juliathecasoholic

[juliathecasoholic]

CAS FINAL REFLECTION

IB final exams are in less than a month and so my journey with CAS also comes to an end. After this 18 months I’ve learnt, gained and experienced many things. My CAS was a quite challenging yet very rewarding adventure about which I would like to tell you more.

At the beginning I would like to reflect on the creativity part of my CAS. When I think about this section many good memories come back. First of them are the conferences Model United Nations and European Youth Parliament. I started participating in this events thanks to my IB classmates and also thanks to the idea of CAS. I remember when I first heard of MUN I thought that might be a great opportunity for my CAS experience and I was fully right. Today when I reflect on those conferences I can state that participation in them allowed me to develop as a person in many ways. I learnt how the United Nations and the European Parliament work, I gained knowledge about the policies of many UN member states like of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or Russian Federation. What appeared to be also quite helpful during my geography course at higher level in IB.  Moreover through the participation in MUNs/EYPs, I learnt a lot about myself. I would say that I used to be a shy person who was quite afraid to state own opinion due to overthinking what others might think of me. However Im convinced that this experiences allowed me to overcome my own limits. During the debates, while you have to represent policies of different countries, different views you learn how to be open-minded and how to communicate with others. Whereas working on a resolution with other participants, the skills of negotiating, being assertive yet finding solutions that satisfy everyone are very essential. And they are very essential in the future career too. Through this experiences I guess I prepared myself for the challenging business reality. Furthermore the impact of MUNs on my person developed even more as, together with my friends, I decided to organize such conference in our city, under the name of KatMUN. Being a business manager of this initiative, being responsible for sponsors, media partners, coordination of the website, management of finances and the social media accounts taught me a lot. My organizational skills strongly developed through this experience, I learnt how to plan a budget of such a conference, how to find sponsors and how to manage everything. The organization of this event from the very beginning turned out to be one of the most challenging things in my life but also it is one of the things that Im very proud of. I would also count this experience to one of my biggest life lesson. Learning through action and through your own mistakes is priceless and I’m very glad that I got the chance to undergo this.

Moving to the activity part of my CAS here I could mention many things that I have done, like cycling, attending the gym, windsurfing or tennis. Nevertheless I guess windsurfing and tennis had the biggest influence on me. This are two disciplines that I’ve decided to learn from the very beginning. This are two sports disciplines that I have always wanted to try and thanks to CAS I had the motivation to actually give it a try. My windsurfing classes took place with an IB graduate - Adam, who was a great teacher. Learning the basic abilities in windsurfing made me very satisfied, since I have to admit, that this sports is not that easygoing as it may appear. You have to find the balance, perform well with the wind (what sometimes is very hard) and use a lot of strength to work with the sail. In September last year I decided to try myself at tennis. From the very first training I felt in love with this sports. It is a perfect discipline for me - combining speed, reflex and strength together. During tennis matches I have learnt how to concentrate. Each time I’m on the court I fully focus on the ball and my pass. Moreover I have to come up with an strategy to mislead my competition and succeed. Ability of concentration is crucial in our life and I’m very glad that through tennis I could develop it. Furthermore both tennis and windsurfing showed me the importance of balance in life. One has to study a lot in IB, but activity is essential to stay health, in shape and to relax from time to time. For me performing activities during my IB course allowed me to find this balance and Im sure I will continue this pattern in my future life.

