Semester Reflection

This semester was particularly good, I had the opportunity to participate and take part in lots of engaging planned and initiated activities, where I learned and developed countless new skills and learned a lot about different topics and areas (such as: sewing).
For TFC (The Forgotten Children) this semester we were able to focus on one of main goals/objective: spreading awareness on the topic of child sex tourism in Sri Lanka (engaged in issues of global importance). We were able to travel to different places in the local area (Colombo) such as: Crescat, the good market, etc. where we tried to hand out flyers about our service and our goals and objectives to different people and retrieve contact details of different people, so we could e-mail them monthly newsletters and different updates about our service (working collaboratively with others). Also, currently, we working on a collaborative video within our group that spreads awareness about general safety, targeted to children.
For action, this semester I tried two different sports: Badminton, and basketball, which were quite new to me (undertaking new challenges). Badminton was during the first half of the semester, which was quite fun and interesting, as it was a new sport to me. But with the help of my coaches and peers, I was able to develop a countless amount of new skills and participate in a internal badminton tournament, which a new experience for me. Basketball is still on going, but is quite fun (and competitive) of an activity, and I have been able to learn different techniques and skills of basketball from players who are much better than me, but overall it is a definitely a great learning experience for me!
Creativity has been quite unique and interesting this semester, beginning off with Surface Embellishment, which was new to pretty much everyone in the activity (undertaking new challenges), so it was quite a different experience from other creativity activities I had participated in, but it was really an amazing activity. Where I learnt, again, many new skills such as: sewing (cross-stitch, chain stitch, etc.), stencil making, t-shirt making, painting, and many, many more, from the supervisors from AOD (working collaboratively with others), which I would have never thought of doing before this activity! Overall it was a definitely a new, but fun experience for, not only me, but everyone in the activity! Drawing club is the activity I continued into the second half of the semester, and is still on going. I have learned more about this activity from my earlier experience with this activity in the first semester, such as setting a focus topic for my artwork, in my case: Pokemon, helping me create much better artwork, and I think definitely I have developed new skills and improved on my art skills and works.

Creativity Update

For this half the semester I decided to rejoin drawing club (showing persistence and commitment in activities) (since I have done that before).
One thing I realized and learned from the last drawing club is that I need to set myself an objective that I can achieve at the end of the sessions. A topic focus that I can continue throughout the whole of the drawing club (show persistence and commitment in activity). So I decided to focus on the topic of 'Pokemon,' as it is something that my friends and I are very fond of, especially throughout our childhood, so I thought it would be very interesting and cool to present throughout it in my drawing. Towards the end I hope to make a kind of 'collage' of different Pokemon on a single A3 piece of paper, to resemble childhood (since Pokemon was a big part of mine).
This idea is very new to me, since I haven't done a collage involving an idea like such (undertaking new challenges), and especially since collages are not very common amongst me (developing new skills).
It is definitely a new experience for me in the area of art, but I definitely feel it will be successful as long as I can dedicate myself and show commitment, and I feel like I can learn a lot of new skills and improve on a lot of existing ones. Overall it should be a very fun and memorable experience!

Badminton: The Last Week

A few weeks ago, after many completed sessions, I finally finished my last session (showing perseverance and commitment in activity) of badminton. Throughout the course of this activity, I have learned and developed many new skills and got the opportunity to experience different things, all within the realm of badminton.
I felt that throughout the course I really improved one a variety of techniques in badminton, in a particular my smashing skill (developing new skills), as before the activity I didn't know how to smash, but overtime I learned and improved on it and how to apply to games through the help of peers and coaches, which later helped score many points during matches. But I still feel I could definitely improve more on this skill; and learn to use more wrist and apply more power in the shot (increased awareness of areas of growth and development). Another skilled I learned is how to serve properly, which is a vital part in any badminton game and something that can score you easy points. I learned that you want to serve as close to the boundaries as possible, to make it hard for you opponent. When playing singles, you want to serve far, as the boundaries are more lengthy, while in double you want to serve wide, since the boundaries are set wider.
Towards the last few sessions, we started playing an internal badminton tournament, which was quite new to me (undertaking new challenges), where we could really test all the various new skills we had learned throughout the course, it also gave rise to all players to be able to play amongst other players we haven't played much against, giving us all an opportunity to learn from others and improve ourselves overall. During this tournament one of my colleagues advised me to improve on my stance and balance, as wasn't able to reach the shuttlecock in time to hit it back, and so I lost quite a significant amount of points due to this (increased awareness of areas of growth and development). But overall the tournament was a really great experience and great opportunity to test my skills in game, play against different opponents, and improve (a lot)!

