CAS Essay

     

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.