Navaratri is one the most awaited festivals of India! In order to make this festival memorable for the students it was really essential. I volunteered for the same and got a few responsibilities to be fulfilled. I learned many new skills, new techniques and in the end, the event came out to be an amusing and memorable event. The responsibility which was required to be fulfilled was the decor for the event. While demonstrating this CAS experience, I demonstrated the following LO’s: 

LO 1: Identify your own strengths and develop areas for growth. 

Visual Arts used to be something that I loved to do as a kid. However, for a long time, I was disconnected from this field due to studies. I attended several drawing and painting classes till grade 8, I had learned drawing and painting professionally. I remember doing a lot of Art and Craft when I was in PYP. When I received the mail regarding the requirements of volunteers for Garba Fest, I knew I could once again enjoy creating decorations, improve my fine motor and arts-related skills, and hence, I filled out the form. I identified my own strengths that were arts, but I knew I could improve it a lot, and hence I took part in this

 LO2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

Certain challenges that I faced were to come early on the days I have summative assessments. In order to manage the studies and also take a productive part in the decoration, I skipped coming early on the days I have my summative assessment, but I compensated and did the work in the free slot. I also learned so many new things such as decorating the area using clothes, making paper flowers, painting and many more things. I developed a new skill every time when I used to work for the Garba fest. 

LO4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences 

It was difficult to give enough time to the Garba Fest decorations, despite my busy schedule, but I showed commitment towards this experience and somehow managed it well. There were clashes in ideas and discussions, sometimes we were not able to get the resources on time, but we demonstrated perseverance, deal with it, and finally made it in the end. 

LO 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively. 

I am usually good at communication, but collaboration skills are something I need to develop. Considering this, it was difficult for me to work with others during this experience because of opinion differences, subjects hence meeting issues, time issues, non-matching schedules, etc. However, working collaboratively did make things easier as the workload was divided. For instance, somebody did the cutting of the paper, another folded it and I did the sticking part. In this way, the work was happening more efficiently in less time. Hence, I recognized the benefits of working collaboratively. 

Overall, I also saw myself demonstrating certain learner profiles – Balance and Reflective throughout this CAS experience. I was reflective, as in between I reflected on my work, corrected it when needed, and learned from other people, this made my craft a lot better. I was also balanced, as I successfully balanced my task related to garba fest work and my studies (As exams were approaching). 

The highlight of this experience was seeing my own commitment and passion towards art and craft. I never thought I would enjoy myself so much because practicing arts, I discovered something new about myself. Initially, I thought art was just done for the sake of doing it, but it calmed me. It was so soothing and therapeutic; I really enjoyed every bit of this process. Overall, the entire experience was successful and fun.

Evidence is attached below: