I have initiated my first CAS Experience last week, which is to increase my vertical jump through customizing my own workout plan, I’m currently working on my Investigation Document and Planning, this Investigation document includes my goals, my research, as well as the safety evaluations, I will also be recording my jumping data on this document. Throughout my research, I worked with my Gym Coach, who is verified with various certificate, he taught me some basic information about Vertical Training, Throughout my research, I realized that Training for Vertical and Normal Weight Training are very different, for example, vertical is very dependent on speed and muscle strength, however, often time, normal weight training only increases the strength, but ignored the speed, in order to make my jump more explosive, what I need to do is to also train for speed, such as squat jump, which requires faster contractions of the muscle groups. My research gave me a better direction on how I should plan for my workout schedule, now I know I need to train for these two areas, next I need to learn how to schedule these two things without conflicting each other.

I measured my first Vertical Jump this week, I reached to 311 cm, and my standing reach is 234, which means my max vertical is around 76-77 cm (30 inches). I’m planning to finish Investigation phase by this week (September, 20) and Start Training on Monday (September 21, 2020)

My name is Anderson Chen, and I am currently a junior studying at Kaohsiung American School based in Taiwan. I’m looking forward to the following year, because I’m given the opportunity to focus on what I love to do!

Thanks to my parent, the CAS strands (Creativity, Activity, Service) were well modeled in my youth, they always support my passion, I remember saying I wanted to play in Argentina National Soccer Team when I was 10 so my mom found a former Chinese National Team member to coach our soccer team. I’m really grateful for what they’ve done to build my strengths today, I’ve still got a lot to share, so here’s some of my experiences that built my CAS profile:

Creativity

I started drawing when I was really young, my grandparents were my art teachers, when I was in elementary school, my grandpa bought my a comic book, it was the comic book that got me into drawing, and slowly, I approached more variety of arts such as digital art, collage, photography.etc

Besides drawings, I also love Filming and Editing, I discovered this interest in 8th grade, and filmed my first video in 10th grade, this was a video about Elderly Population in Taiwan. I have improved throughout this summer so I will be producing better content in my CAS project!

Activity

My foundation was climbing trees when I was a 1st grader, it took me a long long time to achieve that but I never gave up because I was trying to impress people. This dedication is really what I need today in any activity! The first sport I ever played first was soccer, I joined soccer team in 1st grade in China, joined Tainan Eagles in 6th grade, and joined KAS Varsity in 9th grade, but I have stopped playing because I  always liked Basketball more. I started playing basketball in 6th grade, I made Basketball JV in 9th grade and 10th grade, but that was not really what I wanted. My goal this year is to make Varsity this year, and also, dunk!

Every summer since 8th grade, I would participate summer camps in Washington State and Oregon State, I got involved in many adventurous activities, they were the most memorable moments so far!

Service

Thanks to the education in KAS, I gradually became a global citizen and a person who knows how to contribute to his community, throughout my years in KAS, I learned multiple perspectives about global issues or community-based problems, clubs, classes taught me ways to raise awareness and help out the community. Last year, I was filming videos raising awareness about elderly population in Taiwan, and this year, I’ve contacted a social volunteer who has participated in many charity events, my goal is to make a documentary about her and the organizations she visited such as drug control center or jail.