June 11, 2019

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

7: Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

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This beach clean up was a very eye opening experience for me. When we first arrived, the beach looked decently clean, but if you looked closer, there was so much trash. I did not expect to fill as many trash bags as we did that day. We had to work collaboratively to collect all the trash. It was a very tiring job but because we were with our friends, we could still enjoy the whole process. I cannot imagine myself doing this everyday; props to all those people who help clean our beaches. This helps remind me to be aware of the things I buy and throw away. I think that many of us are used to buying and throwing plastic away that we're not aware of the waste we consume. A reminder like this can help us all get used to being more conscious of our trash.

April 28, May 5, 2019

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

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I was very excited to join this workshop. Brian Poniatowski is the season 7 winner of the Polish version of the show, So You Think You Can Dance, known as You Can Dance: Po prostu tańcz! I have never attended a jazz class before, so this was my first time. The choreography he taught had a really fun personality, which also reflected his own. I put so much effort, I was really sore after both sessions. From him, I learned to let go more in dancing. I also learned that even if you don't have the basics, you should be able to express yourself through your movement because that is what dance is all about. Apart from technical dance advice, he gave us really good life advice—that being confident is what helps you grow. Confidence is not what everyone haves, and being confident in what you do lets people look up to you, even though you have no idea what you're doing. You can even be confident in making mistakes, because that's where you can learn to not make those same mistakes again.

March 24–25, 2019

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaborative

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I have been attending the World Scholar's Cup since 7th grade. There are many different sections to this competition: team debate, collaborative writing, an exam, another exam, and a talent show. I am not really a fan of debate because I have trouble forming my thoughts and expressing them into words. I go any way because I love the overall experience, and it would be a good experience for me to force myself to get out there and talk. I really like these events because we get to bond with our teammates and meet new people. There is a sense of family, because we are all attending to do the same thing—have fun. 

January 27, 2019

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

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I've never been to a contemporary class, and this was my very first one. I had the wonderful opportunity to learn from a former student of the dance studio I go to, who is also a former dancer of the Alvin Ailey company and current dancer of Elisa Monte Dance in New York, Sai Rodboon. She inspires me because she is a very beautiful dancer, and I am very proud to be dancing at the same studio she danced in. The two dance companies she danced with are very famous for their contemporary choreography, so I was interested to see what that was like, so I joined my first ever contemporary class. It was very challenging because although it isn't very different from ballet, it is difficult for a ballet dancer to break free from the rigid posture and positions that ballet requires in order to dance other types of dance. After this class, I felt more freedom of movement, and I felt renewed because of the new experience.

December 2018 – January 2019

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

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When I started teaching ballet as an after school activity, I didn't know what to do. I did my best to handle the class as well as I could, but being a teacher was harder than expected. Over the semester, I believe that I have grown more and more as a teacher, but I still wanted to learn more.

When my dance school was opening a class to learn the syllabus for our teaching system and how to teach ballet, I immediately seized the opportunity. I'm glad I did, because I learned that in teaching children, because I have had a lot of previous experience in my life, I can't assume that things that I already know as a habit would be things that they know too. This is easier said than done, because you have to consciously acknowledge that, and teach them from the basics, especially for beginner ballet students. From this teacher's class and as a teacher, I learned that I would have to put myself in their situation and pretend that I knew nothing—this way I would be able recognise what they don't know and teach them.

December 18, 2018

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

7: Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

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Going to the Mercy Center made me realise (more strongly) that there are many underprivileged children who deserve everything good in the world. We exercised with them in the morning, we coloured colouring pages with them, and we also played games. We played tag, football, and a traditional Thai game. I was able to talk to them, learn their favourite colours, favourite animal, and teach them something new, too. The children that I spent time with were so naughty, yet so innocent and sweet, it was hard to believe that they were being cheeky in the first place. They made me realise that there are still many good things in the world worth being happy and grateful for. Leaving there made me really sad but glad at the same time because we were able to put smiles on their faces that day.

December 8, 2018

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

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The owner of our ballet school had asked my friends and I to perform for another branch of the same school for Christmas. She had asked us to dance the choreography (neoclassical duet) that Leonard Šimek had choreographed for us, and also dance a new choreography with a total of 6 dancers. We had a very limited time to work on this because all of the dancers had varying schedules, and the teacher that was to work with us also had other classes to teach. We spent a maximum of 2 hours on this choreography, and we had 2 more to rehearse. Because there were 6 dancers, the challenge was to have everyone look and move at the same time—including the same arm levels, legs, and the timing with the music. If these weren't coherent, the dance would look very messy and we would look unprepared. We rehearsed at the branch with the students we were performing with. The studio was smaller than the usual size we danced in, but we had to learn to work with that. The next day, we had to arrive at the venue early in the morning to rehearse the placement and transitions onstage. I was very proud of the performance because we all looked very cohesive and put in effort to be on that stage.

