Category: Jayani Jignesh Mehta

Hi, my name is Jayani Mehta and I am doing my IBDP in Fountainhead School, Surat. The subjects that I have chosen are Biology, Psychology and Business Management as my Higher Level subjects and Mathematics, Hindi B and English Language and Literature A as my Standard Level subjects. I would like to pursue Psychology as a major in college. One of my greatest talents is singing, it’s not just because I’m good at it but I love doing it. I used to involve myself in throwing games in athletics (shot put throw and discus throw) and also Volleyball, these are also my talents but I lack interest in them. I enjoy listening to music, which I am doing right now while writing about myself. I also like to paint at times, I am not great with drawing but just trying different colors is something I have fun doing. Although, I would like to improve my drawing skills to make great masterpieces and work on my vocals and polish them further.

Irrespective of my current skills and talents, I would like to involve myself in some sort of sport maybe tennis or badminton (they’re really fun!) and also learn guitar so that I can sing and play. Adventure is one thing that I am always curious about, I have participated in a few activities but there are always more and I would definitely want to take part in those. I am scared of it but I still want to do it.

Coming to what I think about life is of being a very happy go lucky person, I tend to oversee my sadness because I know they really won’t help me. I do things that I like and not care about what other’s think.

Activity	Component (C/A/S)	Duration (Start Date and End Date)	Learning Outcomes
Plantation at Vasnda	Activity and Service	18th July 2015	LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO4. Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience LO5. Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively LO6. Engagement with issues of global significance
Athletics Tournament	Activity	12th August 2015	LO1.Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO4. Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience
A day with Orphan Kids	Service	19th September 2015	LO1.Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO7. Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions
FS 3/3 – Organising Committee	Service	25th September 2015	LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO4. Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience LO5. Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively
Ride with Pride	Creativity and Service	6th March 2016	LO1.Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO3. Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience LO4. Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience LO5. Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively LO6. Engagement with issues of global significance LO7. Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Trip to Naggar	Activity and Creativity	27th December 2015 – 3rd January 2016 Preparation started from August	LO1.Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO3. Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience LO4. Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience LO5. Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively LO6. Engagement with issues of global significance
Global Social Entrepreneurship Summit	Creativity	25th Feb 2016 – 27th Feb 2016	LO1.Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO4. Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience LO5. Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively LO6. Engagement with issues of global significance LO7. Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions
Kabaddi Tournament	Activity	2nd August 2016 – 30th August 2016	LO1.Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO4. Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience
Lunch for Support Staff at School	Creativity and Service	25th April 2016	LO1.Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth LO2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills LO4. Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experience LO5. Demonstrate skills and benefits of working collaboratively

     

CAS has been one of the most amazing parts of IB, it was like a stress buster. The fact that IB promotes extracurricular activities with academics encouraged me to strive to work harder. The balance that it created in my life during the two years was great, I could enjoy both extracurriculars and academics both. I have frequently heard my friends from other schools complain about the workload at school, but I feel happy to have CAS which made the most important two years of school memorable.

Speaking of CAS, the first activity that comes to my mind is our CAS project. It was an event me and 2 of my friends organised. Although, it looked like any other event in town but the hard work and energy that it took is unforgettable. It is one experience which in which we had to do jobs like getting the government permission, editing the hoarding, etc. It marked our transition to adulthood in our society. CAS has given us such opportunities that has made us a better person. This event has made me realise the fact that things might look simple, but in the end you’d know that ‘it ain’t what I thought it was’.

I have been taught the IB learner profiles since I was in the 4th grade, but I never really cared about them until now. The learner profiles have moulded me into a better individual, CAS has opened the plethora of learnings in my life. I have learnt to become sensitive by caring for people who are less than me, I have fought my shyness by becoming a communicator and speaking my heart out. Suddenly, I could see that I have become principled after the activities, because even though they are extremely simple they teach us a lot.

During the past year while doing CAS, I’ve learnt a lot about me. Earlier, I thought that I am a very rigid person who is not very open to changes, however, in the process of completing the learning outcomes, I met so many people which helped me in adapting to changes quickly. One thing I learnt about others is, that they are equally struggling to achieve what I am and that I should respect them as much as what I want to be respected as.

These activities clearly helped me understand others better and know myself. There were times when it was difficult to manage CAS and academics but eventually it helped me manage my time in an efficient way and that’s a huge change that I see in myself. In particular, the learning outcome (LO 3) about initiating and planning was a little difficult to meet because it is pretty easy to tag along with friends and participate but to organise it yourself it a task.

