HI! My name is Ashley Chai and I am studying in Jerudong International School in Brunei Darussalam. I am currently in my first year of International Baccalaureate ( IBDP ). This blog will be used to present my Creative, Activity and Service throughout my 2 year IB course, where I will also be reflecting on my experiences and learning from them.
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Final Reflection & Review
Through the CAS program, I have developed many new skills whilst enhancing the skills that I already have. It has taught me how to be more self-confident, as well as work with a variety of different groups of people. The opportunities that were given to me through this program was incredible as I am now able to step out of my comfort zone and am more open to try new things, even if they scare me.
1. What did I learn from the activity & how might I apply this more widely?
In the Trashion Fashion CCA for Year 4-6 kids, I learned that it’s more important if the kids have a close relationship to us (the students leading it) as their role models. The kids are still growing and maturing, therefore it’s important that we teach them from a young age how to be confident in themselves as well as know the importance of a community. This is why a large number of us from the Sixth Form came to help out with this activity, in order to show them that they are not alone, especially because of the community in JIS. This could be applied widely to other children in the community who don’t necessarily have role models to look up to.
2. Why was the activity worthwhile?
In Year 12, I participated in Borneo Project. The activity was worthwhile because it was open to all students in Year 12. This allowed me to be in groups with people I don’t usually work with. I have always found this fun and rewarding mainly because I get to learn about how a situation can be handled in different perspectives. It was also beneficial to the rural community in Sabah, Malaysia, whom we were raising the money for.
3. How do I see myself developing as a result of this activity?
In March, I participated in the Youth Sports Leadership Camp in Singapore. The camp enabled me to have a unique cultural experience with the countries of South-East Asia. Making new friends from different countries, through sports and in general, is always fun as I can learn more about their experiences and their background in their specific sport. From this camp, I learnt that fear can be overcome, especially with the help and support from friends, different people have different personalities and beliefs but that’s what makes the relationship more fun if respect is present, and lastly, quality over quantity; it doesn’t matter if you just met a person, because it only matters how deep and strong the bond is.
4. How did this activity benefit others?
One of my favorite service activities to do was leading a bake sale for special school days such as Polio Points Day or Earth Day, as well as for local centres like Pusat Ehsan, for disabled individuals in Brunei. I believe this activity allowed other individuals to be part of a wider community and change. When I was in year 11 and younger, I didn’t know that these opportunities were available to me, that I just needed to reach out and grab them. Therefore, by providing a platform for different year groups to come and help out will encourage them and give them confidence in initiating their own bake sale, or even project in the future.
5. What have I learned about important “global” issues? What are my views/feelings on these issues? What have I done to address them?
Through a variety of initiatives and events held (self-started or group projects), I can definitely say that I have addressed this learning outcome well. In Year 11, I volunteered for Bantu Project, which was a project held in Brunei by my seniors in JIS to help give basic needs to the less fortunate in Kampong Ayer and Bandar. This was eye-opening to me because you often hear stories of donation drives that help people and families who are less fortunate, but seeing it and entering their ‘shoes’ was completely different. This enhanced my passion for helping others around me and in the wider community. Since then, I have gained the confidence to take part and even start my own projects and initiatives. They range from bake sales for school initiatives and local centres to Rimba Project to Mental Health Ribbons for the school. I adore helping people and am engaged in doing so, therefore, this learning outcome has pushed me to be more empathetic, confident and enabled me to develop better communication and social skills.
6. Have I an increased awareness of own strengths and areas for growth?
For my main activity, swimming, it’s important to be aware of my strengths and areas of growth because I am constantly striving to be better and better each training. There are new lessons that can be learnt every session because we, as human beings, are also always changing and evolving. I know that I can never be the same person I was a month ago. Therefore, I can definitely see the value of each new lesson whilst honing my old skills and knowledge of the sport that I already have in place.
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Polio Points Day
16th October, 2019
Polio Points Day was held on the 16th October this year. I was given the opportunity to hold a bake sale as well as lead the well-being captain team alongside other representatives.
Bake sale:
For the bake sale, it was hard as everyone was busy with their own work and the time to bake didn’t match with their schedule. So I lent a hand from some people in the polio points team who helped me bake loads of goods.
Our baked goods sold out within 30 minutes! And we ended up getting so much money for our Polio Points Charity! Personally, I have always loved doing this as it makes a difference in somebody else’s lives. The feeling you get after you’ve accomplished these things are just unforgettable.
