Creativity, Action, Service, Sham

The story of one girl's reluctant journey through the CAS component of the IB program. It wasn't that bad. Really.

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The ultimate reflection

The title sounds rather daunting, doesn't it? I realize now that it was a very silly decision not to record my thoughts on CAS prior to experiencing it, because now that I've completed it, it has altered my worldview significantly. Regardless, I believe that it is important to contrast myself before and after CAS, in order to reflect on my own personal growth. 

Prior to having completed the CAS component of the IB diploma, I had thought it would be a daunting prospect. 150 hours seemed impossible, especially with the impending workload I was about to face. In particular, I was concerned about getting hours for action -- I have never been as inclined towards athletic pursuits as I have been toward academics. It is important to note that I was concerned about getting hours, period; instead of asking myself what CAS could do for me to help me grow as a person, I saw it as yet another task to complete for my IB diploma. 

Two years went by alarmingly quickly and, to my surprise (and great relief), I was able to complete the hours and even go beyond the requirements. In the process, I had developed certain habits -- such as proactivity in my community, involvement in the fine arts, and a commitment to my physical wellness. I was able to open myself up to new types of activities, such as rock climbing and stage managing. Without even realizing it, I had completed the CAS component of my diploma; I had been enjoying myself so thoroughly while doing so that it no longer appeared tedious to me.

I am incredibly grateful about the CAS component of the IB program because, through requiring extracurricular activities, it showed me that I needed them on a deeper level. Not only were they necessary for an IB diploma -- they were also necessary for me to grow as a person. I grew to love the things I started to do because of CAS and I now realize the importance of trying new activities in the hopes of finding something enjoyable that simultaneously develops oneself physically, artistically, altruistically, or any combination of those three.

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The Rocket-Propelled IB Rhinocethorse. This is the image that arose from a crossword-style amalgamation of the names of all of the full IB students and the IB teachers at our school. I love the sense of community that we have been able to create.

Our team managed to raise over $1000, for which I am incredibly proud. This event gave me a lot of confidence in my own abilities to make a difference, as well as hope for the future. My generation is capable of incredible things.

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The tie-dye shirts we made for Relay. They're beautiful! I cut mine in an attempt to make it even more beautiful but it ended up falling off all the time instead.

I'm slightly disappointed that we were not able to display them the whole night, as it got rather cold and we were forced to wear our hoodies.

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Walking the Relay for Life

Signing up for the Relay for Life was not something I would have envisioned myself doing when I was younger. The event is essentially 12 hours of walking (most of those hours being during the night time). Due to the lack of regular physical activity (which I had very little time for the month prior to the Relay, due to world exams), I was not very confident in my ability to complete the activity.

The physical aspect of the Relay for Life was interesting. It involved teamwork because at least one team member would have to be walking the entire time. This would naturally lead to shifts, or a schedule of who was walking when. In this way, through physical activity, we were able to engage in teamwork. Because of this, I was able to put more consideration into doing team sports, as opposed to individual sports (such as running and, to a lesser extent, climbing). I really enjoyed the collaborative aspect of Relay and I hope to engage in more similar activities in the future.

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Making t-shirts for the Relay for Life

Making tie-dye t-shirts for the Relay for Life was not necessarily the most intensive creative work I have done throughout my CAS experience; however, it taught me that there is a creative aspect to service. Drawing connections between the three areas of CAS taught me an immense amount about the kinds of activities in which I hope to engage in the future, as well as the inherent links between them.

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Relay for Life

The Relay for Life is an annual event run by the Canadian Cancer Society (for which I have volunteered in the past). I had volunteered for the event in the past, but I was never a participant. In my grade 12 year, I decided to form a team of all of the full IB students (and some partial IB students) at our school. Because I formed the team, I was team captain. This gave me a lot more responsibility than I was used to – not only did I have to fundraise, along with the rest of my team members, I was also responsible for administrating our team page and giving resources for donation collection to the other members of my team. I was also responsible for getting waivers signed by my teammates (and their parents, if applicable). At first, it seemed like it was too much for me to handle – however, I realized that an important part of being a team was sharing responsibility. I therefore learned to delegate tasks to other team members. This made the load easier on me.