I will take this experience forward and help others make this world a better place, it’s not only the huge problems but even the small ones are of true importance and my goal from now in life is to contribute as much as I can and participate in activities that make me a better person and also improve our world.

             

 

 

 

A few of my friends organised a Kabaddi Tournament in school, they followed the usual protocol by having the auctions for making the teams, etc. I participated in the tournament as Kabaddi seemed to be a very interesting game, also the Kabaddi World Cup endorsed frequently and it just made me feel like that I should participate. Fortunately, this opportunity helped me in achieve various learning outcomes for CAS.

 

I am not a very sporty person but somehow Kabaddi seemed fun, as it included using power and agility. I feel my strengths was my power and ability to catch hold of people, but, I wasn’t very quick, because of which it was difficult to raid. These things helped me focus on the first learning outcome. Similarly, during the activity I faced a few challenges, like working together as a team, or getting blamed for someone else’s mistakes but ultimately it was a learning process. Towards the end of the tournament, I tried to learn tricks to raid, which allowed me to score points for our team.

 

There were times during the matches, when it got extremely tiresome. However, I kept the spirit going on and always helped my team score points. This proved my commitments towards the activity, irrespective of disinterest in physical work, I continued to play which motivated me to involve in various other games.

Kabaddi is a group game and it is very important to play it as a team, to consider every player’s weaknesses and strengths. I always took steps which benefitted the entire team. There were times when I had to do things which other players asked me to do but that was for the greater good. This shows the significance of teamwork, the team can cover up for the weaknesses of one player and show it’s best. Kabaddi taught me a lot about working collaboratively.

I had a fun time playing the game and will definitely participate again if I get the opportunity too.

 

Global Social Entrepreneurship Summit is a platform for students to come up with sustainable ideas to fight common problems in the country and the world. Students from different schools not only from India come together to produce ideas. The basic concept was that random students share ideas and form a group and the rules are that not more than one person from a school can be in the same group.

 

My friends and I attended the summit, and we were all part of different groups, I was in a group with three guys from Jordan and a girl from Turkey.  

This summit helped me in cover various learning outcomes for CAS, and the learning outcomes achieved were:

Learning Outcomes 1 and 2 were achieved by involving in an activity which was very new to me. Working with people with entirely new ways of thinking and coming to conclusions. During the activity I realised that I was great with leadership skills, as I brought together the entire group. However, I think that I should improve my communication skills, because I used to keep ideas to myself and not putting it across. Speaking about the challenges faced during the activity, was to come up with an idea which was suitable. Also, before we formed groups, we were taken to Dharavi which is the biggest slum in India, I found myself a little uncomfortable by being there due to the extreme smells and dirt, however, towards the end we learnt a lot and also started to adapt with the place. One of the greatest skills I learnt was to make new friends, I am shy otherwise but it was fun meeting new people and learning things about their life and culture.

Learning Outcome 4, the activity required a lot of commitment, we were supposed to not only design a digital model but also make one in real. For a very long time we did not have an idea about what exactly should we do but we continued to brainstorm ideas to persevere our goal. Towards the end we were given an award for the most innovative project, the hard work which was put into the entire activity proved to be of great help.

Learning Outcome 5, this was very important as we were working in a group, all of use were from different countries and because we had to select one problem, it was difficult as everyone had different ideas because of the geographical differences. Once, we finalised on the idea, we split the work. This was extremely beneficial as work was done efficiently. Few of us were making the presentation and the others were helping with the model. Our project was called “Mai Mumbai”, mai in Arabic is water, we made a solar still to provide clean water.

 

The entire activity was based on providing clean water to the slums of Mumbai which lacked access to portable water, for which we designed a solar still, which is a very economical model. This helped me in achieving the 6th Learning Outcome, as we looked at sanitation and health as a issue of global significance. The model we made is as shown in the image below.

 

The activity required us to take ethical considerations, the model we made was supposed to not only economically sustainable but also environmentally. By considering the environment we ethically make a decision which just doesn’t look at profits. Another consideration was, when we went to Dharavi, we had to behave sensitively with people living there by not judging or passing comments about their lifestyle.

Every year we go for a 7-10 day trip from school during winters, this time we planned to go to Naggar, which is a town near Manali, Himachal Pradesh. Usually these trips are planned by the school however, this a few of my friends and I planned the trip with the help of one of the adventure tourism agency in India. During the trip we did a lot of activities such as skiing, trekking, yoga, etc.

