mariacas

After two year of CAS I have come to the conclusion that the most important part of CAS is, at least to me, Service. Before IB I liked to think of myself as a person engaged in the preservation of our planet and working for improvements in others less fortunate living conditions. Yet I had nothing to show for it, except for being aware I did not do much about it. It is very likely that is was something that had to do with my age as well, I do however believe that I would not have been so active and gained so much if I had not gone IB. I am always excited going to donate blood, the short pain is nothing compared to the thought of helping, maybe even saving lives. I was really excited when I heard I was 0- meaning I could donate to every other blood group that exists. By donating blood I was suddenly actually doing something that really mattered, and it felt and feels wonderful. This might sound as an old cliché but helping is wonderful. I have gained many great new friends and memories by participating in charity work. The film festival was although fun, enjoyable and challenging, it was nothing like I had imagined charity work in the past. When I started in the “Festfixargruppen” I also got the opportunity to contribute to the cause not just being directed or drained. Working together with a common goal, with all kind of different people and yet everyone on the same level was really nice.

P.E has never really been my sport, but Activity in CAS is much more preferred. P.E is always very controlled and demands that students have a certain level of interest in a few decided sports, most sports which I dislike. With activity you can instead exercise in the way that suits you as an individual. You can suddenly choose to enjoy exercising instead of being forced into it. It is all very interesting really, personally I enjoy the freedom of being able to the longboard out whenever I want to (at least if it is summer), or simply start my xbox360 to play dance central for an hour or so. It is very liberating not having to be at a certain place at a certain time. I have also come to the understanding that even if jogging is boring it can be rather refreshing and is more fun if you have a companion with you. Something which goes for most kind of exercise; be it playing dance central, biking, swimming or jogging.

I have in general considered myself as a creative person but throughout the IB I have had the opportunity to be creative in ways that I before haven’t even considered. I draw a whole comic which I earlier had simply rejected the thought of since it would mean that I would have to draw the same characteristic several times, which for an as uneven drawer as me is rather hard. I also learned how to make adorable amigurumis and crochet quite skillfully something which has given me great joy in the form of joy in others, as I’ve given away all my finished projects either as Christmas or birthday presents. I learned to play bass at least at a beginner level and got the chance to enjoy playing music in a group of people which have always been a secret dream of mine. I have also become much more skilled in sewing something that has come to use several times fixing broken fabrics and loosened threads. Making clothing lasting longer, both for the enjoyment’s and my own wallet’s sake. I also make a beset with old leftover material and it turned out great and my friend loved it and almost drowned me in compliments. All in all my creative skills have given me much joy and been very useful, and probably will continue to be in the future.

After having a year of CAS I feel I'm really starting to understand why CAS exists and is a mandatory part of IB. I would kind of just tell everyone to do it. Everyone needs to exerciser, P.E at school is so very restricted and for many more of a drag. I'm happy to be able to turn my Xbox 360 and being able to exercise using a dance game or longboarding, biking, taking a walk, or twirling. I like being able to decide for myself and still exercise. Creative I've always been and it is really just to carry on as usual except now I think and reflect more about what I do. I think about what I can do to contribute to the world around me just by for example using recycled paper. And when it comes to volunteer work I've become so much more positive and now many of the things I'm really looking forward to is things I will do while receiving service. People are so grateful and the work is almost always fun even if it's simply cleaning. Because you're doing it for someone togethere to a common goal. For example will I be volunteer working at a film-week during October an I've been a excited for a long time. Just meeting the people is a great experience, everyone that does volunteer work seem to be so nice. I feel I'm really started growing as a person since the last school year begun and I feel I still have a lot to look forward to in the school year of 2011-2012.

 

Creativity: ~ 50h

Action: ~ 30h

Service: ~30h

Creativity

I was surprised to see that the Totoro turned out bigger than I thought it would be. Meaning that it would also demand more work to finish it. And the Totoro also turned out to be more of an challenge then I thought it would be, the pattern demand that I crochet in ways I really haven’t tried out before… And of course, new things are harder then things you’re used to. But still I’m happy to see how it’s coming along, it’s the biggest and most advanced thing I’ve done so far and. Yet, the amount of yarn used astonishes me, I have already used up two balls of yarn and it will probably be like 3-4 hours of chrocheting.

