In my local service, Music and Movement and PCF 140, I believe I have showcased a clear growth, especially from past years. It is important to note that I have participated in this service since Grade 9, and thus my growth is something easily elucidatable.  Even just last year, in Grade 10, I often found myself attempting to take more of an indirect approach to my assistance in service. Of course, I would be doing everything I could, but I had preferred to assist with logistics, physical labour, and any work that didn’t require me to leave my comfort zones and teach a group of children. Now, however, I have taken on a direct leadership role within the service. Though I am not a chairperson, I have ended up assuming a role that involves a consistent and direct engagement despite the large amount of students who are part of the service. In each action session I have taken initiative into contributing my valuable knowledge of a variety of musical concepts (which is one of the important aspects of the service), and thus I believe I have demonstrated a level of engagement indicative of the mission competency Essential literacies and also Self and community wellbeing.

In Jazz Band, I have continued my development from Grade 10 in my improvisational, group leadership, performance, communication, and comprehension skills. Through the consistent work on a plethora of songs, and the frequent performance opportunities, I have furthered my abilities both as a musician and as an individual. These are also further underpinned by various other performances, such as Unplugged in which I played a concert with a clearly political and ethical message, which is something I do often with any creative performance I am involved in. I consistently use my platform to spread messages of peace and to rebuke hipocrisy and injustice in the world. Additionally, in these events, I am constantly exposed to (and purposefully exploring) other cultural understandings of music, and have worked with peers on culturally significant songs. Thereby, through music, I believe to showcase the mission competencies of Peacebuilding, interpersonal/intercultural understanding, and self and community wellbeing. 

The main challenge I faced throughout these first seasons was stepping outside of my comfort zone. This year, I have left the realms of comfort much more than I ever have before, and despite all its rewards it can be quite demanding. However, through my constant exposure to situations in which I may be somewhat uncomfortable, I have actually developed in ways that I would have never been able to otherwise. Thus, I will continue to try my best to strike a balance between what I can reasonably expect of myself, and what would help me grow as an individual. 

One of the main areas for improvement is in the possible exploring of sustainable development through my High School CAS. Though it is difficult to truly exemplify and act on all mission statements, I still believe this imperative (and personally significant) goal should be one of my goals for the future, even if it may not be directly expressed through my chosen activities or services. 

First of all, for my final months with Music and Movement with PCF140, my activity and work in the group has come to a head, truly engendering me to act in a way that both positively reflects the UWC East community and allows for a much greater experience for everyone involved. This is evidenced by the work I had put in acting out lesson plans, particularly those by other people, due to my knowledge with music practice and theory. Throughout these seasons I have led call-and-response drumming, ukelele, marimba, general percussion, and piano lessons. I also occasionally provided accompaniment when needed for the students' dance activities.

In Jazz Band, I have continued to further my involvement, becoming increasingly confident in my abilities as a guitarist. I have also begun arranging my own pieces that I have been bringing to members of the band, attempting to further my skills in musical communication. This ongoing involvement in Jazz Band has allowed me to go from G10 when I was not able to even understand a fraction of reading music, and now I am confidently able to sightread upper-extension voicings and passages with many accidentals. I plan to further these skills as there is always more to be improved in terms of reading ability, but now I wish to focus on individual style when performing jazz pieces.

I have been majorly challenged in my activity, gym training, to significantly improve my fitness. Currently, I am focusing specifically on strength training, aiming to improve all major uses of strength and their corresponding muscle groups. This has been difficult as due to the amount of work I have to do outside of school/activities, I find it hard to find consistent time to train. This activity has therefore given me that consistency and helped me overcome that challenge. Furthermore, there has been major improvement in terms of my ability to endure and control heavier weights for exercises like bench-press, leg-press, weighted squat, preacher curl, etc. Therefore, I am happy with my improvement and aim to continue with this in the future.

Through all of these challenges and improvements, my CAS experience has thoroughly allowed me to develop many skills that I thought I was never capable of achieving. With PCF140, I have developed public speaking and improvisational abilities, often having to adapt lesson plans and activities to fit around the students' reactions, wants, and needs. My creative activities, too, have allowed me to improve improv, creative skills, and communication abilities. Finally, my activity has given me much more control over my body and has improved my health majorly.

Coming in to G12, all of my CAS requirements were fulfilled, and with the High School Musical around the corner, I had decided to try to get a part. I have been in two musicals previously, however, I played guitar both times, and at this point I was increasingly ensorcelled with the idea of playing a part. Throughout the summer leading up to the start of the year, I had been practicing the audition pieces constantly, and this definitely paid off as I had been accepted to play a lead role in the musical. This did mean that I couldn't make many commitments, as I had to make sure I was able to come to rehearsal every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00-5:30, and even a few all-day weekend rehearsals. I still, however, maintained my D&D Activity.

Starting off with D&D, this year I became the leader of the activity, running all of the sessions for 6 other students. This required me to plan and enact dozens of hours of games and story, which allowed me to develop my improvisational and story-telling abilities, also requiring me to form bonds and use communication abilities to make the younger members more comfortable in this environment.

The musical, now, was the absolute highlight of the two years of IB for me. Having this opportunity permitted me to explore something I had never even dreamed of exploring, which was acting and singing in a musical theatre production. Through this, I needed to develop significant confidence that I had previously not had in terms of performance. Though I have played guitar in a band, I have never sang without an instrument, nor acted in general. Therefore, this musical required me to simply do it.

This was a major challenge as I had little-to-no experience, and therefore meant I felt out of place amongst the dozens of people who had been acting and performing for large chunks of their life. However, with the community there my feelings of inadequacy were quickly quelled with the supportive community around me.

Therefore, the success of the musical for me came from how much I was able to develop and grow into this character and role, in a way I had never even tried before. Through this, I have gained so much invaluable knowledge and experience that I will take with me through the rest of my life. For this reason, although I had a much lower amount of total activities, Seasons 1 and 2 of Grade 12 were the absolute highlight of my IB experience, both for CAS, and the entirety of the two years in general.