My CAS experience would be nothing without service. At the begin of my IB course I was quite worried about this section of CAS and I thought that conducting any voluntary activities will be very tiring and not satisfying. I couldn't be more wrong. In my first year of CAS I regularly visited an child orphanage in my hometown, where I helped children in school age with their homework. Im an only child that might be spoiled by ma whole family, and actually I guess through that experience I have learnt how to be a caring person. I used to mainly focus on my own good but thanks to my time at the orphanage I realized how important it is to help others. Additionally I definitely worked on my impatience. Since I had to behave calm and kind with the children I learnt how to be patient and how to cooperate with children. I guess that was also a very significant lesson in my life, due to the fact that without patience we all would become crazy. After a year, due to the time constraints I decided to do something different for my service. I concluded to engage in various conferences, sports event as a volunteer and gain some experience as a private German tutor. I took part in sports events like Third International Championships in Gait (Trzecie Międzynarodowe Zawody w Chodzie Sportowym w Katowicach). or Conference „Master’s trainings in sprints“ („Trening mistrzowski w biegach sprinterskich“). Participation in both occurrences showed me how mass sports events look like from the kitchen and how much effort it costs to organize such an happening. The major thing I taught is the importance of working collaboratively with others. I had the accompany of my friends and we had to communicate well and help each other, so our overall performance was at it best. I definitely improved my skills in working in a group and gained irreplaceable experience. Being a private tutor in German of a young girl was also a very rewarding experience. Tutoring showed me how to successfully study and work with children. Moreover it allowed me to realize the significance of sharing your knowledge with others. I was given the opportunity to grow up in a family that spoke both German and Polish in the house, hence my German became very quickly fluent. Not many people were given the same chance. For that reason I wanted to give it back by teaching others with what Ive learnt. All the service activities I undertook for my CAS were really valuable, they taught me many things and I’m sure I will continue helping others in the future.

Summarizing, I have to admit that my whole CAS experience gave me a lot. I’ve gained many new skills like playing tennis, negotiating, teaching others, successfully working in a group, organizing things and many many others. I can freely state that CAS allowed me to develop as a person, gain experience and also helped to slightly change the world for better. I’m sure that in the future I will continue to perform activities in this three areas, since I truly believe that each of us need creativity, action and service to fing the perfect balance in life.

From this place I would like to thank all people who made my CAS adventure that amazing and special thanks to our CAS Coordinator who supported us all the time. Thank you Mrs. Nowak! :)

Word count: 1366

Learning outcomes fulfilled:

Learning outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Learning outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process Learning outcome 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience Learning outcome 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences Learning outcome 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively Learning outcome 6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance Learning outcome 7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

[juliathecasoholic]

CAS IN PICTURES 

[juliathecasoholic]

Tennis? Yes, please!

Today I again went to the local tennis club and trained with my coach. Every time I’m on the court I feel like I’m in a different reality. Every time I can switch off, forget about all my IB responsibilities, upcoming exams and just focus on the ball and my serve. I guess I found my perfect way of spending my free time and on staying active.

During one of the previous trainings my tutor told me that he’s astonished what an improvement I have made from when I started playing in October. For me it was one of the best compliments I received in the past months, since I know how my beginnings with tennis looked like…I was horrible, seriously, but I couldn't play different, because I have never done it before. However from October I set myself this goal to learn how to properly play tennis till the spring / summer 2017. I can proudly admit that I’m on a good way to accomplish my aim.

Nevertheless there are some elements of playing tennis that I keep struggling with. One of them is the enactment of serve. In order to do it properly you have to grasp the tennis racket in a very specific way, which is very unnatural for me and each time I’m doing it, I’m either doing it wrong or my hand hurts a lot. Moreover the movement of serving the ball from behind of your head ��is also quite challenging and I’m still not performing it correctly. Fortunately my trainer is very understanding, he keeps me motivated and repeats that is all about practice, practice and practice. I hope that in the nearest future (maybe next month) I will be able to finally serve correctly.

Summing up, I’m very enjoying my tennis lessons and I have to keep practicing it, since there are some elements that need to be improved. Hopefully in my next reflection I will be able to tell you that I can successfully serve the ball. I will keep you updated about my adventure with tennis :)

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

Learning outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Learning outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process Learning outcome 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience Learning outcome 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

[juliathecasoholic]

