GECKO INC. BAKE SALE

Gecko Inc completed their first fund raiser, a bake sale. We had spent so much time planning the trip up north, and planning the visit to osc that we had forgotten about the financial aspects and rushed to get our first fundraiser in. We each baked and cooked various foods and snacks and had the bake sale on a wednesday. It ended up being more of a success than we expected and a great way to start off our fundraising. We managed to sell all our products in the duration of break and lunch. We raised around 8000rs. We planned to use this money for our trip up to Killinochchi next semester as we calculated the amount of money needed for transportation, hotel accommodation, food, etc. However, later we found out that service groups are not actually allowed to have fundraisers for trips and that we'd need to pay for that personally. So, this left us to problem solve what we would be using the raised money from fund raisers for. Though we have not come up with a solution yet, we will continue to strive towards planning the trip though we are not required to raise money for that anymore. This trip is very important to our cas group, and as a leader I am determined to make sure that we will be able to go on it and continue making a difference up north with the OSC community to try and improve lives. After having been up there and seeing the lack of development and the schooling system I realized that it is important for our service group to be more involved and try to regularly visit these places and contribute to their development after the war. Perhaps we can use this bake sale money to buy more equipment or something else which will make a difference to our intended school visits. Nontheless, this fundraiser was a good start for our service group to begin getting in action and collaborating with each other to start contributing to our service's goal to help the communities in Killinochchi. 

SAISA BASKETBALL TRAINING

Last year I competed in SAISA U19 girls Basketball. It was interesting competing with this team since I am mostly familiar with larger teams such as those for SAISA swimming and SAISA track and field. I enjoyed this experience as it gave me a chance to get more familiar with basketball in general and gave me a chance to improve my skills. Though I was not one of the stars of the team I still felt like i contributed enough based on my skills and capabilities. Which is why I decided to try out for the team again this year to see if I had improved and If I would be able to travel for SAISA again. I have grown to love playing the sport in general and would've been happy to oblige for the developmental team if I had not made the cut for the SAISA team. During trainings I realized that I had improved since the previous year. I found out that I rarely missed a layup and found new talents that improved my playing. We have a different coach this year, although I was already familiar with him from my 8th grade year where he was my coach as well. This helped me a lot throughout the season as he knew my strengths and he had faith in me even on my off days. This season is a lot shorter than previous SAISA seasons therefore it is important for the chosen SAISA team to work extra hard and stay determined to the sport. Even though I already have plenty of action hours for cas, I wanted to do basketball nonetheless. Sport has always been a part of my life and I enjoy doing sports even if just for fun. I have improved a lot throughout the season so far which both Mr Shipley and the coach have noticed. I am looking forward to the SAISA competition because I feel like I will be able to contribute a lot more to the team than I was able to do last year. Our team in general is really well put together this year. I feel like all the girls are able to get along and that we are all supportive of each other and eager to go to saisa and represent OSC and bring back a high ranking. SAISA is only 2 short weeks away. These following two weeks we will be training hard and focusing on tactics and our weaknesses in order to enter SAISA strong and perform at the best of our abilities. 

SCUBA DIVING

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY: SEMESTER 1

I wanted to be part of an after school activity this semester. My father is a certified scuba diver and has wanted me to get my certificate for years now. I took this as the perfect opportunity to get more involved with my school community and peers through signing up for the 2013 scuba diving course. I feel like this course will not only be enjoyable but also very beneficial in the future. If I am certified I think that my father and myself will be able to go on many diving adventures all over the world exploring the under water world. This course was difficult to sign up for as I had a couple fears that I would need to face later on during the course. I wasn't sure if I was comfortable learning at this time and if I would be able to go through with it. But I decided to be more open-minded and step out of my comfort zone. There are currently 6 students including myself enrolled in the program. It was definitely much different than I expected. There is a lot of course work to complete before even going near any of the equipment or the water. First we are expected to learn about the different aspects of diving including the different equipment and what it is used for. It is also important to learn about the dangers or diving, the effects it can have on your body, health, safety as well as the marine life. Before going near the water we need to review the steps to applying the equipment and how to use it during a dive. Once we did this  and completed various quizzes to test our knowledge, we finally were able to go to the pool. This was the part of the course that terrified me and where I had trouble comfortably applying myself to. After arranging all equipment and getting ready for the dive I calmed myself down and was able to risk take and not completely get over but face my fear of breathing through a tank underwater and trusting the equipment to keep me alive. Diving in the pool was really interesting and it gave me many imaginations of that real dives in the oceans would be like. It got me extremely excited. Though we have only just started the course and there are many more things to learn, I am satisfied with my choice of this activity and hope to be able to learn much more through this which I may be able to shape myself further in academics or in the person I strive to be. We have more coursework planned for the next couple of weeks before taking our first trip to the ocean in December. I look forward to the rest of this activity to fill my Action and perhaps creativity sections for my CAS. 

