– Creativity –

COMUN (model united nations): From being an investigative International Press Committee (IPC) journalist, to an impartial International Court of Justice (ICJ) judge to last year being the deputy head of IPC, my long standing history with COMUN will end this year; with my final role being a(n admirable) Secretary General. Within my capacity as a leader, to the secretariat, the EXCO and finally the OSC delegation, I hope to maintain and possibly extrapolate the success we’ve seen in past conferences. Throughout the year I will help organize the UN day celebrations, see through practice debates and moderate the final conference. Through comprehensive Monday training sessions I want to mentor those who have signed up to help improve their public speaking/debating skills as well as self confidence to the point where they are open to representing interesting and challenging countries. Furthermore, for the actual conference, my goal is to take referential notes from other MUN conferences (like SLMUN’s choice to have a fun committee – International Cricket Committee) and try and incorporate them into this year’s final conference to make it an unique experience different from past years. 

Peppy Photos: With a recent refound passion in photography, ignited from last year’s WWW’s trip, in the last 6 months on any given trip it was not an uncommon sight in rain or shine clutching a camera. The outcome resulted in me creating @peppy_photos: an Instagram photography account dedicated to capturing the beauty of Sri Lanka in a minimally edited way. At the moment the account has 105 followers, which I would like to grow by better using the hashtags features and posting on it more regularly. Which brings me to my second goal, there might have been a small period of dry spell which is why I want to make it a habit to more consistently post (around once a week) while not sacrificing the quality of my content or the overall aesthetic. Not particularly for the satisfaction of seeing my followers grow but more for the personal gratification that comes with me being able to see my growth visually as I scroll down the feed. In terms of subjects, at the moment most of my shots are flora/fauna oriented and I would like to challenge myself by capturing other subjects like portraiture or even street life. 

Miscellaneous: Otherwise my goal is to engage in various projects (possible a major project per a month) that will improve my artistic skills as I am taking HL visual arts but recognize that my style is limited and would like to get better in terms of drawing realistic figures and compositions so I can produce more versatile art in the long run. But I would also like to explore more niche research projects in areas outside the school curriculum, in particular topics around anthropology, sociology and theology, and display my findings in an interesting way. I want to do this in a pursuit to expand my knowledge of the world but also to give me a taste of possible topics I might choose to study in the future. I also have been having chats with Ms. Angel about starting up a animanga club as an afterschool activity as we both have noticed there is a sizeable amount of people who are genuinely passionate about it. Lastly I am helping out as a grade level rep for the student government association (SGA). 

– Activity –

Volleyball: Whilst I am not a part of this year’s SAISAs volleyball team, I have attended all of the training sessions which include Tuesday, Friday and Saturday after school sessions as well as optional Monday and Wednesday morning sessions and will continue to do so until the end of the season. For a person as averse to sports as me, volleyball is one game I have found myself loving, whether it be watching or playing. For this particular experience, I went in with the goal of improving my level of skills rather than with the intention of getting in the team and whilst I have already seen improvement in my form I want to further improve my sets and overhand serves.

Miscellaneous: When not in the volleyball SAISA season, my goals regarding activity is to take part in a variety of casual engagements such as joining my dad for bike rides, but expanding from just doing our usual route around the Thalangama lake to more off-road paths. Otherwise I am looking into the possibility of restarting dance practices. This idea was born from the one too many comments asking me whether I am still dancing followed by the long explanation of how I have stopped for a few years. I am not looking to compete again but rather experience the same thrill I got from dancing and regain some of my flexibility and mobility back. Since it has been a few years instead of restarting ballet or contemporary dance this might be a good opportunity to explore a genre I haven’t touched before.

– Service –

Hope for Kids: This year I am service leader for Hope Kids and through the range of activities I hope to finally put our service more on the map and have people draw attention to the ever present risks of cancer but also to highlight ways we can ease the suffering of those who have it. To do this throughout the year our group aims to release more awareness campaigns via social media but also in person talks and such, with reliable information provided by local doctors. Furthermore to meet with the needs of the kids at the CCC house, we will arrange more fundraising events like the annual cricket match but also ration drives throughout the year. With a change of service leaders as well as advisors, now is the best time to update the service and really turn it into something different. I hope that through the events we do throughout this semester, urges more students to join in next semester. 

Reading Buddies: Suggested by Mr. Poulus but taken on entirely by Matthew and I, roughly every week for 25 – 40 mins in the secondary library we read to 5th graders in the intention of cultivating their interest in reading but also deepening their ability to analyze texts past face value. Whilst the initial book we are currently reading was chosen by their teacher, hopefully after gauging their lexical level, Matthew and I can start recommending books we loved at that age and foster a deeper connection between us. Another outcome of these sessions is to come out of it having thought provoking discussions about textual themes from the book where we want to challenge but also learn from their approach to conceptualizing these topics. One thing I want to help them improve by asking more open-ended questions is their ability to make interdisciplinary connections between subjects like UOI, host nation lessons and their specialized subject lessons. But from the few sessions we have already had, they are quite the curious and intellectual bunch so I look forward to learning with and from them. 

Miscellaneous:  Throughout the year I hope to engage in other acts of service, both pre-planned and more spontaneous. If possible I am pushing to redo the Vidyaloka English Camp as it was such a rewarding experience doing it last year as well as contributing to various drives organized by other groups and maybe organizing one of my own if I find an issue I see in need of drawing attention to. Finally, perhaps it is the sentimentalist in me, but I want to have as many opportunities to work in collaboration with primary.