Maksymilian Łudziński @mludzinski-cas - Tumblr Blog

Confirmations

CAS project confirmation

Updated signatures: CAS Blog Check 2 and 4

Learning outcomes table

Final reflection: CAS experience

Although my CAS experience ends, this not the “real end”. This is the beginning – the beginning of the future full of opportunities that CAS has allowed me to encounter while being an IB student.

The first component, creativity, allowed me to reflect on all the creative processes that I have been involved in, regardless whether I was casually playing the guitar, attending a jazz concert or reading a book on econometrics. CAS not only motivated me to be persistent in doing my activities but also encouraged to develop my strengths, as well as be involved with issues of global importance – that is where participating in Model United Nations conferences played a crucial role in shaping my approach to creativity. Additionally, all the creative activities I have been involved in allowed me to rethink ways in which I can develop, as well as ways in which I can develop – although CAS is just about to end, these principles will stay with me long after it is gone.

On the other hand, activity gave me an opportunity to be physically active throughout the IB programme, despite tones of work I have been sometimes experiencing. I have reported and reflected on many different sports, such as skiing, ice skating, or cycling. While some of them allowed me to recognize the benefits of working collaboratively, others clearly demonstrated that the new challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process of learning. Despite the fact that I have never been a great ice skater or a true gym fan, CAS encouraged me to take up such activities and reflect on them, which clearly affected my personal development and the way in which I thought about seemingly redundant physical activity throughout the school year.

Additionally, service allowed me to develop my interactive skills, as well as get involved in activities that needed persistence and the will to help others. Thanks to CAS, I had an opportunity to help children during lessons on basic economics at the EUD, as well as encouraged me to take part in Amnesty International school club meetings, which encouraged me to reflect on issues of global importance, as well as get involved into valuable discussions about human rights and their violation. That way, service made participate in meaningful activities that I could not have probably taken part in otherwise.

Even though everything has to come to an end, I am sure that the way of reflecting on the activities I experienced while doing CAS will stay with me for a longer time. Not only is this skill something valuable for every IB learner, but also – for every human being of the 21st century.

#CASexperience

CAS PROJECT - post 3

As mentioned in previous posts, organising the freshers’s day was a great experience for all the organisers as well as participants. However, most importantly, organising the freshers day allowed me to undertake actions which embody some of CAS learning objectives.

Firstly, the project allowed me to demonstrate my skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively. Although I have put a lot of effort into organising this event well, without my colleagues, this project would not have been possible. I am sure that only through collaboration and appropriate management we were able to smoothly run an event such as the freshers’ day.

Secondly, the project made me show perseverance in CAS activities, as preparing for the event took many days - planning and decorating school was really demanding for all of us, and I, as the man in charge, had to be responsible for all the arrangements. Nevertheless, this was also a lesson about priorities: given such responsibility, I sometimes had to give up some school work in order to get something done for the freshers’ day. Although this could have been very demanding and time-consuming, now I know it had a purpose.

Finally, the project was also a demonstration of new challenges that have been undertaken - it was the first time I was organising such an event, starting from scratch, with no initial arrangements, as we came up with all the activities and decorations ourselves. However, I believe that the outcome of the freshers’ day is an example of how I successfully overcame a challenge that at the beginning seemed to be quite big.

I am very happy and proud that organised the freshers’ day in such a way. This was not only a great opportunity to identify my own areas of growth, but also - a remarkable occasion for a school get-together, with the benefit for all of us.

#CASproject

CAS PROJECT - post 2

As already introduced, the freshers’ day was aimed at benefiting the community of our school, by creating a warm welcoming event.

That is why we decided to create different activities for PreIB students so that they can get a sense of what being in our IB is like - activities that were original and had never taken place before. They were very varied, as students could take part in painting caricatures of teachers, participating in Just Dance battles, being involved in an escape room game, organised in a couple of classrooms, playing football in a match against the team from our year, playing the Family Feud game, or even taking part in a drag queen competition. Additionally, PreIB students could choose a couple activities they wanted to participate in, and it was our job to organise them in groups suitable for the chosen activities.

Every one of us was responsible for a different activity, and it was my job to make sure that all the people know what they are doing, as well as to get to know how much money each organising group needs to organise their activities. However, thanks to high self-motivation of me and my colleagues, as well as appropriate planning are done before the event, we were able to make sure that everything goes as expected, and this freshers’ day is one of the best our school community remembers. I was very proud of our work at the completion of the project, even though there were some moments of chaos and misinformation. However, we achieved to deal with them so that they would not last in the memories of participants.

#CASproject

CAS PROJECT - post 1

Freshers’ Day - 12.10.2018

It is our school tradition that new-made students of IB organise a freshers’ day for the class of PreIB. What usually takes place is a presentation of names of PreIB classes (as in our school classes do have names), as well as different activities that are aimed at introducing new students to the school’s surroundings and atmosphere. By decision of tutors of our year, I was chosen to be the head organiser of this year’s edition. Because of that, not only did I play a significant role in the choice of this year’s activities and main theme, but also I have decided to put forward the goal of creating one the best freshers’ day in the history of our school. Actually, it would appear that my goal was achieved.

