing when you turn 16 you start a whole new class of boat, which is the Laser class. So, for 5 years I have been doing the Optimist class, and in March of 2019 I switched to the Laser class. The Laser class is totally different than the Optimist class and is a whole new learning curve with only a few similarities. So far in Laser I have been in a few regattas (races) since I started and in my best race so far I have come 2^nd place, which is really good. Some of my goals for sailing are;

• To keep attending more regattas and attend 10 throughout the DP1 year.
• Get in the top 3 for any regatta four times.
• To attend the 2019 Sri Lankan Sailing Nationals.

I also will be attending an international regatta in Abu Dhabi in October; this regatta will have 100’s of boats from many countries in Asia, and I will be attending it as team Sri Lanka. So, another one of my goals is to;

• Represent Sri Lanka at the Abu Dhabi Open Regatta in October 2019.

For this regatta I will have to train well and do my best, and after the regatta I will continue to train for other regattas in Sri Lanka, so my final goal for sailing is to;

• Go to 18 training sessions during the DP1 year

Sailing is the one sport I do competitively. I also snowboard, surf, and bike for fun.

Service

The final part of CAS is Service. In OSC we have mandatory service every Thursday after-school and in DP1 we do it for the whole year. There are many service groups and the one I am in is Recycling and Sustainability. The goal of this service is to make our school more sustainable and to reduce our carbon footprint. One thing we have accomplished is removing plastic cups, plates and utensils from the canteen. We also go around the school collecting recycling materials like paper and cardboard from different classrooms. These materials are then sent to a recycling center. For my service my goals are;

• To attend the service sessions every Thursday.
• To continue to help out in collecting recycling materials from around the school.
• To go to the recycling center and see how the recycling waste is handled
• Try and become leader of the service for next year.