katarina-kurtic

[katarina-kurtic]

🏷️CAS PROJECT🏷️

🧐📝Activity title: Conducting research in psychology

🧐⏱️Duration: 1 year and 4 months (Nov 2023 - Feb 2025)

🧐❓Type of activity: Creativity, service

Activity description

Since November 2023, my classmates and I from our psychology class have been engaged in a research project centered around the concept of fear. More specifically, our study aimed to explore the types of fears experienced by our peers and the various coping mechanisms they use to manage these fears.

The project began with the development of interview questions and the recruitment of participants during the month of November. We carefully designed our questions to encourage open, honest responses that would provide meaningful insights into our participants' emotional experiences. From December through May, we conducted in-depth interviews with our selected participants. These sessions were recorded to ensure accuracy and to allow for thorough analysis at a later stage. During our summer break, we dedicated time to transcribing each interview, a task that required both patience and attention to detail. When we returned to school in September, we began the process of analyzing the transcripts with the support and guidance of our psychology teacher. This stage involved identifying common themes, patterns, and significant findings in the participants* responses. After several months of analysis and discussion, we compiled our final results and shared them with a broader audience in February 2025, presenting our conclusions in a formal setting. This project not only deepened our understanding of fear and coping strategies but also provided valuable hands-on experience in conducting psychological research from start to finish.

Reflection

This was one of the most interesting experiences of my school life. Since I have always wanted to be a research psychologist, this was my first taste of what that would be like. Examining a very interesting topic - fear, made this experience meaningful, since fear is a very important topic to discuss and explore in the school life of students in our school. There were many insights that I have gained that stayed with me even after conducting the interview and overall study. It made me look deeper into my own feelings regarding fear and anxiety, which left a mark on me and how I cope. The people I interviewed were extremely open-minded and honest, which made the entire longitudinal process very interesting and exciting. I felt like I contributed on a great level to something very important which needed to be discussed, especially in our school community. I am very grateful for having this opportunity and I’m so thankful for the students who contributed and my fellow researchers who made this possible. I hope to do this again soon in my future education.

Learning outcomes

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

-Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

-Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

[katarina-kurtic]

Trip to Višegrad

🛣️📝Activity title: Going to Višegrad with my classmates and two professors

🛣️⏱️Duration: 3 days (October 12th to October 15th)

🛣️⁉️Type of activity: Activity, Creativity

Activity description

As part of our Serbian class curriculum, we went to Višegrad after reading “Na Drini ćuprija” by Ivo Andrić. In order to fully feel the culture of Višegrad that is depicted in the book, our Serbian teacher organized a trip there, along with our Visual Arts teacher. We traveled in the early hours of the morning and arrived around 11 AM.

Our Serbian teacher had told us to each prepare a presentation which we would do on the famous bridge. We also had the opportunity to go clubbing for one night.

Learning outcomes

1. Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

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

3. Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

Reflection

This was a great experience. Although the trip was definitely too long for such a small town, it was pretty fun. The presentation I did made me very nervous because I was doing it in front of everybody in my class and also passerbys, but it ended up being great.

[katarina-kurtic]

Gym

🏋️‍♀️👟📝Activity title: Going to the gym

🏋️‍♀️👟⏱️Duration: 8 hours per week (2 hours, 4 times a week)

🏋️‍♀️👟⁉️Type of activity: Activity

Activity description

I have been going to the gym for about 3 years now, but since January I have started to go consistently, 3-4 times a week. I started by changing my diet, and I cut out bread and sweets. I added more vegetables and fruit into my everyday nutrition and it has proved to be very effective, as I have far more energy, I sleep better, and I have been consistently losing weight.

My gym routine involves weights and cardio. I focus on my legs and glutes 2 times a week with the same routine each time. The other 2 times I do arms and back, followed by one day of just cardio and core exercises. After each workout, no matter what I focus on, I do core and ab exercises with 5kg weights.

Learning outcomes

1. Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

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

3. Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Reflection

I have always been the sporty type, and this has been by far the most enjoyable experience for me in terms of fitness and working out. I no longer dread going to the gym because of this workout plan that I have made. It brings me a lot of enjoyment and happiness to be able to work out and benefit my health while I release any stress that I may have. I will continue going to the gym because it makes me very happy.

[katarina-kurtic]

Putting together tables

🔩📝Activity title: Putting together 2 tables for my room 🔩⏱️Duration: 1 hour 🔩❓Type of activity: Service Activity description My parents and I have been renovating my room since June and we repainted the walls, put up LED lights, rearranged the entire room, changed my bed and put a little couch in my room. The tables were a finishing touch to my room and I decided to put them together by myself as the instructions were really easy. Learning outcomes Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Demonstrate that new challenges have been undertaken developing new skills in the process Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience Reflection As small as this task seems, I was very excited to put these tables together by myself because I was doing it without the help of others. The only thing my dad helped me with was giving me the tools and taking a picture of me (lol). It was fun and easy and it would be interesting to see me attempt to put together a more complex piece of furniture, but we'll see.