I'm also really happy to have finished the panda neko girl. Since I was really worried of failing since I didn't have a pattern I'm really pleased that the only thing that turned out bad was the fact that the hood became to small. This feels really great because it means that I can make my own patterns and not just work by instruction sort of... I also think she turned out really cute and similar to the amine character it is suppose to be.

This week was also the second time me and Åsa worked on my cos play costume, I think it's going forward pretty quickly but that might be because we're still working on the white and easier part. I'm afraid there will be a lot of hardships with the blue dress. But now we are finished with the top of the white dress. Even thought it was a time consuming job to sew buttons on it...

Creativity hours in total:~19 hours

 

 

 

Activity

Again... forgetting the baton...

Activity hours in total:~11 hours

 

 

Service

We're still having a hard time macing our schedules.

Service hours in total: ~11 hours and 45 minutes

 

 

Creativity

I was not able to go and put on eyes on my Luma amigurumi but I was able to finish a new one. This one I spent a lot of effort in since it's a Christmas gift (which is why I'm not posting any pictures right now) and so I work really hard to make it look as perfect as it can. The biggest problem with this amigurumi thought is that there is no pattern for it. And so I had to improvise, at least it turned out quite well, I hope that the receiver will be really happy.

Now we have also started sewing on my cosplay costume! We decided to do it on Sunday since one usually never get down to doing anything that day anyway. I'm really happy that Åsa is helping me out since I'm not the greatest person at sewing and by exchanging ideas and such we can make the best out of it.

Creativity hours in total:~16 hours

Activity

Well... once again I forgot the baton and haven't really had the time or energy to twirl at home. Things doesn't always go as planned.

Activity hours in total:~11 hours

Service

We have finally been able to have another flute lesson. Barbro was also refiled since she hadn't been able to work on by herself. It is a bit fun that she says how everything doesn't work and once she is suppose to how me how bad it goes, she does it perfectly. We also noticed that now she knows about half the book which is really great! Now that she knows G I were also able to introduce her to some Christmas carols that I encouraged her to practice until Christmas. I have a ulterior motive with this. The thing she has biggest problem with is high tunes, but she got really excited over the Christmas carols and so I told her to practice “Nu tändas tusen juleljus” which goes quite high. So if she practices this song until Christmas she most likely won't have as much problem with those high tunes, I also believe she will be able to play it perfectly by Christmas.

Service hours in total: ~11 hours and 45 minutes

Creativity

I have finally finished my amigurumi, now all that there's left is to give eyes to my creation.

Creativity hours in total:~11 hours

Activity

Well this week I forgot the baton and also was really busy so I have only had time for half an hour of twirling.

Activity hours in total:~11 and a half hour

Service

Once again we weren't able to have a flute lesson this week :(

Service hours in total: ~9 hours and 45 minutes

Creativity

After having made one amigurumi, I took on a bigger project. A Luma. It take some time, but once I start crocheting I just wanna keep going to see the finished result. I've become much faster thought! I've also realized that there is a lot of yarn being used to make even amigurumi. I mean I needed to buy more yarn in order to be able to finish the Luma. And earlier I've only used that yarn for the bunny amigurumi. But I'm going home next weekend and my mom have a lot of yarn that she hardly ever use, and so I'll be able to feel less guilty over buying unnecessary things. Because I know we have yarn at home and that's why it feels so stupid buying it. I should of course use the yarn already bought before buying more. That's like buying a bed, putting it in the addict and buying a new beds just because you felt like it. Over consuming is a big problem, and I want to be a part of the solution and not the problem.

Creativity hours in total:~9 and a half hour

Activity

Twirling, twirling twirling! I've found it very refreshing going outside to practice throws and stuff. You don't have to worry about disturbing anyone or hitting something. At this time of year it's of course quite cold but once you've gotten started it's not a problem. For me throws is also the coolest things you can do in twirling. So when Magda asked me if I wanted to learn how to do a throw and make a twirl, I was very excited. But it's a really hard thing to do! The baton have to spin in a certain speed for you to have a chance to catch it, you have to twirl a certain way and of course avoid having the baton landing on your head. And now it's so cold outside that I have to wear so much clothes outside that it's really hard to twirl, so I can't really go outside to practice anymore...

