The blog of meaningful experiences.

Isabel Rodríguez Rojas | My experiences as an IB Student. Here I document my personal growth as I go through Creativity, Action, and Service experiences throughout the two years of the Internation Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. 

[isabelscasblog]

Service and Creativity Project: EDE - Reconstruction - follow up

Service and creativity: E.D.E

DATE: March 22, 2019 CAS OBJECTIVE:

-Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

-Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

-Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

-Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

- Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To collaborate with my team mates to build a classroom destined for therapy for people with autism in a hospital. REALIZED HOURS: 2 service hours and creativity hours.

The reconstruction of the hospital took place from May to December 2018. The goal of the activity was to build a classroom in a hospital for autism therapy. We visited the hospital three times during the summer, had a session for building the materials, and then had meetings throughout the semester. Finally, the materials were transported to the hospital on December 8th, 2018.

This activity allowed me to see how collaborative work pays off, as we were able to collect and build a great amount of materials for the hospital by working together as a group. It also helped us realize how important this issue is on a global scale. It was an eye-opening experience in many ways, and it also allowed us to meet people from other countries who were interested in our project. This was very important because we got to see how this issue is also very relevant in other parts of the world.

This was the room before we began the reconstruction:

These are the room once we finished building them, with the materials we collected from many people who were kind enough to donate resources (either money or the products themselves).

Some religious groups also donated to our cause. In the end, we got to see how many different people united to our cause and helped us accomplish our goal.

Seeing how happy the women who give therapy in these spaces were was extremely heart-warming. It was a reminder that when we put our mind and heart to it, it is possible to achieve amazing things. Now more than 120 kids will receive therapy in this space, and that’s just incredible for me to think of. It truly make me feel like I got to be part of something great for our community, something that will have a long-lasting impact. 

[isabelscasblog]

Activity: Running

DATE: February 1st to March 20, 2019 CAS OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To push myself to perform an activity in order to improve my health. REALIZED HOURS: 8 activity hours.  

The activity took place from February to March, on tuesdays and thursdays. During the month of February and March, I started to perform a new activity, which was running, usually in the football field of our school but sometimes in the park near my house, for half an hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The aim of this activity was to improve my health and my well-being, since exercise has proven to only improve health, but also to improve people’s mood. Starting this activity was important for me because for the last couple of months I have been struggling with my mental state. Due to this, I decided to begin exercising. 

During the first weeks, I found it to be hard because I haven’t exercised frequently in a long time. However, starting with shorter periods of time and slower paces proved to be very helpful. I began running for 15 minutes and walking for another 15 minutes. After a week, I was able to run for longer periods of time. On the second week I began to run for 20 minutes and walk for 10, and on the third week I began to run for 30 minutes with a 5 minute break in-between. I’ve realized that it is not as hard as I thought it would be, and I’ve seen some improvements in my mental state. I can see that I feel more relaxed after running. I am also able to sleep better, as running gets me tired enough to go to bed earlier. It also helps me feel relieved as it gives me a break from school and it is a moment in which I get to relax and free my mind from other issues.

I will continue to exercise frequently as I have noticed that it has actually helped me overall, and I believe it is very important for maintaining a balance with my body. 

[isabelscasblog]

Activity: Learning to ride a bike

DATE: November 20 to December 1, 2018.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To learn how to ride a bike so I will be able to be more active and improve my health.

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.  

- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

REALIZED HOURS: 4 activity hours

The activity took place from November 20 to December 1, 2018. I have been practicing riding my brother’s bike with the goal of finally being able to transport myself, while also improving my health by riding it often. 

To be quite honest, it took me a few days during which I had to fall a few times before even able to stay for more than two minutes on it without immediately falling to the side of the street. However, as I practiced more and more I realized that I was actually improving, and it eventually got less scary to get on the bike. Now I can go on rides for a few minutes without falling, and I hope that with time I’ll be able to go on longer rides. 

The most important thing I’ve learned from this first experience is that it is totally worth it to try new activities that I haven’t tried before, because while they can be quite scary at first the outcome might be really worth it. Therefore, I believe that committing to this activity has been a great learning experience because it has opened new doors that I hadn’t tried to discover yet—moreover, I know that with time I will become better at riding my bike and I will be able to go on rides with my friends and improve my health while also having fun with them. This is quite a good thing because there’s been many occasions in which I haven’t been able to go out with them because I didn’t know how to ride a bike, but those times are gone and now I will be able to exercise with them more often.

[isabelscasblog]

Cronograma Agosto-Diciembre 2018.

[isabelscasblog]

Service and Creativity: EDE - Reconstruction

Service and creativity: E.D.E

DATE: May-December, 2018 CAS OBJECTIVE:

-Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.  

-Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

-Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

-Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

- Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To collaborate with my team mates to build a classroom destined for therapy for people with autism in a hospital. REALIZED HOURS: 6 service hours and 7 creativity hours.

The activity took place from May to December 2018. The goal of the activity was to build a classroom in a hospital for autism therapy. We visited the hospital three times during the summer, had a session for building the materials, and then had meetings throughout the semester. Finally, the materials will be transported to the hospital on December 8th, 2018. 