Chadoo and I playing a match

Action Update

For the remaining month of the semester, I have decided to try out a different sport, Basketball (undertaking new challenges). 

For the most part I haven't really played basketball too much, thus I hope I can develop the basic skills I need to play decently in a match (developing new skills), through the coaching of players on the school's SAISA Basketball team. 

So far, I have been improving on my layouts as I often miss easy layups under the basket. They advised me to take my time and aim for the top right of the box, because often I panic and completely miss the target (Increased awareness of areas for growth and development) (Developing new skills). 

One thing I still need to work and improve on is my dribbling and control of the ball (Increased awareness of areas for growth and development), which hopefully I can take action on within the next few weeks.

By the end, hopefully, I will be able to play decently during a game and present and use some of my newly learned skills.

Surface Embellishment Update

A couple weeks ago, I finished my last session of surface embellishment, which was quite an interesting and engaging course.
We learned a variety of skills (planned and initiated activities), some skills were more difficult than others, but all of them were greatly helpful for the making of our shirts (developing new skills), some of the skills we learned were sewing, how to make stencils, how to use fabric paints, etc. Most of which I haven't experimented with or used before in the realm of art (undertaking new challenges), such as sewing and stencil making.
All the skills were quite a challenge and required quite a bit of practice before it could be applied to our shirts, but one of the more difficult skills was sewing for me (increased awareness of areas for growth). As there were multiple skills and techniques involved in this skill, such as the 'hem-stitch,' which was the basic stitch in sewing and held to fabric together, and was quite easy to tackle. One of the more harder stitches was the 'chainsaw stitch,' which added a design to the fabrics as well, and required quite a bit of practice, but I managed to get the hang of it after a lot of practice and the help of the teachers and other peers (working collaboratively with others).

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For the final product; the shirt, I started off by sketching out what type of design I wanted on my shirt on a piece of paper, and I deduced I wanted something simple, but still would stand out, so I went for a shape type pattern like the shirt shown below:

except my shirt will involve more shapes and such, but still uses the same idea as the shirt above. After I figured out my design I started to make a stencil for this design. Once that was done I glued my stencil to my shirt and painted it with bright colours; such as red, yellow green, sky blue, purple, etc. It turned out really good, especially the colour combinations, but it still needs work and some finishing touches, perhaps with some sewing. 

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Badminton Half-Way Point

As we are approaching the half-way point of the badminton activity I wanted to reflect on how my skills (developing new skills) and overall badminton is improving.
I think one of the things I do well now, and am still improving on, is serving. Some of my friends and I have noticed I have been putting significantly more points on the board due to my serves, as they are low and close to the boundaries, making them hard for the opponents to receive (increased awareness of strengths). But one of the things I still need to improve is my responsiveness and stance, as we had a training regarding this and I struggled a bit (increased awareness of areas for growth), and due to this I lost a lot points, as I wasn't able to react quick enough or reach the shuttlecock quick enough. Hopefully with more training I will be able to improve on this further.
The biggest thing I still need to improve is my smashes, since I didn't know how to do one before the activity (undertaking new challenges), and I am still learning. Mr. De Silva and some of my peers (working collaboratively with others) suggested to use my wrist instead my whole arm when smashing, which is something that I still need to work on (increased awareness of areas for growth).
Another thing I need to improve on are my single games, as I have noticed that, generally, I win most of my doubles, but lose most of my singles. Therefore I hope I can improve on this further, and be better at it towards the end of the badminton activity.

Week Without Walls

On the last week of January some of classmates and friends from the lower grade and I went on the Week Without Walls trip, as you know from an earlier post on the WWW goals. Not all of the goals fulfilled, unfortunately, but it was still a really fun trip, where everyone enjoyed themselves, and become more aware of not only their host country (Sri Lanka), but everyone else on their trip and themselves (increased awareness).

Part of the eco-lodge we were staying in.

On the first day, we made our way to the eco-lodge, "Back-of-Beyond," ( http://www.backofbeyond.lk/locations/dehigahaela.php ), which is is very eco-friendly, as the huts and common lodge house were made out of mud and straw and all the food produce were self grown by the lodge, creating a very different and enjoyable atmosphere for all of us (issues of global importance). We received our WWW journals, a space where we could reflect on each our days, and identify and write down different plant and animal species we saw during the trip. Later that day we went down to the river/stream for a quick swim, so we could freshen up and experience the nature around us. Also we went on a night walk in a nature reserve, we we saw a variety of animals, such as deers, slender loris, and other animals, which added up to a good start to our journals (planned and initiated activites).

Us going for a swim in the river.