Well-being:
This year, I’ve been appointed well-being captain for my house and also well-being representative alongside Bazilah and Shreya for the council. We were appointed to 3 house well-being captains and made them representatives as well. So our group of 6 people racked our brains for ideas for the week. We were originally planning to do something on the 10th October as it was Mental Health Day but decided with our teachers that things will run smoother if we run it on Polio Points Day. This also gave us more time to run through our ideas and carry it out smoother.
We decided that we wanted to make ribbons in green, blue, yellow and purple, which all represented different mental illnesses we thought was the most prevalent in school.
Green- depression
Purple- eating disorders
Blue- anxiety
Yellow- suicide prevention
We worked with the other house well-being captains to make the ribbons over the course of 2 after school sessions. It was a great bonding time for all of us to talk about this topic that seems so taboo to everyone.
After making the ribbons, I was given the task to make posters for our boards that would be put at our stall. The posters were difficult to make as I didn’t want it to be some ordinary poster that people will walk past and forget. I wanted people to really know the signs and how to help themselves or someone they know. In the end, I think I did a pretty good job with the posters and even saw some people taking pictures of them. It was also great giving out the ribbons because you can directly hear the impact you’re making in somebody’s lives. Comments such as ‘you’re really doing something great here’ or ‘thank you so much for this’ means more than just words. The impact will stay forever and hopefully make JIS and the world a better environment for them to be in, and feel safe and happy in.
Time spent:
Bake Sale: 7 hours ( baking + selling )
Well-being: 8 hours ( planning + ribbon making + posters + giving out ribbons )
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Undertaking new challenges and developing new skills in the process
Planned and initiated activities or part of an activity
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Engaged issues with global importance - “Think globally, act locally”
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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House War of Words
7th October, 2019
For this year’s War of Words, I had the intent to speak at one of them and hopefully bring my house and brother house, Swift, into victory. I was part of the research team last year which gave me some insight into what was needed to be done and how it was to be done. For the first round, I helped with research and attended meetings during lunchtime to help form an argument against the other house. Luckily for this motion, it was less difficult to formulate ideas and arguments- for and against. So the only problem was finding statistics and facts to back up our points. We eventually won the first round and both houses decided that I would speak for the second round.
This was a new environment for me as I have never been a fan of public speaking or opposing what someone else was saying. I believed that if someone had something to say, it’s their opinion and shouldn’t be opposed by me, but the whole point of a debate was to oppose it with what you think. That was the most difficult thing for me; building up the courage to look my opponent in the eye and tell them that I disagree with their argument. But nonetheless, I did it. This couldn’t have been possible without the support from both houses, encouraging and reminding me that this was just a debate, that I won’t hurt anyone’s feelings. I was so happy at the end of it as I’ve gotten past my fears and experienced something new. I was able to bring my house to the finals and eventually, helped them with research to become this year’s War of Words Champions!
Time spent:
10 hours ( meeting + researching + debating )
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Undertaking new challenges and developing new skills in the process
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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House Football
10th October, 2019
Despite the constant change of date for house football, I think my house did pretty well. We’ve never played with each other before but from personal experience, we sort of knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I was put to be the goalkeeper for the first two games, which was nerve wracking as I find difficult to be put in the spotlight and work normally. I also feel like being a goalkeeper is one of the most difficult positions to play because its more individual in football. It feels like you’re the backbone of the team and if you let that crumble, the whole team’s morales fall with it.
Thankfully, I didn’t let any ball past me. This was an achievement for me as I don’t usually play football! But nonetheless, my team played amazing well at defense to bring me to this achievement. The next game was hard as it was our archnemesis- Sandpiper. They always seem to be on par with us when it comes to teamwork and thus leading us to play even harder. I was playing as attacker this game and was so disheartened when so many of my shots was so close to getting in or was caught by the goalkeeper. The game ended with a tie and we then proceeded to the semi-finals.
We ended with a tie as well against Fireback but had a penalty shoot out. We lost 2-3 to them. We had to play Sandpiper again for 3rd place and ended up dragging the game to a tie again. The referee decided that it was best to remove one player and had a golden ball. Within half a minute of the game, we scored! And won against Sandpiper.
Time spent:
2 hours
Assessment Criteria:
Undertaking new challenges and developing new skills in the process
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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International Beach Clean Up
21st September, 2019
The first ever beach clean up I went to lacked the man power and people. It was always just me and a group of people with some volunteers from outside of our school. But today, I was so amazed to see the sheer amount of people that showed up and volunteered. This was completely different to what happened when I first did it and it's great to see so many people wanting to make a difference, even if it's a small difference.
