Lucy's CAS Journey

I was able to more clearly reflect on my own abilities and how to improve them through CAS. Through activities like National Palace Museum Cultural Ambassador, I received feedback from my teachers and my peers consistently throughout the experience, making me aware of the improvements I need to make and behaviors that I should keep up. In time, from the feedback I have received from my peers, I gained a sense of awareness beyond what I originally thought, and practiced while identifying my own weaknesses. I was also able to clearly reflect on my weaknesses in my active projects. The physical activities that I participated in allowed me to further understand my physical abilities, such as that I was more flexible but have less core strength. Overall, my activities made me self-aware.

While I stayed in my comfort zone for a few of my activities, such as painting Seussical background, I took risks with other activities like acapella. I believe that I had taken the most risk with the National Palace Museum Cultural Ambassador program, as it was a topic completely outside of my understanding. Approaching such a highly skilled program was very challenging for me. It challenged my knowledge in the field of history, public speaking, and cultural understanding. I have had no previous knowledge of Chinese history, hence having to represent a segment of Chinese history to tourists was an extremely difficult but satisfying achievement.

The most difficult part of starting my activities was the planning. It sets the groundwork for how well the project works out, hence it’s important to be well prepared before conducting a CAS experience. The projects that required the most planning were all of the World Vision activities. With projects such as Hunger 12 and Matthew 25, we had different teams assigned to different areas of planning, all of which come together to be crucial for our performance on the day. I found that planning requires a lot of mental energy regarding decision making, and working in a team optimized our plans. With a demanding club leader, our plans are well thought through and clear, making our jobs easier. My role as a marketing director was more challenging to manage, as our club leader entrusted us to self manage. The promotional arts also had to be well planned while we were working in a group to advertise and attract customers, so I learned to plan artistically during this experience.

I have always struggled with commitment, especially with physical activities. I have attempted routines in the past, only to give up after a few days. With my cardio and yoga training, I had an incentive to persist, hence I successfully completed the hours. However, along the journey, there were many days that I had wanted to give up due to overwhelming schoolwork. I also felt that way with Beyond Horizons. However, just like my hiking trips, everything is easier when your friends are there to support and motivate you. Their support is how I was able to persevere and complete all of my activities and realize that commitment is not something I need to be scared of. Hence, I was able to complete all of the lengthy training at National Palace Museum, and see my cardio training to the end.

I learned a lot about teamwork and the importance of communication. I had previously preferred to work alone, as I felt like it was more efficient and more creative control. However, with such a large project, it is impossible to do alone. Therefore I was in a position where I had to communicate and plan with a big team to reach a consensus on the design. I found that everybody had interesting ideas, and by combining all of them, we managed to find the most well designed alternative. While there are sometimes creative clashes and mistakes, our backdrops came out to be lively and fun, just like a musical should be. I enjoyed every hour that we had put into the backdrops after school, spending time with each other to bond and brainstorm together.

Many of the activities I engaged in deal with resolving issues of global concern. The ones that I believe are the most impactful are the Beyond Horizons tutor project, and the World Vision fundraisers. These activities focused on accessibility of education, and the issue of poverty. Other than these two programs, I joined Model United Nations, which has exposed me to a multitude of worldly issues I was not aware of. In joining these programs and clubs, I became more aware of the state of the world on a deeper level, allowing me to develop connections to the larger society and practice empathy. Which has allowed me to move on to the next stage of coming up with ideas to solve them. These activities allowed me to realize the importance of being a global citizen.

I found that ethics of choices and actions were extremely important in projects involving service. With creativity and activity, you are responsible for yourself and only need to face the consequences of your own actions. Whereas in service, your choices impact others’ learning. I found that it was difficult to create teaching material for Beyond Horizon, because the tutors had to be particular in order to avoid misinformation. The same goes for Matthew 25, where we had to make games that are both fun and educational for children. The wording has to be particular so the message the children receive will not be distorted, and the attitudes we approached sensitive topics with had to be respectful, as it is very likely that children will mimic what we do.