SAISA SWIMMING TOURNAMENT

When we arrived at OSC at 3 am on the 8th of October we were first paired up with a "buddy." this meant that one of the older athletes was paired up with one of the younger ones in order to keep track of everyone in airports as well as during the tournament. That way the coaches/adults wouldn't have difficulties having to be responsible for all the little problems within the team. Once the buddy system was successfully going we spread out over the two waiting buses and had a quiet ride to the airport. Once at the airport all the passports and travel papers were distributed amongst the older buddies. It was simple getting through the check in and immigration and we were in the airport Coffee Bean in no time bonding before our upcoming tournament. The flight ran smoothly as well. Once in Bombay it took us a long time to get through the immigration and were all relieved when finally brought to the ASB campus. We were welcomed by the Athletic Director Kirby Boychuk who later I found out was my host. He gave an introductory presentation to our team about how the competition was going to run, as well as the results system, and describing the layout of the school and covering any important aspects of the tournament we would need to know. Seeing as we had an entire day ahead of us before the tournament, we got back into the bus and with the team visited South Mumbai. There we talked a bit about the famous Taj Hotel, one of the nicest in the world and about the terrorist attack a few years ago. As well as that we discussed the history of the Gateway to India which was built when the british colonized. Even though this was a SAISA trip I was able to learn a lot more about Bombay's history and other interesting facts. We then walked around a bit until we found a suitable restaurant and spent an hour or two there having lunch. We had to leave earlier to make sure we got back to ASB in time for our hosts to take us home. We met the chennai team there as well and saw some old friends which completely raised my excitement. Once we reached our host house, Diana and I immediately got a chance to bond with the daughter as we set off for the nearby mall for some snacks. When we got back to the house, we had dinner and quickly went to sleep since we had not slept the previous night.

DAY 1

 In the morning we got out of bed with excitement and made our way to school. We started off with quick socializing with other SAISA athletes followed by the opening ceremony. In the opening ceremony we nominated Kalila to go up representing our team and light the ceremonial light. We were assigned a space for our teams on the bleachers and immediately followed the warm up. The first morning warm up was very unorganized. They had not assigned lanes to any teams or ages but rather told everyone to find a space and warm up. 192 athletes spread out in only 6 lanes in one pool was hectic. Barely anyone could do more than 3 strokes before hitting the feet of the swimmer in front of them. The first event was the 50m freestyle one of the most intense races of the tournament. I feel like all the Gecko Athletes swimming in this event performed really well. I personally was able to place 5th in the prelims, earning a place in the finals where I later earned a final standing of 6th. Though I was disappointed with the overall result, I was satisfied with the fact that I was able to improve my personal best by at least a second. Right after the 50m freestyle was the 100m backstroke which I was also signed up for. I had hoped there would be more time in between the events in order to rest. In this event I was able to place 8th in the prelims and kept that position throughout the B-Finals later that day. After the 100m freestyle was a 100m breaststroke for the 12 and under age group which I was obviously not a part of. At this time I was able to go get lunch. During SAISA tournaments it is extremely important for an athlete to keep hydrated and eat healthily throughout the day. During this time I was also able to socialize with athletes and students outside of the Gecko Team. This was nice as I was able to meet new people which I now turn out to be very good friends with. It was nice for people from different schools to be able to come together and socialize without there being any problems. At the end of the day we had the usual relay which in my opinion is the funnest race in swimming. During the race there is always so much cheering coming from the teams and it creates a chance for this individual sport to become a team challenge. Following the relay is the medal awarding and then we go back to the host house. When we got home we ate dinner and went to sleep immediately after that.

