In Enrichment, an organization that is offering a meaningful CAS experience to me, I attended a local government school and taught and interacted to the disadvantaged students every Saturday. My humble attempt of helping someone in the community soon turned into an extremely fulfilling journey in which I learned, connected and evolved.

We concentrated more in teaching English and Maths in very interesting forms. We employed the services of storytelling, games, and other simple activities to make it interactive and enjoyable to learn. We also started to play physical games with the students overtime in order to teach teamwork, confidence, and physical health. Moreover, we also did some planting where we assisted the children in planting saplings and knowledge about environmental care. These mini projects were educational and they gave an awareness about the nature and sustainability as well.

This was one of the first things that made me become a better person. I improved in communicating and being a leader, acquired the knowledge of organizing a group of people, became patient and flexible. I also understood how great of a difference consistency and kindness could make in the life of a child. The students expressed their happiness through the smiles on their faces and each week they were eager to go. Teaching them was not only an academic issue it was making a connection and, creating a happy place to learn and develop.

SDG 4 – Quality Education: By providing academic support to students in government schools, we helped promote inclusive and equitable education.

SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-being: Through regular games and physical activities, we encouraged healthy habits and mental wellness.

SDG 13 – Climate Action: Our planting activities promoted environmental awareness and sustainable practices among the students.

LO4 – Show perseverance and commitment in CAS experiences

This was a bit of a hard work and commitment that was necessary to be a part of this initiative. We also went to the school on every Saturday even when we were busy and when we were tired. It was not always the easiest one, yet the ability to defer to it was the thing that helped me understand the significance of reliability and appearing before others. I found out that perseverance does not only mean doing the task in hand; it is about caring enough to be there and not like a drifting cloud, because other people are depending upon you.

LO5 – Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

We had a team in the organization of the lessons of the week and distribution of roles, some of us were more engaged in teaching, others focused on games organization or planning the stage of planting. We gave ideas, supported each other when we had problems and even enjoyed small achievements together. This experience helped me to realize the efficiency of teamwork in the promotion of more significant effect and importance of cooperation, communication and shared responsibility in a community project.

LO6 – Engagement with issues of global significance

The presented CAS experience also related to the global issues such as disparities in access to education, the welfare of children, and environmental sustainability. We were part of a worldwide movement toward inclusive education that extends inclusion of all students in a government school. Our physical activities were healthy and contributed to the health and wellness of our staff, and adding trees encouraged an environmentally responsible behaviour. It has occurred to me that not only big events take place on the global scale but even actions of individuals on the local level benefit a global mission, which made me feel like a more integrated part of the world around me.

LO7 – Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

There is a great ethical responsibility attached to teaching and training with young students who may have underprivileged backgrounds. We ensured that we treated every child strictly with respect, patience and care. We made sure that what we did together was inclusive, considerate and mindful of their needs, whether we were in the lesson, in the game or planting. It was this experience that has made me appreciate the role ethics can play in daily activities and the importance of having an emotional and a social consideration on what we are about to do.