CAS Projects

Creativity Project: Band

Investigation: I had always been interested in music and had taught myself how to play the ukulele when I was 13. However, when my friends and I decided to form a band, I realized that I needed to step up my instrument game since you can't traditionally play rock music with a ukulele. So I decided to learn how to play the bass guitar. This process had been ongoing for a while, though I was proud to finally put it into action.

Preparations: I started with bass tabs and introduction riffs of songs that I liked such as "Come as you are" by the famous 90's rock band 'Nirvana', and learned the basslines for some songs we planned to play. Later on, I started learning the rhythm bass for songs that I enjoyed, like Mitski's "First Love Late Spring," which was comprised primary of bass and singing, and Metric's "Black Sheep," which was in the Scott Pilgrim movie which I loved. However, over time, I wanted to play with a band to not only build teamwork among my friends but also to make the songs sound more complete. After partnering up with my best friend, David, we started recruiting other members from our friend group. And together, we had a band without a name.

Challenge during preparation(Reflection): Despite our enthusiasm to play together as a band, we found that we all had different schedules, and was tricky to find time to play together. Nonetheless, we found time to practice on our own.

Demonstration: David and I on guitar in the school's band room

Me practicing on my own

Action: After a couple of trials and errors of practicing as a whole, with a member consistently missing, David and I decided to practice together instead at the beginning. However, for the past month, we convinced the two other members to stick to a precise schedule of practicing every Monday and Thursday for two months. Finally, despite a long way to go to perfection, we've learned two songs that we're proud of.

Despite finding myself getting considerably better at bass and developing an ear for the basslines in songs, I also took up simply rhythm guitar. Since I'm the singer of the band, I find it challenging to sing and maintain the right key while also ensuring that I'm playing the right chords. I initially found this to be an extreme struggle since I didn't have much prior bass nor guitar experience. However, I kept persisting and being resilient in making sure I remembered the chords or bass tabs while simultaneously getting accustomed to the singing range and lyrics.

While the on-and-off full band practice was not ideal, I ensured that I continued practicing the bass when we didn't have practice for personal gain. I found the result very rewarding, and I can now take pride in knowing that I'm able to play more than just the singer role in a band. I had always found bass players extremely cool and admirable, and now I am one.

Another struggle I faced in the practice, was trying to group the band together with commitment. Having a strict schedule to adhere to seems easy in theory, though was much more difficult in practice when you have more than two players. Though we all made sure to do our part in over-listening to the songs ("ฤดูร้อน" AKA Summer by Paradox, and "I love you so" by the Walters), and practicing when we can.

Reflection/Demonstration: Though I felt frustrated by the lack of cooperation at times, I realised that not everyone showed the same interest and drive as David and I did, and that was okay. This experience felt like an important emotional learning point in my life that despite those around you not putting in their 100%, you can still do that for yourself and to make yourself proud. I accomplished how to play bass and work together with other people despite conflicting opinions, ideas, and motivations.

Learning Outcomes:

Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

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

Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions (copying/interpreting music)

David and I practicing Summer by Paradox

Service Project: Prom Planning

Investigation: Despite being the MC for the senior class of 2022's prom, I also took part in the planning aspect of the event. Along with the amazing Spirits and Events team, primarily run by students in my grade, I was able to play a part in the magical night. From suggesting the "Enchanted" theme to setting up the decorations, I felt honoured to be part of it all. While some students participated by making the playlists or organising the venue, I helped communicate with the seniors about their wants and needs. This investigation was rather tedious as I had to include external opinions to understand what I needed to accomplish, though through proper and constant communication, I understood my role in planning.

Preparation: However, my primary role was to search for and buy decorations for the event. Since the theme was enchanted, we were inspired by candles and fairy lights, along with sparkly decorations. To suit this, I searched far and wide on online stores such as Shopee and Lazada for the most affordable yet substantial quality props. This part might have been the most challenging and time-consuming since the budget was rather tight due to the installation of the photo booth and the venue itself, but I was determined.

The candles and fairy lights we ended up buying

Ticket design

Demonstration:

Posters I made:

Setting up senior gifts

Though some might find online shopping skills to be insignificant, I would beg to differ. Through my investigation, I learned how to use keywords to filter out the variety of products presented and learned to value money due to the high cost of most items. This was challenging as I had to apply my previous knowledge of online shopping while preparing for it all on a budget and time schedule.

Action 1: Eventually, I was able to find the most perfect fake candles and fairy lights on the market (they were affordable, had high reviews, and would arrive on time despite the long shipping time). I had to manage my time wisely as the event was in 2 months from when I was assigned my role since many items could take up to 7 weeks to arrive. In the end, I completed my duty, and the seniors were satisfied with the lighting they were given. Our team was able to set up the candles in an adequate array on the day, along with other elements, such as younger pictures of the seniors, which acted as a nostalgia-filled photo backdrop. This was the easiest part of the project as we had already prepared and planned out the various steps and processes needed to be done.

Investigation 2: On the other hand, in preparation for the event, tickets had to be sold to ensure we had a budget to begin with. To promote the event and the deadline to buy tickets, I designed posters to put up around the school after asking for permission, of course. The posters were a considerable success since many students were reminded of the tickets, and we faced an increase in ticket sales soon after. However, this might also be due to the deadline itself. I particularly enjoyed this stage since I was given the creative freedom to market the prom and draw in the interest of potential participants. However, after the first two signs, I felt rather lacking of ideas, though I faced this problem, and communicated with my friends for possible designs.

Action 2: Another duty I had was designing the invitation tickets. To ensure that no students arrived without paying for their tickets, the committee decided to have tickets, which I was assigned to design. Since I was the only one on the committee who took art, they assumed I was the best fit for this role. However, I would often confide with my other friend on the team for tips and improvements. Her honesty and direct input helped me ensure that the tickets were on-theme, creative, unique, and with the appropriate amount of formality. This combined what I gathered from the investigation and preparations and implemented into making the tickets and design.

Reflection/Demonstration: I found the goal and formatting to be a struggle, especially since I designed the ticket digitally, a form of art I wasn't familiar with. However, through practice and learning from various YouTube videos, I was able to end up with a satisfactory result. As with most of my experiences, I learned that resilience is key to accomplishing a task. I continue to learn the importance of not giving up through each and every experience I face, and find the motivation to improve my patience to complete my goals.