CAS Final Essay

Ghandi said that, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”, and my engagement in the CAS program has definitely revealed the truth of this statement to me. Actively taking part in community service, and being presented with the opportunity to do so, has made me grow as a person. I have been able to identify and evaluate aspects of Kenyan society (that I had been previously blind to) firsthand, acknowledge my own strengths and weaknesses, take on responsibility and overcome a multitude of challenges.
My objectives going into this program were, first and foremost, to reach out and make positive change within my community. I was aware of my distance, both figurative and literal, from those less fortunate than myself and I wanted to break down this barrier. I think it is quite ridiculous to be living in a country like Kenya and limit oneself and one’s worldview to only a small portion of Nairobi. Coming into CAS I was particularly passionate about making contact with the KSPCA. My personal goals also included developing my leadership and interpersonal skills and building my confidence.
I planned and initiated a number of activities in CAS. I was a dedicated member of a multitude of clubs, including Interact, Save the Rhino, ARTSCO and KCCL. I believe I have shown perseverance in, and commitment to, these groups as I have been a member of many for numerous years (even making my way to acquiring leadership positions in a few) and have consistently attended meetings and trips. For example, I have been a member of Save the Rhino since its conception and am now the vice president. I also engaged with issues of global importance in these groups: in the Global Issues Network, for instance, we discussed women’s rights, water scarcity [etc], in Save the Rhino poaching, and in KCCL, Shangilia and Interact we actively worked to bridge the gap between social classes. As president of ARTSCO and vice of Save the Rhino I was also involved in a great deal of initiation and planning of events. I took charge of the mural painting around ISK, coordinated various fundraisers, was involved in drama productions, wristband sales, and was continuously organising other activities. Participating in, and leading, these groups also meant that I was constantly working collaboratively with my peers: brainstorming ideas for events, breaking into committees when planning, and making sure that all ideas and opinions were being heard.
The outcomes from my experience in CAS were wholly positive. I was successful in achieving my goals due to the fact that I pushed myself to take more risks and step out of my comfort zone. I challenged myself by taking on leadership positions and interacting with those who I would normally be intimidated to approach. My success definitely led to me learning a number of new skills. My leadership and interpersonal skills improved as I learnt to communicate and engage with people in difficult situations (such as the HeArts children at Gertrude’s hospital and the mentally disabled children at KCCL). My ability to work in a team have also been bettered as I have been involved in Round Square – coming together with other group leaders and working together to support the IDEALS made me understand the value of collaboration. I also became a strong swimmer through my participation in the swim team, learnt piano and guitar, developed my writing in journalism, Spanish newspaper club and writing troupe, and gained many more useful traits. I have also become far more capable of taking on responsibility, and am far more organised and able to balance my time.
My personal growth in this program is credited to the challenges that I undertook. It was difficult organising my time so that I could contribute valuably to all of my clubs, but I cut down on my groups near the end of CAS and was far more effective a member in the remaining ones. I tested myself in taking on piano, which was a very new kind of learning for me, and physically in track and field, as I was not very fit at first. There has essentially been a challenge in every club I’ve been a part of. For instance, in Shangilia I had to take on the role of a teacher, which is something I’d never done before, and speak to a large body of students, which was an intimidating prospect at the time. Similarly, my leadership roles in CAS were one of the biggest challenges for me. It was the first time I’d stepped up in this way, but I certainly feel that I grew into the role.
In conclusion, CAS has been a brilliant experience for me over the past few years. I have taken on a new and utterly enhanced worldview and can apply the skills and values I have adopted to all that I do (both in the present and future). CAS has moulded me into the person I am today, and inspired me to continue making change in years to come.

[Word Count: 887]

Final Reflection

I have been doing CAS since 8th grade at ISK and it has been the most rewarding experience. I have learned so much about the Kenyan people and culture, as well as myself, over these past seven years and I feel privileged to have been able to get involved in my community in this way. I have grown increasingly aware of the fact that many students, particularly back in the UK where I am from, never have the chance to do the things that we consider everyday at ISK. 