KATMUN 2017 - BEING IN JURY

About a week ago the second edition of Katowice Model United Nations took place. Last year I was one of the head organizers of this conference, thus it was quite exciting for me to see my „little baby“ being organized by the younger IB class of our school. The secretariat of this year’s KatMUN gave me the opportunity to be in the jury during the event. My role was to observe the ongoing general assembly, committee works, the debates held there and to assess the delegates. The aim of my work was to choose the best delegate of the whole conference. The role appeared to me very enjoyable and satisfying. I had the chance to see and experience the delegates in all committees, moreover I could talk to them during the coffee breaks and the „judging“ itself was also something very new and therefore thrilling. Before the event I made myself a list of things on which I will pay attention while choosing the best delegate. I wanted to award someone who had a very good knowledge on the policy of their country, someone who was presenting this policy and defending it, someone who was confident while giving speeches and someone who was active during both the committee work and the general assembly. I was in the jury together with my friend Karolina and the final decision of choosing just one particular delegate turned out to be way more challenging. There were many delegates who delivered an outstanding performance, who were active, confident and willing to create best possible resolution. We were discussing together, also with the chairs of the committees, with the secretariat and finally we all decided to award the representative of Marocco who was really amazing. It was a guy from Warsaw, who participated for the second time in MUN conferences. After giving him the title he came up to me and thanked me many many times. He was very very happy and that made me very glad too. Attending the KatMUN 2017 made me very proud of the younger class since the conference was very well organized and it also made me cheerful that the thing I spent a lot of time last year ended this year with a huge success and I hope that the next KatMUN editions will take place in the future!

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

Learning outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Learning outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process Learning outcome 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively Learning outcome 6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance

[juliathecasoholic]

XMAS DECORATION

Christmas time is undoubtedly my favorite time of the season, its the time when we have free from school, what for me means engaging myself more in my household. I’m not speaking here about cleaning up my house, because I’m doing it on a daily basis, not only before Christmas. I’m speaking here more about creating some Christmas decoration in my house in order to establish a festive, yet cozy atmosphere. I love doing decoration, since it allows me to be creative and (mostly) it has a very well-looking result. This year I decided to create something on our terrace window in the living room. I wanted this decoration to be connected with nature, snow and with a little bit of sparkling, festive thins which I truly adore (I’m a huge fan of everything that shines and is glittery). In order to construct my vision I went to the forest to find some massive birch branches and went to  flowers market in Tychy to find decoration pieces. At the beginning it was quite challenging to peg down the branches to the window but hopefully somehow I managed to do it (of course a little help from my mum was needed for that). I came up with the idea to make this decoration in a 3D form so I hung the Christmas glasses asymmetrically and the natural branches allowed me to fulfill the 3D form. Unfortunately it is not that visible on the pictures… I also used few little branches of a tree and sprayed it with fake snow, glued them to the main birch branches and put there few light in order to make it more festive. I guess the final result of my work looks very fine, I received a lot of good feedback from the family members that came over for Christmas. Summarizing, creation of such decoration was a very nice way to prepare myself an our house for the Christmas time and I will work off my art piece with sorrow. I’m sure for the next holidays I will come up with different decoration ideas and my creativity will be again used.

Learning outcome fulfilled during this activity:

- Learning outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth - Learning outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process

[juliathecasoholic]

GERMAN TUTORING

Lately I received an request from my grandma to help a little girl (granddaughter of her friend) with German. The girl attends the 5th grade class and I was told that she struggles with her German skills. I obviously agreed with helping her, since my German is pretty well and I enjoy teaching it others. I go to her regularly (at least once a week) for about a month now and I have to say that I really enjoy it. During our first classes we started learning about some very basic things like counting to 100, describing in German what time it is, learning about colors, family member etc. We are mostly working with her course book but I also try to prepare for her some exercises done by me (you can see some of them above on the pictures). I feel like such personal exercises are way more interesting for her and that she learns quicker thanks to that. Currently we are learning about the present tense and about describing our personality. Victoria, my pupil, is still struggling with the spelling of some adjectives but we are working on it. From her last test she got a very high score what made me very proud of her and satisfied me a lot. Tutoring her teaches me how to successfully study and work with children. Moreover it allows me to get rid of my impatience, which counts to one of my major flaws. I already look forward to the next lessons with her. Who knows maybe one day the pupil will bests the teacher? :)

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

Learning outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Learning outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process Learning outcome 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

[juliathecasoholic]