This trip was not like the other trips because this trip did not start from the day we boarded the train but 2 months before that, since the time we started planning for the destination. The process was full of arguments and disagreements, however, the trip turned out to be one of the greatest, it not only was full of enjoyment but also helped me fulfill most of the CAS learning outcomes:

Learning Outcome 1 and 2, all the trips that we have taken from school have trekking, although, this one had a lot of steep and long uphill routes, which was very exhausting, this allowed me to develop my trekking skills. I have helped in organising a few events earlier, however, while we were planning for the trip a lot of disagreements were raised which lead to some problems however, because I had been a part of organising committees before, I knew how to deal with a few people, but an entire class was a huge task. So we looked for a few solutions and resolved the problem.

 

 

Learning Outcome 3, as we initiated the activity by taking up the task to plan the trip for our entire grade, which included, deciding on a place, booking the tickets and hotels, etc. However, this process was made easier for us as an adventure organisation “Connect with Himalaya’s” supported us.

Learning Outcome 4, this was one trip which required a lot of commitment throughout, even though people opposed with what we proposed, we did not stop working at new ideas. We tried to find balance and to give the best idea. Even during the trip, trekking for long distances or steep hills was difficult but I continued towards achieving my goal and completing the activity.

Learning Outcome 5, this was one of the most difficult part of the trip, the fact that everyone has a personal stand, and yet to come to the same decision is a task. So we were going for a morning walk, there were 2 ways that we could take, however, even though it was such a simple task people argued to go either left or right. Similarly, while planning the schedule for the entire trip there were conflicts but at the end we learned to compromise as that is the only thing that is going to help us all work efficiently. After, all the yays and nays, we finally came to a perfect conclusion and could enjoy our winter trip.

Learning Outcome 6, the trip was to a place which wasn’t a touristy place, so there were places which were only used by the locals. However, Connect with Himalayas took us to those places which weren’t open to the tourists like a nearby village. During these trips we were strictly asked to not litter and not insult/comment about the way people live. People in India are known for littering, littering is a very important global issue in India. By keeping in mind not to litter we added to making India clean.

Ride with Pride against breast cancer was a cycling event organised to fight against breast cancer which has been consuming many lives. We organised this event as our CAS project and we specifically chose cycling because it’s one thing that we really enjoy. We planned to conduct the event at a very small scale but we never got to know when did it become so big, we had approximately 300 people who supported our cause and joined us early in the morning with their cycles. Right now the event feels like success and everything ended in joy, but the behind the scenes of the event weren’t this pleasant. We faced tonnes of problems since day one but we took them as a challenge and solved them.

This entire event was a learning process, we failed and then strived to succeed, it was great and memorable. During this event we fulfilled all the learning outcomes for CAS:

Learning Outcome 1, I have always helped in organising events by being a part of the organising committee and just playing a small role and I’d never thought of organising such a big event, while doing the event I realised that it wasn’t really hard to communicate with people and I could really well explain them what we were doing and what we wanted from them, that was probably my strength and I did that quite well. In the last 2 days of the event we got our vent advertised by sending SMS and due to that I had to receive calls at all different times and I handled it quite well.

Learning Outcome 2, challenges were a part of the event all the time, they were either small or really big but they were always there, for instance, we just couldn’t name our event, we thought for maybe 3 days just about what would we call the event – this was a small challenge but soon we realised this is just the beginning. Soon, we had to go to different companies in the city to get sponsorship, that was the next challenge, to convince people so that they give us funds to run our event. We also needed permission from the government regarding this event which was tiring, we had to go to the commissioner’s office thrice just to get the permission letter signed and later going to different police stations explaining them what the entire event is all about. These were challenges that we knew we were about to face but the biggest that I faced was the fact that I could not balance school and the event, we had to skip school or leave early from school to get our work done, that did create an imbalance but we coped up.

The third learning outcome is anyway fulfilled as we pulled up this entire thing on our own and achieved what we wanted to.

Learning Outcome 4, this was probably the hardest – to commit to the activity once started and facing challenges that were least expected really drove me crazy, for 15 days I did not stay in home till 9-10 in the night just because I was busy with the event, and I was missing out on my revision, due to which I felt that I should give up on this. But, we all managed to keep it going and make it a huge success.

The 5th learning outcome was the most important one because it was the three of us who organised the event and definitely because we are different individuals and we think different there had to be differences of ideas, we faced a few conflicts but we finally thought that if we want our event to be conducted successfully we have to cooperate and compromise by considering everyone’s views.

Our event centered around the awareness of breast cancer which is a global issue faced by millions of women, we also will be donating our profits to cancer patients who cannot afford the treatment, this way we will be catering to the 6th learning outcome, also we need to be tight on our ethics by using the money in a good cause and not just use them for our own good, because we considered the ethics we also fulfilled the last learning outcome. We gave all the participants a paper which gave them information about breast cancer and how can they prevent it, this is how we could help people who were completely clueless or not well aware about the causes and treatment of breast cancer as well. 

 

 

 

I really enjoyed the activity as I did what I am good at which is sitting at the registration desk, and register every team and make the announcement. By the end, I was a little exhausted as it were just 2 of us taking care of the entire thing.

It wasn’t the first time that I was helping with the organisation of a registration desk but this was a different event – basketball. Also, I had to update the score sheets of the matches which I was doing for the first time and I had practically no idea of how basketball is scored or any basic rules so that was one challenge which I overcame throughout the event. During the event I felt like giving up cause I was really tired but I didn’t because I had committed towards the activity irrespective of how tiring it was. 

I was definitely not in my comfort zone, because waking up at 5 in the morning coming to the court and sitting there in extreme summer was really difficult, also managing the registration fees of each team and helping out other sectors of the organising committee at the same time was a challenge. During this event and too much work I also forgot that I had to eat.

What I learnt was that I could multitask and I shouldn’t think less of me, also while working I realised that not everyone works the way I do and I should collaborate to get the most out of task and successfully complete them, it was not a challenge to work with others but definitely to compromise with my work style was a little difficult but I didn’t get agitated by that but just adjusted and learnt their ways. 

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The aim of the activity was to spend some time with the orphan kids and entertain them and not make them feel that they have something less, so what we did was invite some of them to our school and did some activities with them like playing dumb charades or dodge ball, we danced, we made them paint and showed them movie and ended the day with treating them with good food.

I felt really great spending time with them, because they were so content of what they had irrespective of the fact that they have to live in an orphanage. They were always enthusiastic, what I earlier thought about orphan kids was that they might have really low self esteem but I was proved wrong, this again made me realise how incorrect my paradigms are. This activity was like a reality check, it made me feel that all I had was far more than what many people don’t have in their lives and I should be happy and content about it.

After spending the day with those kids I felt as if I’ve done something great and given them a new experience in their lives and added to their good memories, even though my responsibility was of a photographer for that day but I tried my best to conduct a few activities as well. Also, capturing their pretty smiles made everyone of us feel great because we were responsible for that.

In the beginning I felt a little out of my comfort zone because I wasn’t really open with them or danced with them, but soon I broke that barrier during the activity so that both the children and I could enjoy.

The most difficult part during this activity was that one of the children was really upset because of some reason and to make him smile was the most difficult task. He wouldn’t dance, sing, play or watch the movie but only cry. Ultimately, in the end all of us tried to cheer him and get him to express so that was on kind of an accomplishment.

I feel that this activity was just a one time thing, we just did it for a day and that’s the end. We never thought about the kids, even they would have wanted a commitment right? This is one thing I would wonder forever, and feel that we were a little unfair but we can definitely try spend more days with them.

    

 

I participated in an Athletics Tournament on 12th August 2015, the two events that I played were Shotput and Discus Throw. I stood 1st in Discus Throw and 2nd in Shotput. It wasn’t the first time that I participated in athletics, but it was the first time that I participated in Under 19 category. Due to which I had other people with whom I had to compete with. Usually it’s just 1 person that I need to compete with which makes victory easy, but this time I had to compete with 3 other girls and all of them were good.  We get three trials and the best measurement is selected, so what happened this year was that I was the first one to throw so I did not give my best because of which 2 others threw further than me, this happened because I was confident that the rest would not be able to do well. This surprised me, so the next 2 throws I got were the best I could do.

The challenges that I faced were to take out time from academics and work on my throwing skills, because I did not pay more attention to Shot put I couldn’t do well. During the entire process I tried to manage my time and tried learning new skills in discuss throw which really helped.

Through this activity I learnt that I should not be overconfident in whatever I do because that might not always lead me to victory. Also, I thought I that I required more practice because my performance wasn’t exactly my best.  To improve my performance I used to come early to school before the event which did help to a certain extent but could have been improved, by coming early I showed commitment by learning new techniques which helped me sharpen my skills.