CAS Journal Entry No. 3: No-Plastic Zone

To make our school campus a no-plastic zone, as part of our CAS activities, we decided to make recyclable paper bags that we could distribute to the students of our school and help them to stop using plastic bags. When we first started with our project, we never anticipated that we would end up making as many bags as we ended up making. The paper bags were to be inaugurated during the school book fair, to replace the plastic ones that are usually handed out. Using newspapers to make the bags and with the help of the art department, we headed down to the AV room with a couple of bottles of glue and a lot of optimism.

              

  I had never been greatly involved in art before joining the IB diploma programme (except for a small stint in second grade but I don’t count that). What I found out was that I should have spent more time colouring, and less time watching TV. A refreshing eighty minutes later, we walked out much more active than we went in (our CAS hours are on Friday afternoons, so you can’t really blame us for our lethargy). The process of creation always lifts up anyone’s mood, and it was no different that day. It was a good team-building activity because we found ourselves co-ordinating with each other to get that piece of newspaper, or that glue bottle, or to put that bag here or there and with help from our CAS co-ordinator to keep us on track, we actually didn’t get out of topic for once.

                

In all the experience was a great example of a creative session. I hope we get to do more activities like that in the future. There is really a lot to explore in the creativity component of our CAS activities, and I think in the future I would be very interested in doing more such activities.

CAS Journal Entry: Gardening

            On the 18^th of January, our class took part in a gardening session. What I had in mind for the session was that it would be a good way to explore our vast school grounds as well as a good opportunity to interact with the gardener and learn a little more about plants and farming in general. The overall goal I wanted to achieve before planning this activity was to be able to understand the hard work that goes into what we eat each and every day, and it is back-breaking work indeed. Most people nowadays do not consider agriculture as an occupation and indeed it is frowned upon in high society to introduce oneself as a farmer, I wanted to be more open-minded and to try things before I criticised them.

            Right from the beginning, it was not easy at all. It was very hot that day, and since we were working in the afternoon, the sun beat down on us all throughout the session and by the end I was ready to drop. We were using heavy farm tools to break the top layer of the soil and to bring to the surface the more fertile dark soil. The gardener went (relatively) easy on us and had us do the softer patches of land before moving on to the harder, more rocky patches. The gardener told us that we would be planting bitter gourd vines, as well as spinach. None of us particularly like these vegetables, but we were happy to help out all the same. The process of preparing a plot of land for re-planting involves plucking out the rampant weeds that grew on every surface, then using the tool to break up the soil and to mix it up thoroughly. It sounds a lot easier than it actually is.

            The sweltering heat, the heavy tool, and the repetitive nature of the activity, were some of the difficulties we faced. Frequent  water breaks, and motivation from the CAS co-ordinator moved us along quick enough and we were breezing through the farm plots by the time we had to go home. Overall, I felt we were able to achieve what we set out to do and I believe that this type of activity gives one a real ability to appreciate the nature of working hard to create something, no matter how run-of-the-mill it is. Even on the way home on the bus, I could not stop thinking about the satisfaction on that gardener’s face and on the faces of my classmates when we looked at our handiwork after the session was over.

            If I had to do it again, I would probably have wanted to bring my gym clothes so I did not have to get my school clothes unnecessarily dirty (my mother was not pleased about that). I never knew manual labour could be so cleansing an experience, looking at those plots of land after we were done I was very proud of what I had done and told myself that this is the kind of experience that we should have more often in order  to shape ourselves into the kind of learners we wish to be in the future.

CAS Journal Entry: Visit to palliative care center

            On October 22^nd, our class visited a palliative care centre for senior citizens who have been diagnosed with cancer. The purposed of our visit was mainly to perform for the elderly, as well as interact with them to take their mind off the day-to-day worries they have. Accompanying our class, were the other eleventh graders as well as some students from the junior school.

            Our thoughts going into this activity were that we should try our best to cheer up these brave men and women, who face so many problems in their lives. To help the centre provide for all the patients and their spouses, we took along all the rice that we had collected over a few months (rice seen in photos). We had no idea of the situation that awaited us. On reaching the centre, we were shocked to see that some of the elderly were so sick that they could not even move from their beds.

            Some of the men and women there so depressed they did not talk to us. We tried our best to pull them into conversations, and on some cases we succeeded but with others they sat in the corners by themselves. Not all of those present were cancer patients; some were there to get medicines for their spouses, or other relatives. The message they had to pass on to us was that cancer is a lifestyle disease and if we avoided chewing tobacco and smoking, we could most probably avoid getting cancer. The donation of rice was appreciated by the doctor who was in charge of the center, and when we spoke to him, he was glad that a school was taking such an interest in his patients.

            On the bus ride back, I felt like had learned a life lesson by interacting with these brave men and women. In their eyes I could see strength that I hope I can at least have a glimpse of one day. They will always inspire me and make me determined to live my life to the fullest. All in all, I’m very happy I came to school that day.

Introduction

Hey guys! This is a blog I made to post my CAS reflections on. My name is Abhishek, I am 17 years old, and am doing the first year of my IB diploma program. So as part of the IBDP, we are required to participate in CAS (which stands for creativity, action, and service) to mold us into all-round individuals and not just bookworms who sit at home and study. As you will from the posts made later on, we really do participate in a variety of activities and the end result is what you will end up reading here. I will try to post as many pictures and link as many videos as possible but I can't make any guarantees. So happy reading!

P.S. As for the name of the blog, I thought just IB school blog was too boring, so I decided to throw in some spice. If you think the name is inappropriate, I will change it. (To teachers)