FASHION BLOG - THE CHALLENGING BEGINNING

People that know me can confirm that I’m a huge fashion enthusiast, I’m very into following what is going on in the fashion industry. One day I was reading some Polish fashion magazine and I felt very disgusted by it. The lecture was only presenting things females should wear or shouldn’t, there was nothing actually about the fashion industry itself - no reviews from the fashion shows, no insides to the business of fashion, actually nothing that would interest me. Suddenly an idea came to my mind, namely to start my own fashion magazine online in the form of a blog. I talked to my close friend, also a fashion victim, Karolina and we both decided to create own fashion blog under the name Court of Couture. We both wanted CoC to be a place where we will reflect and keep all our thoughts about what is happening in the fashion industry, where we will describe some particular terms and events that occur in fashion (like what is a fashion week, Birkin bag etc.). I want our blog to be a place for people who are fashion passionated and for those who are beginners in this field and would like to learn some things about it. My friend created our theme on tumblr platform, so that it would fit our aesthetics and I was very thrilled to start writing articles about fashion. I wrote the first post about what is a fashion week, what types there are and how are they differing from each other. After publishing the first post I felt very satisfied, since I could share my knowledge with others (currently a lot of our friends are following our blog) and I could expand my interest and gain more and more knowledge about it. It seemed to me like a very smooth and successful beginning into our blogging. However the reality looked very different…We were struggling with finding the time to write some posts, we couldn't find the balance between our school life and blog life. Being honest there was a day in which I concluded that we wont manage to conduct this blog and I wanted to tell Karolina that we should resign from it. Fortunately after a couple of days I again found motivation and decided to keep up with our blog, since it was very exciting for me, and try to do it more regularly. We talked with Karolina about how to fix our problems. I wrote few more posts and hopefully we will be continuing to expand our fashion blog experience.

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

Learning outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Learning outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process Learning outcome 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience Learning outcome 4: Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences Learning outcome 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

[juliathecasoholic]

Angelique Kerber in the making

Somewhere in September fully by accident I watched few tennis matches on TV. It was a battle between Angelique Kerber and Serena Williams. I quite enjoyed it, even despite the fact that I didn't know what exactly was going on, since I’ve never played it myself. During one of those plays I said to myself „Julia, its the high time to start playing tennis!“. In the next seconds I thought „No, it will be too challenging, it looks exhausting and I’m not made for that.“ However after a while of having an inner argument with myself I decided to stop being so negative and try tennis out. I had nothing to lose and I wanted to take to something new.

I went to my very first lessons of tennis with a good friend of mine, Natalia. I felt little bit nervous, because she used to play a bit in the past and I was a total beginner. My fears were pointless, our trainer explained and showed me everything and after that we quickly started practicing the forehand and backhand. Firstly, the two basic hits seemed very easy, although after few strikes with the tennis racket I felt the pain allover my arm… Of course, there was no time for procrastination (especially when your advanced friend was with you and you didn't want to stand out as a total wimp). To my surprise the trainer told me that he couldn't believe it was my first lesson, since in his opinion I was hitting the ball very well and could simultaneously coordinate it with running.

The first lessons gave me a lot of satisfaction, during each training I was sweating out a lot and improving my skills. Additionally I was spending and I still do spend a fantastic time with my friend. I love to do sports with my bestie! It makes so much more fun and you challenge yourself more.

I guess I also have found a new hobby and I set myself a new aim. My aim is to keep going and improving my techniques, so that I will be as soon as possible able to properly play a tennis match with my friends just (almost) like Angelique does with Serena.

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

- Learning outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth - Learning outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process - Learning outcome 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

[juliathecasoholic]

Weimar Triangle Youth Summit | Germany

Summer holidays are almost coming to an end, one week left and then the first bell will ring again. Those vacations were a perfect match for me, since it was a mixture of things that I mostly enjoy: travels, relaxation and education. In this post I would like to tell you about my recent experience, namely about the participation in the 16th Weimar Triangle Youth Summit, which took this year place in Germany. The summit is organized each year between three regions - Silesian Voivodeship, Haute-de-France and Nord-Rhein-Westphalia, which all are part of the Weimar Triangle. The conference aims to support the collaboration of the youth of those three regions as well as conducting discussions and debates under a particular global issue. The topic of this year’s summit was as follows: „Flight and expulsion: Migrations yesterday and nowadays“.  For the meeting I applied together with my best friend, Julia Kotowska, at the beginning of July and luckily both of our applications were positively accessed and thus we were awaiting our trip to Nord-Rhein-Westphalia.

