Monsoon musing
Monsoon Musing is an annual literary event that encourages writers of all ages to perform their pieces on a stage. Fountainhead school organizes this event for all students and teachers, providing them with a platform to present all kinds of literary compositions. This year, I signed up for the position of the Head of the Logistics Department.
LO 1 (Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth)
Monsoon Musing was the first organizing event I took part in Throughout the event I was able to improve my communication skills and become aware of my strengths and weaknesses. The event was out of my comfort zone and I was able to develop and acknowledge my abilities and skills.
LO2 (Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process)
As mentioned earlier, the event was a challenge for me as it was a new experience for me. Being the head of an entire team, I was involved with communicating with volunteers as well as the teachers which put me in an unfamiliar environment and guided me to develop new abilities in the run. It helped me gain experience and expertise in the area encouraging me to take part in these events again.
LO-3 (Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience )
The event was planned from the investigation to the reflection by my team and me. From scratch, we developed an idea for the event, got approvals and rejections, and moved forward till hosting the event. Although the event was planned at the school in previous years, we made changes to the event by putting forward new ideas like keeping stalls and a mini-interactive event (book thief).
For all the rejections we got for the proposals we worked together to make more effective plans and ideas in the future. Implementing the ideas proposed by the teachers and the requirements of the event, we reflected everything we could in creative ideas.
Managing an entire team helped me be aware of my responsibilities and roles towards the event planning from the start.
LO-4 (Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experience)
The event planning started exactly a month before the event when the roles of my classmates and me were assigned. We made an initial plan for the event and listed all the potential problems we might face in the course of event planning. We made several changes to plans and format during the month of planning depending on the sudden requirements and changes to make sure the event was up to the standards. This was a long-term CAS project as the planning, execution, and reflection all happened in the course of the event.
LO-5 (Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively)
Being in charge of a team expected me to work collaboratively with schoolmates as well as the events teams and teachers in charge. The exchange of ideas and proposals included listening to my peer’s ideas and proposals and respecting their perspectives. Making sure that all the inputs were catered to and everybody was participating from the team. I was also expected to assign roles to my peers keeping their best abilities in mind to make the event flow perfectly. Through the event, I was able to learn responsibility as well as leadership skills that not only guided me during the experience but will help me in my real-life chances soon as well.
LO-6 (Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance)
The entire event (including the stalls) was informed to make sure to use already made resources and decorations to promote sustainability. During such an event huge piles of paper and other resources go to waste after the event, to make sure that did not occur we made use of the least new resources and reused all the existing resources from our school and our houses. This helped us develop awareness and responsibility towards the community and make sure that the issue was kept in mind while designing the event and actions.
LO-7 (Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions)
The language team reviewed all the pieces of work individually with the teachers to make sure no communities or people felt targeted or were looked down on. We asked people to change the words or phrases if they were rude or not ethical to be said. This helped us to make the event as inclusive and fun as possible while keeping in mind the feelings of the communities around us. The event was also not made as a competition and gave everyone a fair chance to present even if they were interested at the last minute.
The entire event was a success due to the hard work of the team members as well as the teachers. It provided a great opportunity for me to learn new skills and make great memories with my schoolmates.