My objectives coming into the CAS program were to, first and foremost, make as much positive change as I could. I wanted to be able to make a difference and understand more of what happens behind the scenes in Nairobi, catching a glimpse of sorts into the lives of those less fortunate than myself. I often feel extremely sheltered in the life that I lead and very cut off from the rest of the society. It's like my entire world is encapsulated in the school, my house, and the bus ride to and from the two. It's almost stifling, and one does yearn to break free of it all and see the reality of things. Another personal goal of mine was to gain confidence and interpersonal skills. At the start of CAS I was extremely introverted and shy and found it difficult to bond or direct others. Working with schoolchildren made me take on leadership roles and greater responsibility. I'm glad that I was pushed out of my comfort zone in CAS, it made me grow as a person. 

I will be reflecting on the activities I have taken on in my senior year (reflections on activities I have taken in past years can be found on this blog). 

My first activity was Round Square. My objective coming into this club was to reinforce all the IDEALS that I was able to see and embrace during my conference in South Africa. I witnessed such a culmination of the positivity of the human spirit and was inspired to step out and actively make change. The way that the students at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls treated the IDEALS of Round Square definitely clarified to me what Round Square should stand to be at ISK. A personal objective was to feel more comfortable and confident in my role as club president and vice president, as I was really quite nervous about having to do so much public speaking and directing.  In Round Square we met as leaders to discuss the promotion of these IDEALS in our clubs and worked to spread the message around the ISK community. Speakers came to ISK and we organised various activities, for instance the designing of the school flag, as a group. I'm sure that the club will pick up pace in years to come however, as students begin to gain a greater understanding of what the group is aiming to do. Considering how new the group is I think that we were really quite successful in reaching our objectives. The outcomes for me and the team, thus far, were very positive. I think it definitely helps to bring leaders together and unify school clubs, as in the past it has always been very scattered and disorganised. I felt more unified and supported as a club leader, and I was inspired to make more of my club. The leadership training that we did as a group gave me a good groundwork of understanding and helped me form my goals for ARTSCO and Save the Rhino, and I knew what my colleagues expected from me in my role. Difficulties in this group were rooted in public understanding and communication. We all found it very challenging to get rid of Round Square's reputation as a 'cult', and to get the other high schoolers enthusiastic about what we were doing. There was a lot of negativity and hostility provoked in the student body when Round Square tried to change what president's were doing with their clubs. Round Square became an authoritative tyrannical body, as opposed to what we were really trying to aim for. I think this view deteriorated as the year progressed though, and by this time I feel that Round Square is now widely accepted. We did this by talking one to one with leaders and clarifying our aims time and time again. This activity meant a lot to me because the message it sends is so important in shaping our generation and creating future leaders. It inspired me to break out of my shell and take responsibility within the clubs I participated in. I learnt that introverts can be effective leaders too, and that the only person really standing in my way was myself. I can take away the leadership skills and confidence that I gained in this and apply it to all walks of life. The importance of communication and diligence in addressing the public can similarly be applied.

My second activity was yoga. My objective in this activity was to become more physically and mentally balanced. I knew that yoga would improve my flexibility and strength and also allow me to unwind at the end of the week. Going into my final year of the IB I was aware that I'd need something of this sort to help me cope with stress. In yoga we did group reflections (on the week and on our personal goals), and did a number of activities. I think the team and I all became far more self-accepting and confident, and could better balance all our activities (CAS, schoolwork, social lives. etc). A difficulty in this was simply making time for it. Often I would feel too swamped to go to class on Fridays, but I managed to persuade myself to take a break, which I think is extremely important. I also grew less constricted within myself and was more comfortable sharing my feelings by the end of the first semester. I have definitely become more stable as a person, and I think that my newfound love for yoga will continue on for many years to come. I've certainly discovered a new way of coping at university. 

