THE FINAL REFLECTION

To write this final piece, I decided to go through my CAS blog and remind myself of all the things that I should include here. I have to say, that such retrospection moved me a little. Don’t get me wrong – I am really happy with closing this stage of my life and finishing IBDP and moving forward, because I’m this kind of person who likes changes. But while looking at all those paragraphs and photos from my blog, I realized that past 2 years were filled with things that are worth remembering; things that shaped my character and brought joy into my life.

My CAS experience was really diverse, as I decided to do a lot of random things instead of going for just three different ones. I don’t regret this decision, because it let me develop myself in many different ways and gain a wide range of experiences.

Creative part of CAS was in my case the most consistent one. For the past 2 years I was practising singing almost every day and it made me realize how much I love and cherish it. Except for pure singing practice (that I’ve actually been familiar with for about 10 years now) I felt empowered enough to do things like setting up a band called ‘Hiraeth’, opening my YouTube channel or even taking part in a XVI British Song Festival in Gliwice. All of the above helped me in developing my singing skills, confidence and empowered me even in my everyday life; because if I can stand in front of all these people and sing my heart out, then is there anything I couldn’t do?

When it comes to activity, there’s a huge improvement! At the very beginning I used to think ‘No way. I’m not a sports person, don’t make me do it.’ I started running a little bit and it turned out to be refreshing and fun, but it wasn’t quite ‘that’. Later on I started my dance workouts and these were also nice but not challenging enough for me not to give up after 2 months. Throughout my CAS journey I was also taking up random activities like walks with my dog, practising American football with my boyfriend or sightseeing. And finally – I started going to the gym. It turned out to be amazing. Weight lifting and cardio helped me in developing my body and mind, I’ve realized that I have incredible strength in me and seeing all the results during exercises (and while looking in the mirror) really encouraged me to do more and more. Now I totally love gym and I promise not to stop going there even after I finish IB.

Service was the most diverse part of my CAS experience. Aside from regular participation in Model United Nations conferences (and even organising one of them in Katowice), fundraising for the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity once a year and regularly providing a poor man from Stawowa Street with small sum of money, I was also participating in such events as IB Open Day (in 2017 and 2018), Teachers’ Day and Project Travel Conference. All of the above taught me kindness, compassion, teamwork, diplomatic skills and humanity. I had a chance to help people in need, to attempt to solve some global issues and to spread the importance of education among younger generation and I am really thankful for it.

All in all, CAS at first seemed to me as something tiring and time-consuming, but it turned out that when you’re doing what you like and see some purpose in it – CAS becomes a pleasure. I will forever be happy with the development and improvement of my character that occurred thanks to CAS.

And thank you Mrs. Nowak, for always supporting me and reminding me about all the deadlines (because we all know I have such a bad memory). You’re great!

Activity

I keep on going to the gym, at least 3 times a week and I keep loving it more and more everyday.
The way my body changed over the past 2 month is amazing, but the way my mind changed is even better. Today was the first time that I exercised in a tight top instead of a baggy T-shirt and I've always been too self-conscoius to do so. But now? I finally did it and it felt quite OK.
Well, I look better, I feel better and my confidence finally is at the acceptable level.
I can see the improvement I've made in the technique and length of my exercises and the satisfaction is real!
I know there's a long road ahead, but I am more excited than scared to walk it :)

Service

On 23rd of March, there was a national women's strike organized in Poland. It was called 'Black Friday'. Thousands of people gathered in major Polish cities to protest passing the law banning abortion. As a young woman and a feminist I believe in the free choice and conscious family planning, therefore I am completely against our government passing the new law.
5 minutes before the start of the stike, I showed up on the Katowice's market with a bunch of my schoolmates. At the beginning I felt a little weird, because I don't usually go to any kind of strikes or demonstrations. But this case seemed to be so important, that I decided to go, because the more of us strikes - the greater chance that they will actually listen.
The strike turned out to be a great experience and people there were incredibly engaged and really nice for others. I even took courage to make a short speech and people loved it!! I was so happy, because public speaking isn't something I do very often. Yet the whole experience inspired me and made me think that maybe diplomacy and fighting for social changes that I believe in, should be my future job.
The whole atmosphere really empowered me as a woman and from what I saw, it wasn't only my case. My classmate, Karolina, who at the beginning of the strike said 'oh I'm to ashamed to shout all the slogans, I never do that', was shouting her heart out after a couple minutes.
All in all, I am quite proud of myself and the people that went there, because with a little cost we actually made a difference and showed the strength of women in our country.

Creativity

There are several weird trend on social medias at the moment; slimes, 100 coats of nail polish, scrubbing popcorn ceiling and…. Making face masks! My skin care routine is quite extended due to my problematic type of skin, but I thought that one more face mask now and then won’t hurt me, right? The big advantage of homemade face masks is that you have full control over the ingredients and you can adjust the amounts to the effect you want to achieve, in contrary to the drug store face masks. Also, you can use recipes or create your custom mixtures and it just seems to be so much fun that I had to give it a try. I began with reading a little about the properties of different ingredients on your skin (like honey, charcoal, herbs, lemon juice, etc.) and how to mix them. From theory I went to practice and I discovered the perfect face mask for my skin! It helps to clear my acne and uniform my complexion. It is all invented by me (with a little inspiration from Instagram) and here is the recipe:

1. Brew herbs in a bowl. (I used pansy, scratch, camomile and nettle)
2. While it’s still hot, add a handful of oatmeal and stir until the oatmeal bloats.
3. Add a spoon of granulated charcoal, a spoon of honey and a little bit of lemon juice.
4. Wait until it’s no longer hot and put a thick layer on the whole face, neck and cleavage.
5. Leave for 20 minutes and wash off with warm water.

It is magical and I can’t wait to try new recipes (and invent mine) next month.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.
2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

Activity

If a couple months ago I told myself that I will be addicted to the gym, I would probably laugh for like two hours. Little did I know. This month I have been training 4 to 5 times per week and I can’t stop. I combine cardio, intervals, weight training and stretching and I keep on learning new techniques. I improve the quality of my training by learning more about it and talking with my friend who also love gym.

Physical changes of my body are really satisfying and good for my self-confidence, because I finally start to like what I see in the mirror. But my mental state after every training is definitely my favourite thing – gym is like a little therapy. I am less stressed, happier, calmer and honestly, panic attacks don’t occur as often as before I started my journey with gym.

I’m so happy that I finally found something for myself and I seriously feel that I might be a gym freak for the rest of my life.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Identify own strenghts and areas for growth
2. Demonstrate that the challenges have been undertaken and developing new skills in the process.
3. Demonstrate how to initiate and plan CAS experience
4. Show commitment and perservance in CAS experience