[katarina-kurtic]

Trip to Trebinje, Mostar, and Ostrog

🏞️📝Activity title: Visiting Trebinje, Mostar, and Ostrog during spring break 🏞️⏱️Duration: 3 days 🏞️❓Type of activity: Activity Activity description My parents and I traveled with my godparents to Trebinje, Mostar, and Ostrog for the christening of their children. We were in Trebinje for a day and then we drove down to the Ostrog Monastery the next day. After that, we traveled to Mostar to rest and see the beautiful city, walk through its busy streets, and eat lunch. Learning outcomes Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience Reflection This was a beautiful trip, although I had already previously been to both Trebinje and Mostar. However, before this trip I had never been to Ostrog. It was a beautiful sight to see and experience. My godparents are great and they were very fun to be around. Their two little girls are precious and I had fun spending time with them. We are hoping to travel together again at some point.

[katarina-kurtic]

CAS camp

🥾📝Activity title: CAS camp in Pecka 🥾⏱️Duration: 3 days (April 26th-28th) 🥾❓Type of activity: Activity and service

Activity description

The IB and CAS coordinators at our school organized a CAS camp for us in Pecka. The plan was to spend three days there, enjoying the beautiful natural surroundings, staying active, and assisting the staff at the Visitor Center with meals and other tasks. We took a two-hour trip on Friday and stayed until Sunday. Our homeroom teacher gave a presentation on psychology and understanding our emotions. The following day, we hiked to the spring of the Sana River, where the director of the Visitor Center gave a talk about the value of nature and the importance of preserving it. We even had the chance to explore a cave at one of the springs, which was quite an adventure. On Sunday, we packed up and headed home.

Learning outcomes

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

-Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Reflection This whole experience was so beautiful and such an awesome way to connect with classmates while also exploring the beauty of nature. We hiked 15 kilometers together and saw the most beautiful sights. Everybody at the Pecka visitor center was incredibly nice and welcoming. We all had the best time and wish to go again.

[katarina-kurtic]

Excursion

🇪🇸🇮🇹🇫🇷🇲🇨📝Activity title: School trip 🇪🇸🇮🇹🇫🇷🇲🇨⏱️Duration: 8 days (May 25th - June 1st) 🇪🇸🇮🇹🇫🇷🇲🇨❓Type of activity: Activity and creativity Activity description The school organized a school trip for our generation. We visited Spain, France, and Italy. We stayed at many hotels, partied, went to different museums and attractions in different cities, explored each city with the free time we were given, ate delicious food, and had the most amazing time. We visited Lloret de Mar, Barcelona, Figueres, Nice, Cannes, Verona, Genova, Lido di Jesolo, Monte Carlo, and Trieste. Learning outcomes -Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth -Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken developing new skills in the process

Reflection This was such an amazing once in a lifetime opportunity to see so many cities and experience so many things with all of my classmates. The most memorable parts of this school trip were definitely the clubbing in "Tropics" in Lloret de Mar, sight-seeing in Barcelona, getting caught in the rain in Genova, walking around Cannes, meeting drag queens in Nice, staying in apartments by the beach in Lido di Jesolo, visiting the Salvador Dali museum in Figueres, sunbathing and swimming anywhere we could, and gambling (not very successfully) in Monte Carlo. I spent such an amazing and fun time with some of my favorite people and everything was so amazing. We made the most out of every day even when we were very tired from the bus rides and little to no sleep.

[katarina-kurtic]

Experiments in Biology

🧫📝Activity title: Extracting DNA from a banana and determining factors that contribute to enzyme activity 🧫⏱️Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes in total 🧫❓Type of activity: Creativity and activity

Activity description In our Biology SL class, we completed two experiments: one included extracting DNA from a banana and the other was determining factors that contribute to enzyme activity. Experiment 1: Firstly, we put a few pieces of a banana in a zip-lock bag and mashed it up until it had the consistency of baby food. Then we mixed salt, warm water, and dishwashing detergent and carefully mixed it so it didn't make lots of bubbles. We poured in the mixture of water into the bag with the banana and poured that mixture into beakers. We waited for approximately 5 minutes and we each had the chance to see banana DNA floating to the surface. Experiment 2: We had 4 Erlenmayer flasks and 4 test tubes. In the first Erlenmayer flask, we put 5ml of NaOH (sodium hydroxide) which had a pH of 13. In the second and third one we put 5ml of water and in the fourth one we put 5ml of HCl (hydrochloric acid) with a pH of 4. In each Erlenmayer, we put those test tubes in according to their number and we put a few potato cubes (the enzyme to be activated) in the test tubes, in all except the third one which was our control variable. We waited and took note of when each reaction stopped. The reaction was simple, with time, depending on the test tube, the potato cubes would float up to the surface of the test tube because oxygen molecules would be released and it would push the cubes upwards. Here are the results of when the reactions stopped in each test tube: 1 - 10 minutes and 4 seconds 2 - 3 minutes and 40 seconds 3 - nothing was happening (control variable) 4 - 11 minutes and 31 seconds *Additional temperature experiment* Same equipment as the previous one, this time we measured how fast the reaction starts depending on the temperature of the water in the Erlenmayer flasks. The test tubes had H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) and potato cubes in them. The temperatures were as follows: 1) 14°C 2) 21°C 3) 37°C (optimal temperature) 4) 62°C Results (reaction times): 1 - 4 minutes and 5 seconds 2 - 5 minutes 3 - 11 minutes 4 - 7 minutes and 40 seconds Learning outcomes

