Journal 6.1 : An oppurtunity to reach destiny...

I've always wanted to learn the basics of psychology ever since I got into middle school. It somehow intrigued me. Learning the nature of human behavior and the essence of human thoughts was always one of my goals. Yesterday, while I was surfing through www.open2study.com (A website that provides free on line courses from various universities in Australia), I found this course called 'Foundations of Psychology' and immediately enrolled for it. I then typed a CAS proposal, as that is the first step to carry out a CAS experience. Today morning, I took my proposal the CAS coordinator and the DPC to get the approval. Much to my happiness, both of them liked the idea of doing an on line course and signed the proposal. As soon as I came home, I logged in and began with the first module. The course comprises of 4 modules, out of which each contains around 10 videos, 10 quizzes and one final assessment. Since the course officially began on the 21st of March, I had to catch up with my classes. So I finished module 1 at a stretch in 2 hours today. I learnt about the mind-body relations discovered by different scientists, the different perspectives of psychology, and the building blocks of the nervous system. However, it didn't seem stressful at all. It was very interesting and fascinating. Each assessment has 3 attempts. I got 60% in the first 2 attempts and managed to score 100% in the third one!

Duration : 3 hours 

Reflection 5

This experience was definitely one of a kind. I got to know more about air purifying plants and how beneficial they can be in today's world. Talking to each of the parents on the day of the cricket fest helped me understand more about what I was actually explaining. Towards the end of the day, my tone became more persuasive, and I inculcated the skill of communicating in such a convincing manner. Also, some of the parents asked us why we were doing this, and if it was a part of our curriculum. That way, we got to talk about IB DP and how CAS is an important part of it! And again, just like in every CAS experience, we worked in a team and mastered the skill of coordination...

Journal 5.1 : Preparation...

Displaying them.

Posters!

Concentration...

We finally came to an idea of spreading awareness of using air purifying plants (on the day of the cricket fest), instead of selling them directly at the fist the session itself. So we began making our CAS proposal for this CAS experience. Our main aim was to let people know that plants can do a better job than expensive purifiers in reducing the air pollution and the concentration of toxic chemical vapors in air. We then got approval signatures from the CAS coordinator and the DP coordinator and began making posters. We wrote down the benefits of each plant and made them look attractive and colorful. Gathering the entire team and working together was quite a challenge this time as everybody was a little off track. However, we still finished our posters on time! The next day morning, we put up our posters around the school and took printouts of the information about every plant. Once the parents started arriving at the gallery, we split into pairs and went to each of them to talk about the project and also each plant in specific.

After which, we asked them to remark us. Fortunately, they liked our ideas a lot and asked for further information and contact details as well! 

Duration : 10 hours 

Journal + Reflection 4 : Intercultural exposure

On the other side..Sweden!

One of my friends met this English teacher from Sweden, Ms Margareta, when she went out of town 2 years ago. Last year, she arranged for a conference with a few students in Ms Maragereta's school to communicate with them. It was more of an interactive session between people from different cultures and different countries. I heard the experience was very interesting and very exciting. So this time, my friend asked a few of us to join her, since Ms Margareta said she would gather 40 students in her class for the conference.

Prior to the conference, the four of us sat together and framed some questions that we could ask during the call. We then assembled in the conference hall along with our English head of department, Mrs. Elizabeth and our CAS coordinator Mr. Rolf. We took help from the IT department to arrange the equipment for the skype call. Later, we also called one of our classmates to take pictures of us and the screen during the conference.

At the beginning of the call, there were a few technical issues, but the IT support helped us out with that. We first introduced ourselves and then started with the exchange of questions. Since they asked us if we had questions first, we took the stand and started. Our first question was why they choose to learn English as one of their languages at school. Surprisingly, they said “Because, we're forced to! We don't have a choice.” We then understood that English isn't something they are learning out of their own will.

But they were all wearing typical western clothing like jeans. That's what pushed us to think a little bit more. They depict the western culture unconsciously, despite the fact that they don't like the language as a part of academics. So our following question was how they are influenced by the western culture. They answered “Our parents are the main influence,we've been exposed to this culture ever since we were little.” It then made more sense to us.

Just like professionals!

They then took the chance to ask us questions. They asked us about what other languages we learn at school, how long an average school day is, whether we work on Saturdays, how long our summer breaks and winter breaks are and what we do on our spare time. We asked them the same too. They seemed to have similar hobbies.

Later, we asked more about the festivals they celebrate and how they celebrate their birthdays at school. The experience was very fascinating. Having an intercultural exposure is something that actually lets you understand who you are and how you are different as an individual.

Duration : 1.5 hours 

Reflection 3

CAS as the richness of the IB DP program, helps us discover ourselves within, and beyond. Putting up a food stall at school in the track festival was the project we executed, in order to raise funds for the Eco – club, our main project. We went through a challenging, yet exciting journey which included intense preparation, relentless discussions, and of course pure team work. Though this was our very first CAS project, we managed to hit the bull's eye by earning profits half way into the day.

Every single second spent on this activity was definitely worth the experience and outcomes we acquired.

