Beaches have always been a special place as I enjoy the sunsets and sunrises and the cold water and the sound of the waves but due to the pandemic, I was not able to visit a beach for a long time but as soon as the curfew ended I rushed to the beach early morning and found myself disappointed by watching how polluted the beaches were, there was tons and tons of plastic bags and bottles and other trash and it made me sad but that’s when I decided to take some chare thus for one of my CAS activities I called my friends for help and took an initiative to clean the beaches.`

While cleaning the beaches I learned a lot I became more conscious about my action and how they affect others and the environment and also a lot of other skills and catered to:

LO 1 identifying own strengths and areas for growth

Our crucial weakness was planning the activity as many people were not enthusiastic about the activity whereas some were busy and schedules were clashing, it was a major weakness to create a group and to ensure that everyone was able to participate and arrive and while this weakness was easy to identify it was hard to overcome it but in the end we found a solution to go early in the morning and carpool as everyone’s morning weekend schedules were free and carpool ensured we were conscious about the environment and also that it was convenient as some people did not have a means of transportation.

The strength we identified was work distribution and efficient work as we were all committed. We distributed the work equally and assigned roles to ensure efficient work and help get a better outcome. This was done through the strength of effective communication skills.

LO2 Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken developing new skills in the process

The activity helped me develop better planning skills and organization skills as planning an event was not as easy as it required a lot of planning and I had to take a lot of points into consideration such as time management and schedules and means of transportation for everyone and time and as I had organized events before I had a basic idea but all my events were with a small group of people thus this was a new experience for me where I got a lot to learn and as mentioned earlier we chose a suitable time period early in the morning which was approved by everyone and overcame the management issue with effective communication.

And the challenges I faced which lead me to the development of time management skills and communication and organization skill was important for me to learn as they will help me develop and instead of weakness I could use them as a strength in the future situation and could also help me with my carrier 

LO3 Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

As an IB student organization skills have been very important and many times we try to be organized but sometimes due to unexpected circumstances we lack a little but it always teaches something.

The hard part about the activity was planning as mentioned above it was hard to motivate people and set a time that would not disturb participants’ schedules but once that was done initiating was easy as everyone had assigned themselves a role and were organized and the work was done effectively and efficiently.

The planning used skills that were previously used and were developed previously and it will be easier to plan the future events as I gained a lot of experience from the following event and it was important to learn how to plan events as it would help organize events in the future and convincing people to take part in an activity and give their precious time is an important skill and will be useful for future carrier options.

LO4 Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

A major commitment was required in the following activity as we had selected a time that did not clash with anyone’s schedule and it was set at 6 in the morning sometimes it could be hard for people to wake up in winter mornings and thus it was important that the group was motivated and commitment was required that people were ready 6 in the morning to clean beaches. And while the event was organized for a good and greater cause it was easy for me and my friend to commit to it and it is easy for me to commit to things that excite me and it is an important part to be able to commit to things as sometimes to see an event or work till the end as it could get challenging and commitment is whats keeps me from giving up.

LO5 Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Working collaboratively is generally easy for me as I blend in easily and it was comparatively easy for me to work in a large group for the following event for the following activity it was important to work collaboratively and teamwork was necessary as the beaches were huge and cleaning up required a lot of help and while it was relatively easy as everyone was supportive and for me, it is important to be able to work collaboratively as it is important to consider everyone is group work results in better strength and quality work and as in group work ideas could be brainstormed and with collaborative feedback better quality work could be produced.

Teamwork was important in the following activity as it helped make beach cleaning more effective as me cleaning beaches single-handedly would take days or months to clean a beach whereas with a team we were able to take on more space and clean more areas in less time.

LO6 Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

The important issue which was catered was pollution and while there was a lot of plastic waste and other trash left on the beaches it would end up polluting the beaches and also end up in the water affecting the water life and leading them to extinction and species loss, majority of my knowledge comes from my classes of ESS where we had learned about the consequences of water pollution and how it affects the species. 

After gaining awareness about the global issue I wanted to help thus I tried to be more conscious about my actions in general about littering and making sustainable life choices leading to personal growth, after the CAS activity we were still not satisfied as we only cleaned the beach which was a temporary solution and only made a small impact and our goal is to try to make a larger impact in the coming future and work toward sustainability. 

LO7 Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

Ethics played an important role as the event was executed during the pandemic and while we made sure to follow all the rules and regulations and mandatory protocols set in place, we still made a huge ethical decision of conducting the activity but as the rules had gotten lenient as covid vaccines were already available and everyone in the group was vaccinated and while this was not a big obstacle it was just the matter that it made me reconsider planning the event as it could potentially put my friends and team in danger.

At the end of the activity I got to learn a lot and gained a deeper interest in subjects like ESS as I could relate more to it and connect my experience, due to the activity we become better communicators and caring towards the nature and reflective of our action we learned the valuable lesson of the hard work it takes to clean up litter and I learned to be more cautious about my actions how they impact things around me and try to take care of nature and become more sustainable.