CASHPOINT

CASHPOINT

CASHPOINT was one of the more powerful CAS activities that I took part in, this was because I took part in a helping homeless scheme. Homelessness is a global problem, people living in poverty, these people scrape by from day to day and appreciate any help they do get and I wanted to be part of that help, to make a difference for them. Therefore a group from school and I, set out to apply for a cash grant to put together care carepackages for homeless people. These consisted of basic sanitation goods and stuff like gloves and mouthwash. Our grant got accepted and we decided to then go hand out these care packages in a homeless shelter in Richmond. I was interested in seeing the world from the point of view that these people live out of, as I have never lived in poverty and it's important to see the world from another viewpoint to appreciate everything that is given to someone like me. 

Objectives

For this activity I had some basic objectives, I wanted to help these homeless people that live in poverty. Therefore I wanted help attain the cash grant and put together the care packages as well as then go on to give these out to homeless people and talk to some of the people to get a view into their lives and feel like I made a difference. 

Reflection

Upon completing this activity and reflecting upon it, I can say nothing else than that it was a success. We successfully got a grant to put together care packages, with basic hygiene needs in them. Then we went out to buy the supplies. We then got together bags to divide up the supplies, in addition we baked some goodies for the people at the shelter that day. That morning then I went by car to clapham to pick up the care packages as we had a good 50+ of them. We then loaded them up and made our way to the shelter in Richmond. 

(Us on our way to the shelter) 

We then arrived and then started unloading the care packages to the homeless centre. We were then introduced to the people who were there by the the person who was organising the shelter. Then we started going round talking to different people and giving them care packages, and the thing that stuck out to me always was the mood that these people were in, most of them were very jolly people and highly appreciative of what we gave them, also what interested me also was that some of these people were living like this by choice, it was a way of life for them. But it was touching to see how appreciative people were of what we did and therefore it just felt good to go through the process. To conclude I am happy that I took part in the project as I got to get to know some interesting people and see the world from their view and it was good to help these people who have a lot worse troubles in their lives than I have in mine. 

Photography

Photography
Another CAS activity that I planned to do was a photography project, I wanted to photograph various angles of London Life, including that of my home borough of Richmond upon-Thames and that of central London. I wanted to capture what London meant to me and how I saw it. London is where I grew up and spent most my time and I saw it in a certain way and I wanted to make pictures to share this view of bright lights and vibrant atmosphere, however also a quiet side with majestic views over the city. I was excited to do this project as I was using an old film camera and I wanted to learn about film photography, therefore I researched online and bought equipment.

Objectives
I wanted to take various shots of London, including a shot from Richmond Hill overlooking London and shots from Central, including nightlife SOHO, Picadilly, Bricklane, Winterwonderland. I also wanted to learn various effects of film photography and exposure techniques. As well as using different kind of film to document London. This was an exciting new activity for me and was creativity in a new way for me as I never did much arts except for music, this was a new challenge and I was anxious to start it.

Reflection
Upon completing this activity I came upon a devastating disappointment, this was because the pictures I had taken upon the film turned out blank when I went to get them developed. This was some sort of fault in the camera, this was quite the disappointment to me, as I had gone throughout London to take shots, however I did manage to take some photos digitally, so the project was not a total waste. From a CAS viewpoint, it fulfilled some learning outcomes, such as undertaking a new challenge, as this was new for me and it was the first time I had undertaken film photography. I learnt new photography skills although the pictures could not be developed, however the experience is also something matters and it gave me a chance to see again what makes London so great, just the great buzzing atmosphere you see throughout town on an evening and the people that make it special. I still see the project as a disappointment, but I am still happy that I initiated such a project, as I got have an epic tour of London. In addition it motivated me to do something similar in the future, which will help me grow my photography capability in the future as I have learnt certain techniques now. Therefore I see the project as a partial success.

Swimming

Swimming
Another CAS activity that I initiated was that of swimming. However, not just casual swimming, however swimming freestyle over a period of time was my aim. This I classed as a action activity, as in my view swimming was physically demanding and really required most of your physical strength to endure it's harshness. I planned this activity because I was never a strong swimmer and I thought that I could grow my skills and abilities in this area of sport. I planned to swim three times a week and have a specific program that I stuck to. This I did over a course of 4 weeks and I was relatively to test out my skills and endurance in the pool.