DAY 2

When waking up on the second day I noticed that my nerves had died down a bit. The first day of saisa had now passed and I was able to focus more on the races to come in the remainder of the competition. When we arrived in at the school campus, the first thing we did was sit together as a team and socialize. I feel like this year our team was very strong. Not only through athletic performance, but we were all able to collaborate and communicate with each other with ease. Compared to previous years, the age gaps between all the athletes was minor, and even the youngest were able to get along and comfortable with the oldest. It was great being part of a team that was so close. It made the competition much easier and more enjoyable. Knowing that not only your friends and your coaches but the entire team is standing on the bleachers supporting each of your races provides a sense of strength and security and it was an amazing experience. During the second day I had the following races: 100 IM, 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, and the 200 Medley Relay. This was a terrific yet disappointing day for me. With my 100 IM I was able to improve my personal best and earn a place of 4th in the finals but was disqualified. The reason for this was due to my stroke technique. It was a valid but extremely disappointing disqualification. Shaking off the disappointment and regret I got ready for the 100 freestyle. This race terrified me from the beginning as in the 4 years of swimming, I had never done it in competition before. I was scared that I would not be able to sprint the entire 4 laps or simply receive a disappointing result. I was shocked when I earned a spot in the finals for this race. I distinctly remember that race, I felt free. As soon as I was in the water all the fear disappeared and I felt like I was gliding through the water. From this I learned that It is important to never doubt yourself and to gain confidence because you might end up surprising yourself. This also allowed me to finish the race and return to my team members with confidence and reassurance. I felt like through this experience I was able to give better advice to other swimmers and support them throughout their fears in a way i previously did not know how to do. Next I had the 200 backstroke. Another race I completely dreaded. For similar reasons. I felt like 200m was a huge change from my usual 50 and 100m races. I didn't think I was able to successfully complete this race. To my surprise, I again felt happy during the race and was able to earn a place of 4th in the finals. Although I did earn a place in the finals, I was disqualified unfairly. This hit me hard. I was mistaken for a different swimmer who after admitted immediately to the fault. Though that swimmer claimed it was them, and I claimed it was not me, the officials were convinced they had not made a mistake and followed through with my disqualification. This upset me a lot and put me down for the remainder of the day. I was proud of myself for improving on my time and completing the race so successfully yet i was disappointed that i was unfairly disqualified and missed out on being able to have placed in the finals. Another aspect of this disqualification that angered me was the fact that through this I lost about 10 points for my team. I tried my best to complete my races in a way where I would benefit through personal bests as well as my team as a whole. But everyone was completely supportive and were quick to comfort me and distract me through jokes and a lot of laughter. I spent the rest of the day socializing more with my team mates and those of other schools. I completed my 100 freestyle finals and was satisfied with the final results. We completed the relay with eagerness and excitement and through placing 5th, us four 15 and over age group girls definitely bonded. We ended the day with a couple gecko cheers to show our sportsmanship, congratulating other teams, and finding our way to our hosts house.

DAY 3

Waking up on the third and final day of competition always brings a rush of emotions. We had to pack our bags and bring them with us to the ASB campus as we would not be returning back to the host houses after the final day. We dragged ourselves out of bed and began packing. When we got to the campus there were definite signs of sadness amongst all geckos as we piled our luggage onto the assigned gecko shelves. We were quick to throw in a cheer and get the team excited for the third and final day. During this day I had the 50m butterfly race which I was extremely excited for and the 200 IM which I was not looking forward to at all. The third day in my opinion was the best of all. My 50m butterfly race went extremely well. I was able to improve my personal best time to my old time 2 years ago when I peaked for swimming. This overjoyed me and I looked forward to the finals. For the rest of the day I ensured i cheered for all my team mates as well as other friends and watched all the races. When my 200 IM came along I began panicking. I begged to be scratched from the race but it was not possible. My confidence completely fell. This race terrified me. Due to my fear I did not perform well. It was one of the worst races I had ever done and I was terribly disappointed with myself. After some sobs and comforting I got back up and got ready for my 50m butterfly finals. This was my last individual race of this tournament and i was determined to give it my all. During the finals I was able to improve my personal best even more and I could tell that my coach was really proud. She said I performed really well. After the relay ending the competition it came time for the award ceremony. We watched the teams go up and receive all their awards and were relieved when we had won 2nd place for sportsmanship. It showed that though we may not have been a team full of olympic swimmers, our character showed and was memorable which I feel is much more important. We then had dinner and said all our goodbyes. Before going to the airport we made our way to the Phoenix Mall where we met the Dhaka team (AISD). We split up into our buddy groups and ran off to explore the mall. I had friends from the dhaka school with me which was an extremely fun way to end this saisa experience. On our way back to colombo everyone was exhausted and most of us slept the entire way back.

