~ Final Decisions ~

Hey guys,

No pretty formatting today, instead you get a mini rant because I am tired and really quite frustrated and annoyed and urgh, just no. This is turning out to be a pretty tiring day to be honest.

So we had the ASA assembly to get to know the activities we have coming up and apparently you have to have all three creativity, action and service activities running at the same time for every semester which really doesn't make sense to me because no-one can possibly have the time to do all three. Not when you're in your final year of IB and you want to seriously focus on studies.

I mean, I wanted to do SAISA Volleyball this semester along with my service activity but apparently I have to be doing a creative activity as well. But then if I do that I end up having only one free day in my whole week and I really can't afford to do that when I have to study for Finals. I can't do service all year round and alternate my Creativity and Action. What the hell, how does anyone manage that when you have a different activity on every single day plus a weekend?! This is really frustrating me because this is supposed to be my year you know? This is supposed to be the year that I juggle everything; sports, studies, service, but the schedule is just so flipping hectic and unorganized (depends on your choices) that it does not make sense to me. I guess this is what they mean by being balanced and not biting off more that you can chew but then again you shouldn't be offered activities that you know you can't do. Even if find a way to make it work and I choose to do all three CAS activities together then I have limited time in my day given that I have other things to consider (like taking my dog out for an hour daily) and tuition classes. I swear, there is just not enough time in the day -_-

*deep breath* Okay, so, my little rant is over.

Moving on, this is a quick update on what I've chosen for my final CAS activities...

Creativity: 

Drawing Club, continuing from last year to show commitment and perseverance and to further myself in weak areas and acknowledge strong areas. Also, I'm hoping to explore some of the ethical implication of art.

Action: 

Football, just playing after school for now until the season starts up. This will be developing new skills and hopefully learning new things and undertaking new challenges as I work with a new team.

Service: 

Alzheimer yes please let's do this! I just need to sign up next week and I don't want to put too much here because I have it in my earlier post.

So yupp, that's that. Sorry if this was more a rant than anything but it helps with venting frustrations. I'll catch up again with a more pleasant post once I've started on my activities. I need to go hunt around for my footy gear now and get some actual work done. 

So cya later little dudes.

Hang tight and stay awesome!

•:*:• Senior Year CAS •:*:•

•:*:• Senior Year CAS •:*:•

Hey internet peeps, I'm back! And guess what? That's right, it's around that time of year when I have to write up new CAS goals... and this time the goals are for Senior Year! Such excite, much wow (no sarcasm intended). I'm really quite excited to get a lot out of CAS this year so full steam ahead!

So yeah, first things first, if anyone knows where the quote on the top of the page came from ( "before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" ) well then, love and hugs and much kudos to you because yes, Captain America 2 : TWS was epic :D I reckon it was the best Marvel Phase 2 movie by far, but, I haven't watched Guardians of the Galaxy yet so I wouldn't know. I can already tell that this is going to be a great year aside from my ramblings :)

Now, uhhh, where was I with the CAS stuff? Oh yeah, I have to make my goals! Cool beans. To begin with, considering that I have a good idea of what I want to do for Action already, I think I'll write about that before moving onto Creativity and Service. Here goes...

*:•Action•:*

This year I really want to make the most of my opportunities with sports so I'm planning on trying out for at least one sport every season. I'm thinking of beginning with Volleyball, preferably SAISA, which is a sport I've never played competitively before. Still, I don't mind since I have casually played it with my friends and have enjoyed the sport. Hopefully this will give me a chance to undertake new challenges and develop new skills. I'd also like to take the opportunity to work with a brand new group of people which is an added bonus.

For the next season I was thinking of joining SAISA Football. I've played footy for as long as I can remember, since grade 6 I think which is a pretty long time since I've played it every year since I began. I'm hoping that if I make the team this year it'll help increase my awareness of strengths and areas for growth. It'll also be me showing perseverance and commitment toward the sport given how long I've played it for. I honestly can't wait for footy season because it is my one true love when it comes to sports <3 I normally play Defense, usually center or left, so I've already started getting my fitness up for it (after a lazy summer) by running with my dog an hour every day. I really really really want to make this team even if I don't make volleyball.

This could be me... if only I watched the World Cup :P

(And no, I don't watch FIFA, I only play footy)

The final season I will be playing will be Badminton again, hopefully, but that will depend on when exams are and how my studies are going given hat Badminton season is quite close to the final IB exams. I'd hate to trip up on my exams just because I was playing around so it'll have to be a well thought out decision. I'm also considering Basketball, a sport that I've played on and off, as well as Throwing in Track and Field but meh, I stopped playing them because I didn't like them so I don't want to go for them unless I can't make another team. So that's my backup plan...

*:•Service•:*

For service there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that I will sign up for Alzheimer's Association again. That group was the first activity I did for CAS here and was so far the only activity that really connected with me. I just felt so much for the Alzheimer's patients and connected with some them on a level that makes me feel compelled to go back and continue helping. It's hard for me to explain but this service activity is one that I looked forward to every week and I want to keep looking forward to it this year.

I think that this year in Alzheimer's will be a great year as Anjleen has asked me to help in planning and initiating activities for the group to do with the patients. As the only Sinhala speaking student of the group I feel like I could help get some of the Sinhala speaking ladies more involved in the activities and I hope to do so more and more this year. I'll also be directly tackling an issue of global importance given that Alzheimer's is a condition that every country in the world is faced with and really is something that people should me made more aware of.

Somewhat along those lines, I suspect that whilst working in this service group that I will come face to face with ethical implications specially in the way we present the condition and handle the patients. We have to keep in mind that the patients are people, with feeling, and not lose patients when they repeat the same things. I need to learn to gently steer conversation away from certain topics and refocus the Alzheimer patients attention on the task at hand. It's often hard for me to be patient because I need things done as soon as possible but at the same time this is a good challenge for me as it helps me identify areas for growth. It's a challenge I'm willing to take however given that it's a cause I'm passionate about.

*:•Creativity•:*

I've decided to sign up for creativity only when the Drawing Club rolls around toward the end of the year because I haven't really seen anything that catches my eye. However, if I do find an interesting looking group in the ASA choices I might just sign up. I guess you'll have to wait and see what happens. Whatever I do end up choosing, specially if it's a drawing initiative then I want to focus on exploring issues of global importance and their ethical implications through the use of art. You know, if it's possible. I guess I'll have to just update/edit creativity as it goes along :)

So little peeps, it's time for me to go for my run and do some (more) bio -_- I guess I'll catch you next time so hang tight, stay awesome and heil hydra ;)

(I swear if you get these references I will love you forever <3 )