The first day of the conference was quite official, it started with an opening ceremony after which we had the opportunity to listen to the speeches of specially invited guests, who were the experts in the field of migrations. After their presentations we had the chance to discuss and debate with them some questions concerning the topic. Two of the four speeches kept in my mind for the whole week of the conference and I still can easily memorize it. One of them was about how the whole process of migrations to and from Europe started, thus it was mainly about colonialism, expansion of newly discovered lands etc. I found it very intriguing and I was quite surprised about the speaker’s point of view concerning the future of Africa. In his opinion this continents has a huge potential for development and in a few decades can be even more significant than for instance Europe. The second presentation was conduced by a French women, who is the director of the refugee camp in Calais or how she called it „The jungle of Calais“. Her explanation of what happens in this „jungle“, how the French government „supports“ the refugees and how much of a hard work it is to manage such place was for me unbelievable. Her words were much more valuable than any television documentation about such camps. In general, the day was a perfect introduction into the topic of the summit and a great preparation for the upcoming days.

The next two days were under the motto „Be an angel for a day“. We were divided into three international groups of fifteen people and each group did different things for the refugees. I was in the sports group and together with an independent football sports club - Bola Brazil in Wuppertal we organized a football tournament for both, the refugee and the German children. Because of my German skills I was appointed to be a supervisor of one team of eleven boys aged 6-10. At the beginning we conducted a training session for them, in which I was a support trainer, but I also was responsible for providing my youngsters with food, water as well as motivation. After few hours the tournament was about to begin and so I was mainly supporting my team. To my surprise most of the migrants children spoke German. The day gave me a lot of satisfaction - I could not only be active all day long, but I also witnessed something amazing. The children, who came from different cultures were collaborating with each other with no problem. There was no prejudice, no racism, in fact all that mattered for them was to play football, have fun with each other and feel as a one team. That showed me that the whole political conflicts and cultural differences don't really matter, especially for children and I think that we, the teenagers and adults should take the example from the youngest generation and treat everyone with a respect no matter of his background, religion etc.

On the next day we went to Dortmund, were we could hear actual refugees speaking about their history of migration to and within Europe and after that followed a discussion with them concerning the topic. This presentation were all very moving for me, while listening to all of the speakers in German I had tears in my eyes and couldn't hide my feeling of sadness. We had the opportunity to firstly listen to refugees, who fled about 70 years ago, just after the end of the II WW. One of them left his home in Silesia, while the other in Eastern Prussia. Later we heard to three refugees - from Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan, whose migration took place very recently. All five stories were very dramatic and touching. To be honest about 80% of the participants of the conference had tears in their eyes. It was unbelievable and the chance of listening to the stories was priceless and I guess it was one of the most valuable experiences in my life. Just after that, we headed to a refugee camp, located in a former school in Dortmund, where we were supposed to organize a „Summer party“ for the migrants. Delegated of each country were supposed to prepare their traditional meal, thus we, the Polish prepared Pierogi. We also did a barbecue, little concert, sport games for the refugees and in order to keep the littlest ones active we organized a lot of activities for children. I personally was responsible for face-painting and for drawing with children. I was supposed to do it only for an hour, but the children couldn't get enough, therefore it became my activity for the next few hours. I was astonished how the refugee children were polite to me, how well they spoke German and how cute they were. I personally don't like children, but those little Syrians made me fell in love with them. One of my best memories is when a small group of girls sang for me and the other delegates a children song in German as a form of saying „thank you“. It was literally the cutest thing ever. The summer party finished in the evening, still before the end we had the chance to spend a little bit more time with a group of Syrian teenagers, who invited us for a walk to a lake nearby their camp. During this walk I spoke to three guys, who all were in my age. At first I wanted to hear their stories, but I thought it would be very inappropriate to ask them about such a sensitive topic. Moreover I didn't want to make them feel like during some kind of interview, I wanted to make them feel, that a girl from Poland came to talk to them as their peer, as their friend. We were conducting a very friendly conversation about normal teen topics. I just couldn't understand how positive and „normal“ they were after experiencing such a dramatic situation. It was amazing how much joy and happiness they had in themselves and how easily they were spreading it. After meeting so many refugees and hearing their dramatic stories I very appreciated what I actually have, how lucky I am to live in such good and stable conditions and how lucky I am to have my family and friends next to me. It was a priceless lesson for life.