Time spent:
3 hours
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Engaged issues with global importance - “Think globally, act locally”
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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8th Brunei Open Swimming Championships
13th-15th September, 2019
This weekend, I participated in the 8th Brunei Open Swimming Championships. I took part in the 400m and 200m IM, 200m, 100m and 50m backstroke, 100m and 50m butterfly and freestyle. That was a total of 9 individual events and 2 relay events.
400m IM for me was an entirely new event. I have never been a fan of long distances, but my new coach suggested I take part in it as I could’ve beaten a 11-year national record set by my former senior swimmer. This was a challenge for me because in IM, I had to swim breaststroke which was my worst stroke as I had a knee injury for the longest time. However, I trained my breaststroke for a long time with her, and in the end, I beat the national record by 5 seconds. It made me feel so happy because it was something I never expected to do. Now I feel more motivated to beat the record again, despite my hatred for long distances.
Another record I beat was for the 100m back, my own record. I was 0.06seconds from an old 50m back national record, but unfortunately, I started getting a fever on the second day and couldn’t perform the way I wanted to. I ended up pulling out of my 100m fly which I had the potential to break the record.
I didn’t let this get to me as I still tried hard in all the events that I could still participate in.
Time spent:
3 days of competition
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Undertaking new challenges and developing new skills in the process
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
New or extended skills
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House Frisbee
5th September, 2019
For the first house event of the year, all the girl houses played frisbee together. It was a tough game as most of us aren’t used to it and the wind affected our throws. It was such an unpredictable game and I don’t think most of us enjoyed it. But my house rose in spirit again and continued encouraging each other despite the scorching hot sun and inability to catch the disc sometimes due to wind.
We ended up going into the finals fighting for 1st place with Sandpiper. This was for sure the toughest game played today as they had a trained frisbee player in their team. This led to good throws and strategy plans on their side. It was evident that they trusted each other and had good communication skills. My house did not back down though. Despite the good teamwork they displayed, we still continued cheering and supporting each other, especially when one of us would get tired and unmotivated.
The game then ended with a win to Sandpiper, but my house was still super happy at our achievements and good plays in the game. To think that last year, we were placed last for house frisbee to being placed second this year. Our trust and support has grown and so did we. It was so happy to see that.
Time spent:
2 hours
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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ASEAN School Games
17th-25th July, 2019
ASEAN School Games this year took place in Semarang, Indonesia. This was my first ever and last ASEAN School Games that I could participate in. Ever since I was 11, I always took place in SEA-Age Group competitions, I thought it would be the same as that but the atmosphere was different. For ASEAN School Games, it wasn’t just a swimming championship but other sports as well such as Athletics, Volleyball, Basketball, Tennis, etc. There were more people that I could talk to and learn from, not just from my own element/sport.
I participated in the 200m, 100m and 50m backstroke as well as 100m and 50m freestyle. I managed to get top 8 out of all the countries for my 200m back, but sadly didn’t beat my personal best time. For all of the events that I took part in, I didn’t get a best time as it was 2 weeks after the SEA Age Group in Cambodia. I felt like it was too short a time for my body to get back into the competition spirit as I was already drained from Cambodia.
However, I did not let this affect me and continued forward with my training and made sure to take care of my mind and body at the same time as for an athlete, that was the most important thing.
Time spent:
3 day competition
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Engaged issues with global importance - “Think globally, act locally”
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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Rimba Project - Enrichment Week
2nd-3rd July, 2019
For our last week of school, we were to join an event or project held by the school. This was the week our project was to kick off. Sadly, I couldn’t join them on the first day of the project as I was still in Cambodia. However, I made sure to do as much as I could when I got back.
Overall, this experience was so eye-opening for me and all of us helping. When we were painting, it was so nice to be able to communicate and see the kids that we’re doing this for. When conversing with these kids, it was so grateful and happy to know that they’re excited to see our finished product and to get to play on it. It was also humbling to see the excitement in these innocent kid’s eyes, who are sadly less fortunate than us in JIS, when they see such a small act being done in their school. I’m so proud of all of us who helped out and make a change to these kids learning environment.
Time spent:
2 days
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Undertaking new challenges and developing new skills in the process
Planned and initiated activities or part of an activity
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Engaged issues with global importance - “Think globally, act locally”
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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SEA Age Group
26th June-1st July, 2019
I participated in the 43rd SEA-Age Group Swimming Championships in Phnom Penh, Cambodia this June. This is the first competition I'm participating in with the new coach and therefore, pressure was on me as I didn't want to disappoint.
The competition had the same atmosphere as always but I was still nervous and overwhelmed. Luckily, I managed to put myself out of my worries by continuously creating positive thoughts in my head.
