Habitat Build 17th- March-2012

On the 17th- Match-2012 we met early morning at school. We left the school campus at 7:30 and after an hour drive we arrived at our building site. This was my second built and like the last one when we arrived we had a small snack and then began the hard work. On this build the floor from inside the houses were already destroyed so our job was to mix the cement and carry into the house. This proved to me much more challenging that it seems. Right now in Sri Lanka it is the hottest time of the year so by around 11 am we were all worn out from being in the sun. Work was done much slower on this build since the heat really took allot of our energy. We would take allot of short water breaks in order to stay hydrated and try and work in the shade as much as possible. Even though the conditions in this build were harder, I enjoyed this build more reason being we got to work more and we felt needed but in the last built several construction workers were helping out as well so work was limited. In this build we worked collaboratively since we were all tired and worn out from the heat, we created a line from the cement mixing ground to the house in order to pass on the buckets of cement from one person to the other, this didn’t require us to move allot and we worked much faster like this. I helped out with mixing the cement and flattening the soil ground from the inside of another house in order for the floor to be ready for the cement.
This plays a role in global importance since Sri Lanka in many ways is still underdeveloped; many people live in old houses.  By joining this group I am able to help construct and repair the houses that these people live in. Through this I feel as if I am first hand making a difference instead of donating money.

Habitat Build !

On Saturday 25th of February I went on my first built for the new after school CAS group that i have joined this year. I volunteered along with four other students to go on Saturday morning at 7:30 to Negombo in order to help the community there building houses. After an hour’s drive we arrived at our destination. After a short breakfast at one of the local’s house we began working. At first I was placed in a group with Ahmad from grade 11 to help a local build the walls to a new room in his house. We worked for about 2 hours, sawing wood and hammering nails and completed 2 walls. At around 11 we left that group since there were too many workers in that sight so we weren’t really helping much towards the end. We joined the rest of the group and helped then destroy the floor to a house in order to fill it up with cement. The job which I found most challenging that day was carrying the buckets of cement from the mixing site to the room; in the mid-day sun combined with muscle ache and sandflies was actually challenging to stay concentrated on the work. We stayed working on the floor for the rest of the afternoon eventually leaving the building site at around 2:45.

Through this built I learned new skills, since I’ve never done construction work before as intense as this. The locals from my first site with Ahmad showed me how to saw a wooden plank correctly. In this built everyone was working collaboratively with each other. At one point the bucket was paced from person to person from the mixing site to the room in order to avoid harder labor. Although this built required me to wake up at 7 in the morning on a Saturday which is challenging for me, I would do the same over again as the day resulted to be quite fun.

Fiddler On The Roof Musical

At the beginnning of this school year the secondary school of The Overseas of Colombo picked out the musical, "Fiddler On The Roof". Secondary students who were interested ouditioned over the course of two days. Since I am in grade 12, I got the choice if i wanted to participate in the production by acting or by a backstage work such as lights and sound. I chose to take part in it as an actor and therefor auditioned. I got the role of a Russian soldier called Fyedka.
Through this prodcution many hours had to be put in after school in order to make it the good show that it was. We were asked to come in on Mondays after school for a few hours and on saturday 12:00 to 5:30 and sometimes 6. During the course of the two months I have developed my acting skills and my confidence on stage. This all goes under creativity. This is because through acting one is self expressing their character, each person acts differently according to how they chose to do their stage directions and how the want to convey their message.

SPORTS DAY !!

