I had a great time being part of the organizing team for the Fresher’s Party, which was held to welcome the IB Diploma Programme Class of 2027. The main goal of the event was to provide a friendly and inclusive atmosphere that would help new students to feel comfortable, excited and ready to start their journey into the IB Diploma Programme. My role on the organizing team focused primarily on the creative side, including making props, decorating the venue and contributing to the overall look of the event. The organizing team also developed activities that would help engage new students, including games and performances
LO 1 – Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth
Through this experience, I became aware of my strengths and weaknesses as an organizer and also that I am a good communicator. I effectively communicated with my teammates and divided up responsibilities so that we could all work together. I also realized that I need to work on my creative execution, such as ensuring that my props are cut and painted neatly. Overall, I had a good experience organising this event and feel that I was able to use my strengths and learn new skills.
LO 2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills
One of my primary challenges was the artistic component of the project, specifically, the creation of large props via sketching and painting. Although I was somewhat familiar with this area, I did not have extensive experience prior to this endeavor. I often became discouraged when my creations were not in accordance with what I had imagined, but I set out to improve myself through practice and asking for assistance from my co-workers. I ultimately felt like I could make contributions to the slant in an artistic manner, which ultimately resulted in developing a stronger sense of patience and confidence to try my hand at utilizing creative skills in a manner that I would have otherwise avoided.
LO 3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience
Before the event, we met as a team to plan our overall concept and create outlines of who would be handling specific duties. As the event coordinator, I made the suggestion to break the team into groups, allowing everyone to have a specific task; for example, one team handled all poster creations, while another group took care of everything related to the stage setup and so on. By having the event organized prior to the event, I was able to minimize confusion and utilize the time more effectively; this drove home the point of taking the initiative to organize the event and be proactive with the delegation of duties.
LO 4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences
3. The setup and decoration portion of the event were demanding in that the amount of time taken to complete each task was rather long and repetitive, which led to periods where we had to work past our scheduled hours because of the amount of volunteer support. Although I was exhausted while working on assignments, I remained motivated despite my physical exhaustion and maintained my work ethic. This level of commitment and accountability greatly contributed to the overall success of the event.
To summarize, taking part in the Freshers’ Party was a very valuable CAS (Creativity / Activity / Service) experience, as it allowed me to give back to the community while gaining developmental skill sets such as communication, team working, planning and developing patience for future events. It taught me the importance of collaboration through the working together in a team to achieve tasks more efficiently and effectively. Throughout the process, I was faced with numerous challenges such as time constraints, large workloads and unfamiliar tasks. Overcoming these challenges has improved my sense of self-esteem and given me tools that will enable me to manage future projects effectively.
