INTRODUCTION

My first Cas experience is learning a new language [coding] which is a component of creativity. It is an online course of a total of 300 classes where they will provide me with the software and I have to hit the target of up to 450 on the last day. I can get 50 points in each class and the class is active for 5/7 days. This course also contains homework for each class which has its separate points. This is a short term experience of just 5 months. I am already done with this with 95% attendance towards all 1-hour classes which shows my commitment towards the course. This activity shows creativity because sometimes I have to figure out or make new codes to run the program. 

L1–Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

I have always found interest in coding and after doing it for some time I became aware of my strengths and weaknesses. After identifying areas where I needed to improve, I began to focus on particular skills. While i was coding i got to know that i am a fast learner so i began to learn new codes every week with the new classes and did  assignments for practice. This made me proficient in my task much quicker than anyone else as I was the first one every time to complete my homework. However I also had identified my weakness which was procrastination. So I worked on it by telling my mom and my teacher to become strict with me whenever I procrastinate. This way I got a sense of direction and I became much better at coding than I thought. This is one of the main reasons why identifying your weakness is important so you can work on it and become better at it.

L2-Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

Coding was interesting However there were still issues that made this activity challenging for me such as being in the right state of mind because there were times where I was just tired or drowsy from school assignment or playing sports because of which I could not join the class or if I did not understand anything. Which created problems for me such as I was not able to analyse the codes properly or write them in the correct form. Furthermore I have never done something like this before which made it more challenging as I had no idea what to do in a situation like this. I undertook this challenge by shifting the time of the class two hours further, this way i could do my assignments/play sports and then take rest so that i would be fresh and in the right state of mind. I think undertaking this challenge was a good thing as I discovered a new skill in me that I didn’t know before: that I was good at critical thinking. I got to know this only when I was taking my coding class after resting(being in the right state of mind).moreover this skill could be useful for me in other areas of life as well such as in math class or while playing chess. I started figuring out tricks and techniques to make my code run faster and consume less memory. This made me feel extremely rewarding and it was like a confidence boost for me. It is always important to learn new skills
because if not now you will need the skill in future and it will also help in other areas as well.

L3-Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

I did this course from an online site called white had jr. The planning and initiation part was easy for me. I got to know about this course from my friend and then i just contacted them through their website and then just discussed the timings and the fee.

I organized myself by setting up alarms for the class, and getting ready 10 minutes before the class making sure that I am in a fresh state of mind. Organizing myself was a bit challenging as I am not an organized person  myself. For me personally planning and initiating this experience was much easier than others and I think as  now I have experienced this it will be much easier for me to plan and initiate an activity.

L4-Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

As said in the introduction I had classes 5/7 days which also included both weekends- saturday and sunday and the classes were held in early mornings. Waking up early in the morning made this activity difficult where perseverance or commitment was necessary. Because i don’t only have to wake up early but also be in a fresh state of mind so that i can be efficient while coding new codes. This made me feel very worried about myself as I thought I would have difficulties waking up in the morning and reviewing codes. Waking up early at the weekends was the commitment that was required to complete this activity. And perseverance in this experience was even more important to get better at coding.

L7-Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

While I was making my first game I had to be creative. I faced some obstacles in between, like my some codes were consistently showing errors, however I have to also take care of the ethical implications such as I could not copy someone’s idea even by mistake and use it unethically, fundamentally I had to be creative. This choice made me feel honest and proud that I am being ethical at my work. My opinion on this issue before this activity was that it’s fine to take a few codes of someone else’s     game/programme, however now it has completely changed as I have realised that stealing codes from other people is unethical and extremely wrong.

Final Take away

I developed a few learner profile characteristics in this experience such as Inquirer and Principled.

I developed the characteristic of inquirer as in coding. I was always curious to know how I can make a complex code simple and get it to work. I used to spend more time on websites to gain knowledge about how to use complex codes and make multiplayer games from it. Whenever I had a doubt I quickly used to ask my teacher or search it from the net. This way CAS experience allows me as a student to become a genuine inquirer. Furthermore i developed characteristic of being principled as i realized how unethical it is to steal someone elses codes and use it in my own project from that point i started coding ethically and this also impacted my life so i always think twice before doing something unethical as i know it will definitely will not have good consequences.

This experience does not have any link with my other subjects, i learned coding only because this is something which i enjoy and will probably help me in the future. 
After completing this experience I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment and enjoyment as I was successful in my work.