The second day, we mainly focused on learning and exploring more about Sri Lankan culture and its history, as we traveled to the ancient ruins of Ritugala, a beautiful place where nature and mankind bordered in the same place and explored the border between nature and mankind, as over the years much of nature incorporated itself to be a part of the statues and ruins, and it was a truly beautiful site to see. During this visit my friends and I also played a game, where the sand was 'lava' and where we couldn't touch the sand, making all the hiking much more entertaining and fun (collaborating with others).

Us outisde Ritugala

On the third day we headed up to Trincomalee, while traveling there we stopped at Medirigiriya, where we met the art 'Art on Wheels' WWW trip sketching a few Buddhist statues. The Medirigirya stop gave us an opportunity to observe Buddhist statues and ruins where we learned more about the religious background of Buddhism. After that we headed to Trincomalee, where we visited a Hindu Temple, which was located at the top of a cliff, and was relatively new. This opportunity really taught me about Hinduism as a religion, a religion I didn't know much about until now, especially about their beliefs and gods. For example: I learned that their leader of Gods (like Zeus), is their God of Destruction and the Universe; Shiva. Afterwards we were able to look around that area of Trinco a bit more, and purchase souvenirs and even climb trees, but unfortunately we were not able to carry out the service part of our trip: picking up trash across the streets, as we didn't have enough tiime in our schedule to fit it in. We headed down to the Chaaya Blu resort where we would spend the evening and night, and unfortunately we were not able to go to Pigeon Island and snorkel as it was the rough season for the sea, so it would have been dangerous.

Exploring the beach in Trinco.

Couple of my friends and I outside the Buddhist temple.

On the fourth day, was quite a bad day for some, as a couple of my friends from the group woke up sick and incapable of participating in activities, so therefore not everyone could carry out the activities we had planned to do, which was unfortunate. In the morning, after having breakfast our group headed down the beach for a nice walk and to explore a bit, but as we ventured further away from the resort, the beach became more and more filled with all types of thrash, from shoes, to pencil cases, to water bottles, it was quite unpleasant, which raised the concern of Sri Lanka's environmental issues, where our group discussed about the problems and possible solutions, and how it could be dealt with, and some excellent suggestions came up from almost everyone in the group (engaged in issues of global importance) (considering the ethical implications of our actions)! Later that day we headed down to the Sigirya eco-ledge which was owned by the same owners of 'Back of Beyond' so this eco lodge was just as environmentally friendly, but was stiill quite a different experience from the other one, as this one was set in the middle of the forest. Before we made it out to the eco lodge we visited an ancient Buddhist Temple, which was quite calm and peaceful and was a nice addition after all the activities we did early! During this visit we started to raise the concerns of ethical issues as some of us didn't know the rules when visiting a Buddhist Temple, and others were quite offended and, as a group we discussed how this could be avoided and how this is an issue in the modern world (considering the ethical implications of our actions). When we made it to the eco lodge, we had free time, so we could relax which was quite nice, most our group played cards together, making our group come together closer and really bond. Later that night, we headed out to a small open field just a few hundred metres outside of lodge, where we gazed at the stars and reflected upon our day and us as a group, where we really bonded a lot as everyone got to know more about everyone else, and lot more about the trip itself and us as a group (planned and initiated activities).

The view from the top of Swami Rock (this picture
is not doing it justice)!

The final day we headed out bright and early to Swami Rock, after breakfast, to climb it. Swami Rock was located next to Sigirya Rock, which is quite a popular Sri Lankan cultural spot among tourists and locals (Sigirya). It was a nice climb (developing new skills), as we past through the forest of an ancient monastery, where we got to see what the monastery were like back then and learn a bit about the history of Buddhism, so it was a peaceful and calm walk. At the halfway point we stopped at an ancient Buddha statue, where the Buddha was in his 'lying pose,' they were some signs located around the statues so we got read a bit more of Buddhism as a religion. Opposite to the Buddha statue was a breath-taking view, which as nothing compared what is was like when we reached the top. The top was surreal. Everything was so calm and peaceful, but yet exciting and breath-taking at the same time, and was definitely one of the highlights for me on this WWW.
Overall it was a excellent WWW, where, not only me, but everyone in our group definitely enjoyed themselves and had fun, while still learning about Sri Lanka's culture and Sri Lanka as a country and its religious background. Although we could not carry out the service side of our WWW, there definitely a lot of creativity and action, where, not only me, but many people in the group, undertook new challenges, collaborated with each other, and developed new skills, and I enjoyed all of it throughout the trip. It was definitely a good note to end my first and last WWW!

Some our group at the top of Swami Rock!