The activity was important for understanding how collaborative work pays off, as we were able to collect and build a great amount of materials for the hospital by working together as a group. It also helped us realize how important this issue is on a global scale, as people from other countries also helped us collect money for the hospital. It was a great experience to be able to contribute to helping other people, and it opened up our eyes to those issues that exist in the world but we often ignore as they are not common in our everyday lives.

There was a woman who specifically donated to our group multiple times and was very committed in helping us achieve our goal. This was really heart-warming to us, seeing how we could get to people from other places and achieve something bigger than we initially thought we would.

[isabelscasblog]

Creativity: Adobe Illustrator

DATE: October to ONGOING, 2018.

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

-  Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To improve my abilities in graphic design with the purpose of transmitting my ideas and concepts through art.

REALIZED HOURS: 8 creativity hours.

The activity took place during the months of October and November of 2018. Once I had learned to use Adobe Illustrator, I continued to design more images on the program. Some of the drawings I’ve made in the last months are the following:

This one is based on one of my favorite pixar movies, Up. This drawing, despite being still unfinished, took a long time to make because it required editing many components.

This drawing is the most recent and it has been one of the easiest, as I’ve gained more experience thus it becomes more easy for me to draw the things I want to.

This last one is one of my favorites, as I really liked the use of shadows and highlights. It was one of the first drawings in which I play with those features.

Having already learnt the basics, it was easier to continue designing more drawings; however, there are still some techniques I’m learning and I will continue to learn more so my drawings look better. 

Doing this activity is one of my favorite hobbies, as I keep improving with every drawing. This has helped me understand how practice really makes perfect, because even though I do not take actual graphic design classes, I’m still able to become better by keeping at it.

I plan on designing some graphics later on to make shirts out of them and hopefully be able to sell them. The money could be used for my other project, Green, to help the environment.

[isabelscasblog]

Creativity: Illustrator

DATE: August 1 to ONGOING, 2018.

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

-  Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth. 

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE:

REALIZED HOURS: 7 creativity hours.

The activity took place during the months of August, September and October of 2018. I wanted to learn to use the software for a long time, because I really like to draw, but I hadn’t had the opportunity to do so. However, I finally got the chance to use it because I had to create a logo for my student group Green. At first it was really difficult because I didn’t have any experience with the software, but after a while I finally got comfortable with it and improved a lot in a very short amount of time. I realized that I can master some things even if they are a bit hard at first, I just need to keep at them until I get them right.

These are some of the drawings I’ve made in the last month using the software.

That’s a drawing of my cat I made, it was the second drawing I made in Illustrator. 

That’s a drawing of a bowl of ramen which I have not finished yet.

And that one’s a drawing of Totoro, one of my favorite animated characters, holding balloons in the form of watermelons.

Then there’s finally the logo of my student group.

I will keep using the software to make more drawings because it’s quite a fun activity and it helps me relax, and I could even take commissions in the future if I keep improving.

[isabelscasblog]

Creativity and service: PET bottle  collect for AMANC and making blankets

DATE: September 10 to October 3, 2018.

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

- Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

- Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To help homeless people have blankets during the winter season using our resources.

REALIZED HOURS: 9 service hours and 9 creativity hours.

The activity took place during the months of August, September, and October of 2018. Member of my student group and I collected PET bottles to donate them to both AMANC, an organisation that helps kids with cancer, and to an organisation that makes blankets out of plastic bottles. This project was made with help from other student groups.

We used trash cans with a poster attached to it and we placed them around the school. This project was very difficult for us because we came across a ton of difficulties, for example, the main one was that the posters kept getting wet because it’s a rain season, thus they began to fade and people didn’t identify that they were meant to be used for only plastic bottles. Also, we had to invest in the trash cans and had to find ways to recover the money we spent. Another issue was that people didn’t really use the PET trash cans and threw their plastic bottles in normal trash cans instead. After all, we learned a lot from this project, mainly that things can often go wrong and when it happens we have two options: either we give up, or we find ways to solve the problem. We took the PET trash cans away but we are coming up with better ways to collect the plastic bottles. However, having the project go wrong was important because it allowed me to learn that not everything will be perfect every time and that’s okay, we just have to keep trying until it finally comes out right. In the meantime we will find other ways to get the bottles without the use of the trash cans which didn’t quite work.

[isabelscasblog]

Formulario de arranque Agosto 2018

[isabelscasblog]

Creativity and Service: Entrepreneurship fair

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

- Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.  

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To create a product to sell in the school entrepreneurship fair so we can collect money for ours environmentalist group’s activities.

REALIZED HOURS: 10 creativity hours and 10 service hours

The activity took place on September 6, 2018. We participated in the fair because we had to collect money for Green, the environmentalist student group I lead, since we plan on organizing some activities that require funding. For this activity, we decided to bake pizza cones, since it seemed like an interesting option because it’s a fun twist on normal pizza. We also decided to sell metal straws. 