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth -Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences -Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience Reflection

Biology experiments have been really cool for me. At first, I was unsure, but now I love them. These ones in particular have been my favorites. The best part is how these experiments make me curious and help me think better. I've learned to think more about the process and figure things out either by myself or with my classmates.

[katarina-kurtic]

Volunteering for the Week of art

🎨📝Activity title: Helping to make the days of week of art easier for the participants and guests by moving chairs, helping people to their seats, and selling pins and stickers 🎨⏱️Duration: 8 hours in 2 days total (4 hours a day) 🎨❓Type of activity: Service and activity Activity description During the annual Week of art that our school organizes, my friends and I volunteered on two occasions: the night of visual arts and the night of dance. On the night of visual arts, we moved chairs and sold pins and stickers by the door, and on the night of dance we moved chairs and helped people to their seats. Learning outcomes

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth -Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences -Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience -Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Reflection

This was a very interesting experience for all of us involved and it was an honor and a privilege to help my friends who actually participated by making sure those two nights go by smoothly. It was also very rewarding to see all of the people who visited contribute to the Week of art by buying pins and stickers, raising money to pay forward. I would 100% volunteer again for something similar to this.

[katarina-kurtic]

Making posters for International Women’s Day

💃📝Activity title: Typing out, printing, cutting, gluing and putting up posters in the school halls for International Women’s Day 💃⏱️Duration: 4 hours (in total over the span of 3 days) 💃❓Type of activity: Service and creativity

Activity description

My classmates and I from Psychology HL class made posters of Nobel prize winner women and local women who made a big difference in our town. We printed out their names, what they did, their pictures, and all their achievements. The second set of posters was posters of the importance of feminism, showing gratitude for the feminists who stood up for women's rights and what they achieved that way.

Learning outcomes

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth -Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences -Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

Reflection

Creating posters for International Women's Day was an amazing experience, mostly because my friends and I learned a lot about the amazing women that our town has seen. We are grateful that we got this opportunity because it is truly a breath of fresh air whenever we are able to publicly celebrate very important women, local or not.

[katarina-kurtic]

Baking

🍫📝Activity title: Making brownies for my family and guests

🍫⏱️Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

🍫❓Type of activity: Creativity and service

Activity description

I decided to make some brownies after my mom told me that guests are going to be coming over. First I wanted to make banana bread but I decided that brownies would be more delicious and also easier. I followed a recipe I saw on the internet and improvised some steps, such as adding rum instead of vanilla extract to the brownie batter. Here is the recipe I used:

142g of margarine

130g of cooking chocolate (chopped)

200g of sugar

2 large eggs and 1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon of rum

95g of flour

25g of cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

170g of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line an 16x16 (cm) metal pan with parchment paper. Mix in chocolate and margarine and melt it until it’s smooth. Add in sugar and let it cool until it’s warm. Add in eggs and rum and mix thoroughly. Stir in flour, cocoa powder, and salt with a rubber spatula. Add in chocolate chips. Bake for 25 minutes.

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

Reflection

I don’t usually bake, but this time I wanted to because guests were coming over. Brownies are one of my favorite desserts and I had never made them before this, and they surprisingly turned out pretty good. Next time I will definitely add less sugar because it was very sweet since I added lots of chocolate and chocolate chips. I had a lot of fun because I got to be on my own and play music as I relaxed and baked. The guests absolutely loved my brownies and I will definitely make them again.

[katarina-kurtic]

More cognitive schemas made for Psychology

👶📝Activity title: Drawing cognitive schemas for lessons in developmental psychology

👶⏱️Duration: about 2 hours (2 classes one week and one class the next week)

👶❓Type of activity: Creativity

Activity description

My classmates and I made cognitive schemas for the field of developmental psychology and the role of play in child development. I had the task to make a cognitive schema for the period of infancy (0-2 years) and my classmates had the periods of 16-20 months and adolescence.

