For the second experience,I decided to write a blog titled “My diwali vacation in a blog” .I am very well inclined towards writing but I don’t get time due to my hectic schedule which includes studying for six subjects in my school and preparing for competitive exams.Talking about my blog,there are seven posts in total and I have written about distinct things like writing about myself in the first two posts,cooking several recipes in the third and the sixth post ,trying a different art form in the fifth post and lastly writing about myself and some significant issues which needs to be addressed in the society in the fourth and the seventh post.Writing this blog not only helped me do something I am inclined towards but also helped me learn unique things which I extremely enjoyed. 

Learning Outcome 1

1.Did you identify your strengths and weaknesses?

(Writing)

Strengths                                            Weakness 

Communication                                  Organization

Clarity

Diction

Knowing my target audience

(Cooking)

Strengths                                            Weakness 

Chopping                                            Measuring

Baking                                                Cleanliness

Mixing

Melting

(Tie dye)

Strengths                                            Weakness 

Cutting                                                Stitching 

Tying                                                  

Dyeing 

2.How do you feel now that you’re aware of it?Now that I am aware of it I feel like improving upon my weaknesses by sincerely implementing the required actions which will help me convert these weaknesses into strengths.For writing,whenever I write anything I can check how well organized is my piece in order to improve my organization in writing.For cooking,whenever I cook anything whatever I have to measure I will measure it with full concentration and also make sure the kitchen is clean.For tie dye,whenever I tie dye I will practice extra for stitching so that I can master it.

3.Why is it important for us to know our strengths? Or weaknesses?It is important for us to know our strengths and weaknesses in order to know where do  we stand which will further help us to improve ourselves at our best levels.Being aware of our weaknesses will help us know on which aspects we have to improve upon and being aware of our strengths will help us realize our real potential and encourage ourselves leading to achieve everything at its best.

4.Did you work/or would like to work on your weakness? Relate one area where overcoming this weakness would have benefited you.I did worked on my weaknesses by implementing all those actions which were required to work on my weakness.For writing,whenever I write anything I can check how well organized is my piece in order to improve my organization in writing.This habit will help in every area of life where I will be require to write like in my english summative assessments or exams,CAS reflections,TOK reports,extended essays,college applications and etc.

Learning Outcome 2

1.What was so challenging and why?The challenging part for writing was organization because after writing I used to get exhausted and was not able to think thoroughly which lead to my piece being disorganized.The challenging part for cooking was measuring.While baking the oreo cake I was not able to measure the appropriate amount of warm milk and baking powder.The reason why it was challenging because I was constantly thinking that I will mess this up which lead me to not able to concentrate.The challenging part for tie and dye was stitching because I have never stitched anything in my life till that date and so doing it for the first time was undoubtedly very challenging.

2.Have you done anything similar before?Firstly,talking about writing I have done it many times in my school for the subject “English” but my writings used to be more literary and now my writings are both literary and non literary.The literary part includes writing about myself and the non literary part includes writing about some essential issues which needs to be addressed in the society like mental health and online safety.Secondly,talking about cooking I have done it many times in survival skill classes conducted by my school but the recipes were much more easier than what I have learned now.Thirdly,talking about tie dye I have never done it and so I was very excited to do it for the first time.

3.How did you overcome this challenge?For writing I checked my piece again and made sure it is organized well by distributing it into paragraphs.For cooking I took help of my maid and she guided me well enough to overcome this challenge.For tie dye I took help of my mom and even she guided me well enough to overcome this challenge.

4.How do you feel about having undertaken this challenge? Why is it important for you to undertake new challenges?I feel proud having undertaken these three challenges.It is important for me to undertake new challenges in order to witness my own personal growth.Especially,growing in writing and cooking will help a lot as writing can help me whenever I want to write something like college applications or job profiles and cooking will help a lot as it is one of the most crucial survival skill which might be needed in future like while studying abroad.

5.Did you discover any skills you hadn’t known or learned yet? How could this skill be useful to you in the future? How does having this new skill make you feel about yourself? Why is it important to learn new skills?Yes I did discovered several skills I hadn’t known or learned yet like maintaining cleanliness while cooking something in the kitchen.As mentioned writing will be useful in the future while writing college applications or job profiles and cooking will be useful in the future while going to abroad for further studies.To an extent tie dye will not be useful but it may help me when I have to showcase my artistic skills somewhere in the future. Having these new skills makes me feel much more confident as now I can manage myself on my own.It is important to learn new skills as it helps us gain new knowledge-based perspectives and new experiences which further trains us to handle a wide range of challenges leading us to achieve our ultimate goals.

Learning Outcome 5

1.Is working with others generally easy or difficult for you?Why?It depends on the person or the people I am working with.When I think that this person or group of people will be able to guide me well enough to accomplish my aim I tend to work more easily with them.If the person or group of people will not be able to guide me well enough to accomplish my aim it becomes a little difficult for me as I feel the result will be a bit compromised.

2.So, based on your answer to the above question, during this particular activity, was it  easy or difficult for you to work with others? Ninety percent it was easy for me to work with my mom as she guided me well enough to do things like,baking,mixing,melting and maintaining cleanliness while cooking and cutting,tying,dyeing,stitching while tie dye.Ten percent it was hard because my maid was not able to guide me well enough while chopping as she was not able to communicate well because she does not speaks the same language as I do.

3.Did you have to work with anyone difficult? How did you handle it?Yes,I have to work with anyone difficult  because my maid was not able to guide me well enough while chopping as she was not able to communicate well because she does not speak the same language as I do and I handled it by following her actions properly.

4.Why is it important to be able to work collaboratively with others?It is important to be able to work collaboratively with others because it helps us improves the way we work to resolve a particular problem which leads to a more efficient result and a more chance of success.

5.What was the importance of teamwork or leadership in your activity?It was important for me to take leadership as this activity was part of my CAS experience and so I had to do everything on my own.There were certain skills I did not have which is why at times I wanted help from my mom or my maid in order to complete the activities.

Final take away

What learner profile characteristics have you developed in this activity? 

Communicators:I expressed ideas and information confidently and creatively and I worked effectively and willingly in collaboration with others.

Risk takers:I approached unfamiliar situations and uncertainty with courage and forethought,and had the independence of spirit to explore new roles,ideas and strategies.

Reflective:I gave thoughtful considerations to my own learning and experience by taking notes from the videos regularly during the course.

Yes,there is a link with my subject English and my CAS experience because we have been taught blog writing as a topic in one of our units.If someone has read this blog this activity can benefit others by learning something what I have experienced like an example they can learn how to make a oreo cake within few ingredients or they can learn how to make their nachos more fun by adding seasonings and veggies.The highlight of this experience for me was when I made a oreo cake because I am a person who loves to eat food especially desserts.Yes my perspectives or values were challenged and altered like an example priorly I do not use to keep the kitchen clean but after cooking with my mom in the kitchen I realized how essential it is to keep the kitchen clean.I can share my blog with others so that they can learn what I have experienced like several recipes or learn about some important topics which needs to be addressed in our community as soon as possible to see the desirable change.I achieved success and this made me feel happy as it bought a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment to me.From this experience I not only learned how to write a blog professionally but also learned cooking and tie dye.If I did this activity again I would like to do it independently without taking any help from others.I am going to apply this learning in the future when I will write my college applications,job profiles,etc and when I will go to abroad for further studies.Writing is a medium which helps one spread information rapidly and so I will continue to write blogs on some global problems like the covid crisis,water scarcity,etc so that many people are aware about it and they can start act accordingly.Hence,this is how I wish to contribute to the society further through this activity.

Evidence