All things come to an end some time or another and so is my IBDP CAS journey as I get ready to give the May 2022 exams and graduate from the Overseas School Of Colombo. The 7 learning outcomes in CAS have helped me reflect on my activities and the learning outcome is visible in not one but several activities.

Learning outcome 1 – Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.

During the CAS program, I picked up several activities that I had strengths in but still could develop in. One of these was Yoga, I have been doing yoga since a very young age as it was a part of school extracurricular in India. Therefore after coming to Sri Lanka I joined advanced classes conducted in the Indian cultural centre that pushed me to learn more and become more flexible.

Joining OSC also gave me a chance to develop my interest in arts and design through yearbook. Over the last 2-3 years I was responsible for designing several pages but I also learnt several new techniques in InDesign from my supervisors.

Learning outcome 2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

COVID-19 was a big barrier in the last couple of years but it challenged us to be creative to find new activities. For COMUN the challenge was organising more than 150 people online from more than 10 different schools. Before Covid, it was much easier as we didn’t have to worry about breakout rooms or zoom links or internet issues. This challenge forced us to be efficient and think out of the box any time new issues were raised online.

However, it was not just challenging with Covid but also challenging me to do things I am not comfortable with like jumping and abseiling from heights. The Kithulgala senior trip allowed me to trust myself and develop new skills during abseiling and canyoning despite my fear of heights.

Learning outcome 3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

Over the last 2 years, I have initiated and planned several creative, physical and service activities. For creativity, this included planning the UN DAY and the COMUN 2022 conference.  For physical activities, I initiated and planned several hiking trips with my family. For service, I have planned several activities for Hope For Kids like diaper drives, food drives and creating videos for the children suffering from cancer.

Learning outcome 4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

I am very dedicated to any activity I start therefore from the beginning of 9th grade all the activities I have started I have continued. Every year I try adding a new activity to that list while continuing my previous activities. I have been doing Hope For Kids for 4 years where I was the service leader for 2 years, I participated in COMUN for 3 years the first two years as a delegate and finished my journey off as the head of operations and Yearbook which I have continued since grade 9.

Learning outcome 5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

Teamwork and collaboration are one of the most important skills I have acquired through my activities. From activities like COMUN to Hope For Kids, I have realised nothing is a one-person show. It is only when the whole team works together that our projects were able to be successful.

Learning outcomes 6 and 7 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance and recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

Both of these learning outcomes have been addressed through service and COMUN. During service, we needed to keep in mind the effects of things on the children therefore we bought non-toxic stationery since they have a weak immune system.  We also tried raising awareness on the important issue of cancer in children through videos, infographics and our Instagram page. During COMUN we had to select the theme that was of most global significance and therefore we chose multilateralism which is very important between countries to keep the peace in the world.

Thus with all these activities, only my CAS journey comes to an end, however, I will be continuing most of these activities in some form or another as I head off to university next year.