In the following posts, I will discuss how this happened and how this allowed me to complete some of the CAS learning objectives, crucial in every CAS project.

#CASproject

Service

Amnesty International club meeting

Finally, after the break because of the coronavirus outbreak, everyone has come back to school (at least for the time being), it was time to meet for another Amnesty International club meeting. Today we talked about the day of women, which took place yesterday.

We discussed rights of women in different European countries; the leader was also trying to indicate that in today’s reality, women are sometimes still undermined, with the prosecution of rape and other gender-related crimes not being as strict as it should be.

I think this is very valuable that the club concentrates on discussing such important aspects. Although not everyone has to agree, it is nice to see that we can have a reasonable discussion involving people with some knowledge about the subject of human rights.

#service

Activity

Gym

My most recent visit to the gym was also devoted to thorough training, all though I am hoping that soon I will be able to have some activity outside.

This time the focus on my upper body muscles - I feel like I already need to start training them towards the summer. That is why I spent some time on machines, and then casually moved on to the running track at a moderate pace, in order to slow the tempo.

As usual, my visit to the gym was devoted to setting out new goals in terms of physical activity. Once again, apart from identifying my personal areas of development, I also reminded myself why sport plays a significant role in my busy life - it allows me to concentrate on training and forget about everything else.

#activity

Creativity

Playing the guitar

Leaving aside Chili Peppers for a little while, I thought of playing a song by one of the bands I really appreciate: Pixies. The song is entitled “Hey”; even though I have known it already for a while, in order to do something creative, I decided to watch their live performance - that was a great idea to remind myself of how stimulating it can be.

Right after coming back home from I took my guitar and started playing along to the bassline of the record, which I believe has a great, groovy vibe. This made me reflect on how creative we can become given an appropriate stimulus. In my case, the live performance of Pixies was a clear motivation for guitar practice.

Service

No service: coronavirus outbreak

Unfortunately, I was not able to attend Amnesty International Club meetings for two subsequent weeks after two-week winter holidays, due to the fact that people students running the club were quarantined (they spent their holidays in areas of Italy that were at risk).

#service

Creativity

Reading a book on econometrics

Last week I was intensively thinking of a book that I would like to read in my free time. After a while, it seemed clear that I would like to get to know more about econometrics.

I found a used textbook on an online shopping site and ordered; it came after a few days. The title Polish title is Wprowadzenie do ekonometrii, which in English would simply be Introduction to econometrics. I am very happy about buying it - although the theory is sometimes complicated, it is nice that I am able to understand some chapters and equations. In fact, econometrics is something I am looking forward to studying at university. That is why I thought that doing a little bit of introduction myself would be a good idea.

Also, reading the book allowed me to identify my own areas of growth and develop my interests. Even though, in the beginning, reading the book was a challenge, after a while, I was able to understand much more.

#creativity

Activity

Skiing - Valley of Aosta

For the second week of winter holidays, our whole family travelled to La Thuile, a French-Italian town with great access to a huge skiing resort.

The weather throughout the week was changing dynamically - we experienced some sun, but also lots of strong wind, fog and even rain. Nevertheless, I believe that our skiing experience was great - we spent a couple of hours per day on the slopes. Even though I think I have been to ski resorts with wider slopes that I liked more, I found these pleasant after all.

Also, the trip was a great opportunity to have some activity outside home - this is something I am very happy about, as it allowed me to rest a bit and fully concentrate on one of my favourite sports.

#activity

Creativity

Playing the guitar

Relaxing while playing Can’t Stop by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, one of my favourite tunes ever. Perhaps this is the 100th time this song appears on my blog, but my love for it is absolutely true; believe me or not, I have been playing the main riff of Can’t Stop almost every day for a quite a long time now.

This song embodies what I love about playing the guitar the most: the feeling of being free and full of energy. I believe that playing the guitar has been one of my most developing CAS activities, allowing to identify my own areas of growth and setting out objectives and goals.

#creativity

Activity

Prom dance

Finally, the time has come for my biggest CAS experience this year: the prom dance (activity). After many many rehearsals, it was time to show off in front of everyone.

I think that everything went quite smooth - we all were quite synchronised and showed that we know our moves well. Even the waltz, which seemed to be the most difficult of all, turn out fine. I think me and my partner did a great job - an effort we’ve put into our regular rehearsals has paid off.

Except for being a unique experience, the dance was also an activity - dancing three dances in a suit can be quite tiring, yet very rewarding indeed.

#activity

Service

Meeting of the school council: a new term

Even though I did not seek reelection in the latest elections, my job was to organise one meeting more (via sending a message on the electronic register - photo below); that was in order to gather the newly elected council for the first time.

Taking place last week on Monday, the focus of the meeting was to choose a new prime minister and briefly discuss plans for the upcoming year, as well as to elaborate on actions of the previous council. I had a short speech in which I summed up everything that my council has done last year.

Although I was very sad that it was my last meeting of its kind, I was also happy - I had a feeling that we achieved to do something valuable while serving the school community.

#service

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Maksymilian Łudziński