klara-cas-project

[klara-cas-project]

March

This months I done cas completely at home. Due to mocks and my schedule being full, I had less time for activity than usual. This is why I opted for doing at home workouts, as it was time efficient. Keeping in mind that I spent a lot of time sitting I did more stretching and yoga than I usually would, which not only made me feel better physically but also was a good time to reset. This month was all about organization and keeping up with the schedule. I believe this was my main challenge.

[klara-cas-project]

February

For the first time in this year, I completed service. I went back to the organization I was working with in DP1, meaning Uniwersyste Dzieci. The workshop I was preparing was on traffic. The participants have learned how are traffic is made and some basic knowledge on driving. As the group was made up of young kids, the main struggle was to keep everything organized and to guide them. Although as there was unusually a lot of people who volunteer and organize the workshops it made it easier to divide tasks and focus and indivisible aspects of work, which made it more manageable.

[klara-cas-project]

January

This month I spent a lot of time baking. I baked a few times in a week in January. I tried out many new recipes and modified some older ones. Some of the recipes I kept practicing were brioche bread, apple tart and baguettes. While it took me some time to come around to it, I finally tried baking baguettes and it turned outu to be simpler than I thought. What I know I can still improve are matcha cookies, as I still need to rethink the proportions. Completing cas this month was particularly enjoyable and fruitful as I had a lot of motivation. Even when there was a lot of work to do, I managed to keep baking in my free time and used it as a way to relax.

[klara-cas-project]

December

This month I focused on activity. Although the temperatures have lowered I still decided to continue running. Additionally I kept working out at home, often using exercising routines from YouTube. I’m not going to lie, my biggest struggle was lack of energy, so finding motivation to get up and work out was difficult. To make it more enjoyable, on particularly bad days I stuck with simpler routines. I also decided to run in the evening instead of mornings as it was simply easier for me to do it this way.

[klara-cas-project]

November

November was a time of both creativity and activity. While, normally, in this weather, I would exercise at home, after participating in a run organised by my school for mental health days, I changed my mind. The weather during the run made it more challenging, but more than that, it made me realise that I could still participate in outdoor activities at this time of year as long as I prepared well.

[klara-cas-project]

October

This month, I also did creativity, instead of cooking, I focused on art. The most interesting part was when I tried ice sculpting. I have little experience with sculpting, but sculpting on ice was a completely new experience. While it took me some time to find my preferred technique, I expected it to be harder than it was. If I had the possibility, I would repeat it.

[klara-cas-project]

September

For the first month since school summer, I decided to make what’s best for the season and cook. I have tried new combinations this time. Moreover, as the weather was good, I managed to work on the activity as well. On our school trip, we went hiking, and when I returned home, I tried new routes while running.

[klara-cas-project]

CAS project

The subject of my group’s CAS project was Koci Azyl. Our work consisted of service, as we went twice to help out. Additionally, we organised a fundraiser at our school to raise money for cat food. This was my first time volunteering at an animal shelter. I am not going to lie, as it was a bigger project than my usual cas activities, it was more difficult to manage, especially during the time of the year when there was a lot of workload. Fortunately, we have managed to complete all the activities that we have planned by splitting the work in accordance with our schedules.

[klara-cas-project]

June

This month, I have done service by participating in a seminar. This was my first time working with such a large group for cas, both in reference to volunteers and students. An additional challenge was how really young the participants were. Fortunately, our group of participants was able to organise and distribute our task well, making it easier to organise such a large seminar.

[klara-cas-project]

May

This month, I have focused on creativity. My main task was baking. I tried to challenge myself to bake goods that I would normally buy already made. I learned new recipes, they have turned out well.

[klara-cas-project]

April

In April I had combined activity and creativity. My main activity turned out to be running. Although at the end of the month our class had gone for a sailing trip were we had spent whole days out on the lakes. Throughout this trip I had solidified knowledge I had acquired last year. As for running I chose this activity for when I was at home as it was always available, and did not take much for me to organize, hence it was easier to find time for it in more busy weeks.

Additionally, I had decided to practice baking. It was a month during which I baked and tried particularly new recipies in the kitchen. Many times I had to tailor the recipies to my needs and available resources.

[klara-cas-project]

March

This month I have focused on service. At the beginning of the month I have completed workshops at Uniwersytet Dzieci about fungi, which is what I was familiar with and interested in. Hence, it made the experience more pleasant. The workshops lasted more than 4 hours. Moreover, it took some time to prepare for it.

The experience had developed my patience and organization skills, as it was the second time I participated in workshops through this organization.

Moreover, I had used my bike and had gone for a few rides throughout the month. Each time I had tried to go a different route or at least modify them to explore different areas.

[klara-cas-project]

This month I have joined Uniwersytet Dzieci organization.

I had been a part of workshop called “Dlaczego nie można jeść wszystkich robaków”. I was positively surprised as I enjoyed spending time there and it made those 6 hours go by quickly.

But it hadn’t been without its challenges, the children were different. Hence, I had to be paitient.

Even though I had focused this month on service I took advantage of the good weather and went outside to run.

[klara-cas-project]

In january, before winter break I had been doing creativity. This time I had focused on one form: art. I decided to experiment with form and colours. Both paintings/collages had turned out differently than I had originally planned to.

I found this activity fun as I am very pleased with the results as they are different from my (occasional) works.

I had managed to squeeze some activity while, on holiday. As I do not have pool access at home, I practiced my front crawl technique at hotels. I do not swim regularly, so it is good to refresh and keep up my form ever once in a while.

[klara-cas-project]

In December I decided to focus on activity as it is the hardest month for me to stay active. In order to stay consistent I decided to do different things. For example, I tried pilates so now I can know that I won’t try again in the near future. This month I had done activities mostly at home, sometimes I used YouTube videos, or a sets of exercises I found.

As I mentioned for me the aim was to be consistent, to achieve that I had planned out before which days would work the best and knew that to stick to plan I needed to be flexible, for example I needed to acknowledge that I wouldn’t manage to do long and energy consuming workouts every time, sometimes I just focused on yoga and stretching.

[klara-cas-project]

In November, I completed creativity by experimenting with different activities. Some were already familiar to me, while others presented entirely new challenges.

During the first week, I made candles for the first time. The process itself turned out to be easier than I had originally imagined. However, as this was my first time, I did not know what ratios would work for me. Now I know how I can improve the next batch.

In the second week, I painted the walls in my room, despite lacking the more convenient tools required. Overall, I am satisfied with the outcome and that I have committed to it.

For the last two weeks I have practiced working in the kitchen. As I was already experienced a bit with cooking and baking, I had focused on trying to experiment with different recipes and modifying them to try new ingredients and combinations.

As this was my first creativity month, I focused on trying out new things, in order to find out which activities I would like to complete in the future, as well as to do things I have wanted to do for a long time but hadn’t found the time for until now.

[klara-cas-project]

For my first month of CAS, I decided to take on the most challenging aspect for me, which was service. I have completed it by dedicating over 4 hours to assisting in the organization and execution of workshops centered around the works of Wisława Szymborska, which were hosted by Białołęcki Ośrodek Kultury. These workshops were held on October 21st and focused on poetry and incorporating creativity into our lives.

Although I had some prior experience of assisting with events, I wasn't very experienced at moderating workshops. However, this experience was valuable in helping me gain confidence in speaking publicly. Thankfully, my passion for the topic made it easier for me to engage with the participants.

The picture shows a notebook that I created and used during the workshops.