Reflection 

For this project, I collaborated with my classmates Solana and Laila, and we had to create and prepare two slideshow presentations to share with students from Colombia, the UK, and India. The first slideshow was "The Global Energy Puzzle," and we had to research a local case study, which for us was the entirety of the Cayman Islands, and find information that addressed all the criteria discussed in the "Instructions" section below. This same process was repeated for the "Sustainable Cities" portion of the project. When it was time to present, Laila, Solana, and I all joined a Zoom meeting where we were placed in breakout rooms with a randomized group of students from other countries, and in these rooms, we each took turns presenting our ideas. In the end, we collectively discussed what we thought a solution to the problems addressed could be using all participants' components.  

My role within this project was centered around the research and ensuring that our group had insightful information for all criteria points. Moreover, I constantly communicated with our teacher supervisor to determine the times and locations of the Zoom calls. Reviewing my group mate's work was another role I obtained to double-check that the product we were sending out to others was cohesive, relevant, and informative. 

Something from this project that I learned was the essentialism of being able to initiate and plan an experience, which aligns with LO3. The execution of a plan was needed to ensure that all the research was being completed, all group members were doing their part during the presentation, and to fully understand the expectations of the Round Square organization and this event. Without a plan, my group most likely would have failed to come prepared to the Zoom meetings and to collaborate and learn from the various case studies explored by the other international students. Hence, I became more knowledgeable as I continually became exposed to how different countries recognize and mitigate similar societal issues, including the emerging popularity of renewable energy and the aim to achieve sustainability within cities. Therefore, I embraced LO6 when showing my engagement with current global issues and offering my ideas on potential solutions that should be considered by governments and firms when making critical decisions on responding to energy and sustainability notions. When communicating with the other students on such ideas, I had to be a critical thinker who evaluated not only the pros and cons of the situations but also an open-minded thinker who was accepting of various beliefs and concepts, even if they differed from my own and the research my group compiled. Through the process of evaluation and thoughtful reflection of my choices and actions when presenting, I engaged with LO7.

On the other hand, something I did not like about this project was the absence of communication from the Round Square coordinators- at some points, there was very limited instruction, so it was difficult for Laila, Solana, and I to fully comprehend the ask. However, we overcame this struggle by collaborating and determining the best course of action with the information provided. In most cases, this meant doing what we thought applied to the prompt, and if it did not align with the other student's work, we would communicate how we interpreted the instructions and then continue from there.

In the future, if I were to do this same CAS project again, I would seek further clarity in times of confusion to ensure that I fully understand the purpose of Round Square's event. In addition, I would communicate with the event coordinator earlier and more frequently. Something else that I think would be beneficial to this program would be drafting more CIS students to participate not only to promote Round Square among our school but also to establish more representatives from the Cayman Islands that would be able to discuss local issues and mitigation strategies within the Cayman Islands, which promotes the country as a whole. 

Slideshows and Research

Below are the two slideshows my group and I created and presented to fellow international students who participated in this program: "Sustainable Cities" and "The Global Energy Puzzle." The Google Document attached contains the research we completed before putting together the slideshows. 

Zoom 

Since this event incorporates people from various parts of the world, the presentations had to be completed on Zoom meetings. So, below are screenshots from said meetings.