The main issues I encountered during the process of baking the pizzas was that it was quite complicated, even more because I baked them on my own. I realized that this would have been much easier and much more productive had I baked them with more people. This was a very important lesson for me, and I believe it has allowed me to see some things differently. This process also allowed me to find some strengths within myself that I do not usually acknowledge, such as my perseverance; even though at some point I felt like I was about to give up, since many complications arised, I kept going and finished the pizzas for the sale. Identifying this strength was a really nice thing, because I do not usually see myself as a strong person. 

During the sale, I realized just how important friends can be when you really need them. We took turns during the fair and we were able to sell all of our products and we collected a lot of money for our group, so the teamwork really did pay off. 

[isabelscasblog]

green

[isabelscasblog]

Creativity: Dungeons & Dragons

DATE: May 28 to June 20, 2018 

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

- Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.  

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE:

REALIZED HOURS: 28 creativity hours

The 7 sessions took place during the summer between May 28 and June 20, each one lasting about 4 hours. D&D is a role playing tabletop game that really makes you challenge yourself constantly. You have to create your own character and give it life, which also gives you endless opportunities to explore. Even though it may seem as a simple game, it helps you develop performance and improvisation skills. In addition, it allows you to comprehend how important cooperation is during a campaign, since it requires your team to be on the same page in order to defeat the enemies and achieve the goal of the adventure. 

This game has allowed me to understand the value of cooperation, the importance of taking risks, and the need to accept the responsibility for your actions. This is why I really like to play this game with my friends, because it goes much further than you would think and it really gives you those amazing moments of realization every now and then.

[isabelscasblog]

Creativity: D&D Marathon

DATE: May 14 to 22, 2018 

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.  

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE:

REALIZED HOURS: 26 creativity hours

[isabelscasblog]

Creativity, Activity and Service: Travesuras 2018

DATE: May 19, 2018.

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

- Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.  

- Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

- Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To collaborate with a large group of people to make an incredibly happy and fun day for kids from the DIF and CRIT.

REALIZED HOURS: 7 service, 7 activity and 7 creativity hours = 21 hours

The event took place on May 19, 2018. The goal was to have a day in which kids from both the DIF and CRIT would have an amazing time. These kids usually have really hard lives because their family situation is very rough, since they are tied to the National System for Integral Family Development because of a variety of reasons. Furthermore, the kids from the CRIT also have very hard lives because they have disabilities that they must fight very hard each day to recover from. Because of this, our school hosts an annual event in which kids from the DIF come to the school and participate in very fun activities. However, due to the current situation of our school the event took place at the CRIT, and kids from there participated as well. 

The activity was really complex, because in groups of 3 to 4 people we had to guide a group of 20 kids through each activity, which really was a challenge. However, it was very satisfying to see the kids have an amazing time, laugh, and play with each other. To take part in something like that was fantastic, because it really made me feel like I was part of something big; to make someone’s day is really something else. Despite the problems that we encountered, such as delays and having to constantly make sure that none of the kids got lost, in the end it all came out alright and we all had a very incredible day. I plan on taking part in the event next year as well, because it really was an amazing experience for all of us.

[isabelscasblog]

Cronograma Enero-Mayo 2018

[isabelscasblog]

Service and Activity: Walking and Cleaning in Chapultepec

DATE: April 28, 2018.

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

- Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

- Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE: To work with my friends to help clean up a park that has been damaged due to trash.

REALIZED HOURS: 3 service hours and 3 activity hours

The activity took place on April 28, 2018. We arrived at the Tamayo Museum and walked around Chapultepec for 3 hours. As we cleaned up, we realized that there was not as much trash as we had expected, and this was great because it means that people have grown more conscious of the importance of keeping our recreational areas clean and being respectful to nature. However, we did find that there were areas that had a lot of trash, and the trash was all kinds of weird.

We found that when working together, our goal was more effectively achieved, since we were able to clean up the park faster and better. I think this is important because I often don’t think that I need help from others, but this helped me see how good it can be to collaborate to accomplish a goal, because if everyone makes an effort, things can turn out great.

All of this made me think of the lack of consciousness that some people still have when it comes to the environment, and I see that it is necessary for people to understand the implications of their actions, so we can keep our parks clean.

[isabelscasblog]

SERVICE AND ACTIVITY: Collecting PET bottles for AMANC

DATE: April 10 to April 28, 2018.

CAS OBJECTIVE:

- Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences. 

- Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

- Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.

PERSONAL OBJECTIVE:

REALIZED HOURS: 9 service hours and 6 activity hours.

The activity took place during the month of April 2018. Member of my student group and I collected PET bottles to donate them to AMANC, an organisation that helps people with cancer.

The activity was not as hard to complete because I worked alongside friends from my environmentalist group, Green. However, I believe that doing this collection was a very eye-opening experience because it led me to the realization that the amount of plastic bottles is gigantic. After the activity I kept reflecting on this and decided to create some campaign to promote the use of reusable bottles, and to reduce plastic use. I encouraged some of my friends to help me with the collection because I believe that it is necessary for them to see the amounts of plastic produced at our school to make them reflect on the impact their actions have on the environment. Since plastic pollution is such a big issue in today’s world, we should really try to see how we are also part of the problem.

Finally, going to the PET bottle collection center was awesome because I saw a lot of people there. This was really great, seeing people unite for helping others and the environment.