I believe that that was the most important part of my experience with the Relay for Life – I learned that being in a leadership role does not necessarily mean taking on all of the responsibility. It was necessary for me to delegate tasks to others – for instance, letting one person be in charge of getting T-shirts for tie dying and putting other people in charge of obtaining and setting up the tents. I believe it was necessary for me to have learned this because, otherwise, I probably would not have been able to be an effective leader.

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National Honour Society

My first experience with the National Honour Society happened in my grade 11 year, from 2011-2012. This was an organization that valued scholarship as well as involvement in the community. I was inducted to this organization in November 2011. To continue being a member, it was necessary to put in at least ten hours of service in the community. Volunteer opportunities were brought to club members, and we were able to choose which ones to do.

My goals at the beginning of this endeavour were to be more involved in extracurricular activities at school and to learn more about having an administrative role in a school club. Through this, I hoped to carry that knowledge into university and the rest of my life, so that I may be able to take on a more active leadership role with regards to service opportunities in my community.

I achieved these goals; however, additionally, being involved with NHS taught me about the kind of volunteer activities I was best able to take part in. I discovered that I was proficient at merchandise sales, so I participated in four activities in which my duty was to sell merchandise. I also achieved my initial goals – I was able to foster connections within my community to volunteer organizations that would help me in my grade 12 year, when I took on a more administrative role.

I had made the decision to run for president of NHS at the end of my grade 11 year. Through this, I hoped I would be able to develop the organizational skills required to lead groups in my community in the future.

In my grade 12 year, I ran for president of NHS. I came in second, but as I was still an executive member, I had the responsibility of seeking out volunteer opportunities in the community in addition to completing the 10 mandatory hours of service through NHS. I was able to create even more connections in the community, this time with the Alzheimer Society, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the University of Lethbridge’s Destination Exploration program (which was a science camp for children). Upon reviewing the volunteer opportunities in which I participated in the past, I have realized that many of them have to do with the health sciences – those were, in fact, the opportunities that I most enjoyed. Thus, I believe that being a part of NHS has allowed me to garner a better understanding about my direction in life (especially with respect to community service).

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Running

I first started running regularly the summer after grade eleven. At this point in my life, I had not engaged in regular physical activity so I found it rather difficult. My goal at the beginning of this was to increase my level of physical fitness and make it a part of my regular routine, so that I would be able to develop healthy habits for the long term.

Although I was unable to maintain this regimen on a regular basis during the school year (as I only had time to do it on some days), I learned a lot about what I can physically endure. I also learned that physical activity can help with mental state – I found myself to be less stressed out.

After exams had ended in 2013, I took up running again. This time, however, instead of simply doing the same thing every day, I tried to improve my endurance. At the beginning of this second bout of running, I noticed that my endurance was very low. This enlightened me to the fact that it is necessary to keep up a regular routine of physical activity to stay in shape.

In the future, I hope to continue keeping myself in shape physically. The fact that I had initiated this activity myself, and that I was solely responsible for my own health and fitness, allowed me to develop a sense of independence that I am sure will assist me in my future endeavours.  

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Unfortunately, this is not the best picture of myself at the climbing wall at the university -- I don't even have any pictures of myself climbing. Nonetheless, rest assured that that is, indeed, me.

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Rock climbing

I first started rock climbing because, at the local university, there is a state-of-the-art climbing wall and I wanted to make use of it. I have always had a slight fear of heights – even as a child, I did not enjoy climbing anything at the playground. I hoped that rock climbing would help me overcome these fears. I took a three-hour class and learned the techniques of climbing and belaying.

The experience really enlightened me to the importance of belaying (which is essentially ensuring that the climber does not fall down and injure himself or herself). Although I had initially thought that I would only derive pleasure from climbing, I also had fun belaying – it was nice to feel responsible and helped me build trust with my climbing partners.

After my initial learning session, I started climbing with friends. This was an excellent experience, as I was able to build more trusting relationships with them while simultaneously improving myself physically. Rock climbing is an activity that I hope to continue doing in the future, because it gives me confidence in my abilities as well as helping me improve my relationships with my friends.  