I was also a member of the spanish newspaper club this year. My goal was to improve my spanish writing skills in preparation for my final IB spanish exam, and to work to spread messages in the ISK community. I thought this was a great club for me to join because I could simultaneously improve my journalism and language skills. I wrote a few articles for this group and I think the outcomes were good. We put together a few copies of the newspaper and, hopefully, people were reading them. I think the structure of this club was very effective - we had an editor, writers, leader, etc. Our articles were also reviewed by two spanish teachers, which gave us some feedback on what we were doing. I had some minor difficulties, such as deciding what to write about, but overall I think my experience was positive. I can apply what I learnt in this club to my spanish class and to any communication I may do in spanish in the future, and to journalism work I may undertake. 

I have been a part of NHS for the past two years. I have been honored to be a member of this group, proud to be acknowledged by so many. Our objectives in this group were to inspire a love for education in the ISK, and greater, community. At the start of the year we decided that we would raise enough money to provide a scholarship for one local Kenyan girl, and have been consistently striving to meet this aim. Personally I wanted to maintain my grades and level of determination to stay within the club, and I wanted to be able to work with those around me and learn from them. Everyone in NHS is extremely talented in their own way, and it's been incredible to interact with this body of students. I think that we were all quite successful in reaching our objectives. Our biggest event this year was the Amazing Race, which was absolutely spectacular. We also organised a number of bake sales, candy gram sales, etc. I think our success was credited to the hard work of the leaders of the club, and the collected enthusiasm of the members. Difficulty was definitely in deciding what events to do, however. Our goal of inspiring passion for education is rather difficult to capture in an event, and we needed to make as much money as we could to obtain the scholarship. We brainstormed a lot as a club though and I think we made good progress. In the future perhaps more events could be done though, such as a spelling bee or more activities for the elementary school. We were very focused on the high school, and I think that NHS should try to integrate itself in all areas of ISK. Being a part of NHS increased my motivation to maintain my grades and act as a positive influence within ISK. I became more of a leader and gained confidence, and was able to take away a lot from the other members of the club. The fact that I was included in this group will always be an incentive for me to push myself. 

For creativity I was a member of the writing troupe. I joined this group with the objective of improving my writing. I knew the club would force me to make time for my writing, which is something I struggle with greatly. I've also always gravitated to prose, and I wanted to do some more poetry for a change. I find it difficult to find inspiration, and I thought that sitting with a group and talking about our ideas would break some kind of barrier I'd built up within myself. I did write a few pieces, though I'm not sure all of them were shared, but I think I was successful in reaching my goals (or atleast partly reaching them) nonetheless. I think this activity is a really great idea and encourages creativity and freedom in one's writing. There is a lot of hidden talent at ISK, and this club targets and develops it. This club helped me to understand that I can make time for my hobbies and creative passions if I put my mind to it, and allowed me to uncoil stories I had hidden within myself. I have grown as a writer and creative individual due to writing troupe and will hopefully continue pursuing this after I leave ISK.

I was also a member of the book club for similar reasons. I wanted to become more active in the literary world, as I have drifted from it recently. Having an incentive to read and analyse books was very necessary for me, and forced me to better structure my time so I could do so. I think I achieved my goals in this club: I was able to engage in intelligent discussion with other avid readers and juggled my time better. 

I was a member of HeArts this year for my service. My objective in this was to improve my interpersonal skills whilst at the same time having room to develop my creativity. I was excited to use something I love as a means of connecting with the children, and to teach them about something I was familiar with. In the group we did activities such as mosaic making, painting, origami and dancing. We also visited Gertrudes hospital and had parties with the kids. I didn't connect with the kids as much as I would've hoped - we didn't have the same group all the time, and a lot of the kids (especially at the hospital) were very reserved. This was a huge difficulty for me, as I'm not that good with children in the first place. However, I feel I did progress and I'm proud of the steps that I made. I began to understand how difficult it was for these kids to come in and speak to us, and I was able to put myself in their shoes. Instead of expecting them to come to me immediately, I worked towards it slowly and finally began to see results. I think the challenges I faced in connecting with these students and the ways that I overcame them can be applied in numerous situations, and HeArts allowed me to put myself in the place of others and find new mediums/ways of connection. 

