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[mega-cas-love]

final reflection

For me, CAS definitely was the most pleasant part of Ib. I've always been an active person so I've never had to do something just for CAS, because I would do these things anyway. However, CAS helped me a lot in reaching regularity and reflecting on my experience. Regularly reflecting on my charity work let me overcome some fears as in the process I noticed my weaknesses and knew what to focus on.  Thanks to that I've undertaken many challenges and developed new skills such  as working in groups. Many times writing reflections made me notice the significance of my actions and it motivated me to the further work.

CAS was very important fulfilment for my education. As IB is very challenging, time consuming and often overwhelming, doing anything not related to learning was good. Yoga which was mine main activity taught me self care and calmness. Volunteering in Open Cages reminded me of matters which globally are much more important then my grades. Various workshops or art events (creativity) I've participated in let me clear my head.

I really feel like I've achieved my goals referring CAS. Since September 2018 I've been regularly practising yoga. I attended many classes and workshops. Now I am able to easily practise at home, do advanced poses and enjoy this activity. I've started a volunteer work and after several months was able to work on official report with the group of very experienced people. In the time of the most intensive learning I've decided to finally make my dream about acting come true. 

All of it gave me sense of strength and self confidence. I've noticed what I am capable of. But most importantly, many made me realise what is valuable for me. Reflections taught me to choose what is the best for me. Reflecting on my weaknesses improved my ability to ask for help and express my needs when working collaboratively. I've also developed many creative skills during the various workshops (e.g. singing at theatre classes). Moreover, I've made big physical progress. Yoga made me much more flexible and strong. 

I believe CAS is very useful and will be in the future. I hope one day I will become yoga instructor. If it is ever possible it's due to the scrupulousness I owe CAS. Other skills will surely be useful at the university or work. 

Generally, yoga was the most special part of CAS for me. I know it affects me all the time. It teaches me states I can enter in everyday life, changes my perspective on life and makes me meet incredible people. Another thing which had giant impact on me was Rainbow Gathering. Spending a week in a forest with people from all over the world, living in harmony and peace with nature showed me what freedom feels like. I think both yoga and this travel were the causes that for the last school year I've really felt peaceful. In contrast to last school year, even during the mist difficult times, I felt stable and capable of dealing with everything. I am very proud I didn't give up on yoga. 

However, the thing I am most proud about is the decision to attend acting classes. Eventually, they turned out to be the most challenging part of my CAS experience. Although I enjoyed them very much I couldn't bare spending there six hours a week when I didn't have time to rest. 

CAS was a set of unique experiences which really affected me. Some of them were very rewarding such as completing the official report on eggs distribution. Some developed calmness in me (yoga). What is the most important, is that some things made me realise something about myself. Writing the reflection was often the moment I realised I had actually done something. I've noticed that I have a tendency to disregard my actions and not appreciate myself enough. CAS has also changed my perspective on certain things. I learnt how much can come from my mistakes and failures. 

[mega-cas-love]

creativity

I have never been one of the people who couldn't wait to get their driving license. However, due to my mother's persuasions, I agreed to sign up for the course. I decided not to take the theoretical course, but only practical so I can save some time. 

The course turned out to be fun. I loved my instructors and surprisingly, I started enjoying driving a car very quickly. 

I've completed the course very quickly and passed the practical exam for the first attempt. The whole procedure was very nice for me and it made me believe in myself. I was proud I succeeded and happily started driving a car. 

I am very grateful to my mother. I saw how difficult being a parent is. She encouraged me to that even though she knew I would be angry with her.

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activity

(yoga February) I’ve started attending yoga classes regularly again. I met some friends there and every Saturday we ate sushi after classes. 

I really liked that we didn’t talk about school or work. It’s good to have friends outside of my bubble because they broaden my perspective on life. 

Meeting with them was the last time I did before staying at home due to the coronavirus matter. 

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creativity

I haven't been to the cinema for a long time. My mother invited me to watch "Parasite" with her. I really liked the movie. It made me reflect a lot on privileges I have. It made me feel more grateful for what I have. 

Moreover watching it in the cinema was very exciting. Contact with art makes me more fulfilled and happy. I will definitely do it more often.

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activity

(yoga in march) Surprisingly, I find it very easy to practise at home now. Every morning I do yoga and choose the poses I feel I need at the time. 

In this difficult time, yoga helps me relax and focus on what is really important.

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creativity

That weekend I and my friends wanted to have dinner together. We booked a table and met in a restaurant. Unfortunately, due to the women's day, the place was noisy and crowded and we decided to find an alternative. Somehow we've ended up at my place and cooked pizza. 

Shopping, cooking, waiting for the dough to be ready took us very long. We’ve been cooking all night. However, the outcome was wonderful. Six pizzas we made were delicious and it was probably one of my favourite evenings of all. 

It reminded me of how important friendships are and how valuable are things when we make it ourselves. 