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Winter Walk

Doing the Winter Walk was more of a leisure activity than anything. It was nice to get some fresh air and some exercise, as it was a nice break from sitting in a classroom. If I learned anything from this experience, it was that physical activity, especially in the outdoors, can assist me with focusing on academics.

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The cast and crew of Aesop, Come Back!, which was my own last production in high school. Regrettably, I was unable to participate in the spring production due to world exams. 

Needless to say, I was incredibly sad to leave this behind; however, simultaneously, I was grateful for the opportunities I had to learn from it.

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Stage managing

I was stage manager for two fall productions (Zink in grade eleven and Aesop, Come Back! in grade twelve), as well as one spring production (Blah Blah Blah in grade eleven). I had initially been interested in stage managing because I wanted to be a part of the fine arts department and enhance my skills in that area – however, because I lacked experience in the areas of music, theatre, and the visual arts, I was slightly apprehensive to do so. Eventually, I settled for an intermediate – technical work for the drama productions at school. My main objective was to add to my understanding of the arts, because although I had not been intimately involved with them, I wanted to develop connections to those areas to hopefully provide myself with a more holistic educational experience during high school.

In addition to accomplishing those goals (I now have a greater appreciation for the dramatic arts and hope to continue technical theatre work in the future), I developed a greater understanding of what it meant to work as a team to create a work of art. The cohesion that I experienced with everyone involved in the production had an immense effect on me, and now I am able to think about the amount of work that has gone into a particular work of art in addition to appreciating its beauty.

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Action at the Canadian Cancer Society

Prior to doing volunteer work with CCS, I had not realized that volunteer work could have a physical component. However, the experience enlightened me to the fact that there are, in fact, very many facets to doing volunteer work – all of which are important and all of which contribute to a holistic experience doing service in the community.

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Creativity at the Canadian Cancer Society

Making crafts for the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) was an interesting experience. Although this did not, on a basic level, leave me with new skills, I was able to realize and, consequently, appreciate the level of effort that is required from not-for-profit organizations in order to keep them functioning. Especially in the area of fundraising, an immense amount of work goes into producing and organizing the merchandise that is to be sold.

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Service at the Canadian Cancer Society

Volunteering with the Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) was my first real experience doing any sort of volunteer work. It was, in fact, my first experience doing “work”; I had established a set schedule with the volunteer coordinator there and did service at the local branch of CCS for approximately five hours a day for five days of the week.

Prior to beginning this volunteer experience, I had no idea about the nature of service – I had believed it to be a responsibility, and viewed it as somewhat of an obligation instead of something that could bring me enjoyment. Hence, I viewed the opportunity with trepidation.

Nevertheless, I chose to be involved in my community in order to hopefully establish connections with people involved with community service so that they would be able to help me develop an even more important role in my community. Obviously, there was also the appeal of donating my time to help people who were in need of it.  

Being part of the Lethbridge CCS group taught me that volunteering my time is truly an enriching experience – far from the chore I had viewed it as earlier. I engaged in several kinds of activities that involved physical labour and creativity, although my main task was to perform clerical work such as contacting potential donors and answering phones. I developed these skills, and I believe that they will assist me in the future.

Committing such a large amount of my time showed me that it is important to make a continuous effort to improve the community in which one finds itself. Being part of such a large organization additionally showed me the value of cooperation and the vital importance of organization in a national not-for-profit organization. Through this, I was able to determine effective methods of communication (which I could then employ in my later experiences with volunteerism, in the National Honour Society, in which I had an administrative role).

During my time at the Canadian Cancer Society, there was a brief period during which the organization was accused of keeping more of the profit than was advertised and using it to pay its employees. Seeing this allowed me to reflect on the ethical implications of running a large-scale, not-for-profit organization. It is important to allot most of the funds to research; however, it is also prudent to pay the employees who contribute to the functioning of the organization. I learned through my experience at CCS that it is vital to be transparent with expenses to avoid situations like the one that occurred.