Objectives
I had certain aims for this activity, all of which focussed on the ability of my swimming or on the fitness level of myself. On one hand I wanted to improve my swimming ettiquett and technique, however I also wanted to improve my stamina and physical strength. I also wanted to make sure I endured the 4 week program and that I went three times a week, in addition I want to swim 1km freestyle at the end of the program, showing some sort of perseverance. I thought these objectives were reasonable and achievable goals that I could achieve and I was excited to test my limits out in this area.

Reflection
After completing this activity I had a new found respect for swimmers in the olympics and in any area of sport. The amount of fitness one needs to swim at a competitive level is amazing. I definitely noticed my limits and weaknesses in this area of sport. I noticed how I was really not fit enough to be swimming 1km freestyle, this was one of my objectives how I managed 600m in my last session, which I thought was quite good for a beginner swimmer after 4 weeks. However, I noticed that my technique was not too bad for a beginner swimmer, this I improved after the 4 weeks by doing a technique session before every real session to just swim lengths slowly, just concentrating on technique and I definitely feel more confident now that I swim with better technique. In this way I feel that I have become fitter and that I have been able to attend all sessions and show perseverance. Therefore I am happy with the way that I have done this activity although I did not completely manage to achieve all my goals, however I noticed what my weaknesses were and what my strength were, now I can grow in this area of sport and further my abilities from here on out.

Charity Run

Charity Run
This activity I signed up to do to help raise money for a neuro disability hospital local to our school. It consisted of me running a competitive race of 5km through the borough of Wandsworth. It took place on a wednesday during the last lessons of that day and it was seen as a action activity due to its physical requirement. The race itself was a lot more difficult than I thought and was challenging and a new experience for me as I had never done such a race before, therefore I was slightly anxious to get on with this activity. This race took place in may 2014.

Objectives
My objectives for this activity were quite clear and precise. I wanted to on one side help raise money and make a difference for the patients at the neuro disability hospital, however also I wanted to attain the first place in the race. These were realistic objectives for myself as at this time I was running on a regular bases as another CAS activity and I was feeling fairly confident that I had a good chance of winning the race.

Reflection
Reflecting upon this activity after completing it, I must say that I am on one side pleased with how it went, however also not. When the race started I made sure to keep a strong front position for myself, this was successful and I was running a good race, however I did not know the course and as I was first I was anxious that I would not find the way, however I relied on the marshals. However, at one point I was called back because I was running the wrong way because there were no marshals pointing me in the right way and that was it with my strong position. After that the once leading group was running a much longer course and therefore my position for fastest time was out of the question, therefore I am partially disappointed in my performance, however I am happy that I ran a strong race and that I was able to take part in this activity to help raise money to help the disabled patients of the hospital. All in all I undertook a new challenge as I had never run a competitive race before, I learnt somewhat running tactics (securing a strong position at the beginning), I had to show perseverance throughout the activity to acquire a strong racing position. To conclude, I was happy with the experience I gained on that day and that I took part in the race and initiated this project for myself.

School Dodgeball Tournament

School Dodgeball Tournament

One of my school CAS activities was to take part in the school's Dodgeball tournament. This I would see as an action activity due to its physical part and sporty mentality. It really was more physically challenging than I thought it would be and got me in a real sweat. It took place on a friday after lessons and there was a real hype about it in school, I was excited and anxious for the whole tournament, I did not know my team yet and I did not know the sport either, so it was new territories for me to explore and make the best out of.

Objectives

My main goal of the afternoon was to win the competition as well as play well and increase my knowledge of Dodgeball and increase my skill in the sport. I also wanted to be a good team player and play well together with my team. However before the event I really wanted my own team to win the tournament for our house discovery, this was what would make me really proud of achieving with my team.

Reflection

My main goal was sadly not accomplished due to my team losing in the final game to a team we beat in our first game. However I was content with our success up to our final. Even getting to the final was something worthwhile I think. However my other goals were very much accomplished, I learned the rules of the game as well as learned tactics as also skills needed for the game. I needed to sprint alot and obviously dodge, so agility was key to this game. I also felt like our team was playing as one and communicating before making judgement calls and used tactics to win our success, however failed in the final sadly. I think the whole event was a success, apart from a small quarrell costing 15 mins of game time in the middel of the event. We played 4 games and each game was an epic time. Close calls, enormous celibration after every game and I was surprised how good a team we were and we really did keep together and work as a team, however our team just was not strong enough to pull through right to the end sadly, however I do not think that it was a failure as I played as a team and got to know new people, I learnt a new sport and got to spend some time with really good people. In the end winnig first place was just a perk, not a priority, I have learnt that I can be competitive but reflecting on activities I can see that winning is not actually the thing I was looking for, it was facing an opposing team together with my team mates and that is what I really gained and enjoyed about this activity.

