victoriazielonka

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CAS Final Reflection

Throughout my IB Course, I have gained much more diverse experiences than I expected at the beginning. Thanks to the requirement of developing activities for all three branches, Creativity, Activity and Service, I had a chance to expand my versatile skills. Surely, the CAS experience is something that will stay with me for life. All the new experiences, pushing myself for the best and foremost, trying to be consequent, are all factors that inevitably changed me as a person. It definitely was a great fun at all times and it will not stop there for me. I have already made plans to book Arabic classes right after M23 finals and start kitesurfing in Tanzania this summer.

Branch from Activity surely made me a more persistent person. I had a goal to run 5 km on a treadmill in less than 35 min. I achieved it a couple of times, yet in the cases when I couldn't, I didn't give up. I stayed consistent throughout. Additionally, the workout sessions, and especially the abs workouts, became an integrated part of my weekly routine. I didn't realise beforehand how much it could improve not only my overall health, but the better mood and mental clarity.

Being a member of RMHC as a volunteer definitely is one of the highlights of my CAS experience. Although the graduation organisation made me feel as if I was in the right place to manage it, Ronald McDonald's Foundation turned out to be much more than I thought. It had become an integral part of my responsibilities, and now I cannot think of leaving it behind. All the patients, the new ones, the already gone ones, all left a small chunk of themselves in my heart. Especially the small Mohammed who I dearly remember to this day. I for sure will continue my journey with RMHC for as long as I can.

Finally, my favourite branch as a whole. Creativity is also a feature I admire in me. The CAS strand though enabled me to fulfil couple of my caprices. I must say I want to change up things and activities I do almost daily or once a week at least. Of Course, to actually derive something from them I cannot change up so quickly. Still I was able to attend multiple courses such as acting workshops, rhetorical classes, German course, some cooking and learning Arabic. It was all a great fun snd as I mentioned above, it's just the beginning!

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CAS Reflection 3/3

9. Evidence of reflection on significant CAS experiences.

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CAS Reflection 2/3

5. Evidence of commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences (LO4).

6. Evidence of demonstrating the skills and recognizing the benefits of working collaboratively (LO5).

7. Evidence of engagement with issues of global significance (LO6).

8. Evidence of recognizing and considering the ethics of choices and actions (LO7).

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CAS Reflection 1/3

1. Evidence for completion of CAS project.

Loom Bands Sessions at RMHC

2. Evidence of identification of strengths and areas for personal growth (LO1).

3. Evidence of undertaking new challenges and developing new skills in the process (LO2).

4. Evidence of initiating and planning a CAS experience (LO3).

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CAS Signatures

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CAS Learning Outcomes

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Activity - 26.02.2023

Let’s end this week with a cardio session! Although I felt a little bit ill today, I've decided not to give up on my workout session. First, I've done 30 min workout on the machine and 30 min of abs session. It was definitely a job well gone and a nice end of the week!

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CAS Project Update 4 (Reflection)

Time for reflections! Together with my friend Weronika we tried to get the kids to learn, in those couple of regular sessions, a new skill but it wasn't always so easy to do. It is regarded as children are the fastest learners, but no one ever mentions that they also have the hardest time maintaining focus! Of course, we had our more successfully accomplished workshops - usually with older patients, but also we shared moments of hardship with the younger children. It only helped us to recognise space for future improvements when arranging planned activities with a certain goal for younger audience. For me, it was always fun and easy as I'm a natural at spontaneous activities often requiring creativity and flexibility in changing up rules, however, here, throughout the CAS Project I felt almost like I was there to learn something myself. Working towards a goal oftentimes requires a major focus on the tasks that need to be completed with little space left for thinking about whether I want to do it, but rather that I have to do it mindset.

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Service - 18.02.2023

On today's service I met the young patient, Kirill from Ukraine, who attended Loom Bands Session during my CAS Project. There was also his friend from the hospital wing who, I can state with confidence, was definitely one of the best kids to have at Volunteer Days! We together built a railway for some trains and had fun with it. We were even putting some of the bricks on the railroad for the train to run through it. It was so much fun!

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CAS Project: Update 3 (Action)

It is time to say this "We did it!", but are we finished? With our CAS Project - most certainly yes! With proceeding with our Loom Bands workshops in the Family Rooms at Ronald McDonald's Foundation - definitely not! Today we all shared our last session on creating Loom Bands bracelets. Ok, we weren't able to do some extra complicated configurations of the bands, but it wasn't the point anyways! I wanted the kids to have fun foremost, while learning an additional skill in a fun way too! Some patients are constantly changing, some already left the hospital walls, some still are here. Nevertheless, we all shared our experiences with each other. New patients were encouraged by those who already attended our first meetings, some tried to learn from us or even with us from some YouTube videos. There was also this one girl who seemed to be a pro and I could certainly give her the credits for reminding me how to structure certain configurations to get the wanted results, e.g. when I wanted to do a tricolour chunk for keys.

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Creativity - 14.02.2023

Here we go again! Another update from my Arabic classes is here. Throughout the last week I focused on the alphabet acquisition and pronunciation, but also I've learnt a couple of new words. I also managed to reach the legendary achievement on my Duolingo app.

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Activity - 12.02.2023

Yet another day of the workout session. Today - cardio, 30 min, to top up this stressful 2 weeks of MOCK exams. I truly needed this kind of end-of-the-week summation. It definitely helped me to ease the stress I handled throughout this 2 week period and also helped to relieve any stress left. It was really refreshing time even for it being an evening of a last day of the week. I'm ready to rest tomorrow! And looking forward to more such refreshing workout sessions in the future!

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Service - 9.02.2023

What a colourful session! It wasn't the first time I was doing some colouring work with the patients and definitely not the last one. Even though, especially the younger patients, do not have quite the skillset for drawing or other manual activities it still brings a lot of joy to them, and to me.

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Creativity - 2.02.2023

Amidst the final MOCK session, but not slowing down on language learning! Although I may have slowed down a bit to prepare for the exam session, I still found a moment to revise at least what I have already learned. Since one of my teachers at school is also thrilled about other languages, among which we share an interest in an exceptional one, he gave me a book to help me study. I'm sure it will help me with the acquisition of the language as much as it helped the professor. The language under question is Arabic and I can't wait to see how it improves!

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Creativity - 18.01.2023

Freedom - word I resonate with lots! Today's event and chats throughout were connecting, through various lenses and perspectives, with the concept of freedom. Starting from its fundamental meaning which differs from person to person, to its applicability in the world of politics, across generations (mostly X and Z or Alpha) and across different industries, we all continued to share, sometimes contrasting opinions. It was a well-spent evening which I am proud of on behalf of the Salon of Inspiration Young Team.

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Service - 17.01.2023

Not at Ronald McDonald's Foundation today but committed to spreading the good as always! Since me and my boyfriend not only try to be eco-friendly day to day at home, but we also care about the bigger picture, and we connect beneficial events with each other. With three full bags of plastic bottle caps, we decided to head to the donation centre at Ochota Ratusz which happens to be equipped with a special container designated for plastic bottle caps for their further eco journey.

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Activity - 15.01.2023

Sport Sunday! Or rather Yoga Sunday? My goal for today was to practice some of the yoga positions in order to relax my muscles, but also my mind. Oftentimes the mind is the lesser than body when it comes to maintenance. It is important to remember about the condition of our minds as well! Areas I focused on today was relaxing my mind for better focus and sharper vision. Surely I'll continue with interspersing yoga session with the workout ones much more often.