This year I was vice president of save the rhino/friends of Kenya. Being in this leadership role meant that I had a lot of objectives: I wanted to see the club grow and to find new ways of spreading awareness and raising money for the cause. I also wanted to become more comfortable addressing large bodies of people and taking control of events. This was, and is, a project that's very close to my heart, due to my passion regarding animal rights, and so I put a lot into it. We did a number of fundraisers and worked on giving presentations to the school. I think that our outcomes were successful, but I feel that interest died down a little into the school year. The club shrank and it was slightly disappointing for us all. Things became difficult with such a small group of people, many who were not very committed. The president of the club also wasn't very communicative, and I had to push myself to get involved. However, the leadership board for the coming year is full of dedicated people who I'm sure will take the club far. I have learnt a great deal about decision making, dedication and determination and discipline from this club, and now understand the challenges of being a leader. I think that this was an important learning experience for me, and has made me more aware and ready to take on roles in the future. 

I did independent piano lessons at home for the majority of this year. I hadn't ever done this before and so my objective was to progress as much as possible in my classes. I really wanted to start to do more complicated pieces and become familiar with all the keys and how to move along the board. I wanted another way to distract myself from schoolwork and alleviate my stress, and I thought this would be a relaxing way to release energy. I've always been inspired by this instrument, and my mother and best friend play which was a source of motivation. I learnt a great deal during the year, but a challenge I faced was making time to practice. I overcame this by making a strict schedule for each night, setting out an hour to practice piano. I'm glad I took on this challenge simply because it was so difficult for me. The piano is far more complex than I imagined, but that only makes the progress I've made more satisfying. Tackling unfamiliar activities such as this is character building and made me push my limits, something I've found I should do more in everyday life.

I have been working on my gold president award throughout this year. I received my silver award from last year as well. For my service I did KCCL and HeArts (I swapped service trips because KCCL stopped running on Wednesdays and HeArts was the most similar activity I could find), my skill was piano, and my action was swim team. I also completed the gold trip last year, going to Laikipia. My independent journey was my Round Square conference. I wanted to complete the gold award for this activity to push my limits once again. I wanted to show my level of engagement in service and other activities and I feel that I was successful in maintaining my involvement throughout the year. Having to reflect on each of these areas made me acknowledge things about myself, and the events, that I hadn't previously recognised. The journey and all the other areas of this award triggered personal growth and independence. Taking part in such a renowned award was educational and satisfying, and I've very glad I went through with it all.

ARTSCO has been my main focus this year. Being president of this club has been an absolutely amazing experience: I have learnt a lot from stepping up and now feel much more at ease in this kind of a position. This year I wanted the club to grow and expand as much as possible. In previous years the club has gotten quite small and became rather inactive. I wanted to pull ARTSCO out of its rut and start doing things. We ended up taking much more control of the mural project, helping out at performances, and doing a multitude of activities as a group. We also did some fundraisers and helped out at art shows. I think I was quite sucessful in reaching my goals, as a lot more members joined and I felt like we were actively working together. I'm convinced that we all bonded a lot and I hope that I was good at communicating with them. I asked for their advice continuously and took into account their views. I was a little disappointed that the talent show couldn't run this year, but I do hope that this activity is carried out next year. I also hope that the club organises some sort of a trip in the near future. Being president of this club I learnt how to organise events, give directions to people and work and communicate well with colleagues. Doing this broke down a wall for me: I am now less afraid to be a leader and I don't think I'll have reserves in the future. 

My final activity this year was swim team. I have been part of the swim team since 4th grade here at ISK, and it is one of my favourite activities. My objectives have been the same throughout the years: to gain fitness and connect with my teammates. I have trained extremely hard this year, going almost every morning to the pool, and my times have clearly improved. A lot of people left the team at the end of last year but our swimmers this year were incredible and I'm glad that I had a chance to train with them. A lot of dedication is needed in this sport, and I'm proud that I had the strength and willpower to push myself so far. I had a little problem with my back at the start of the year, but I've strengthened my core and am now fine again. I loved being on the team because of the sense of community and the support that I had, as well as the very fact that I could immerse myself in my passion for the sport. Working with others and putting this much effort in is applicable in all that I do. 

