Final CAS Reflection

CAS has acted a vital role in the past two years of my DP experience. I was able to balance my academic experiences with extra-curricular activities via CAS activities. It is also an important aspect in gaining personal development by having experiences in different fields such as services and sports. I have found the 'Activity' element the most difficult to achieve due to tough DP academic work, this challenge helps me to develop even better personal time management skills. This final CAS reflection aims to recap my experiences and explain how I achieve each learning outcome.

1. Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

This is achieved in all the CAS activities that I have done especially in those activities that require collaboration with others. For example, in the '2020 World Vision Winter Festival', I have found my personal strength in organizing events and planning games. I realized that I enjoyed the preparation process a lot since I was able to come up with different ideas. In order to promote our event, I have also developed various technical skills in using different software to edit videos and photos. Opposite to personal strength, I have also found my weaknesses and attempted to overcome them. During the Winter Festival, I was less comfortable asking strangers to purchase our products. I practiced a lot with different people to get used to communicating with people. In other projects such as 'World Vision Matthew 25 and Hunger 12', I have also had similar experiences in gaining a better understanding of myself. Being the leader of a group helps me to identify my strength in balancing opinions and weaknesses in assigning jobs. Overall, doing these CAS activities allows me to see my own strengths and weaknesses.

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

There will always be challenges in our CAS projects. I believe I have become a better leader by overcoming challenges faced in the CAS experiences. Undertaking challenges does not only help me to solve the conflict but also trains my leadership skills. For example, in the 'World Vision Public Relations Team Leader' experience, I have faced challenges in managing the club's social media account. I have developed new skills on social media pages because I wanted to overcome difficulties that I had. In other experiences such as 'World Vision Matthew 25 & Hunger 12', we also faced many challenges, mainly about communication. In order to undertake the challenge, the club members and I found a more effective way of communication which helps our future job in the club more efficient and more successful. Challenges make me to reflect on myself and understand the problem underlying.

3. Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

Most of the CAS experiences are self-motivated, especially those individual sports experiences, they are a good opportunity for me to demonstrate my ability to initiate and plan a CAS experience. I have done three 'Activity' related projects, 'Horsing Riding', 'Indoor Biking Training', and 'Aerobic & Anaerobic Exercise'. I have managed to set up a personal calendar and plan the exercise that I want to do every day to practice sports. Biking and body exercises were done during the summer holiday. I used a monthly calendar to plan my schedule and record my progress, it helps me to organize a clear CAS experience in the field of sports. These experiences are different from those activities that require group work, hence it is they demonstrate my ability to initiate and plan my own project. From the plans, I have also learned the importance of making changes to the plan as the original plan can often change according to my progress in the sport.

4. Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Long-term CAS experiences are even more beneficial compared to short-term because I have more time to reflect on myself when I am still doing the experience. Most of my CAS experiences are long-term, meaning they remain more than one semester, and some of them are one-year projects. It shows my commitment and perseverance in the continuation of CAS experiences. For example, I have been the leader of World Vision's Public Relations team for one year and have been working on 'Beyond Horizon Youth Volunteers' for one year too.

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

World Vision club has taught me the most about the benefits of working collaboratively in various events that we held in the school community. Through our effective teamwork, each member can work on things that they are good at. For example, I was in charge of public promotion, and event organizing and recording. Working in a team gives me an opportunity to choose what I like to do. It also means we can discuss with our team members when facing external difficulties when preparing for the club's events such as Hunger 12. I have learned that working collaboratively requires communicating clearly, actively listening to others, taking responsibility for mistakes, etc. Compared to those individual CAS project, in sports, I think team project is more impressive and interesting because I can get ideas from different perspectives from my friends and teams.

6. Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

In the global community, it is very important to understand global issues and find ways to engage with the problems around the world. Under the current COVID pandemic circumstance, I have still managed to engage with the global community via CAS activities such as 'World Vision' and 'Beyond Horizon' experiences. Eliminating hunger and poverty are the SDGs that people have been working on for several decades. I have engaged with this SDG via World Vision's activity, we hold events to raise funds to sponsor children in developing countries which helps them to construct their community, access to education, and explore their lives in different ways. From that long-term sponsorship, I have learned the impact of individuals on global issues, and that even we can help others. The Beyond Horizon project aims to give minorities equal access to proper education under the COVID pandemic through online teaching. The voluntary work has taught me to be grateful and to use my own strength to resolve global issues.

7. Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

I think this is the hardest learning outcome to achieve in the CAS experience because most of the activities are community-based that does not involve serious ethical consideration. But in the 'Beyond Horizon' project, I have faced ethical choices several times as a volunteer. After all the struggling and discussions with advisors and other team members, I have been more clear on the obligation and responsibility of a volunteer. I have understood that making choices and taking actions are important when there are ethical concerns happened with regard to CAS experiences. It also gives me an outline of what to avoid in my future voluntary work. Overall, this learning outcome is difficult to achieve but I think it is also the most helpful one for our future.

For future CAS students, I would advise them to plan their CAS projects carefully and thoroughly. I believe the purpose of doing CAS is not only to fulfill the requirement but also to undergo personal development. Hence, students need to do what they really enjoy in stead of filling the hours. I also think reflection is very helpful for me to review the progress of my project and experiences, writing it right after a project has finished. I have had many meaningful CAS experiences, but I think World Vision and Beyond Horizon are the two that are most memorable and impactful in my life.