The following day was all dedicated to discussions between us, the participants from three different countries. We were mainly debating about: how the refugee crisis in Europe should be solved, what will be the future of the European Union and how the conflict in the Middle East should be solved, who that it would prevent further migration waves to Europe. Moreover we were presenting the points of view of our countries, their policies towards the crisis etc. The day was full of fruitful debates, it reminded me a bit of the MUN conferences I attended in the past. It was quite interesting to exchange different opinions and to discuss them altogether. Furthermore we were supposed to prepare a presentation and questions, we would like to ask the politicians from Poland, France and Germany on the next day. The day was very very long and exhausting, still I enjoyed it.

The final day took place in the parliament of Nord-Rhein-Westphalia in Düsseldorf, where we prepared a short presentation for the politicians, which summed up the whole week, all of our reflections and our potential solutions to the problem. Of course we didn't find a unique solution to this issue, since its too complex and we didn't have enough time. After that we had the opportunity to conduct a discussion with the three politicians, what was very exciting. The most controversy was made by the Polish politician, who is from the PiS party and is right now working in the Silesian parliament. We can easily state, that the current Polish Government’s policy is not really refugee friendly and thus it was very opposing to the policy of the Germans and French. I have to admit, that firstly I was little bit too shy to start a discussion with those politicians, but then I said to myself, that they here to answer my questions and I don't know when I will have the next opportunity to talk to such people and so I started to ask them questions and discuss with them. It was a lot of fun, even despite that the Polish representative wasn’t giving the coherent responses I awaited (She was speaking too general and very careful).

Summing up, the whole Weimar Triangle Youth Summit gave me a lot of benefits. I made great friends, especially from Germany, I guess I also improved my German skills or at least gained more confidence while speaking this language. My point of view concerning the refugee crisis changed a bit, I definitely let go all the prejudices towards the migrants and in general people from different cultures and at the end, each day of the summit gave me a lot of fun, satisfaction and experience, which I will keep for the rest of my life. I definitely learned much more from this trip, than any holidays in five stars hotel somewhere on tropical island would ever give me. I’m very honored, that I took part in this conference, I’m thankful to all the people who organized it so well and I’m thankful to Julia, who was the best partner in crime. I’m already looking forward to take part in similar summits.

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

Learning outcome 1: Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth Learning outcome 2: Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process Learning outcome 3: Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience   Learning outcome 5: Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively Learning outcome 6: Demonstrate engagement with is sues of global significance Learning outcome 7: Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

[juliathecasoholic]

WINDSURFING IN JASTARNIA

Just few days after we come back from our trip to the mountains one of my best friends, Julia as well, who attended with me the Pre-IB class, suggested going together to the Polish seashore, more precisely to Jastarnia, a city located on the Hel Peninsula. I immediately got very thrilled about the idea and so I packed my bags and looked forward the upcoming adventure.

The Polish cape is quite known for its good conditions for water sports including kitesurfing, windsurfing, stand up paddle etc. and already on the way to our destination, together with Julia, we decided to try something new, to try one of the stated sports. My friend had already tried the kitesurfing few years ago, but since I hadn’t, we both decided to undertake new challenge, therefore we decided to attempt windsurfing. Things got very amusing as we reached our place of destination and while taking a short stroll down the beach nearby our stay. We met our friend from school, IB graduate student - Adam, who turned out to be a windsurfing instructor, working in a surfing school. I guess now you can imagine, who became our trainer for the following days :)

The first lesson started with a little bit of theory, where Adam explained all the basic steps we have to make in order to successfully work with the sail. I thought to myself, that the theory now may seem very easy, but the application of all the approaches and moves will be much more challenging. I couldn't be more right. After few practices at the beach our instructor decided to go to the water with us and show us what its all about. Keeping balance at the board initially was quite hard, but after few falls into the water I managed to stand stably. The next moment I remember was when I firstly accomplished picking up the sail from water, getting into the starting position and „catching“ the wind. I moved very fast and really enjoyed this feeling. It was very alluring to feel the breeze.