Activity hours in total:~11 hours

Service

This week we had to cancel our flute lessons since your schedules collided. Lately it's been much harder to find a time that suits us both and so I'm worried that we won't be able to have a lesson next week either.

Service hours in total: ~9 hours and 45 minutes

Creativity

Amigurumis, just learning the name took me a while, (it's originated from Japan). But I feel that this could be a quite useful skill. When I first heard about it I wasn't to excited about it and didn't think about it any more for a while. But later on I googled it and found some really cute amigurumis that I wanted to make. I'm probably going to make a couple as Christmas gifts this year, which I think is great idea. Because they will be quite original, I mean sure you can buy a teddy bear in any toy store. But can you buy a Togepi ? a cupcake? Or maybe a Totoro one? My point is that there are a lot of possibilities in amugurumi and you can make something special that isn't available in any store in Umeå. I'm also thinking of maybe selling some amigurumis to make money for charity. But since I'm not quite sure if I need any kind of permit ( or if anyone would actually like to buy one), I'm going to have to look in to it.

 

Creativity hours in total: ~8 hours

Activity

Twirling is a lot of fun and can at times be really hard. Lately I'm trying really hard to learn this new throw as well as some twirls and throw high. But it's really hard! I mean when I went outside to practice the new throw as well as high throws I dropped the baton more often then I caught it. And I think a lot of it is because I know how cool it looks when you throw it really high and so of course I try to do so. But... It doesn't work that way, I have to slowly get better and better. I can't just expect myself to be able to everything after just a couple of weeks. At the same time as I get kinda sad and disappointed in myself when noticing my limits, it also gives me a very realistic view of things. I'm not an expert in twirling, but I'm improving. And as long as I keep trying I will continue to improve. What I can't do one day, I might still not be able to do the day after, or the day after that. But I might be able to do it a week later. And that thought is what makes me carry on in most things. I might not be able to do it now, but as long as I keep trying, one day I will ^^

Activity hours in total: ~9 hours

Service

After a week without a flute lesson Barbro have improved a lot. She now mostly plays clear tunes which sounds really good. In the beginning it was a lot of technical things that needed fixing of course but now, she stands correct, she plays mostly really clean tunes and she catch on to new tunes really quickly. And now since she have become so much better it's time for me to prepare more for her lessons. Since it was pretty easy things in the beginning (for me at least) I usually only needed to prepare like 5-10 minutes the day before each lesson. But now, we have started on things that I don't remember as well as the absolute basic. And therefore I'm going to need more time preparing myself in order of being able to teach Barbro correctly. Because I don't want to teach her something I don't know how to do myself, that would be like conning her. Or, that's at least how I feel about it.

Service hours in total: ~9 hours and 45 minutes

Creativity

I'm really exited over this new comic! And I feel that I really like making different kinds of ”everyday mistakes” comics since it's that kind that people can relate to as well as laugh at. The absolutely best part about making a new comic is peoples reaction when they read it, how they giggle, laugh or smile. It just makes me happy and it feels like I have succeeded when that happens. That is also why having Antonia as my supervisor is so nice since she think most things are funny, and so I will always get a possessive response when I'm the most insecure about my comics.

Creativity hours in total: 2 hours

Activity

It feels like I have really improved in my twirling even thought it was just my second time. It also feels like a really nice diversification from studying since it's something I can actually improve in physically and not in a brainy way. It's like a brake for the brain as well as good training! It also feels good to get some exercise since I can no longer longboard or bike due to it being all snowy and icy!

