I went to clean public places in Surat like roads, pavements, beach, etc. I went on 2 weekends with my peers and alone by myself on weekdays to clean/pick up trash from public properties. I had noticed as I used to go out, the amount of trash that’s be collected on roadsides. And the amount of waste on a beach was shocking to see. Some places are filled with trash, we’d actually feel it’s a dumpcart but it’d be a small lake or garden or a small farm. My main purpose was to make a difference in the society and set an example to at least take the smallest initiative and show everybody the significance of being a global citizen.
LO3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
I organized myself by talking to Rotary officials for an execution plan. They gave me specific advices, which was very helpful in planning the experience. In this case, the execution was harder than the planning as when we’d go to a few places they’d be closed or be impossible to clean in heavy rains. I developed a skill of being patient as collecting trash isn’t an easy task, it takes an ample amount of time. Moreover, you also need quite the concentration. It is quite important that we plan for the future and keep the consequences of all things in mind. All the factors of implementing should be considered. If they aren’t taken care of then we might fail to implement the current plan and future plans with ease. It is important to have the final aim in mind.
LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
It isn’t always easy to clean public places as there might be annoying people disturbing you, there could be weather restrictions, it takes plenty of time and focus to do. I am not good at focusing or compromising going out in different weathers/seasons. We have to compromise with the number of volunteers we get or even work with the minimal amount of people we have together. It isn’t easy for me to commit to everything as I am a procrastinator. But in this experience, I had shown great planning and execution from the beginning. And showing commitment and perseverance symbolizes that we are motivated towards the cause, which was indicated by my work.
LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively
It is generally easy for me to work with my peers, however, I also had to contact an organization which made my work a bit tough, but it helped me grow over-all. It is important that we work well collaboratively as good inputs from all teammates is a very productive thing for the team. Gaining every new perspective is a new learning for us. The skills I developed with working collaboratively are being a better communicator and developing my interpersonal skills. In this case, teamwork was very important as we had to communicate and schedule a ‘cleaning session’ as per our matching time availability and loop in the Rotary club of Surat west. We also had to communicate a meeting point with all resources and decide on places to clean wherein there would be debates too often. But the main purpose of working collaboratively is to learn how to resolve problems, apart from the main purpose of the team.
LO6 – Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance
The issue I catered to was public littering. It is globally significant because pollution is on the rise and so is global warming. People are now getting more aware, but they don’t realize they’re littering, even if in the nature, which is WORSE. It could almost be seen anywhere and I observed it when I was outside my home. It adds on to my personal growth as it speaks volumes about my character/personality. Which refers to me being a good international citizen. It makes me feel courageous that I am aware of this global issue and that I want to take action on this as soon as possible.
LO7 – Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions
We actually didn’t have any professional equipment or knowledge on cleaning beforehand, we just had instructions which we followed impeccably. Also, we could’ve found something important or something that would belong to someone and they might be looking for it. It is an ethical constraint if we accidentally pick up someone’s lost property. However, this issue didn’t affect us in the two week span we cleaned around Surat.
Throughout this experience the learner profiles I exhibited were caring and principled. I had to follow my plan to the dot and I was principled throughout the time span of my cleaning mission. Also, ‘caring’ is in context of the society. I care about the society and about the world we live in. Helping save our society right now is the best we can do. Even if it begins with small steps.
Evidence:
