Final CAS Essay

I came into the full IB with the lowest expectations about CAS. I viewed it as a chore rather than a valuable learning experience. Now as I look back on my two years in this program, I can honestly say that I am grateful for CAS. If it hadn't been for CAS I would not have had the outlook and changed perspective towards the community I live in. 


I have lived for eleven years in Kenya. It is a country rife with poverty, inequality and social problems not experienced in many developed countries. In all the time I have lived in this great country the amount that I have contributed back to my community has been next to nothing. Until of course I became 'forced' into contributing through the full IB. I realise now how much more I could have contributed and experienced with my time here at ISK and in Kenya.

After seeing so many children and youth the same age as me in situations I could not even start to comprehend really assisted to put perspective into my life. I felt pretentious, ungrateful and a spoilt brat after seeing children content with a loaf of bread. However it was not only the service side of the CAS that inspired me and made me appreciate this country. There was also the action and creativity side. For example last December I took part in white water kayaking course. It was incredibly challenging, adrenalin filled and above all pure fun. Another enjoyable activity was the Katika mix, dancing with the deaf. This showed me the fun in dancing. It forced me to create friends who were deaf and showed me the possibilities and new horizons open to me, despite communication barriers.


What was great about these two years is that as I continued to do new and more challenging activities I began to see myself improve in areas I was weaker in. Such as my participation with others and willingness to take on new responsibilities, and also gain more strength in areas I was already quite strong in, such as my ability to have physical and mental strength and my ability to interact with younger people. I believe where I saw the embodiment of CAS was last summer when I volunteered to work at a summer camp in Canada for a month. I worked 24/7 with the children that attended the camp. Because it was over a time span I could also see my own personal development over that time. When I came back to Kenya I was able to implement these skills in the other CAS opportunities I had such as working in Interact. In this way I was able to see first hand just how important it is to not only rely on academic achievement but also achievement within one’s community, locally and internationally.


What I think should be taken away from the whole experience is that my career and life will not revolve solely around what I achieve in an office or at university. Rather the experiences I have outside of my comfort zone are what will really shape how I become in the future. In this sense I want to continue and embody any outside challenges I can take from my community wherever I live. I have found a passion for service, and after I undertook the CAS programme in Kenya I am privileged to say I have lived here. The country has many flaws and weaknesses that I would like to someday try and help address. I have realised that Kenya is a country with character, its people are some of the nicest I have ever known, the country is warm and accepting and above all it is the one place I will always call home. It has taken eleven years and a CAS programme for me to realise this, however I have no regrets about the journey that brought me here. It has given me perspective on the country I live in and take in the positive aspects of it rather than only scrutinizing the negative.


These two years have been a critical part my own personal development. There is no possibility that any student will have grown and developed the same way through this programme as we have all had unique and varied perspectives on what we have gone through. As much as I have begrudged the workload of the full IB, I can say that it has all been worth it. The CAS programme has at times challenged me and has added to the stresses from an already heavy academic workload. However if I had not had the CAS programme I would have gone through high school, graduated, gone to university and had little care for the community I have been raised up in. I would not have realised how much I will miss Kenya and how grateful I am for living here rather than starting my life in a 'developed' first world country.

Rugby Team, New Semester

I returned this semester for a second go at ISK rugby. Our team is in its fledgling stage; many of us do not yet know the basic ropes and mechanics that are required in rugby. As an individual that has been practicing rugby for much of my childhood I believe I have a lot to offer this small group of boys. It is a great place to practice leadership roles and abilities as much as it is a place to actually play rugby.

The coaches are a godsend, smart, energetic and above all hilarious. I believe they will take us through these next few months in good spirit. I have come to terms that it is most likely we will not win a large percentage of our games. This is the reality as we are an incredibly inexperienced team compared to the elitist British curriculum schools. However I do believe with practice and training we will go onto the field and lose gracefully like the gentleman we can be. Not the immature savages that are seen playing the American equivalent of a great sport.


Final Reflection on rugby:
Rugby has been a great passion of mine for the past 9 or 10 odd years now. It has been a sport that I can honestly say I am good at. Joining rugby in ISK was great because it not only allowed me to continue in a sport I excel in but it was also a place to bond with individuals I would normally not have become acquainted with. Rugby was because its very inexperienced and new stage in ISK  a possibility for me to act in certain leadership roles. For once I was no longer the 'small' guy anymore which is a great feeling. Playing rugby in ISK also taught me the art of losing gracefully. Although we lost almost every game and only drew one it was I still felt as though we had accomplished something and when I would go home it wasn't in sadness of defeat but I felt uplifted and happy that we had played a game and regardless of losing we had fun.
Therefore in the future I hope to continue rugby in university, not to go professional but to enjoy a game with the boys and at the end possibly go for a beer after. It has been a great sport that has followed through my childhood and will always have a soft spot in myself. Rugby is a savage sport but at the end of it we are all gentlemen.

