Revised Final Reflection

The IB CAS program’s goal is for students to achieve 8 learning outcomes which are: Increased awareness of his/her own strengths and areas of growth, Undertaken new challenges, Planned and initiated activities, Worked collaboratively with others, Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities, Engaged with issues of global importance, Considered ethical implications of their actions, and Developed new skills.

            My longest activity was Student Council 2010-2011, it was school year long activity. Being in this school for all my life, I’ve been hearing election speeches every single year and very rarely was there a good speech that wasn’t repetitive. I wonder every year whether or not these candidates know what it means to be part of the Student Council, and so curiosity hit me, and I was lucky enough to have been elected as Student Council Treasurer. While in Student Council I learned the importance of careful planning and collaborative work. Although my work ethics on a good day were at most merely satisfactory, I do take into thought of the results due to my actions and lack of attentiveness. I have become more aware of my bad habits, in which being my lack of organization and motivation. Throughout the year, these two factors have always been the key to success; I know this because most of the problems that rose up were due to these reasons. The hardest part being in student council was prioritizing and time management. As an extracurricular activity, you often have to go out of your way and give up your free times just so your work in the council would collide with other requirements and commitments. One of the expectations from our council adviser was to be initiative, propose our own activities and share ideas. My idea was that we setup a sari-sari store(Filipino convenient store) by the school playground as the ISAC sports tournament was going on. As proposer I went down to buy the goods we will sell and materials we will need. I felt very in control of the situation but in the same time it was a big responsibility when my other council members showed little help while I’m stressing out to make things work.

            Throughout my high school year I’ve always engaged myself to joining varsity sports teams such as basketball, volleyball, soccer and at times track & field and cross country. In the 2 years of IB, majority of my action requirement are covered by my sports activities. CAS for sports are generally the same, you set a goal for yourself then formulate ways to reach it and then in the end you have an evaluation of whether or not you reached the goals. With CAS in my mind I was more concentrated in my overall development as a student athlete; I have gained awareness of my own strengths and looked for ways to improve my weaknesses.  One of my very own mottos for sports is that commitment and perseverance will pay off and it definitely has for me this year as our commitment together as a team led to our ISAC championship in basketball. Never would I have known that sports are not only dependent on a person’s physicality but also their mentality. After so many years of athletics, I have embraced it into a lifestyle of mine and would have never thought that it can really build a character of a person. I am very lucky to have such wonderful coaches that not only taught me how I could improve my game but also gave me the confidence to strive for better. Another factor to my success and joy in sports are the presence of my teammates. My motivation in sports were if not always, are majorly dependent on my teammates. Especially sports like volleyball and basketball, I’ve understood the significance of collaborative work. One of the reason to our success in both our varsity volleyball and basketball seasons were because all of us on the team KNEW each other, we were always together whether it was during practice or outside which enabled us be able to support our teammates when they needed it without much complication because we are not only teammates but also close friends, we did not take any criticism personal at all, and this is one of the reasons why I am very proud to be a Razorback. In addition, without the great coaches we wouldn’t have been united as we are today. Both the memories and friendship that have been made through sports will definitely be life-lasting.

            The Tzu Chi Medical Mission, Lower School Soccer Club, and POCCH completed the service parts of my CAS: Make a Better World. These 3 services gave me the most feedback as I was writing up my reflection. All 3 made a point to me that every single person in the world has the rights to live and be heard. Although the kids of the lower school soccer club were not underprivileged as the people in the medical mission and POCCH, but while I was working with the little kids I realized that even their thoughts and actions can be valuable because I feel that often times the voices of children are undermined. As a global citizen I believe every single person has a role to play in the overall wellbeing of our universe and mankind.

           The interesting part of CAS is allowing me to open many creative door and this allowed me to learn and develop many new skills. One of the most obvious skills that I developed is soldering. When I was an assistive technology volunteer I was very fascinated by the creativity that people had in the workplace, their job is to come up with technology that would help assist the ones in need so that they could live a better quality life. I felt really honored that I could contribute to such a cause and so I was very eager to learn not only soldering but also how these many designs were made to suit patient needs and the feedbacks gotten from doing this job.

           One thing I’ve tried to do as much as possible in my 2 years of IB CAS was that I do the activities that I really have the passion of doing, not only because I know it would be enough to meet the minimal CAS requirements but also so that I could have the motivation and commitment to the activity. On the other hand, I can have more sentimental value in doing what I do in which allows me to think more deeply and have more to reflect on. Looking at the activities I’ve done for CAS there is not one in there that I would say I did not enjoy doing and would never do it again. All though I was not always punctual, but every time I’m present, I give in 100% to doing what I need to do because I actually am genuine in what I do. In conclusion I have grown into a mature young men being experienced and worked together with many kind of people which allowed me to think through the many perspectives in life. I believe CAS has made me truly an “International” scholar and citizen.