(Photo Pending)

Martial Arts

Martial Arts

This is an activity that I planned for the summer, however it also is something that I used to do and I looked forward to continue, as I had done multiple years of karate before that. This course was however a little different, as it was an MMA course, which means that it was "Mixed Martial Arts", this mixes all different kinds of techniques into one single fighting skill and it was interesting to learn about this. I saw it as an action activity as it was physically demanding, really brought you in to a sweat and it increased ones physical capabilities. It was a course of 2 weeks, 4 times a week, so in total I had 8 1 and a half hour sessions, in which I learnt many different things.

Objectives

Here I set out to learn the different techniques of kicks and punch as well as learning the different combinations that they use to fight and also the grapples. I thought this was a realistic target as I had done martial arts before and I would be able to pick up certain parts from that former experience. This was over a 2 week course and I thought that was a reasonable time.

Reflection

The first thing I noticed was the endurance needed to do MMA and I was challenged by that because it really was physically challenging. So this course really made me fit and made me aware of what this sport actually included. Progressing through my two week course I started learning a variety of techniques and combinations, in addition I learnt different grapples. This really was fun for me to learn, as I revisited some of the moves I learnt through karate when I was younger. As I was progressing I started foccussing more and more so that I could reach those learning outcomes and objectives set for myself.
I planned and intiated an activity (3), worked collaboratively with others (4) and developed new skills (8). Also I would say that I achieved all my objectives set, I learnt the different combinations, which included different kicks, punches and grapples. In addition it helped my fittness a lot.

Doing this activity for two weeks, I had achieved all my aims, however most importantly I made new friends, all due to the hardship of training and sharing that bond, this is something I have noticed throughout all of my CAS activities, anything that I have done with others, going through any kind of hardship has brought me together with people and made me appreciate smaller things whilst doing these activities, for example just being outside, the air, the exercise one gets, even the soreness in the morning when you wake up. All these activities, including this one, have brought me closed to myself and closer to other people, the activities helped me push myself and know what I am capable of and what not, what is in my control and what is not. All the activities crossover in this way and make you realise things that you did not before, one gets a better feeling of your balance in life, and what you have to do for it. In german one says, "Immer den goldenen Mittelweg nehmen", which translates to, always take the golden middel path, which for me in martial arts has been very much the case, in martial arts you learn aggression towards your opponent, you kick them and hit them, you fight with them, however you respect them and they respect you, this is the way balance is held and in life it seems to be the same. All in all martial arts has helped me, even for the limited 2 weeks I had it.

Surfing

Surfing

Surfing was a sport I have always been wanting to pick up, however have never really managed to do as I do not live near the sea. However in the summer I thought that it would be fun to drive down to Cornwall in south west England and to surf for a few days. So we planned our route and our accommodation and we went down there and learned to surf. It was immensely fun as the waves were especially good the days we were there and the weather was amazing. The activity I saw as a action activity due to its physically demanding attributes, especially from your arms and back due to the hard paddling you have to do to pick up on a wave. We surfend for 4 days for about 5-7 hours each day, so it took endurance and at the end one was fatigued beyond ones wildest imagination of exhaustion

Objectives

My objectives for the 4 days were to learn how to pick up on an incoming wave, being able to spot good waves and then to stand the good waves. I thought these would be fairly reasonable objectives as I had been skating for a while before that and the balance skills do correlate a little, however the balance on a surfboard is quite a bit harder. However when I started learning these things I noticed I needed to learn the technique to stand up and the positioning on the surfboard before I could learn to surf properly.

