I organized the alumni connect session this year in our school, along with 3 of my classmates. The alumni connect session is an event where we invite successful graduates of our school to provide insights to the current students of our school; their juniors, about careers, university, IBDP, and share their path of achieving success in diverse fields. My role in the event was contacting the alumni and inviting them, creating student invitation forms, advertising the event on our school’s social media, and designing posters for each alumnus.

LO1 – Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.

Contacting the alumni and sending them a formal invitation required communication skills. My friends and I prepared a script to speak when talking to the alumni on the call. After contacting multiple of them, we only received a few confirmations. Hence, I decided to contact more alumni through LinkedIn, which helped us reach our target number of alumni in the event. During the whole event, I had to keep in touch with the alumni and help them with queries regarding the event.

LO3 – Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.

Since we were short on time, we spent a lot of our school hours dedicated to the event. We spent three whole days with our supervisors to call the alumni through the school’s telephone, using the list of names (of alumni) and their contact details. Since we didn’t receive enough confirmations, I messaged more alumni through LinkedIn after school. Once we had enough confirmations, we had to create posters for each alumnus by using online tools such as Canva to display the alumnus’ information about their unis, fields, courses, experiences, etc. to the students. This helped the students to find the alumni relevant to them and communicate accordingly. After that, we created multiple videos to promote the event on social media, of which one was selected by our supervisor.

LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Despite the time pressure and setbacks, I stayed committed to the alumni connect session from start to finish. When we struggled to get confirmations, I kept reaching out through LinkedIn after school until we met our goal. Even when poster designs had to be redone last-minute, I stayed focused and made sure everything was ready on time. Sticking through the challenges and seeing the event come together made the effort worthwhile.

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

Working collaboratively was essential in organizing the alumni connect session, especially given the limited time we had. With four of us managing the event, we divided tasks based on our strengths—while I focused on contacting alumni and managing external communication, my classmates handled logistics like booking the venue, coordinating with school supervisors, and preparing the event schedule. Throughout the process, we constantly checked in with each other to ensure everything was on track. One moment that stood out was when the design of the posters became overwhelming due to the number of alumni we confirmed last-minute. Instead of one person taking it all on, we split the workload and used a shared Canva template to maintain consistency while working efficiently. This collaboration not only made the process smoother but also reduced stress and allowed us to support each other through technical and time-related challenges. The experience reinforced how effective teamwork can multiply productivity and turn a complex task into a manageable one.

LO7 – Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.

Organizing the alumni connect session also involved considering the ethical aspects of communication and representation. Since we were reaching out to former students and sharing their academic and professional journeys with the current student body, it was important to handle their stories respectfully and accurately. Before posting anything publicly—such as posters or social media content—we made sure to get their consent for the information and photos used. We were also careful not to overstate or misrepresent their achievements which could be misleading to the audience. Additionally, we made a conscious effort to include alumni from a range of fields and universities to avoid reinforcing narrow definitions of success. This experience made me more aware of how even well-intentioned choices—like how someone is introduced or described—can have an impact, and that ethical responsibility is key when sharing someone else’s experiences.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15ohWQAX8XCmOmH41NSx3a4aJZllYwri8?usp=sharing