We spent around two hours to make 2 posters, one which was black and white and the other was colourful and one extra large menu. Here, many of us tried our hands on painting for the first time and,to be honest, it turned out to be great. This made us Risk-takes as we accepted new challenges and faced it with a smile!

Next we entered the kitchen where some of us turned on to be really good chefs. We had been planning for long and on the 4th of March we executed our plan. Oreo biscuits were crushed on 4th March itself and neatly sealed while lemon juice from around 150 lemons were extracted and kept in the freezer. Next morning, quickly the kitchen staff along with some students started cutting the vegetables while few students engaged in making the oreo milkshake and Lemonade. The rest of the batch worked on the stall, setting it up neatly, connecting the wires for the billing software and putting up the menus around the campus.

The transport and service department of the stall comprised of ten of us. We collaboratively handled the shifting of all the items (including spoons, plates, cups, tissue papers, raw materials and hotboxes along with the food) from the kitchen to our stall, arranging the dishes on the plates and serving with joy!

During the course of the day everyone were on their toes, briskly keeping up the duty. There was a point when the sales dwindled. Nonetheless, we didn't lose hope. It was because of our presence of mind that we momentarily decided upon creating combos, reducing prices and entering into were the audience were seated, to start professionally marketing (at least we tried!). Much to our surprise, sales began multiplying whilst our faces began beaming once again!

Yes, we may have thrown our frustration on one another in the process, probably because of the tension in the confusion. However, we apologized and thanked each one at the end of the day. It all ultimately built our teamwork skills, taught us the polite method of addressing our guests and made us better thinkers.

We learned various skills through out this short journey. Treating customers was a major skill that all of us acquired. Serving a huge crowd continuously helped us develop our speed and at the same time, to serve. Of course, smiling at every customer was hard since we were nearly exhausted. But we still managed to keep pleasant faces, which made us inculcate that quality. According to the IB learner profile, this activity molded us into excellent communicators. It also made us caring since what we were doing was service. Moreover, a role of a thinker was what we mastered at the end of the day, as we spontaneously came up with offers and deals which would help us sell all our items yet bring us profit at the same time. We also learned how to make so many dishes that we have never tried making. However, cooking was not the only thing we newly learned. We learned how to be principled, how to treat an individual, how to work cooperatively with a team and most importantly, how to work efficiently!

Journal 3.3 : THE day!

The whole team assembled at school early in the morning, at 7.00. The team who created an online software for the billing was setting up the counter with the systems and other equipment. Some of us were blending the oreo milkshake in the kitchen. Then, we cut the vegetables for some of the dishes like mad angle chat and pani puri and also made lemonade. We then carried all the items to the stall and arranged the plates, spoons and ketchup. We poured lemonade, oreo milkshake and coke into cups and stored them in the refrigerator. I took in charge of the heating section, to heat the vada paav and plate it before serving. One hour after we started setting up the place, parents began coming. We had our first sales. Henceforth, the crowd started growing. Almost all of our dishes went for a pretty good sale. We earned back all our investment and started gaining profits by afternoon. Later, we took some of the items like lemonade and cupcakes to the gallery to sell them. And every time we came back, we came back empty handed! We earned a profit of around 30K after working continuously till 7.30 p.m!

Few of the items were left, and we split them among ourselves and took them home. But I have to say, the experience we gained was completely worth the amount of effort we put in to make this project a success! 

Duration : 12 hours 

Journal 3.2 : Working like pros

All of us bought the items we were asigned to buy and brought them to school.

We started working, after lunch, on the banners and posters to stick around the school and near our stall. Some of us were crushing oreos in the kitchen for oreo milkshake. Honestly, working together was a lot of fun! We crushed around 500 packets of oreos in these big containers. It actually took up a lot of our energy to break all the biscuits into tiny pieces. But of course, it was quite a challenge to resist the temptation to eat all of it.

Then we arranged the tables, and hung the banners on top of our stall. Since all of us made a collaborative effort, we were more efficient. All of the work got over on time. Most importantly, we had loads of fun through out the day!

Duration : 4 hours

Reflection 2

Writing the Resolution

This IIMUN experience was a very significant incident that has happened in the journey of my school life. It was the first time I experienced a formal debate and an actual committee session similar to those that take place at the United Nations. It was an honour to be a part of this debate and to get introduced to a whole new world. The learning outcomes of this experience are vast. Risk taking was one IB learner profile that i developed by attending this conference. Each time I refuted another delegate's point, I was taking a risk. It built my confidence and removed my stage fear. I believe, being able to talk confidently about something regardless of whether you know about it or not in front of people, is the key to success! IIMUN has helped make my first step towards destiny! Also, mingling with people I've never known anything about before, was something I was proud of myself for doing. Moreover, the knowledge i gained was beyond extents. I got to know more about how the government functions, ethical values towards a certain issue and how it can be looked upon from different points of views. I also became a better inquirer within. I began asking myself questions every time i collected information while preparing the answers for moderated caucuses. I was also open minded to share all my opinions in front of all delegates. That boosted up my confidence and made me a good speaker. Every time someone spoke from the opponent side, I began thinking of how I prove them wrong. That skill developed with time during the session, itself. Bottom line, I started analyzing every situation from various angles and evaluating them in my mind.