juliajedrzejczakcasblog

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

FINAL REFLECTION

The 18 months of CAS that I experienced were surprisingly very benefitial and fulfilling to me. At first, I did not fully comprehend what managing a CAS blog would be like – I had a hard time having a routine, and my reflections were not fully developed. With time, however, the CAS experience not only became part of my lifestyle but made me see that there is more to even a simple walk or altering clothes.

What I enjoyed most about CAS was probably exploring my interest in sewing, facing its challenges and becoming more knowledgeable in this skill. On the other hand, except for my individual interests I really enjoyed experiencing what is teamwork. On Habitat for Humanity, and later Amnesty International meetings (and the “Write for Rights” marathon) I got to know what it is like to work in a group and how important it is to work collaboratively to achieve great results. The greatest challenge for me, however, on both of these activities was entering the discussion and voicing my concerns. I have been scared of public speaking for as long as I can remember, but the Service part of CAS has made me more comfortable with it.

A very easy skill to develop for me, though, was tennis. I have been playing tennis since primary school and I don’t have much trouble with it. This activity brought me a lot of joy, but I rarely faced any challenges regarding it. That is why my learning outcomes in tennis were a piece of cake. Other abilities that I developed, although a bit more difficult, were sewing, crocheting and making pottery. The difference here was that I never tried these activities before, and through CAS I had the opportunity to commit and acquire new knowledge. Overall, CAS taught me a lot more than I anticipated and I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

TABLE WITH LO

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

SUMMARIZING POST - PART 2

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

Two examples of CAS experiences that involved the collective action. If you don't have any other collective CAS experiences, give links to CAS project posts, that showing you working together with other students.

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/672099287532961792/service-15th-of-december-last-weekend-on-sunday

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/663563440877699072/servicecreativity-13th-september-for-our-bake

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

Two examples of CAS experiences with links to relevant posts, that address global issues as described by LO6.

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/653282533882134528/creativity-2nd-march-that-day-i-finished

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/672099164013903872/service-24th-of-november-on-our-last-amnesty

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

Two examples of CAS experiences that involved ethical issues, preferably from service strand of CAS.

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/663563445066727424/service-22nd-of-september-on-our-last-amnesty

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/653285524776386560/service-6th-may-on-the-last-amnesty-meeting-we

9. Evidence of reflection on significant CAS experiences.

Links to 3 posts with well developed reflection. Each post addressing different strand of CAS (one post with reflection on Activity, one post with reflection on Creativity, one post with reflection on Service).

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/653280348000731136/activity-10-february-on-this-tennis-lesson-my

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/653280390432358400/service-11-february-on-todays-amnesty-meeting

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/653284168020705280/creativity-27th-april-i-recently-started-learning

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

SUMMARIZING POST - PART 1

1. Evidence for completion of CAS project.

Write name of your CAS project and give links to posts on your blog with evidence of completing the project.

COLLECTING TRASH ON WALKS

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/653287986821251072/cas-project-update-we-are-pleased-to-announce-that

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

Two examples of CAS experiences with links to appropriate blog post that show fulfillment of demands of LO1.

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/663561747638190080/activity-24th-of-july-a-few-days-ago-during

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/672099155447054336/creativity-23rd-of-november-on-the-picture-above

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

Two examples of CAS experiences with links to appropriate blog post that show fulfillment of demands of LO2.

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/642056311456104448/activity-30-january-2021-a-few-days-ago-i

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/642055262551916544/service-14th-december-2020-today-we-briefly

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

Two examples of CAS experiences with links to appropriate blog post that show fulfillment of demands of LO3.

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/642057348128571392/cas-project-update-my-friends-and-i-were-at-first

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/653287455963987969/cas-project-update-my-friend-and-i-teamed-up-and

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

Two examples of LONG TERM (stretching for at last half a year) CAS experiences with links to appropriate blog posts.

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/678003256781307904/activity-30th-of-january-on-my-family-trip-to

https://juliajedrzejczakcasblog.tumblr.com/post/672099043849224192/service-3rd-of-november-on-todays-amnesty

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Creativity 2nd of March

On the picture above is one of my most recent sewing project. This was an alteration of a pair of pants that I have stopped wearing and that were lying in my closet for the longest time. I had this idea to sew some star shapes onto them to make them more interesting - and that’s what i did. I had some difficulty with maneuvering the pants so that I can see them on correctly using my machine - I made a few mistakes along the way but everything turned out fine in the end. I am very happy with how they turned out and i am barely suppressing from wearing them every single day.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Activity 27th February

I recently went on a very long walk alone. I was walking around my neighborhood, then I made it to the Wał Zawadowski - and I even walked along the river for almost an hour. This picture of a cat that i stumbled upon is the only picture I took on my walk - i wasn’t really using my phone that much except for that and listening to music. These few lonely hours were very therapeutic and fun. I got to breathe some fresh air, listen to music and get some exercise after a long and busy week at school. I will definitely be doing this again soon.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Creativity 25th of February

I recently drew these two drawings. These are some of the several ones that I drew in the past two weeks. I am very fulfilled and happy recently because i am expressing myself creatively a lot more often than i used to. I barely had any time before and didn’t have a lot of ideas, but now I am starting to get back on track with my hobbies. These drawing were pretty easy to draw and did not take that much time, but i am still very happy with them as they bragueta me a lot of joy. I hope i will continue this streak of random creativity:)).

