Unlike me, my little sister attends a local middle school near our house. Her teacher wanted to create an outside-of-class service project with the help of her students and their families, asking everyone to choreograph and film our own dances to a section of a song. The song is a Chinese song thanking frontline workers for their service during the pandemic.

Our family worked together to choreograph a 4 eight-count dance. This process actually took longer than anticipated; it took a lot of trial and error to come up with cohesive dance moves.

After establishing the choreography, we began to rehearse. The rehearsing included setting up the camera and our positions. The location of our video was the front of my parents’ clinic. There was not a lot of room for the camera to be set up on the floor, so it had to be standing on the couch. The couch was lopsided, which presented many problems throughout filming. This problem was addressed by placing a wooden stool upside-down so that there would be a sturdier surface for the tripod to stand on.

Lastly, having our video clip filmed, the last step is to make the video! I taught my sister how to cut out the excess beginning and end, rotate the video until it is not tilted, and add the background music. I was surprised how she was able to pick up these skills quickly. So, to enhance the video further, we drew a graphic that said, “Go Taiwan!” in Chinese.

Here was the final video with all of my sister’s classmates and family members! (We are at 1:56 and 4:58)

Throughout this year for CAS, I have done several different experiences such as for:

Creativity:

• Filming/editing videos
• Singing
• Cooking
• Dancing
• Drawing
• StuCo Campaign
• Raising Awareness for Clubs (KASPER, MUN)

Activity:

• Taekwondo
• Sports Day
• Dancing

Service:

• Tutoring Physics
• Volunteering at the school library
• Raising Awareness for Clubs (KASPER, MUN)
• Bake Sale

I realized that through all of these CAS experiences and projects, I have learned a lot about my passions and organizing time to carry out these tasks.

Singing is something that I love to do in my own free time by myself. However, I decided to be a risk-taker and audition for Cadenza Confidence in this skill and having the courage to perform in front of people was something I really struggled with before I was determined to put myself out there. During Cadenza performances, and even auditions, my voice would reflect my nervousness. This is something that I have been working on. I learned that this process is something that takes time and experience. Therefore, I try to work towards this goal of being comfortable both off and on stage. I was able to witness my own growth in this specific experience through CAS. This was one of the main ways I tackled the learning outcome of “[demonstrating] that challenges have been undertaken, [and] developing new skills in the process.”

As for organizing time and planning, my CAS project for STMUN is the biggest project I have been involved in for this year. This project has been teaching me how “to initiate and plan a CAS experience” and also “the benefits of working collaboratively.” From contacting IIS to communicating with KAS students I recognized how important it is for a team to collaborate. Simply coordinating dates for applications was difficult because everybody has different schedules. Moreover, being a teammate means expressing ideas or any concerns I have. It is obvious that being a communicator is extremely important in a team setting. This is my first year in the MUN executive team, so I focused on being open-minded. I always send in my first draft of infographics to the team for any critiques. By being responsible for my tasks, I am able to lift some weight off of my other team members, building trust among all of us.

Another service activity that helped me achieve a learning outcome is tutoring Physics to 8th grade students. This experience specifically taught me “commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences.” One of the obstacles I faced at the first meeting was not being able to fully convey my answer to their questions because I didn’t know my students were not as fluent in English. To improve myself as a tutor, I took home their textbook and tried to grasp the concept better. I found myself being able to translate my thoughts faster to Chinese and communicate in a clearer manner. Since they had upcoming multiple tests, I made a study guide for them. As I made these guides, I tried to break down the complex ideas into short, understandable English phrases. This way, they are still learning the English terms, but in a way that they are able to absorb more information. I actually filmed an explanation video the weekend before their Physics final. Through this experience, I really strived to be knowledgeable and caring to enhance the students’ education.

My CAS experience in activity helped me “identify [my] own strengths and develop areas for growth.” Throughout the school year, I have been going to Taekwondo classes and competitions. My goal for this 18-month experience was to be as reflective as possible to improve myself as an athlete. It is very easy to feel discouraged after going through a bad training session or a bad competition. However, I would try to perceive it as a learning experience. After these “bad” experiences, I would go back to practice what I had previously failed at. I would do my best to analyze the problem and then think of a realistic solution. This skill I have gained with my sport has also helped me in my everyday life.

Overall, my CAS experiences have definitely supported me as a learner as connected to the different learning outcomes. I am able to balance the duration of these experiences.

One thing I want to improve on for CAS in general is balance of the three strands.

One way I want to increase my service experiences is through a CAS project of creating educational posts for KASPER’s Instagram. I enjoyed my spontaneous CAS experience in transforming articles into posts, but I would like to directly focus on creating these posts. This can help me with the learning outcome of “[demonstrating] engagement with issues of global significance.” I would definitely sign up for direct service when we go back to school, because those can help me achieve the learning outcome of “[recognizing] and [considering] the ethics of choices and actions.”

For activities, I can play JustDance, follow workout routines, run, and practice mindfulness (yoga). I will still practice Taekwondo regularly with assignments from my coach.

I hope to develop myself as a balanced individual and to further meet the learning outcomes.