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creativity

Since we can't leave our houses I couldn't take my dog to the groomer. The problem is not her looks but that even though it's much warmer outside now, she has a lot of hair and for sure it's not comfortable. I've decided to do the haircut on my own. 

I enjoyed cutting her hair so much I thought I could work as a groomer during my studies. I reflected on how uncomfortable situations can open new paths for us. 

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service

The coordinator of the report we are working at asked me to collect the same data as a few months ago because the repot is postponed and the data will no longer be relevant for February. I felt anger at first because I knew my previous work turned out to be useless. However, when I finally started doing that and it was so easy I realised how much I learn from this voluntary work. It made me feel very satisfied. 

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activity

I've always hated scooters. I've claimed they are the most dangerous thing in the world. That is why I was furious when I heard that my and my friend's family wanted to rent them for our trip. Anyway, they have decided to rent them and right away, my pushy friend made me go for a short ride with her. Although I haven't changed my mind on the motors, I realised sometimes taking a risk can broaden our opportunities. If I hadn't agreed to go, I wouldn't have seen even half of what I have on our trips. 

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service

This month I've finished all of my job related to the eggs report. I've done a lot of research and faced some challenges such as fixing the situation when I made a mistake sending email to Tesco. I am happy the whole team was supporting, and I've got to learn so much.

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activity creativity

During our travel to Thailand, my friend and I decided to go to the Buddhism Sanctuary. It was the first time I had an opportunity to see something like that, and I was excited as I've been interested in Buddhism since I was very young. The buildings themselves were fabulous. However, the most impressing was surely seeing the real monks. They were people emanating calmness and kindness. Just as most of the Thais I met. It made me think about how much religion can affect society. 

[mega-cas-love]

activity

During my vacation in Thailand, I've practised yoga alone at the beach in the morning. Although it was sometimes more challenging to come up with the Asanas and it never lasted as long as the proper yoga class (1,5h), I appreciated the opportunity to listen to my own needs and do what my body needs. The sound of the sea helped me relax and truly connect with myself. I reflected on how much important is how we feel with ourself and how developing self-consciousness can improve our life. 

[mega-cas-love]

CAS PROJECT

For a long time, I was procrastinating to come up with my CAS project. I thought the best idea would be to organise an educational event at my school, such as Addiction or Mental Health Awareness Day. However, for the whole time, I was worried it wouldn't be very appealing as things just as this are happening all the time at my school. 

Then my classmate Weronika and I have come up with a wonderful idea. We were talking about how much we miss primary school and especially loads of entertaining events such as St. Andrew's Day. Right away we've decided to organise something like that at our school.

Very quickly, we've started planning the event. We asked some of the younger students to join us and arrange some stalls. 

Additionally, we were raising money for the local shelter by selling fortune cookies.

I believe our project was not only pure entertainment but also let the participants broaden their cultural understanding. I appreciate that I had an opportunity to organise this with Weronika who has the same sentiment for our old St. Andrew's Day and Kuba who thanks to his interests knows more than anybody I know about dream interpretation or Astrology (that was the theme of our stall).

[mega-cas-love]

creativity

Cas project obligations. 

[mega-cas-love]

activity

Nothing has lately changed in my yoga practice. Currently, I am at the yoga camp in Nieprześnia. The people here are a true inspiration. 

[mega-cas-love]

creativity

For a long time, my mother and I were planning to go to the States Of Minds festival in Cracow. There were a lot of workshops and participants had to sign in for them and pay for the entry. As I was procrastinating (like always :)) with doing, that there were only a few workshops available. My mother bought tickets for some of them. However, still, we weren't satisfied as we both really wanted to go to the specific one (about psychosomatics). Then I tried to buy them from the facebook event. Unfortunately, it was a scam, and I had my money stolen. The next day we went to the festival. I've told the prowadzącej of psychosomatics about our tickets, and she let us in. Those workshops turned out to be the most interesting ones. They also helped me a lot. For a long time, `I knew I wanted to study psychology. However, lately, I haven't been so sure about it. The workshops sparked me to choose this subject as they remained me how fascinating the human brain is for me. Another workshop about psychedelic made me think I don't have to necessarily study specifically psychology. Still, I can also choose related subjects such as psychobiology or neuroscience.

[mega-cas-love]

creativity

10.10 there was a concert by my beloved artist in Katowice. Although I had loads of things to do, I obviously decided to go. I went there with my very best friend who I've known since kindergarten. Last year he went for an exchange to Denmark, so we haven't seen each other for 13 months. Now we also don't spend that much time together as he goes to another school and does the first year of IB. That is why the concert was very magical and sentimental for us as in junior high school we used to go to Rzabka's concerts a lot. Moreover, we were probably the only people who came there on purpose as Rzabka's concert was only the after-party for another event. We had an opportunity to talk to him, and for the whole time, we were standing at the stage. I am delighted we went there. Rzabka always reminds me of how important having fun is in life.