In the end, I made some personal best times and I didn't. But I managed to break an old 200m backstroke national record by 2 seconds. I was so surprised as this event wasn't my best event at all. Long distance swimming has always been an obstacle for me and to have broken this record out of all of them was a complete achievement, personally.
Time spent:
2 hours every Wednesday
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Undertaking new challenges and developing new skills in the process
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Engaged issues with global importance - “Think globally, act locally”
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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Centralised Training with National Team
9th May, 2019
This May, I’ve been put under the care of the new Brunei National Coach. I’ve heard loads of great things about her, like training up Olympic swimmers in China and Vietnam. When I first went, I was scared because if she’s seen such standard, then what is she going to think about my swimming? I felt unconfident and even more unconfident when I started her program. I wasn’t used to the long distance pool because I’ve always been in a 25m pool all my life. From there, I could tell I lacked the stamina and endurance for her training.
She spoke to me in Chinese, but was translated by my mom, and said that it's only normal to be slower than normal as I haven’t gotten used to it. She said that when she came to Brunei and started training the rest of them, they took 2 months to fully get used to her swim and gym program. This made me feel assured as I wasn’t the only one. I was motivated to see what she can do for me in the time we have as I’ve been stagnant for a few years.
Time spent:
Morning session (5AM-6.45AM) on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
Morning session (6.30AM-9.30AM) on Saturday
Afternoon session (3.30PM-6.30PM) everyday except Sunday
Assessment Criteria:
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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Netball Funday
28th April, 2019
Despite not placing high on rankings, I believe my team still played the best we could in the short amount of time that we were together. We only had a practice match together once and it was good enough to have that connection in the real game today. It was heartwarming to see everyone play well together and supporting one another, especially when each of us got tired and unmotivated.
I’ll be looking forward to play future games with this team.
Time spent:
5 hours
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Planned and initiated activities or part of an activity
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
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BAG Swimming Championships
19th - 21st April, 2019
During the weekend, I participated in the 27th Brunei Age Group Swimming Championships. I broke 1 national record/age group record for the age category of 16-18years old. I ended up getting the best girl for my age group as well.
Time spent:
Morning and afternoon for 3 days
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
New or extended skills
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Y4-6 ‘Trashion Fashion’ CCA
17th April, 2019 & every Wednesday
As part of our way of giving back to the environment, me and a group of friends started a ‘Trashion Fashion’ CCA for the juniors (Year 4-6) in our school. This was to enable them to be aware of the big plastic issue, and help them understand and learn ways to reduce their plastic usage. We did this through asking them to design an outfit that would be presented in a fashion show at the end of the term. They were to bring any recyclable materials from home and start constructing their outfit in the next CCA session. After their outfits were made, we had them sit down and discuss why we needed to do this. It was so important for the kids in the newer generation to know the issue now as it is their future they’re protecting.
I was surprised at the amount of knowledge these kids knew at such a young age, such as The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and plastics in the ocean. It was great to see these little kids be so creative and enthusiastic when crafting their outfits because the more fun it is, the more impact it’ll have on kids that age. I am so happy to be part of this project because I love kids and having to inspire them to make change in the world really helped me realize things too. It was eye-opening to see how these kids felt about climate change and the plastic pollution and how much they want it to stop. I believe that these kids are capable of so many things and even inspired me to step back and let the new generation take over.
I hope there’s more projects like these that will help kids understand and be more aware of issues around the world, not just climate change.
Time spent:
2 hours every Wednesday
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Undertaking new challenges and developing new skills in the process
Planned and initiated activities or part of an activity
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
Engaged issues with global importance - “Think globally, act locally”
Ethical implications of your actions
New or extended skills
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Baking for ECO-JIS Bake Sale
16th April, 2019
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House Rugby
11th April, 2019
Rugby has always been one of my favorite sports. Today, I got to experience the thrill from the game with my lovely Heron girls. In my rugby team, there isn’t any other Heron girls and thus this is a new experience for me to be playing with them.
Excitement and nervousness overwhelmed me but the support and enthusiasm from my house was enough to keep me going. At the end of the afternoon, we had won every single match we’ve played despite the tough competition from the girls from other houses. It was so great to see everyone work together and smile even though it was scorching hot and tiring. Through this, I’ve learnt that even without playing rugby with anyone in my house before, communication and trusting each other was the key to our victory.
Time spent:
2 hours
Assessment Criteria:
Increased awareness of own strengths and develop areas for growth
Shown perseverance and commitment in one’s activities
Collaborate with others
0 notes