We have now started making a program with according to Magda “easy” twirls. For me it's not so easy but a challenge to keep up with Magda's speed and technique. But it feels really great that I could choose the song for myself since now it's a song I like as well as a good speed for me. The song is called “Someone to love” by Fountains of Wayne. And it feels like a song I will never grow tired of and I really like how they sing stuff like “Don't give up!”, it really helps ^^

Activity hours in total: 5 hours

Service

I'm so happy for Barbro! She plays really clean tunes and not at all as raspy and sometimes false as she did in the beginning. We have changed our trainings to Mondays even though she won't be able to make it next week since she is working evening. But she have made so much improvement and she even managed to take the new tune completely clean on the first try!!!

And I'm really happy that I'm actually able to notice things she does wrong and ways for her to improve. She says herself that I'm a great help and it feels really good that this knowledge that I never really used before actually comes to use helping someone else doing something she wants. Because before the flute was just laying at home and I never really used it. Now I've revived my old skills and are using them in a new way that brings me a lot of joy. It's great to feel that I'm actually making a difference. It might not be a big difference but it still makes me happy.

 

Service hours in total: 5 hours and 15 minutes

Creativity

Haven't really had time to do what I thought so I ended up doing nothing ^^'

Creativity hours in total: 1 and 30 minutes

Activity

Twirling was super fun! I made so much progress over only an hour and I think it was really fun. It was also really hard and took a lot of effort standing with your arm straight out trying to spin the majorette stick, as well as standing on your toes etc, etc. It was really statical training! Now I just want a majorette stick of my own so the training will go smother and me and Magda will be able to do a duo twirling program.

Activity hours in total: 3 hours

Service

Barbro is still getting better quickly, she always practices at home and is starting to find her technique. It didn't go super good last time but I believe it's mostly because of her cold. Your lung capacity is always worse when you are sick, and instead I'm just excited over how well she'll play once she have gotten rid of the cold!

Service hours in total: 4 hours and 15 minutes

 

Creativity

I finally finished my comic! I have actually been working on it before while but felt that is was a lot to draw. It ended up being 28 squares and almost a full A3 paper! But still, I'm very proud and feel I how much I have evolved in this A3 paper. In the beginning I spent a very long time on each square but after a while it got easier and I think I found a more suitable technique for drawing comics. I also think I almost mastered drawing chains now after having drawn them in nine out of 28 pictures, that's like 32% or so!

After finishing the drawing I first felt relief and then I was really worried! Was it really funny? I hurried up and showed Antonia the finished version of it and got quite a few laughs from her. Success! I'll try to find a A3 scanner to put up the whole comic, but it might take a while.

 

Creativity hours in total: 1 and 30 minutes

 

Activity

I was really happy to find that Ronja was up for joining me for a walk. Walking is for me quite boring just for the sake of walking. But with a friend at your side it's suddenly a nice way of socializing! And other then that I really like the autumn, the colour of the leafs and the raw air. It feels so cozy and being outside suddenly makes thoughts about hot cocoa and a fireplace so much more alluring. And when you finally sit there by the fireplace it feels like the best place in the world.

Also I feel this kind of exercise is really good for me. Sure it's not to demanding but without any kind of exercise I can't fall asleep evening and won't feel to well. During the summer I always bike to school and back but when I'm home I usually don't find anything useful or fun to do outside. Therefore are these kind of walks also a good way for me to get some fresh air!

 

Activity hours in total: 2 hours

 

Service

The flute-lesson with Barbro feel like a super good way for both her and me to evolve both in the skill and personally. I feel I have learn her way of learning better now and can then teach her in a way more adapted to her way of learning. It also feels like I evolve in playing the flute, I feel more secure in instrument and I might play cleaner then I did before. The planning the lessons on before hand is probably a very good way for me to improve myself. I have to take responsibility and evaluate a number of things to be prepared for the lessons.

The lessons themselves are really fun and seeing her becoming better and trying so hard is making me feel like a proud parent... maybe.... I try to be very positive, or well I am without thinking of it. I give her encouragement when she develops and tries hard to help her with her weaknesses. I almost feel like I can't give her to much encouragement since she tries so hard and develops so fast. Also it was the lack of encouragement that make me stop taking flute lessons so long ago. And I wouldn't like that to happen to Barbro who have wanted to be able to play the flute for a long time!

 

Service hours in total: 3 hours and 15 minutes