Reflection

After being down in corwall for 4 days and having surfed everyday for 5-7 hours, I must say that I have been able to tick off all of my objectives that I set myself and also achieve these well. I first set out to just look at the incoming waves and get a feel for the good waves. After being able to see good waves, I set out to pick up on these, which was done by lying on your board and padelling in the same direction as the wave, however this took a lot more strength and endurance than I had ever expected, however after a while I managed to pick up on these waves and first I just cruised along them whilst lying on my board and got the feel of being on the wave and it was amazing because one picks up so much speed in next to no time, until now I must say it was one of the most enjoyable CAS experiences. After getting that feeling I set out to start standing up, however this was even harder than expected. So I first took a cheeky sneak peak at the surf school lessons and stole the technique. After getting the technique down it was a breeze and I learnt the ability to surf a wave, I then learnt to surf along the wave and pump into the wave to achieve greater speeds and length of surfing. All in all I must say it was an amazing experience for myself and an successful CAS activity. (Photos coming in future)

This is a pic of me (on the right) surfing with my friend (on the left) 

Continuation

I was in Cornwall again for 5 days this time, drove down on the Sunday and came back on the next Friday, we surfed from Monday to Friday and waves were great. My aim this time was to catch the big waves and surf under it while it breaks, however this was a little ambitious for me. We rented a the boards on a beach near new quay, we were a little edgy whilst walking the 3 km to the beach with boards, as two surfers had died just the day before on the very beach we were walking to, we had heard that the waves were on an unbelievable swell for the day, however my feelings were mixed, I was excited to catch big waves, however I was not experienced in waves the size of 3 meters, towering above you, before that the biggest had been 1 and a half meters with which I was still struggling at times. Nervously walking to the beach I was imagining what the waves looked like, so after actually walking over the hill, that was hiding the beach, we saw the waves that everyone was talking about and rumors did not do them justice, they were magnificent we really had came down on the right day to new quay, however my excitement was short lived. Once putting boards down and getting our wetsuits on to prepare for the freezing water, we dared our first try. I ran towards the water and waded in until it was hip high and then threw myself on the board, I then started paddling forgetting about my comrade behind me. However I did not notice the oncoming already broken wave, it hit me frontal and took me right off the board and held me under water for good 15-20 seconds. This was frightening to me, as I was not used to such a long wipeout, however I kept at it, this time attempting to dive under the barriers of broken waves hitting on us, just trying to get out to the monster unbroken beasts that would carry us along the beach. It really was one of the most difficult and strenuous activities I had done in a while, everytime a wave came, diving under for 10 seconds, surfacing and having to dive again, the waves were relentless. Finally after 15-20 minutes I had managed to get out to the surfable waves, I let a few pass me before I attempted my first one of the trip, I saw it come orientated myself correctly and paddled as hard as I could. the wave picked me up and I felt the raw power under me, a lot heavier than last time I surfed, however my board was jittering all over the place, I could not control it, then trying to stand up on this beast I pathetically wiped out, the wave dragged me under again. Its a very powerless feeling to be in the midst of such a wave, one has to just let it drag you out until its finished, then just surface. I surfaced and took a deep breath after being under water for maybe half a minute, I tried a few more times to get out to the waves, but me and my friend called a break after just an hour, the waves had battered us and the first time in my life I started to understand the respect one has to have for nature, we called it a day at that beach and packed together and went to a beach more local to us.
This is where we spent most our time surfing, here we caught a lot of good waves, the waves were not a powerful here in carbis bay as they were in new quay, however we had learnt not to complain about the wave size, here we learnt our balance and our feeling for the boards once again, however I knew that we had to try new quay waves again before we left. So we surfed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Carbis Bay, it really developed our eye for the waves and our timing, we noticed where we had to be floating to get the wave, to paddle on it as when a wave broke it was useless. In this time we developed our basic surfing skills and really enjoyed our time in nature being from London. The weather was aweful, foggy, rainy and cold, however we did not care, we were just floating all day in the water enjoying it and that is what I felt I learnt about surfing, it was not only about being on a wave, but about being amidst nature and enjoying it with the people you are with. Friday was upon us and we had planned everything for that day, it was New Quay day, again my feeling were mixed, partially excited, however I was a little anxious and fearful. That morning we drove up, wetsuit already on and kitted up, we took surf boards out and had the dreading 3 km walk to the beach again. Again I was wondering how the waves were looking like, even bigger? I did not know, however I was about to find out. As we had stumbled over the hill conceiling the beach, there was an awe of disappointment. It was flat as anything, waves in the thames could have beat what we saw there. This was a real disappointment to our trip, we drove 6 hours in silence thinking of what could have been if New Quay beach was alive that day.
All in all I had not reached my goal of surfing the monster wave I had hoped to, however I had learnt more about surfing than surfing any wave could teach you, the respect for the ocean, we have no power of what it does to us and I feel like this has lit an incentive in me to keep on surfing where I can and I doubt it will stop anytime soon.