Swappers Stop was an event that was organized by the students of Grade 12 Business Management and Economics student. The main aim behind organizing Swappers Stop was to promote environmental and economical sustainability, the idea behind the event was to swap high quality cloths, accessories, books, etc. Any teacher or student looking for new items in exchange of an item which they do not require can swap in the event. This is often done before a party in universities to save them cost for buying a new outfit for the party, students can mutually exchange cloths before the party. The concept was adapted into Swappers Stop where people can save thousands of rupees. The event also featured mini-games, food, music and sustainable decoration, I was in the core committee of the event serving as the item collection head for teachers and admin staff.

L1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

While opting in for the role in core committee, I knew that my strength is handling team and working with them to yield maximum success in the event, that’s why I chose to become head of the collection team and personally aided in collecting items from teachers and students. My other strength that helped contribute to the success of the event was my crisis management skills during the last day of preparation, Just 13 hours before the event I was told to handle the food crisis where one of the stall had backed out last minute, without panicking I handled the crisis and on the day of the event I pulled out the most profit out of every stall using marketing strategies taught in BM classes.

L2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

My time and resource management skills aren’t the greatest, this event really helped my improve those skills by working on both. To manage my time well I made a personal calendar for myself noting down all the work I had to do, and I also noted down the work to be done by my peers so I could help them complete their task on time and this also helped everyone stay coordinated. I also improved those skills by observing the team and learning from them. In the process I also got the chance to sharpen my creativity skills, as we had to make all the decorations from useable junk and use very limited resources from school’s store. I was able to improve my social skills as I had to communicate with my teachers and admin staff to convince them to participate in the event and also communicated within the team to make sure the operations were going smoothly, I thought of myself as a bad communicator but the event put me to the test of checking my communication skills and I was able to communicate well with the team and staff without any major problems.

L3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

Our Core committee was formed by our subject teachers, It was clear that in-order to make the event a success everything needs to be organized and well managed, before starting with planning we made a google spreadsheet where we recorded information, this was convenient as the whole team could use the spreadsheet. We also made a group chat to ensure efficient communication.

L4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

In the start of the event everyone felt motivated and were showing enthusiasm towards the event, but eventually everyone started losing the motivation, the team leaders ensured that all the volunteers stayed motivated through out the event planning. In the week prior our collection team would visit all the classes in the DP wing to collect items, the team leaders would ask for updates and show commitment into the event

L5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

It was clear that in order to make this event successful it was necessary to work in a team together. This was not a one man job, everyone brought their unique skills to the table. Because of the skills everyone contributed we were able to make this event successful, working collaboratively truly helped us make better decisions, as decisions were made mutually between the team, it removed any biasness that would have come if a sole person would have made the decision. Working in a group also was enjoyable as everyone kept each other entertained and motivated, in-short working in a team created a positive and enjoyable work environment.

L6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global
significance

The main idea behind organizing such event was to promote sustainability in school, A lot of resources are wasted creating a simple t-shirt, and the t-shirt is maybe worn 2-3 times in a party and then thrown away in garbage. This creates more garbage in landfill, and also produces more wastage like water and harmful chemical which are dumped in city rivers. Swappers stop was an initiative to reduce the waste, and exchange the used clothes with other clothes which are still in good condition, this way both parties can benefit from the exchange and help create less waste and promote sustainability, It also helped me understand that a lot of waste is also produces in decoration of any event, and we can reduce the waste by making decorations from used up plastic bottle and cloths.

L7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and
actions

Before throwing any item or clothes into dustbin we should consider recycling it or donating it to the unprivileged people. The event helped us consider the ethical choice of not generating excess waste and help cut it off. While handling the food crisis, I had a choice of using cheap plastic utensils but it wasn’t ethical for me to use it, consequently I used paper utensils which cut off my profit but was more sustainable and ethical.

Overall heading this CAS project gave me the opportunity to demonstrate leadership and develop communication and management skills. I’m grateful for this opportunity and look forward to organizing more events in the future.