November 17, 2018

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

7: Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

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To be honest, I have never been to a garbage clean up before. I didn't know what it was like, except that it is a really tiring job that required you to wear gloves because you could be handling hazardous things. To summarise, this was a new experience for me. We went to the end of a river to clean up the garbage there. We found shoes, bottles of soap, broken glass bottles, and lots and lots of styrofoam. It involved a lot of collaboration because people had to get closer to the water to pick up some of the garbage; the slope going down to the water level was very steep. Those people would then pass it on to others who were organising the garbage into different black bags. Even though we didn't know everyone in our group, we all ended up taking different responsibilities to help each other clean up the garbage. I think we worked really well together. Participating in this clean up made me realise the harm the humans are causing on this world. There was so much garbage polluting that one small area, even 20 high school students had trouble cleaning up barely half of the garbage there. Because of this, I have learned to be more environmentally aware of the amount of plastic I use, and the garbage that I throw.

November 17, 2018

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

7: Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

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Joining my first ever ServICE conference opened my mind to global issues, ways to solve them and contribute, and new people. It was a really fun experience because I was able to learn new things and connect with other people with interesting ideas.

I went to the mangrove planting activity while at the conference. While I was there, I learned that the dense roots of mangroves could help trap sediments flowing down from the land into the sea, helping with erosion. I met some new friends in that group, and we planted mangrove saplings into the earth together. It was really hot and we all got dirty from the soil but it was alright. After this experience, I felt really good knowing that I contributed to our Earth in some way, even if it was as small as planting mangrove saplings.

November 13, 2018

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

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Leonard Šimek is a former dancer of the Slovakian National Ballet and the Polish National Ballet, and winner of many International Dance Organisation awards. I have worked with him earlier this year when he choreographed a neoclassical duet for a dance competition my friend and I were competing in, so I was really excited to work with him again. Joining this workshop was to experience how professional classes are run, and it gives the feel of dancing at a professional dance company, which most of students at our studio do not have the opportunity for. The class was challenging and fun, and we learned a lot of different combinations that helped me understand more about the movement of dance, which helps me grow into a better dancer.

November 7, 2018

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

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My friends and I decided to compete in the So You Think You Can Dance Competition in AISAA league at KIS International School. We competed in the upper secondary division. Our team had varying schedules, so it was very difficult to come together as a team to learn the choreography. The challenge was that there were many other teams competing too, and a lot of them have been rehearsing choreography since the beginning of the school year. The type of dance was also not really my style, as I don't have much experience in dancing this type. In a way, our team also made the choreography to be a little more complicated that what we were all used to (it was very fast), in an attempt to aim towards higher standard so our team wouldn't look too unprepared in the competition. But because of this, we ended up looking unprepared because we made a lot of visible mistakes onstage and didn't look as confident as we could have. I think that next time we choreograph a dance, we should spend a little more time, at least a month before to rehearse. This way we can do our best in these performances and feel confident in the effort that was put in, even though we didn't win.

November 1, 2018

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

 

I've been on our school's football team for many years now, since 6th grade. It is my favourite sport. This particular game was the most important one, because it was my last game for the season, as my schedule was filled with other things. This game was held right after coming back from our midterm break in October, and I was not very fit as I was travelling overseas. I was very tired coming back to play in the hot sun, and as a midfielder it was very challenging to continue running throughout the whole game. One thing that really stood out to me from this experience is that we need to take a break sometimes, and learn to step back and rest even though we feel the need to keep going, because sometimes that's what is best for you.

September 29, 2018

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

 

My friends and I were invited to represent our school to dance at the first Thailand Art Talent held at River City mall. We had to come up with a choreography a few weeks before, and spend our free time rehearsing the choreography. This was the first Thailand Art Talent—it was organised to showcase students' artwork and other art related talents such as music, singing, and dance. We were really nervous before performing, and spent the time leading up  to the performance going over the choreography and transitions in our heads. I think that this was a really fun experience because it was really interesting seeing other people showcasing their talent through art, music, and singing. It was also exciting to showcase our talent through dance, because we were the only dance group, and there were many people from other schools and mall visitors viewing the art exhibit.

August 21, 2018

1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

5: Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively

 

My friends and I were invited to dance during the interval between the sets at our school volleyball game. Because we were informed of this very late, we had to plan and act quickly. We spent three days to put together a choreography to 3 different songs, and they could be no more than 3 minutes long. It was a very challenging process because every single member of the group had to be responsible to learn the choreography together. Apart from the choreography, we had to practice the our different transitions and formations between songs. We had very little time to practice together and to make our dance look as clean and coherent as possible. I think we did a really good job in spite of the limited time we were given to prepare.