To conclude, this saisa has been one of the best I have ever participated in. The students competing were great company. Though I did not agree with some of the system and the tournament, It was still completed successfully and it was definitely memorable. I feel like I tried my hardest and performed well. I was able to improve all my personal bests and if it weren't for the 3 disqualifications I received, I would have placed for all my events. This was definitely a fun and great way to complete my Creativity and Action aspects of CAS. I enjoyed being a part of the GECKO swim team of 2013 and I hope that I will carry the skills and characteristics learned through this with me in the future.

(c) Hana Hettiaratchi Sklenarova

GECKO INC SERVICE GROUP

As a group we've been focusing a lot on athletics and the interaction with schools in the north of Sri Lanka in Killinochchi. Last year our group took a trip there where we donated various sports equipment as well as interacting and playing with the children there. Though we hope to do something similar next semester, we came up with a new project for this semester. Instead of us travelling to them, we thought it would be a great learning opportunity if a group of students could travel here and use our facilities. We call this project "Killinochchi Smiles"

The main points of the project is to bring a group of about 30 students ranging from grades 7 and 9 to OSC. They would stay in the school where we would provide mattresses and bedding. The project would be a duration of 3 days where the kids arrive on a friday and leave on a sunday evening as not to interrupt school schedule too much 

We plan for this project to take place in November. This is our planned schedule for the weekend

Schedule:

Friday

15:45- Kids arrive at OSC

16:30- Welcome introduction + Tour

17:00- Football activity 1

18:00- Break

18:15- Football Activity 2

19:00- Dinner

20:00- Reflections

20:30- Prepare for sleep

21:30- Lights out

Saturday

7:00- Wake up

7:30- Breakfast

8:15- Introduction

8:30- Volleyball activity 1

9:30- break

10:00- Volleyball Activity 2

11:00-Volleyball Activity 3

12:00- Lunch

12:50- Volleyball Match

14:00- Break

14:30- Basketball Activity 1

15:30- Basketball Activity 2

16:30- Break

17:00- Basketball Activity 3

18:00- Basketball Match

19:15- Dinner

20:00- Social/Relaxation Time

21:30 – Lights out

Sunday

7:00- Wake up

7:30- Breakfast

8:15- Introduction

8:30- Football Match

9:30-  ?

10:00- ?

11:00- ?

12:00- Lunch

12:50- Cricket Activity 1

14:00-Break

14:30- Cricket Activity 2

15:30- Cricket Activity 3

16:30- Kids pack up

17:30- Kids depart OSC for train station

We chose these activities as they are the major and basic sports that these schools will be involved in. We plan to hire officials and coaches to come in and assist us in teaching the kids technique which they can take back up north and share with their peers. We thought it would be a good learning opportunity for them to come here and use our facilites. In order to finance the bedding, food, coaches, officials, transportation, we have planned various fundraisers ranging from bake sales to elementary movie nights and pool parties. We also thought perhaps we could work together with the PTA for another fundraiser which would involve an event for the parents maybe a barbeque or lunch or dinner. We were quite successful raising money for our first project so we feel like that will not be a problem. Rukshan, from the cafeteria, has agreed to cater breakfast lunch and dinner for the kids in simple packets. 

Finally, two people in the service group have formulated a rough draft of an invitation letter for the school in Killinochchi which we will improve and send: 

Dear _____,

The Overseas School Of Colombo Gecko Inc Service group would like to invite 30 kids from your school to an eventful weekend on the week of *date* at the OSC campus to teach them different techniques of several different sports. We want to take this time to be able to have the students from OSC and the students from *name of school* have a chance to interact with different communities. We also want the kids from *name of school* to be able to remember the skills taught during this weekend so they can go back home and teach their peers. We will be providing sleeping arrangements in the school campus for all the students and teachers during the 3 days.

During the course of the three days we will be taking the students through different sport workshops to help them understand the different sports better. The four different sports that we will be teaching them will be football, volleyball, cricket and basketball. Transport, food and accommodation will be provided, if there is anything in which you could help us with, such a blankets or pillows for the students please let us know! Do not hesistate on asking any questions about the trip and we hope to see as many cheerful faces as we can!

Best Regards and hope to hear back from you soon,

The Gecko Inc Service Group.