In conclusion, CAS has triggered a great deal of growth, engagement and understanding within me and I am privileged to have been able to take part in this program.

[NOTE: this is NOT the final essay. I will post the final essay shortly]

NHS: The Amazing Race

NHS carried out its first event of the year on Saturday, February 21st. We had been planning the Amazing Race for a few weeks, an event based on the popular TV series. In the race there are a number of small teams which compete in a series of small challenges and race to get to the finish line first. There are clues to get to each next challenge, which were organised by groups of NHS members. I think there was a fair amount of doubt and skepticism regarding this event as we started planning it, as it was a huge thing to take on and we weren't sure whether people would even sign up to take part in it or whether or not we would get any profit out of it. However, I feel that everything went extremely well and it is a great tradition to uphold in years to come.

 NHS members at the start of the race

The planning of the Amazing Race involved the separation of the club into a series of small committees - events, PR and finance. We decided to make an advertisement for the race and a couple of NHS members volunteered to film various events and put this together. We put this on the ISK facebook page to spread the word about the race. We also let other clubs sell baked goods and food at the race itself, as there was a small food tent at the start/finish. In terms of the challenges we had about 15, and I worked with another NHS member on the Counting challenge. Our challenge consisted of moving 200 small kidney beans from one container into another using chopsticks only. To make things more difficult the team also had to count how many beans there were as they transported them, and were only permitted to leave to the next challenge if they had ±15 beans from the 200 (as it turns out only 2 or 3 teams actually counted the exact 200). Other challenges included kareoke, one in the swimming pool, a food tasting test, etc. There were also a fair amount of teams signed up by the end of this, and we were pretty happy with the outcome.

All NHS members met at school at 8:30 to set up and Brandon and I counted out 200 sets of beans for each of the 17 teams, which was quite slow. We also set up the plates and other supplies in our station and then helped around with other odds and ends. When the race began we found that the teams were moving much more quickly than we had anticipated and so Brandon and I rushed to our station and began to accommodate for all of the teams coming in. Unfortunately there was a slight shortage of chopsticks at some point and a few teams had a fair amount of trouble counting the correct number of beans, but eventually everyone passed through. It was definitely a test of teamwork, as we both had to communicate whilst rushing around and handing out supplies and whatnot. We also had to keep track of who was finished and who was coming in and hand them the right papers (either instructions or directions to the next challenge station).

After everyone passed through our role in the race was diminished significantly. However we wandered about and watched some of the other challenges and then helped in the clearing up of all the stations. We had to gather up paper to be recycled and get rid of all our materials [etc]. At the end of the race there were pictures and announcements, and then we were free to go home.

Overall I think that this event was a success. I was extremely impressed with the organisation of the race and the way that the NHS members managed to pull things together and collaborate with one another. I could see that people were being drawn together through their participation in the challenges, and the atmosphere throughout the day was wonderful. I feel that a sense of community was definitely created and people were adequately challenged, both physically and mentally, by the race. It's my opinion that this should be continued as a tradition for NHS, as it embodies a great deal of what we're trying to promote at ISK and all funds go to the scholarship that we are trying to get for a local Kenyan girl.
Next year I feel that there should be some changes regarding payment. Some teams backed out of the race right before it took place and should've been charged more to do this, as our profit was fairly low. Furthermore, there were not nearly enough NHS members to run the entire race, and I think that we should enlist the help of students outside of this group itself. There was also talk of making it possible for whole families to compete together. There is definitely a lot of leeway when it comes to organising this event next year, and I look forward to see what our rising seniors come up with.

IC Trip Reflection

On February 26th I set off on my last IC trip of high school. I went to masinga dam, located just outside of Nairobi. On the trip we did a lot of water sports and learnt about irrigation and the dam in the area. Before setting out on the trip I was extremely excited for the water sports - I'd done a bit of kayaking and other activities but I knew that it would all be taken to a new level on the trip. I knew that the adventure would test me in new ways and bring me close to my peers. I was also excited to see the area, as my mom had told me that it was where she worked before I was born.

