Over these past 2 years, I've been involved in a wide range of activities, all of which played an important role in my personal growth. Looking back, below are some of my highlights of a few of the activities I was involved in.
Sign Language
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| Learning the days of the month. |
I joined the Sign Language after school activity towards the end of my DP1 year with no prior experience. Over the course of the month after joining, I had picked up the alphabets and basic greetings. Inspired by the progress I had made, I took up Sign Language again in DP2. We had a different teacher this time, Bryan, who is deaf but is still an extremely engaging and friendly teacher.
Over the course of that year up until a week ago when I retired from my after school activities, we learned a crazy amount of stuff which was extremely satisfying as I was able to learn a completely new language. Our lessons normally started off with a Powerpoint presentation with the new vocabulary that we'd be learning that day. It was initially a bit hard in the beginning but as time passed and also the fact that we had review sessions at the end and beginning of each session, retaining the information because much more possible. Towards the end of the year, we've had a tight knit group which ranged from 3-4 members. We'd frequently collaborate amongst each other to be of help when we forget a certain word.
Reflecting back, I was able to develop new skills as I learned how to say new words or phrases everyday. I'm glad I chose this after school activity and I'll definitely miss Bryan's friendly nature and engaging lessons.
Recycling and Sustainability
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| An old group photo taken during my first year of Recycling. |
I had joined the service group of Recycling and Sustainability in my first year of DP as a member of a the group. I eventually was given the opportunity to become one of the student leaders in the beginning of my second DP year and just 2 weeks ago, I along with my co-leader passed on our responsibilities to the upcoming leaders from DP1 who would be holding the fort.
I've definitely come a long way from the beginning of the year as a member of the group. Being a member in my first year allowed me to gain an idea on how things worked. Knowing that was beneficial when I became a leader as I knew what to do and what not to. The members in our recycling group normally switched every semester to a new bunch. I've always found it enjoyable to collaborate and get to know the other members better along with working with them by going class-to-class to collect the recyclable materials. I've also been able to work on my leadership skills over the past year in terms of being able to organize the group and getting the members to work more efficiently.
One of the main things that I was able to take back from this service is also being able to see the recycling system in the school. For example, it was interesting to note the paper and cardboard consumption in school.
I've definitely enjoyed meeting new members, being under the supervision of Mr.Lockwood, who was extremely supportive and warm throughout, and of course, the pizza parties at the end of the year.
Basketball
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| One of our drills as we begin the activity. Photo credit: Jack |
Basketball was an after school activity that I took up towards the end of DP1. The last time I had properly played basketball was in 10th grade so I was a bit rusty when I started again that year. Initially my biggest hurdle was getting the ball into the basket but after a lot of games and practice, getting the ball in wasn't as challenging as it initially was.
Basketball involved a lot of collaboration as we normally played in two teams against each other. I was able to learn and develop new skills such as making a lay-up and 3 pointers. Being able to play basketball every Monday gave me something to look forward to and slightly helped reduce the Monday blues while also taking away the stress of the day as I could just focus on the game.
I'm definitely going to miss playing basketball every week with the other members and also Mr. Wasko who could get the ball inside the basket from any given angle.