SAISA SWIMMING 2013

The swimming season began on the 16th of August. The same time as Girl's and Boy's Volleyball. This is the 4th SAISA Swimming that I have been involved in. When training for swimming there is a certain system of coaching/training which splits the group up. There are 6 lanes in the pool. Lanes 1 and 2 are the "advanced lanes" which are mainly for those who have been training for many years and are practicing skills rather than technique. Lanes 3 and 4 are the "intermediate" lanes. Usually where the swimmers go who know how to swim each stroke but have weaknesses with techniques. And finally, lanes 5 and 6 are for the "beginners." These two lanes have a separate coach who focuses on teaching them the techniques and the method of doing all four strokes to prepare them for the various races. The training schedule has three mandatory trainings as well as two optional ones. The mandatory practices take place on Tuesdays from 3:00-4:45PM, Fridays from 3:00-4:45PM, and Saturdays from 8:00-10:00AM. The two optional practices are Mondays from 3:00-4:45PM and Wednesdays from 7:00-8:30AM. I usually attend Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and occasionally Wednesdays. I am in Lane 1 seeing as I have been doing swimming since 7th grade. We begin our training with a warm up, followed by about 3 mains sets and ending with a cool down. On saturdays we end with a team activity which helps our team spirit and bonding. 
This is usually what one of our training schedules looks like 

Advanced

Warm Up: 100 Choice of Stroke 100 Kick 100 Pull 100 IM drill  (25 drill/stroke)                                                                                     400

First Set: IM 200 IM drill 50 free ez 100 IM 50 free ez Rest 45 seconds                                                            350

Stroke Set: Free and Back 150 free drill (drill 1) 150 free 100 flutter KOB 100 free Rest 30 seconds 100 back drill (drill 3) 100 back 100 flutter KOB 100 back Rest 30 seconds                                                      900

Fin Set: Back and Free 50 free sprint 20 second rest 50 back sprint 20 second rest With fins working on fast turnover (speed and number of arm stokes)     X6                                                         600

Main Set Kick/Sprint 25 each of Free Back (No board-streamline on back) X8                                                        400

The events that I am involved in for local tournaments and for the SAISA tournaments and the times that have been recorded for me so far are: 
50m-Freestyle - 34.58 seconds
50m-Butterfly - 40.13 seconds
100m-Freestyle - 1:20.66
100m-Backstroke
100m- IM (all strokes)- 1:31:98
200m- Backstroke - 3:28.48
200m- IM (all strokes)- 3:26.34
200m- Medley Relay
200m- Freestyle Relay 
400m- Freestyle Relay

The SAISA tournament will take place in ASB, American School of Bombay, starting the 9th of October and ending the 11th of October. The tournament will be a duration of 3 days. My goals for SAISA are to be able to medal in my strongest events such as 50 free, 50 fly, 100 IM, and perhaps even 100 back. I hope to come back having improved all my personal bests even if i do not earn any individual medals. 
I have also taken a leadership role during swimming which counts for my creativity aspect of CAS. This involved me getting assigned a certain stroke or technique with a certain distance and creating a work out for the rest of the team. This helped both others and myself because it gave me an opportunity to observe the weaknesses and flaws of other's techniques which helped both me and the other swimmers improve on that specific fault. 

Travel Team SAISA Swimming 2013 

IB Orientation

IB orientation is a trip that the DP1 eleventh grade students are taken on every year as an introduction to the Diploma program. The purpose of the trip is to interact and collaborate with your classmates whilst in a different environment in order to come together to problem solve, take risks, and learn. For more than 7 years OSC has partnered with Borderlands for the orientation trip. Borderlands has both programs in Sri Lanka as well as Nepal. Borderlands is an outdoor action program that offers many activities such as white water rafting, kayaking, abseiling, hiking, canyoning, and much more. It is located in Kithugala, about 3 hours away from OSC. The camp consists of tents for the visitors to stay in, bathrooms with shower and toilet facilities, and a long house where meals are eaten and where reflections and relaxation times are completed. 

DAY 1

The first day after arriving at the camp we immediately went rafting. It was a very interesting change of atmosphere to be on a river instead of a classroom, and it gave us a chance to be able to show some of our leadership as well as other personal skills to work together to be able to meet all requirements. 