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Service 23rd February

Tuday we discussed the strikes happening in Canada recently. A convoy of anti-vaccine mandate Canadian truckers and their supporters made their way to the country’s capital, Ottawa, creating a blockage and obstructing the U.S.-Canadian border crossing. The truckers are calling themselves the “freedom convoy” and it was formed as a response to vaccine mandated for truckers in order to cross borders between Canada and the United States. We noticed how the situation is getting out of hand - even a criminal investigation is underway after monuments were vandalized during the protests.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Activity 23rd of February

From todays lesson, sadly the only proof I have is this blurry picture. Still, it is visible that we were having a good time playing today. On this tennis lesson, my sister and mostly played a single match. Before that, we did some warm up exercises - we practiced our forehand, backhand, volley, smash and serve. That did not take that much time especially because we couldn’t wait to proceed with the competition. I don’t remember who won exactly - at this point our skills are very similar (once i win, another time she wins). That only makes the game more interesting though.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Service 16th of February

Today, during the Amnesty meeting, we talked about how the Holocaust novel - “Maus” was removed from classrooms in Tennessee by the school board.

The book involves vulgar language and graphic description, which is why this decision was made. There are many sides to this event and debates are happening - our group also had one. We discussed what is the idea behind censorship - poisoning kids’ minds or simply whiting-out some of the swearing. There were many views shared about this - some even said that graphic history is a part of history and it cannot be taught without it. Maybe kids should be taught the details later, but be aware of the horrid events that happened in a nutshell.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Creativity 20th of February

The following drawing was a very spontaneous project. I started with doodling a face and i thought that was it but then I made this entire, fully-computed drawing. I am very happy with how this turned out and i intend to continue starting random ideas and turning them into something special.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Activity 30th of January

On my family trip to Oman, my dad, my uncle, my sister and I played tenis there almost every day. We played double and had some very competetive matches. This experience was not only fun but very good practice as we played with more experienced individuals. The only thing was that the hot weather made it difficult to stay energized but overall, I would definitely do this again. I am very happy that tennis has stuck with me so much - even outside of my weekly lessons I still continue this activity. I am not planning on stopping:))).

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Activity 29th of January

Today, I spent almost the entire day on the beach in Oman. I swam so much, jumped through waves and ran with my sister along the shore. We also swam a lot in the pool, especially in the evening. It’s been so long since I swam - the last time was in the summer - so this was a very nice reminder of how much I enjoy this activity.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Creativity 30th of January

A few days ago I made this shirt. It was once a long sleeved turtleneck, but I turned it into this crop top with a design in the middle. This piece is still not finished as I intend to make the writing “identity?” more visible. Unfortunately when i was making this, I lacked some needed materials so i had to improvise. I wish for the words to be more bold so I will continue this work once i buy what is required. Still, I am very happy with how this turned out.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Service 19th of January

pegasus - human rights violation

On todays meeting we talked about how recent investigations revealed that Pegasus spyware was used to infect the devices of six Palestinian human rights activists, four Kazakh civil society activists, eleven US Embassy officials in Uganda, two Polish opposition figures, a member of an independent UN human rights. It is not a surprise that governments are using spyware to target activists and journalists, the very people who uncover their abusive practices. This unfairness in the world is outrageous and as we concluded in our debate - privacy and freedom of speech are human rights and such violations have to be stopped

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Service 12th of January

On last weeks meeting we discussed what is happening in Kazachstan recently. There have been protests for some time now against fuel price rises. The protests were peaceful, and mean no harm - people are voicing their concerns non-violently. However, the demonstrations quickly spiralled into mass disturbances and looting that led to the worst bloodshed in the former Soviet state's 30 years of independence. The authorities banned the internet and let in criminals to cause chaos in order to receive military help from Russia. The protesters are being killed, injured and tortured by the authorities who are using excessive force. Some are being accused of and charged with terrorism, murder and seeking to overthrow the government. People in Kazachstan are facing huge human rights violations, the situation is dire and has to be stopped.

[juliajedrzejczakcasblog]

Creativity 3rd of January

I recently made the coat that i am wearing on the picture above. I made this vest coat using an old puffy coat from a few years ago. i cut of the arms, sewn it up and added a skeleton design on the front and back using fabric paint. This item was very time consuming and tiring, but the final effect was very much worth it. I am very proud of this piece and I am glad that I can explore my passion to sewing further.