11th Grade
Creativity
Origami Workshop
During the Wells Without Walls week, a week where student hold workshops and are allowed to explore and demonstrate various creativity or activity aspects, I joined the Japanese Club's origami workshop. While knowing a few patterns such as paper aeroplanes or fortune tellers, I learned how to make a crane. This activity felt rather challenging due to the complexity of the pattern, sometimes needing to make sure not to completely fold over a line, or understanding the steps presented in pictures. However, I found that asking for help made the process much easier and efficient, which the Japanese club offered.
This activity sparked my interest in joining the Japanese club that strives to share Japanese culture in the various activities held by the school, such as international day, or the Wells Without Walls weeks. I felt inspired by how there were non-Japanese students there who learned about the culture and were still able to share the traditional crafts. Therefore this experience made me feel motivated to join a club that explored a new culture that I wasn't as familiar with by allowing me to partake in making origami and understanding the beauty and intricacy behind the art.
Learning outcomes:
Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process - I learned a new skill and persisted in making sure I was able to fully immerse myself in the Japanese culture of origami.
Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively - By making sure I was open to learning from the club members and teaching my seatmates, I was able to practice communicating and collaborating with peers about the origami patterns.
Painting my wardrobe
In September of 2021, I decided to take on the project of painting my wardrobe with a Scott Pilgrim comic still as a way to express my love for the comic book series. It was a unique way to add some personal flair to my living space, while also paying homage to one of my favorite stories.
Throughout the project, I felt a sense of excitement and anticipation as I worked on the design and carefully painted each detail. Despite enjoying painting and having an artistic drive, I often times felt discouraged by the size of the painting. While the painting took over 3 days to finish with intervals for studying, school, and family time, I thoroughly enjoyed every part of it. The most challenging aspect was the required patience and attention to detail. By ensuring to create something that was uniquely my own, while also honouring the creativity and imagination of the creator, Bryan Lee O'Malley, I had to incorporate my own shading and highlighting techniques that I learned throughout my art classes at school over the years.
Overall, painting my wardrobe with a Scott Pilgrim comic still was a fun and meaningful project that allowed me to express my appreciation for this comic book series while also adding life and colour to my room.
Learning outcomes:
Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process - Since I had never painted on a non-paper surface, this experience made me develop the skill to expand beyond my usual art mediums.
Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences - By continuously putting in effort from the planning, sketching, and actual painting, I took a considerably long time and committed to the process until the end.
Activity
Basketball
One of the activities I've decided to take part in my 11th-grade year is basketball. I wanted to go outside of my comfort zone and partake in a team sport where I could put effort into and potentially develop into a new hobby. So in November of 2021, I tried out for the Wells girls' basketball team. Initially, I was extremely intimidated and felt so close to giving up due to how much more experience the other players were, but instead made the choice to keep practicing and to develop in my own time. So far, I've played in a game against Berkely international school where the team won 47 to 20.
Before joining the team, I hadn't been particularly passionate about the sport, however, I've come to look forward to our weekly practice and have even joined outside training to ensure that I can stay on par with members with more experience. With my experience so far in the team, I've learned perseverance, diligence, and dedication. I feel extremely proud to be considered part of Wells' girls' basketball team and plan to continue my journey to help the team in all the possible ways I can.
Learning outcomes:
Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth -
Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively -
Biking
Along with two other friends, I spent the day biking on Bang Krachao, an artificial island just outside Bangkok. We arrived on the island at around 1pm and left around 6pm on the last day-ferry. Despite driving through gardens and seeing beautiful greenery much different from what's found in the city, we were exhausted by the end of the trip. In total, we drove rode over 15 kilometres even though it felt so much shorter. After stopping at small stores and on bridges of small streams, we took in the scenery, making the journey extremely enjoyable.
While I enjoy exploring various places, both in the city and in nature, this felt more exciting than most of my ventures. Halfway through the trip, we ended up lost on the opposite side of the island. At this point, despite not knowing where we were in the slightest, we weren't worried, but rather took it as an opportunity to continue exploring. Through the teamwork of combined terrible sense of direction, we finally reached the port we left from. Another struggle I faced was the muscle pain I felt the day after too! Even though it was worth the stiffness the next morning, I realised that next time I go, I'll have to make sure to choose a more comfortable seat and stretch before biking for so long.
Learning outcomes:
Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth - The need to develop my sense of direction and continue partaking in long periods of physical activity
Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively - Ensuring that no one was left or too far behind as well as effectively communicating routes and possible dilemmas.
Service
Prom MC
During our class of 2022's senior prom, me and my classmate, Jao, were selected to be the MCs for the evening. Dressed in our dapper outfits fit for the occasion, we went on stage throughout the night to introduce our friends and seniors about the events of the night. While the process of going on stage might be nerve-wrecking for some, having a trusty companion to bounce off of really helped.
Before the night, we made sure to write a script going through the menu, the activities, and finally, the prom king and queen. Our schedule was fluid and would often change as new activities were added and some were removed, however, the script became rather unneeded as we went through the night making jokes and straying away from our original lines to fit the circumstances. While the script was not often followed, gave us a structure to work off of, making the process much easier than pure impromptu.
The opportunity made me much more confident in my public speaking skills despite my previous experiences as wearing an elaborate dress made me much more anxious as I wasn't familiar with the uncomfortably high heels and heavy draping cloth. Though I learned that night that a primary key for how you present yourself and your confidence stems from within.
Learning outcomes:
Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth - Being more prepared and adapting to circumstances.
Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively - Effectively planning out and communicating the script with my MC partner
Open-House MC
During the summer between my junior and senior year, I had to opportunity to MC for the open-house of Wells' new campus in Chonburi. Surrounded by a multitude of parents and toddlers, I faced the crowd with a junior classman, Preme. The event was organised by teachers who chose us to write, edit, and present the script in front of an audience of parents interested in enrolling their children. By doing this, we were becoming ambassadors of our school, presenting ourselves are knowledgeable yet sincere.
During our writing process, we would communicate with the teacher in charge regarding the appropriateness of the content and our word choices. By doing so, we were able to understand the criteria of the assignment and optimised it through and through.
After around a week of practice, we felt confident in our chemistry and scripted banter, and spoke. The experience was vastly different to the familiarity of the prom MC event, yet I felt much more confident presenting myself in a more formal manner with the coherent script we had memorised. This opportunity made me realise that preparing for an event makes a significant difference. Even though on-the-spot thinking might work, having scripted conversations can seem just as natural if done correctly through practice and alterations to match regular dialogue.
Learning outcomes:
Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth - Being more prepared and adapting to circumstances.
Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively - Effectively planning out and communicating the script with my MC partner