Once we were through all the rapids, we stopped at a spot to have a little fun. Some of the boats were flipped upside down and we all took turns doing flips and jumps, and even slipping and falling off into the river. Great pictures were taken and many memories came out of this experience. After multiple laughs and pictures we set off again to go have lunch. It was an amazing feeling sitting on the rocks looking over the river having lunch with the class. After lunch we hiked up to the canyoning location. After a brief discussion about safety and rules and regulations we were able to enjoy this once in a life time opportunity of various jumps and slides off the naturally formed canyons. Some friends and classmates had fears and were nervous with this specific activity. This gave me a chance to help them and reassure them that they'd regret it if they didn't try it. I then also held their hands as we jumped together making sure they felt comfortable and were able to get over their fears. They thanked me after which was a really great feeling. I feel like we were all able to get through the jumps and slides with so little complications and time wasting that we were even able to run the extended canyon which on the week without walls trip we were not able to complete. This allowed me to get out of my comfort zone as well seeing as I was finally trying new things that I had not done before. With many cuts and bruises and aching butts we hiked back down to the rafts. We calmly made our way back to the camp all jumping out of the boats in the end to float back. This gave me another opportunity to help a classmate that was not particularly comfortable in the river. 
After showering and settling in we made our way to the longhouse to socialize and have dinner. There we got a briefing on The theory of knowledge and Creativity, Action, Service aspects of the IB orientation trip. Socializing gave us a chance to get to know each other more than we already did. We looked at pictures of the day and all hurried to our tents exhausted from the long day and preparing for the adventures to come. 

DAY 2

On the second day we were all dreading the morning run up the mountain, which ended up being cancelled. We left the camp at 7am to make our way to the historic Belilena Cave for our TOK workshop. The 1.5 km hike was nothing but enjoyable. There was singing, games, sprinting, running, and a whole lot of laughs the entire way up. Of course accompanied by the occasional "are we there yet" and "My legs hurt." None the less I certainly enjoyed the hike and got many fun memories out of it. When we reached our destination we spend a little time exploring the cave and reviewing its history. That was followed by a two and a half hour TOK workshop to prepare us for the next two years of trying to understand the basic aspects of knowledge. The workshop was filled with fun collaboration based activities for the class to complete. 
After the TOK session we began another, longer hike to the "water house" where we stopped for lunch and began to prepare for our abseiling adventure. The hike up the rock was very steep and tiring filled with screams due to leeches and many bruises due to falling. Once we reached the top, a storm started brewing which was both terrifying as well as freezing. The students that had gone abseiling before all did really well helping and reassuring those who hadn't and were nervous. No one cried and we were all able to get down the waterfall. This was the last experience of the day and we took the buses back to the camp where we again discussed the day, viewed pictures, prepared for the following day and got a good nights rest. 

DAY 3

On the final day we were awakened by the sound of teachers telling us to prepare for the morning run. After the tiring run we all went into the freezing strong current river and splashed around. This was followed by breakfast. After breakfast we were ready to go into our service aspect of the trip and set off in our assigned groups to interview various local people of different jobs, backgrounds, and positions. We interviewed them on both the community as well as their jobs. The locals were all very welcoming and friendly and the interviews were completed successfully. 

After the interviews we all went back to the camp to discuss what the locals had just shared with us. We had many interesting stories to tell resulting in many inspiring ideas about the community and the way it develops. After the discussion we had a big lunch and went to pack up our things to travel back to Colombo. Over all I would say that this was an amazing trip. I think the entire class of 2015 left with many new learned skills, many memories, and definitely with a lot of satisfaction. 

Photos provided by borderlandssrilanka.blogspot.com

CAS Goals

I have numerous goals for my CAS for the following 2 years. The goals I will set may have been inspired by previous experience or knowledge with that specific idea or activity. I may elaborate on previous achievements to try and extend them further into something more meaningful and less broad. Other goals may be goals I strive for even though I am not familiar with the activity or idea but hope to conquer throughout the next two years gaining many new experiences and learning new things about myself, my community, and even the rest of the world. From these goals I hope to gain many new skills which can benefit me in university, getting a job, and skills beneficial for the rest of my life. 

