Parelli:
I bought my horse Romeo in May of 2012. When he came to me he was very disrespectful of myself and others and I knew we would have many obstacles to overcome. While I have spent a lot of time and energy teaching and disciplining him, I wanted to take this education further. I became aware of a system of training horses; the Parelli method, around the time school started. I was very interested in this form of natural horsemanship that required no force and when taught, could even be performed at liberty (the horse having no equipment on and thus being free to do as they please). I have been able to do things I never imagined possible with Romeo through the Parelli program and I will continue to work at it for the rest of his life, because we just keep progressing! Even though the Parelli method was constructed for horses, it is teaching me skills that I am able to apply towards other areas of my life, such as patience, understanding, as well as the ability of asking gently before asking with intensity.
Volunteering at Andrews of Stratford Seniors Home:
I have never done any work with seniors and if I’m quite honest, the idea of doing so scared me. I have never been comfortable working in the kind of situation that is as unpredictable as volunteering at a senior’s home would be. However, I made the decision this school year to make an effort to get over this fear, and so I began volunteering at Andrew’s of Stratford Seniors Home. At the beginning, I did work at the front desk by answering and transferring calls, which was an excellent way for me to learn how to work with a larger phone system, something I had never done either, as well as slowly learning the ins and outs of the way a senior’s home is run. I found it very calming and I started interacting more with the residents there. I was able to learn that many of these seniors don’t have family or friends that visit them, which saddened me as they seem very lonely. I have recently begun making even more of an effort to talk with them to try to make them feel more important and wanted. This is also something that I became aware of; that when someone ages, retires, watches as their family starts to make their own and separate families, that they no longer feel as though they can contribute to the lives of others in a significant way. They feel useless and that their life is beginning to lack meaning. I know going forward that I will try to make a difference in the lives of these people, to have conversations with them, to listen to what they have to say, to allow them to have an impact on those around them as well.
Photography:
The photography lessons that I took with Mr. Haynes were fantastic and such a good learning experience! I really, really enjoyed them, as photography has always been something I have wanted to take up. I was finally able to learn how to work my camera properly and even learned how to use some of the more advanced settings to take pictures with different effects. I also learned how to use Photoshop on the computer to edit the photos. It was even nicer getting to participate in this activity along with my friends from IB, which I believe helped us bond even more. Unlike the rest of the class however, I took the initiative to extend these lessons into a hobby, and became very fond of photography. I began carrying my camera everywhere I went and was able to see the world through a different set of eyes; finding inspiration in everything! This is definitely a hobby I will continue after IB and it has been a wonderful learning experience.
GISHWES:
Another activity that really allowed our class to bond was the GISHWES (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World has Ever Seen) event. I wish it had lasted longer; it was only a week, but it was fun all the same. This activity involved taking pictures of things that were on the huge scavenger hunt list provided. I found it somewhat challenging however, as it was during a school week so everyone in the class had a fair amount of homework to complete. It was also difficult as some of the things on the list required some sort of monument from a different country, which would have been easier to accomplish had we gotten some international people on our team as was offered.
Dodgeball:
Dodge-ball had to be one of the most exciting activities that I have done for CAS so far! I got some great physical activity and had a great time with my team-mates that also were from IB. This activity increased the bond between the IB students but also taught me how to work better as a team. Most of the sports I have done throughout my life have been individual (riding and running) so this was very much a new experience, but very valuable. I think that I will try to join more team sports in the future as I found this one very beneficial to me as a person. I learned and was able to accept the strengths and weaknesses of those on my team, something I have found hard to do in the past.
Rudolph Campaign:
During the Christmas season of 2013 I worked with my IB class to support a needy family by buying them food and gifts. This was a single mother with a young girl and baby on the way. I made a lot of the phone calls inquiring about places in which we could volunteer to raise money and this was a good way to do something I’ve never really done before as I’m usually a little hesitant to make phone calls. However I was eager to take initiative for this and to make the phone calls anyway. We ended up doing a bake sale. I wasn’t able to attend because I was working, but I did bake chocolate chip muffins (which was also a challenge for me since I am not at all comfortable or knowledgeable about baking). The muffins turned out great though and they all sold! There was a fair amount of food that didn’t sell and this was brought to school the next day and I worked with two other students at lunch to sell the rest of the food, which we were able to do. This was a great service project to be a part of, especially because I was able to work with a group of people, which was a change because group work is not something I do all that often.
Guitar:
This was something I always wanted to learn to do and the spring of 2014 I took the initiative to begin playing with my father's old guitar. I remained mostly self taught due to being unable to pay for lessons due to other expenses but I still learned a lot through online courses and my supervisor. This is an activity I will for sure be continuing in the future as it was a very nice pastime for me and I found it very relaxing.
Filmtography:
I began filming when I was inspired by my favorite horsey youtubers as well as by a teacher in my school who does amazing film work and editing. This was a challenge and was new to me as I had never worked with my camera in this way before, and my camera wasn't the best for taking videos, but I persevered regardless and it ended up having the same effect on me as photography; allowing me to find inspiration in everything. I wasn't able to spend the money to get a good editing program or good camera, but I foresee this happening in the future as it is an activity I would like to continue.
Biking:
I enjoyed biking a lot while I was doing it from June 2013 until November 2013. Not only was it a beneficial exercise for my knee but it was nice not having to rely on others for a drive to the barn. It also helped give me the feeling that I have been missing since being unable to run everyday because of my injury; I realized just how much I have missed exercising and I am glad I was able to make this realization that I need exercise in my life. Exercise helps me to de-stress and it is a good thing for me not only mentally but physically.
Newspaper:
A couple of people in my IB class work with the school's library newspaper and during the month of February they asked me to do a book review. I was hesitant at first because I have never written anything to be published but I finally agreed and was happy with the experience. It was wonderful to have been able to participate, and was a wonderful feeling when I saw my article in the finished issue.
Watering in the Greenhouse:
I have never been one for plants and greenhouses but when my IB class began a garden in the school's lobby I decided to try it out by going to the greenhouse at lunch hour and helping to water and care for the plants. This was done over the course of a few months and while I had a good time doing it with my classmates, it is not likely something I will continue to do in the future as plants are still not really my thing, but it was still a good experience and taught me what I do and don't like.
Battle of the Books:
The Battle of the Books was a great event! I was in a group however I had been the one to initiate the activity and had done the majority of the work as it was my initiative and desire to participate. I really enjoyed taking the time to read the book (Before I Die by Jenny Downham) due to the fact that I never have much time to read in IB, but taking the time to do so was definitely beneficial! I loved the book and was very enthusiastic to be able to work further with it. I introduce the book to my partner and when she agreed to read it, I began planning our arguments for the debate, as well as working with her to create the visual representation. Both were new experiences for me as I have never done real debates before and I don't create videos for representation, so both brought me out of my comfort zone, but were good experiences! This was definitely a larger activity than what I am used to undertaking, as normally the CAS activities that I do are more individual and don't have a deadline to work under, but I enjoyed this larger group project that I was able to initiate and do the majority of the planning and the work for. I feel like we gave a very good debate even though we didn't win, and I am very happy that I participates and felt much more confident doing the debate than I thought I would. It was a fantastic experience!
Links:
-Video footage that I took as well as videos of Parelli work.
http://www.magisto.com/album/fH94AwYGSQkOdXoG?type=copylink-Photography blog.
http://wordpress.com/read/blog/id/54480249/
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