CAS is one of the parts of the IB program; as such, the past year and a half have included various CAS activities. I will start with something I do most everyday: playing the piano. This goes under creativity, and is probably a good example for showing ‘developed new skills’. By practicing for about ½ an hour every day, I’ve improved by a noticeable amount, although there is of course still much more to learn about.
Kai Hua Lim in Chiang Mai at 'Flight of the Gibbon'
Another activity which most of the year did was the sorting of clothes for ‘river of hearts’, a charity that collects clothes and sends them to various places. It took a few hours, and in that time the primary focus was on taking a pile of assorted clothing and sorting it into different boxes around the room. After that there was also some moving of the boxes around, which were very heavy. In doing so I needed to cooperate with a few other people – lifting the boxes by oneself was not possible.
The yr 12/13 trips to Sun island are also useful for demonstrating these criteria. For example, on the second night, we all went into a large square pyramidal building and started dancing. Previously, I didn’t like dancing, and I still don’t. But that day I decided to try and do something so I just waved my hands in the air along with some other things that I can’t remember. If this constitutes CAS, it demonstrates ‘undertaken new challenges’.
There was also an activity in yr 12 where we went to a migrant school and taught them to brush their teeth. This is obviously an issue of global importance – dentists all over the globe will agree. More to the point, it demonstrates a consideration of ethical issues. (using this for an essay makes it seem like the essay was the point, which it wasn’t, but nevertheless it’s a useful example)
Now to the Thailand trip. At the end of yr 12, we all got in a big plane and flew off to Thailand. At the airport I became aware that I couldn’t eat an entire set meal from Burger king – ‘increased awareness of own strengths and areas of growth’. The first few days we just did random things such as attaching ourselves to a metal wire and swinging (flying? Sliding? It’s quite hard to describe) through trees. After that was the group 4 project, which was actually quite CAS-esque, except it’s part of school so it doesn’t count.
During the first few days, we went to a local school in Thailand and taught them how to play many games, as well as learning one from them. Some of us had raised the issue of whether this was actually a good idea. We only visited them for an hour or two, then left. While they did learn some games (which isn’t really the important part), this raised the question of whether we should have stayed at least a day or two.
Then we had a leadership course. There, we planned and initiated a performance (note the choice of words used), mostly involving IB, as well as an exaggerated imitation of the librarian, which turned out to be a popular theme amongst all the other groups, for exceedingly inscrutable reasons. There were many parts to this performance, namely a skit, a song, a dance, and a speech. To be clear, we did this in groups of 6 people.
In Thailand we did a lot of outdoor activities, the Action part of CAS. Whitewater rafting is the first thing that comes to mind. I had never done that before, as with a lot of other people, but it was interesting, and very fun (although it seemed too short). Thankfully the other people in the boat had no wish to get wet, so it didn’t get too frightening.
The Thailand trip was by far the most interesting part of the past year and a half, so there is still more to write about. Besides, I haven’t reached 1000 words yet! We visited a little village in the mountains of Chiang Mai, reachable by van and an entirely unnecessary yet rather fulfilling (at least when it was over) 8 hour hike in a circular path. There we helped varnish and paint a building, as well as use concrete for something else (which I forgot). This was done by rotating small groups of 3-4, although at the end it all dissolved into a large clump of people trying to paint various parts of a wall. In the end it was finished and we covered each other with concrete. This demonstrates working collaboratively.
Something else that we did in the village was to play a game, termed as the ‘crazy game’. I mention this here not to fulfill one of the criteria, but simply because it was fun. In the end we had painted each other’s faces with charcoal, in various artistic forms reminiscent of Picasso (no, not really). It took ages to wash off, even with dishwashing fluid. If this must demonstrate one of the outcomes, it shows perseverance and commitment. It took a long time. A very very long time.
This essay has a deficit of Action activities, so I’ll add one more at the end. In yr 12, I joined the school team to play badminton. It was fun, though we lost most all the games. We also had to practice at lunchtimes due to the gym being used for basketball practice after school. This demonstrates perseverance – we had to go without lunch on Fridays. More seriously, however, it also shows a possible area of improvement.
So that’s my CAS for yr 12-13. It was fun and made IB somewhat interesting (though not worth repeating IB and writing another EE for). Anyway, that’s it. The end.