Goals for Creativity: 

My first and main goal regarding creativity is related to SAISA Swimming. This year the highschoolers were given an opportunity to lead a couple of the workouts for the season. Additionally, the workouts we introduce to the athletes are workouts we created ourselves. We're given a specific stroke or stroke set with the amount of meters required for that workout, with that information we continue on to research various techniques and workouts relevant to the stroke or stroke set. The amount of meters is very important in choosing which techniques or drills are most appropriate for the workout. There are many different elements involved in creating the workout. Coaching the actual workouts are very important as it will affect the swimmer's performance during competition. My goal for this is to be able to lead the 3 workouts assigned to me in a way where I am able to improve an athlete's technique or give them slight tips on how to improve. With this they will be able to apply those techniques to their stroke in a certain race and perhaps decrease their time or prevent an injury which in the long run will have very positive affects on the swimmer. It is a simple yet complex goal. Though it does not require a huge amount of time nor many resources it does require me to use my personal leadership, communication, and collaboration skills which will benefit both the swimmer and myself in the long run based on the learner profile. I am currently not involved in visual arts nor performing arts which makes it difficult for me to base any creativity goals in those specific subjects or projects but i do hope to be able to be involved in one of those two subjects one way or another, whether it's helping out with a play, performance, an event, or an exhibition. If I am involved in one of these my goals would include being able to be a powerful contribution to the final product as well as being able to input and share ideas of my own within the given task. 

Goals for Action:

I plan for action to be my most involved part of CAS as a whole seeing as I have done and will continue doing more than enough action based activities throughout my time in osc to be able to reflect on them. I have already participated in a total of 8 SAISAS and 1 MSSE sport events. Currently I am involved in SAISA Swimming'13 and I have set a couple simple personal goals for this specific sport season:

-To continue training 2-3 times a week after the sport season is over
-To earn at least 1-2 individual event medals at the SAISA meet
-Working on improving my personal bests
-Improving and extending my endurance 

I have been involved in swimming for 4 years now and hope to be able to gain more skills and experiences throughout this next season. I plan to not only help myself but this year focus on helping others as well, such as younger kids or athletes that may be new to swimming or swimming at OSC. I can do this through my leadership role in the training workouts this year as well as giving others simple tips on their weaknesses or fears. 
I also am planning to try out for the Basketball and perhaps even the Track and Field team. I have been involved in each of these before. I have been part of the track and field team three years. Being part of the track team helped me meet new people from both osc and the other SAISA schools. I have made many great friendships as well as achieving many personal bests and even medals at SAISA events. If I try out this year I hope to be able to strengthen my weaknesses. This would include long distance running and specific field events such as shot put. In order to do this I would need to train on my endurance. I was involved in SAISA basketball last year and MSSE basketball in middle school. When trying out for basketball I hope to improve my lay up and shooting skills as well as participating in team sports instead of individual sports. For Action I hope to be able to achieve many things worth reflecting on. 

Goals for Service: 

Previously I had been a part of the service Temple school for about 2 years. There I learned more about interacting with children when there is a language barrier which really benefitted me for future school trips or projects that required us to talk using hand gestures or other types of communication. I then later became part of the new service group called Gecko Inc. As part of the first group to do the service I always felt like I was able to watch the group develop in a way that people in other service groups would not. Which is why when I began the diploma program I signed up to be a service leader for Gecko Inc. Seeing as I am now a leader I have less personal goals but rather goals for the rest of the group. As a leader my goal for this year is to make sure that everyone is focused and working on a productive task. As well as that I will make sure that all members have an equal contribution to any projects we might complete. I want to be able to get this service group to turn into one that can continue to run years from now. It was only created around 2 years ago and only this year it has found a certain location and goal to focus on. I want to be able to as a group elaborate on that and get Gecko Inc. to become as popular and beneficial for outside communities as the other service groups. As for myself, I want to be able to be the leader that knows how to problem solve and will be able to while collaborating with the co-leader, bring this service group to success. This requires me to be extra engaged in the group and the tasks during meetings as well as outside. I will also need to work on my leadership skills and my ability to tell others what tasks to do. Mostly, my goal for this group is to be able to get everyone to collaborate and work together to be selfless and help those who are not as fortunate as us. 

Goals for Academics:

For the following next two years I have a couple of goals based on my academics. Primarily, I would like to try and earn 6s in at least two of my classes. Secondly, I will try to earn nothing below a 4. I feel like the grade range between 4-6 is a strong range where I will be satisfied with my results. During the next two years I would like to focus on being more organized with my work, trying to stop procrastinating and managing my time wisely when I am also involved in sports and service. This would reduce the amount of stress on myself and also allow me to have more free time when closer to the due date as well as being able to reflect and improve on the tasks before finalizing them.