My first semester of CAS experiences was, really, mostly carried out spontaneously. The first half of my junior year is comprised of MUN experiences, namely Southern Taiwan Model United Nations (STMUN) but also The Hague International Model United Nations (THIMUN) in Singapore. Nonetheless, I tried my best to be engaged in a variety of CAS experiences such as exercising, making a bullet journal, and cooking. The act of regulating yourself to be engaged in a CAS experience really helps you to balance your life in the sense that you are pushing yourself to become a more balanced individual that engages in different types of activities. At first, CAS appeared to be a burden to me since it seemingly forces me into participating in activities that are out of my comfort zone. For instance, I am never a sports person, so the activities strand of CAS was really a challenge to me at first. However, as time goes on, I realized how it is not as difficult as I imagined to step out of my comfort zone. Instead, it actually helped me a lot in terms of incentivizing me to become a healthier person.

Some activities that were carried out for the sole intention of making them count as CAS experiences turned out to be unexpectedly rewarding, not to mention those spontaneous acts of CAS that were carried out. The most memorable as well as the one that took up most of my time this semester is organizing the eleventh annual session of STMUN at my very own school, Kaohsiung American School (KAS). Although the planning technically started in late March this year when I was still enrolled in MYP, the majority of the setting up and planning took place this semester. I think MUN could count as both a creativity engagement and a service. It is events like STMUN that helped students to explore their interests in getting involved in the global dialogue of addressing current issues at hand, not to mention how we raised a huge amount of money to the Tongzi Hotline (同志熱線) in Taiwan. With or without CAS, events like these serve as the best learning experience for students in my opinion, because students are empowered to act up as leaders for their own passion. I found myself grateful for the opportunity despite the event turning out to be more time-consuming and exhausting than I ever imagined. Spontaneous acts of CAS like these enabled students to not only carry out the activities themselves but also incentivizes them to reflect upon their actions–just like what I am doing at this very moment.

Regardless of a CAS experience being spontaneous or planned, my first semester with CAS has truly taught me to find a life-work balance in many different ways. CAS, I believe, does not have the intention of adding on to a student’s stress. Instead, it aims to help students to alleviate their stress in a rather unconventional way at first sight. Say that CAS doesn’t exist as a requirement for the IB diploma, while many would say that their lives would become easier, which I do not necessarily disagree, I stand that CAS is an essential part for me that allowed me to discover my inner passion and to seek a balance in life. Therefore, besides maintaining good grades, a student’s life should consist of more fun. In some senses, I believe that CAS, in fact, justifies this fun for students already. 

I think that, then, is the essence of CAS experiences–to allow students to discover internal motivation to pursue a more favorable life that is unforeseen.