On Wednesday 7th of September the Overseas School of Colombo had Sports day. The sports that were played were: football, Volleyball, Kickball and basketball. After the lunch  break there was swimming, but since it wasn't mandatory to participate in most of the secondary students did not do this.
Out of all the sports played that day , Football and Volleyball were the ones i enjoyed the most since they have always been the sports I enjoyed as a hobby, unlike basketball and kickball which are sports i would only take part in if i had too which came across in this occasion. Since i have been attending OSC for a while now i've been too previous sports day and too be honest this one wasn't one i enjoyed allot. The reason for this being that the games which were played were too short, each game would be 10 minutes, so once you actually start to get into the game its time to wrap it up and move on. Sports has always been a big part of my life for as long as i can remember but having games that short just didnt make it enjoyable for me and I wasn't motivated to play. On the conclusion of sports day the house that won was Red house, in second place Blue, Yellow taking in third place leaving behind Green in last. Through this sports I also became aware that our school has lost allot of spirit. Previous sports day were about representing your house and being proud of it but with this sports day allot of students skipped and many just came to school with no spirit. One good thing about sports day is that it brings people closer together, its at the start of the school year so not everyone knows everyone and it just brings them closer together outside a classroom environment.

Grade 12 Goals and Introduction to CAS

Grade 12 had begun  and its about time i created my CAS goals for this year. Leaving behind grade 11 where i think i had a successful CAS year, participating in different SAISA's and attending after school thursday CAS programs.
My goals for this year are as follows :) :

--> To ago to the gym at least twice a week (action) since i made a promise to my father that i would not participate in any SAISA's this year.

-->Participate in the Secondary School Drama Production. (action)

-->Get involved in at least one after school thursday CAS group (Service)

-->Try learning to play the guitar (creativity)

Creativity: “arts and other experience that involve creative thinking”

Action: “physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, complementing academic work elsewhere in the Diploma Program”

Service: “an unpaid and voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student. The rights, dignity and autonomy of all those involved are respected”

(from OSC Creativity Action & Service Handbook 2010-2012)

Conclusion To my Year of CAS

My goals at the start of the school year were as followed below:
Goals / Aims
1)Try out for SAISA Swimming, Football and track & Field.
2) Perform at school directed show/musical.
3)Improve grades, in order to complete IB satisfied.
4) Continue swimming through the whole year, maintaining my fitness.

Throught the school year I have been involved in several SAISA's and have taken part in the school Alzimers project in order to raise awareness. Out of the four goals that I gave myself in the beggining of the year, i have managed to complete 3 of them. The only goal that I was not able to complete was to perform in a school musical production. The reason that I was not able to complete this was because of my participation in SAISA football at the time and my commitment with the team, since I would then miss many of the practises for the production. For the other three of my goals I was able to complete with satisfaction. My grades have improved since the beggining of the year.

I have not yet thought about my goals for the following year but have come up with a few ideas in order to help me become a more CAS oriented student.
one factor which i defently plan on working on next year in my concluding year in high school is to take part in more CAS groups throughout the year in order to have more service under my name, instead of all action based from SAISA's.
I worked on my creativity during a workshop that i took part in for Drama where we travelled to Indonesia, Jakarta and developed my skills as an actor.

Throughout the summer i have given myself a few goals which are as followed:

1) maintain fitness
2) Finish extended essay/TOK essay

SAISA Track & Field 2011 American Embassy School Delhi

SAISA Track & Field is one of my favorite SAISA's , its one that I have been doing since i was in grade 7 all the way till now. I enjoy this track and field because it challenges me to become better as an all rounded athlete, in endurance , stamina, speed and skill. This year it was in Delhi from the 24th-28th for the last time since they will be joining a new sports tournament that challenges their athletes more. This was then my second time traveling there. The events which I was supposed to participate in was
> High Jump
> Long Jump
>Shot Put
>800 Meters
>400 meters
> and both relays

Due to an ankle injury I gained after winning first place in High jump, i could not partake in any of the running events which would put to much stress on my ankle further damaging it. I took part on the last day on the shot put and long jump event, where I placed 6th in Long Jump.

this has been one of the most fun SAISA which i had taken part in. I was housed by two of my friends Michaela Durston , NIkita Durston , they used to go to OSC and moved to Australia so it has been a long time since ive seen them and being housed by them was allot of fun.

Through this SAISA i improved my athletics skills. I developed my high jump which was one of my favorite events. This SAISA challenged me on a fitness level since running isn't my specialty.
I completed all my goals i set for myself which has made me happy :)