Masinga dam was a 2-3 hour bus ride from the school, so we got there around lunch time on the first day. When we arrived it was mainly just setting up tents and getting to know the campsite itself. It was very different frm most of the places that I've stayed at on IC trips before. In the past I was always pitching up my own tent each night and had to go without showers or bathrooms for the entirety of the trip, but on this one we had all of these facilities and didn't have to deal with taking down or putting up tents at all. I thought it was nice that we got this added luxury on our senior trip, but I did miss the rugged nature of other IC trips. The staff were all really nice at the camp though, and the food was absolutely wonderful. I probably ate more than I normally do at home when on the trip. The leader of the group was also very friendly, and he connected with all of us well.

We split into three groups on the trip, and rotated between water sports in them. On the first day my group did kayaking, on the second stand up paddle boarding and on the third canoeing. The instructors were extremely good when we were doing these activities - they were calm and sensible, but at the same time weren't afraid to make us do things that we weren't necessarily as comfortable with. For instance when canoeing our warm up was to swim across the river, which was moving extremely quickly. We also had to practice capsizing and jumping back into the canoes, which was difficult for certain people. I really enjoyed all of the activities, but my favorite by far was the kayaking. We wore a skirt when we did it, which popped up into the kayak and acted as a water shield. We were equipped with helmets and life jackets and had to work hard throughout to keep our balance on the water. We were taught a wide range of techniques when we got on the boats, for example how to manoeuvre oneself when caught in an eddy. It was one of the most exciting adventures of my life going down the river and racing through the rapids. The waves would often come up over my kayak and hit me in the face, and the adrenaline as I shot down was incredible. A lot of the other students capsized as we were going down, but I was admittedly quite proud of the fact that I didn't capsize the entire trip.
These water sports were better than I anticipated, and I think it was a great conclusion to the IC trips. I loved branching out and doing something different, and seeing a new side to Kenya. Usually I'm hiking through very similar dry terrain, but on this trip I got to see the rice fields and pastures close to the water.

We also did a number of activities to do with irrigation and dams. One day in camp we were given a few materials and told to make a dam in our groups. We made use of egg cartons, jars, foil, string and other small items to construct a makeshift dam in a plastic box. We had almost two hours to plan and execute this, but unfortunately my group's dam didn't hold up very well. The group that won the challenge made use of a triangle shaped base, playing on laws of physics in their design. We also went to a rice factory one afternoon. We were allowed to look inside the factory itself and see the way that the rice was stored, cleaned, packaged and sold. It was interesting to see how much the people of the area depended on their rice, and the fragility of the way that it was grown and sold. There were birds in the field who ate their seeds, as well as dangerously low market prices at times. Finally, we went to see an actual dam in masinga. We were taken on a tour around the factory and went down to see the pumps and machinery. I was shocked at how huge everything was, and the constant diligence and care that was required to keep everything running. The amount of power that the station was capable of producing was also amazing, and it led me to consider the potential of alternative sources of energy in the world today. Learning about the way that the local people of masinga harness and make use of their natural resources definitely opened my eyes to a new side of Kenya, one that I'd never had the opportunity of seeing. It also connected well with my HL geography class, and I had fun drawing parallels between what I saw and what I'd learnt.

This trip was very different from the others I've been on, and as a result I took away very different things from it. The hardest part for me was being split from a lot of my friends, but I think that this did prompt me to speak to people that I normally wouldn't aproach. I also definitely learnt a great deal of valuable information about the area and people of masinga, and am now able to apply what I've learnt to the context of the real world. Everything I saw is so relevant to those living in rural areas, as well as to those striving to find energy alternatives to remedy the process of global warming.
The water sports were difficult at times and so taught me a great deal about determination and perseverance. Kayaking down the rapids showed me the positivity in taking risks and moving out of my comfort zone (something that is easily applied to the classroom and my academic work), and canoeing the power of teamwork. The final stretch of my senior year is comparable to moving down a river - its current is pulling me into a new era. Therefore, I think that this trip jolted me into an awareness of the culture and society about me, as well as to my inner strengths and weaknesses.

photos coming soon ...