Final Reflection Including the Learning Outcomes

Right at the beginning of the IB, most of the people from my year, and myself included, had no idea how we were going to complete 50 hours of each part of the CAS program, but I must say that I truly enjoyed most of the activities I chose to do for the CAS program and time flew by. My favorite activities during the completion of the CAS hours required for the IB program include the trip to Braga, which I think was a life-changing experience, and all the hours of football that made me love this sport and which I remember as some of the happiest hours of my life. I can honestly say that I don't feel the same now that I stopped playing, and I am going to try really hard to start playing again once I am in university.

When reading through the learning outcomes of the CAS program, I must say that I find recognition in each of the points. When I read "increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas of growth", I immediately think of the trip to Braga where we literally spent 8 hours just throwing cement on the walls, and where I honestly felt like there was no end to it. My arms hurt, my hands were tired, my back was aching, and conversation material had run out. The only thing that kept me goings were the frequent visits of the people who were to be the new owners of the house we were building, and the gratefulness that we could see in the eyes. They said 'thank you' over and over again, and it must have been this that kept me going because I so badly wanted to give everything I had to give these people a brighter future. This also links to another learning outcome, "engaged with issues of global importance", which in this case included poverty and in a way caring for the elderly, since the people that were going to live in this house were definitely older than 70, yet full of energy.

Other activities where I became aware of my own strengths and areas of growth include football. At the beginning of the IB, I played a lot worse than I do now, and I am proud to say that I went from being a sub that was used to warm the benches to the captain of the Dominic's team, and later of the Julians B team. This all was due to willpower and perseverance, because this is something I wanted so badly; to be able to score, and to make a difference to the team. As I started to play better, I started to feel more and more motivated towards improving myself, and practiced not only after school at football training, but also at home, and in every lunchtime and break. In my football season at Dominic's, I scored a total of 21 goals in approximately 16 matches, which is something I am very proud of.

When I changed to St. Julians, I felt like I had to start all over again, since this team was more skillful, and I was no longer a centre-mid which is the position in which I felt like I could take control and have a big influence on the final score. However, I managed to become very engaged within the team and I eventually felt comfortable and accepted, which motivated me to try harder and play my absolute best. This is the area in which I "showed perseverance and commitment in my activities", as well as in most of the other activities I did, but this one definitely jumps out.

When reading the learning outcome "developed new skills", I immediately think of all those hours spent on the sideline of the football pitch taking photos, and initially having no idea what each button on my camera was for. My photos were blurry, unfocussed, and I was anything but satisfied. By simply trying out new things, I managed to discover more and more things that helped me be more successful in my photography, and all the positive feedback made all this time spent worthwhile. I am happy to have developed these new skills because they will be useful for the rest of my life, and especially this summer, where I am ready to take advantage of my work-less holidays to go all over the place and take as many pictures as possible. Other examples where I developed new skills include the cement making and applying it to the wall, football skills, new songs on the guitar, and face painting.

One of the things that made all these activities worthwhile includes the fact that most of the activities were done with others. When I didn't know how to do a certain thing, there was always someone their, and I can definitely say that I have "collaboratively worked with others" in order to complete almost every single task. I wouldn't have improved my football skills if it wasn't for the rest of the team, my horse riding teacher,  the rest of the team building a house in Braga, my friends while painting and face painting, and the Duke of Edinburgh, where I really needed my friends to push me further because I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the afternoon. This was definitely one of the "new challenges I undertook", because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this and that this would be something where I'd learn skills that would help me for the rest of my life, such as making a fire, and cooking without basically any equipment.

Especially within the football tournament in Dominic's, I can say that I have "initiated and planned plenty of activities", since I was the captain, and since I wanted to do everything to improve our skills as a team in order to obtain a satisfactory place in the tournament in Barcelona. I planned lunchtime trainings, I planned meetings, I planned social activities in which we got to know each other better in terms of personalities (which I believe is vital in a successful team), and I planned other things such as the hoodies and neon-yellow socks. The thing that makes me very happy is that I can tell that these activities made a very big difference, because we improved so much throughout the year, individually and as a team.

"Considering the ethical implications of our actions" is something that happened while writing the reflections in particular. The trip to Braga got me very enthusiastic about the whole concept of helping out the less fortunate in general, and really got me motivated to do more of such things in the nearby future. Other activities where I came into contact with the implications of ethics include the football pitch, in terms of the FairPlay and teamwork.

As a whole, I am glad that the CAS program could help me to develop as a person in many different aspects, and that it has been something where I could explore my interests and improve in many different ways. There are many other things that I would have liked to do, such as complete the Duke of Edinburgh, but due to a lack of time since I changed schools and had a lot of catching up to do for every single subject, I couldn't. If I hadn't changed, I would have definitely tried to go for the silver and golden award. However, I am happy with the opportunities that I have been given in both schools, and I believe that I have obtained skills that will help me for the rest of my life, which is something that I am very grateful for.

~ Sietske Imming

Final Table of Hours

	Activity	Supervisor	Supervisor’s Contact	Number of Hours	Total Number of Hours
Creativity	Yearbook Page	Ms Joana Carvalho	j.carvalho@dominics-int.org	4	55
Creativity	Face painting	Deborah Smale	91300077	4
Creativity	Painting the Inside of a House	Wieneke van der Vrede	frankandwien@gmail.com	6
Creativity	Helping Out in Dutch Lessons	Arine Boutkan	917998566	4
Creativity	Dance Class in Algarve	Mr Richard Dunn	rdunn@stjulians.com	2
Creativity	Photographing Football Tournament	Mr Richard Dunn	rdunn@stjulians.com	10
Creativity	Singing with Two Friends	Natascha Adams	919501659	2
Creativity	Creating Posters for Events	Arine Boutkan	917998566	17
Creativity	Photographing Basketball Games	Harm Imming	919914330	6
Action	Football Tournament Barcelona	Mr Steve Blackburn	s.blackburn@dominics-int.org	80	272
Action	Football Training	Mr Steve Blackburn	s.blackburn@dominics-int.org	60
Action	Horseriding	Jitte Boutens	911101233	50
Action	Duke of Edinburgh	Ms Christina Figueiredo	919238587	25
Action	Football Tournament Julians	Mr Richard Dunn	rdunn@stjulians.com	50
Action	Rollerblading	Natascha Adams	919501659	2
Service	UN Day	Arine Boutkan	917998566	5	206
Service	Christmas Decorations	Ellie Hanssen	917263123	2
Service	Habitat for Humanity	Ms Christina Figeuiredo	919238587	63
Service	Prefecting	Ms Anna Garrana	a.garrana@dominics-int.org	30
Service	Taking care of horse of dad’s colleague	Jitte Boutens	911101233	104
Total				533