Learning outcomes

- Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

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

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Reflection

It’s always fun to make these cognitive schemas in Psychology class and we love doing them because we get to draw and color, which we don’t do often. Besides it being fun, it also helps us learn the material much more efficiently. This is a fun way to learn and I’m very glad that we have the opportunity to make learning more fun in this way.

[katarina-kurtic]

Christmas fair 🎄

🎅📝Activity title: Participating in the annual Christmas fair held and organised by IB students

🎅⏱️Duration: From 8am to 12:40pm (almost 5 hours)

🎅❓Type of activity: Creativity and Service

Activity description

Upon arriving to school on Wednesday, December 27th, we organised the tables and arranged all the goods we would be selling, which included old books, crocheted items, handmade ornaments and customised soap we had made beforehand. Each of us had a task to persuade people to come and buy something, as the money would be going to charity. We also managed customers and we acted as cashiers.

Learning outcomes

- Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

- Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

- Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Reflection

This was an incredibly fun and rewarding experience. The best part for me was knowing that all of the money collected would be going to a charity of our choice. It was an incredible experience that I shared with my classmates and teachers. Organising something like this and actually achieving it and sharing the moment with everyone was great and it felt great. I would like to do this again, and we will this year in December 🥰.

[katarina-kurtic]

Trip to Zagreb

🇭🇷📝Activity title: Going on a trip to Zagreb with my classmates 🇭🇷⏱️Duration: 7am-11pm 🇭🇷❓Type of activity: Activity

Activity description On Saturday, December 9th my classmates and I went on a trip to Zagreb. The trip was organized by our geography teacher Draško Perać, and we travelled via bus. The trip to Zagreb was only 3 hours long (7am to 10am) and we stayed in Zagreb until we had to leave at 6pm. We got home around 4-5 hours later.

Learning outcomes - Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience - Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences - Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken developing new skills in the process

Reflection Right when we got to Zagreb, we went to the Ethnographic Museum and we were there for around 45 minutes. It was very interesting to learn about Croatian history. We had 6 hours of free time and the first thing my friends and I did was go eat. After that, we got coffee and headed to Advent to check it out. We were thrilled. Then, to my request, we went to two CD shops so I could buy my favorite artist's CDs. After that we walked around and went into different stores. We took lots of pictures and had fun. Then, we sat down to eat some waffles and to check out Advent one last time during the evening. We bought some souvenirs and left to go back to the bus station. It was a very dear experience and it was extremely fun.

[katarina-kurtic]

Making soap for the Christmas fair

🧼📝Activity title: Decorating and making soap during a CAS period for the Christmas fair 27.12.2023. 🧼⏱️Duration: one hour 🧼❓Type of activity: Creativity, service

Activity description My class and I made soap for the upcoming Christmas fair with the help of our teachers. First, some of my classmates made the soap mixture and our job was to decorate it, and we did. We had colors, silicone molds, essential oils for the smell, mixing tools, and cups.

Learning outcomes - Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth - Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences - Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Reflection This was something I had been looking forward to, especially because I had never made soap before this and it was fun learning something new. I mixed blue and purple and it gave me a mauve color and I poured that mixture into the silicone mold. Then I put a white heart on top of it using the rest of the soap mix that wasn't colored. I liked it very much and everyone else's soaps looked cool.

[katarina-kurtic]

Attending multiple psychology presentations at Faculty of Philosophy

👩‍⚕️📝Activity title: Going to the Faculty of Philosophy with my classmates and homeroom teacher and attending presentations related to Psychology 👩‍⚕️⏱️Duration: 2 hours 👩‍⚕️❓Type of activity: Creativity

Activity description On Friday, November 17th three of my classmates and I were invited by our homeroom teacher to attend presentations done by diplomats at the Faculty of Philosophy regarding Psychology. We learned a lot from the diplomats who presented their topics. Their work was done alongside their professors and everything was highly professional, as expected.

Learning outcomes -Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance -Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth -Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

Reflection We had a lot of fun and our knowledge was enriched with topics that actually interested us. The things that we learned in our IB Psychology classes helped us better understand each topic being discussed. I hope to repeat it again soon.

[katarina-kurtic]

Doing an experiment in Biology

🧫📝Activity title: Helping out in an experiment in Biology 🧫⏱️Duration: 20 minutes 🧫❓Type of activity: Creativity

Activity description Before our attendance at the Faculty of Psychology on Friday, November 17th, we attended our Biology class and we helped in an experiment with our Biology teacher and a Chemistry teacher. There were two experiments: one was proving starch in a potato by putting an iodine alcohol solution on a potato slice and the other one was how lipids dissolve in different environments such as alcohol, water, and chloroform.

Learning outcomes - Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively - Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth - Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Reflection It was very interesting to see how lipids dissolve in different environments. We proved that lipids dissolve best in chloroform, not fully in alcohol and not at all in water.