Interact Mural project No.2

This semester I took part in the mural project that was co-ordinated by Miss. Taylor and another aspect of the ISK Interact club. It entailed taking a couple of my Fridays away so that I could help with the mural project. The mural was to be donated to our schools younger years as an educational piece of art promoting creativity. Due to the fact that I am a higher level IB Art 2 student, I felt I had to contribute my fair share to the work. I helped in the overall design and helped with the planning of colour schemes and other image ideas. The mural is still in progress and I will continue to devote my Fridays towards its cause. With a motivational push I believe we can make this mural become a reality for the younger years very soon.


Reflection overall on the Interact Club:
Interact club has been an amazing experience that I have cherished and view as one of ISK's hallmark achievements of student commitment and co-operation. This club has inspired in myself the ability to go out and volunteer and make myself useful in a country that screams with injustices. I have been able to work in a group, show my commitment and at times add my own contributions where it is needed. It has been a great learning experience that i can use in future jobs as I have been able to understand group dynamics more effectively. I now know how a club as large as this one works similarly to an office. How we all work off on each other to achieve a common goal. I have seen the rewards that come from working in a club like this and the rewards are very simple. Seeing the smiles on all the children that we have helped and tried to improve their situations. This in itself is far better a reward than anything I could have hoped for. A feeling of warmth always reaches me especially when I see the little ones with their big eyes look up to me with so much happiness. It makes me almost sad to be graduating because I know I will not get the chance to stay in this club afterwards. However this club has also inspired me  to go out and seek similar work such as this because now that i have seen first handedly the rewards I want to continue with this strain of work or somehow try to improve the lives of so many Kenyans. I can honestly say that through interact I have become more aware and more concerned of the social environment we live in, within Kenya. Due to this I am now concerned in studying political science, anthropology and african studies. I want to come back to the country I have lived in for so many years and try to give back to a land that has given so much to me already. Kenya is my home and I want to always look after my home.

IC senior trip, art workshop with andrew McNaughton

This year we the senior class had our senior trip! We all went down to the Kenyan coast and stayed at a luxury resort on Watamu beach. The senior class was grouped into different strands. We were a small group of 8 that were a branch off the creativity strand. Within our group we would spend two solid days receiving intellectual advice on art and also had to take part in producing pieces of art as an end result of the workshop. The workshop was to take place in Andrew McNaughton's house. Andrew is an artist that is based in Watamu he uses found marine debris as a way of creating visually powerfully pieces that convey his strong message about conserving marine life, one flip flop at a time.
Andrew was kind enough to give his work space to us for these few days, he allowed us to take supplies from his very extensive range of marine debris. From Hippo teeth to washed up flip flops. In these two days I worked for hours in an attempt at trying to create a visually stimulating piece that would also convey some form of message (I still hadn't decided what). Through this we would then use these pieces in our art exhibition finals that will be held on April.
The experience was one i will never forget. Andrew is quite a character and i was able to witness first hand how a flamboyant and extroverted artist would look like. Something i would hope to aspire to one day. The finished pieces were all in my opinion quite powerful and although i had been skeptical at first i was proud of my art piece. The experience was good to take back so that i could use it in the way i would further conduct myself in the IB art class. It also helped come to grasps with how i should always plan as it would give me more structure to my creative process and allow me to present a powerful image rather than simply an aesthetically pleasing image. I also learned of how to use the material i am given with in a creative way. This experience was truly rewarding and now whenever i think back to that fully tanned old man a wave of nostalgia hits me.

Hockey Team

This term i joined the ISK hockey team as it will most likely be the last time i play field hockey. The isk hockey team is small, and because ISK is predominantly american field hockey is not as popular as it is in my previous schools which were british. Last weekend we had a tournament at the school we came in sixth place however this did not put a downer on us. For me hockey was all about enjoying the sport and enjoying the company of my team members. I have already made a few new friends after joining hockey and it feels good to be on a team again rather than doing solo sports. I will continue with hockey until the season ends and then i will move on to rugby again. I am anticipating my first game and hope that we do to some degree redeem ourselves by hopefully winning but as i said its not about that now.

Kayaking!

Last year at the end of the school term i took part with my family and another family in a kayaking course. The course lasted for only four days and we kayaked down rapids in sagana an hour drive from Nairobi. This was the first time i had ever kayaked and the first time to ever go down rapids. To say that it was scary is an understatement, i was terrified. After the whole experience i was exhausted and knew that i would never take up professional kayaking in my life however i was glad for the experience as it gave me new perspective on outdoor sports and was a great way to end the year. It helped me gain mental focus and experience, i was thoroughly pleased with the few skills i had gained when taking the course and when i am working at the camp in canada i will use these skills to teach the children under my care on safe and fun kayaking. Although i never think i could take them down some of the rapids that i went through. It was also a very humbling experience because this was one of the first times i had truly let myself be taken by nature itself. In a small plastic dinghy i was carted away by powerful waves and rapids. Some would say it was suicide and i would agree however it really did put me in first hand grip with nature and was able to make me respect more of what nature has to offer. This trip and course were truly enjoyable and i would say it was one of the more extreme adrenalin rushes i have ever had.