Emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental four growths are important for all. Our school offers us various opportunities that help us develop and give us a holistic approach to life. However, not all children are privileged or given such opportunities. Community service was an experience wherein we got to spend time with children from government schools and help them through different activities. I was the main in charge of dance and during those 6 weeks I learned a lot from those students, and they learned a lot from me. Each week I taught them a different dance which I choreographed myself and got to serve many students with a few volunteers. Towards the end, I was very connected with all the kids and treated them as family. 

LO1: Identity own strength and develop areas for growth.

Dancing has always been a way for me through which I can cope, it is therapeutic for me. Sharing my admiration for dance which a bunch of students was iron in the fire. As much as I loved spending time with the kids and making them groove on songs it was difficult for me to cooperate. I have a habit of making things go my way and I often ended up arguing with other volunteers in the first week of community service. I subconsciously always knew about my weakness, but I never got to work upon it. Knowing I have to spend 3 weeks with all of them gave me a chance to improve and make it my strength. Now that I look back, learning how to be corporate and becoming open minded towards viewpoints and ideas helped me polish myself. I have developed patience and I enjoy working with people now. In order to work on our weaknesses, it’s important to first identify them and to accept them so that we can captivate and grow and become more assertive. 

LO4: Show commitment to perseverance in CAS experience.

Community service was for 3 weeks on the weekends, the only two days where I could escape from my school life and be more engaged in my social life. Giving up 3 weekends was a task, but it all seemed worthwhile later. Waking up at 6 in the morning was again very difficult for me because I am not a morning person. Community service required me to be diligent and to show up each day, I had to be consistent and ready to show dedication towards my responsibilities. It was important for me to commit to being a part of community service as I often tend to discontinue when I feel like I don’t belong. But as each day passed by, watching all the kids coming to our school with excitement and hope of learning something new gave me so much hope and a push to portray devotion towards teaching them new dances. It was a wonderful experience as it taught me so many things, I experienced the joy of little things. I felt so connected with them at the end, my only takeaway is to give things time because maybe in the start I may feel like I am not supposed to do what I am doing but eventually I blend in. Commitment towards anything leads to greater experiences and learning with time. 

LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance. 

The global issue that we cater to throughout community service is the disparities in education. Not everyone has access to education and the right resources to explore. Everywhere around the world, in every country, in every city people fail to seek opportunities that will help them develop skills except for academics. I have read about this and witnessed underprivileged kids in my city. To add on, knowing about the actuality of the issue and becoming a small part of bringing a positive change made me effervescent and light-hearted. Being with the kids and working with them gave me insights and made me appreciate all the good things around me, my privileges and my surroundings. It helped me grow and understand to not take anything for granted. Overall, this whole experience, these 6 days were illuminating and all the efforts that were put in by the school community felt worthwhile. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13yr28THP58eUkkW3VA4KseEKHVfiiDIm/view?usp=share_link