Next classes with Adam were about learning variety of twists and turnarounds. At the beginning we learned the simplified approaches, however during the last lessons we successfully did the appropriate, advanced moves. That made me very satisfied, since I have to admit, that this sports is not that easygoing as it may appear. You have to find the balance, perform with the wind (what sometimes is very hard) and use a lot of strength to work with the sail. I call back one situation, when I sailed to far away from the shore and couldn't make a turn back, since the wind was too strong and I couldn't overturn the sail. I just sat down on the boarded and was hopeless… After a moment Adam swam to me, gave me few advices what to do, still it didn't help since I had no will and no power to follow his instructions. He decided to give me a kick by telling me a lot of motivational words, which at the end worked, since I said to myself to try one more time, hence I got additional power and turned back in the direction of our starting place.

The whole windsurfing experience gave me lots of satisfaction, due to many things, under some I overcome my own barriers, tried something new, gained new skills and knowledge and had tons of fun while spending the time with Julka and Adam. I have to admit that at the beginning I thought, that Adam wouldn't be a good teacher, since he’s a good friend and no professional windsurfer, but he was fully the opposite. He was very professional from the first minutes, kept making us laugh and exploring the beauty of this sport. I’m very happy that I decided to try windsurfing this holidays and for sure I’ll do it again!

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth (1) Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process  (2) - Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences (4) - Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively (5)

[juliathecasoholic]

HIKING IN BESKID ZYWIECKI

The school year in Poland has ended about a week ago and so most of us switched to the mode of traveling and relaxation, so did I. Together with my classmates and very close friends - Kasia, Natalia, Beniamin and Bartek, I went to the Polish mountains nearby, namely to Beskid Żywiecki, where one of our friends has a small house. As soon as we got there, we decided to make a plan for the upcoming days and at that moment I realized, that this trip will be very active.

Starting with the day of our arrive, we went for a walk, which initially was supposed to be short, however it ended after 2,5 h! Strolling down the surrounding, maleficent Polish nature and chatting with each other made us fully forget about time. Maybe a walk doesn't at first doesn't seem like a workout, but actually it’s a great cardio opportunity. The following days, we decided to go hiking and so we climbed under some at Pilsno, one of the highest peaks in that area. I have to admit that it wasn't that easy as I thought it would be… The route to our peak was chosen by Bartek and while doing it he might have forgotten about our (the girls’) physical condition. He choose the red route, which mostly was steep and already 20 min of walking made many of us tired (well, just the females). Additionally during our „adventure“ the sun was shining bright and that made the climbing even more challenging. Of course, for the guys the route was quite easy and they couldn't understand our procrastination. On the other hand I have to point out, that both Beniamin and Bartek kept motivating us all the time. They partly played a role of our personal trainers, who gave us strength. That was very kind from them and later on we truly appreciated their behavior, since without them we wouldn't have done it. I’m sure that if we the girls, would be there on our own, we would have returned back home just after those 20 min.

We also made a one day trip to Slovakia, where we visited Oravia, a city known for its swimming pool complex. I think all of us enjoyed the time there, since we were doing some races in swimming and surprisingly we, the girls beat the guys in some disciplines. That made me very satisfied and confident.

Overall, I think, that the time spend in the mountains was a great example of how holidays can be mixed with sports and teamwork. In some moments, despite how often you go to the gym, how much you think you’re good, you wont accomplish some aims without the support of your friends. The trip made me also realize how much luck do I and the rest of the girls have to have such great males in our class. I’m strongly sure, that we will be doing such journeys more often, maybe some even during this holidays - I will keep you updated ;)

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth (1) Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process (2) Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively (5)

[juliathecasoholic]

KATOWICE DAY OF EYP

I made a video reflection, which unfortunately due to its size I can't upload here, therefore our CAS coordinator will receive it via USB/DVD.

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this event:

-Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth (1) -Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process (2) -Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience (3) -Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively (5) -Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance (6)

[juliathecasoholic]

CYCLING | MALLORCA

In order not to get too bored with working out at the gym, I decided to came up with something slightly different to keep me active during my recent holidays in May. Together with my family we went to one of our favorite places, namely Mallorca. Already in the first day I wanted to explore the eastern part of the island and what way would be better to so than renting a bike and go cycling?  We decided to go cycling as much as possible, since it was a great time to spend time, the weather was perfect, since it wasn't that hot and the routes were greatly prepared for cyclists. During our first ride we followed the promenade by the seashore next to our hotel and after 1.5 km we discovered a breathtaking, virgin, tiny beach, which later became our favorite spot. Next we took a ride to the fishing city nearby - Porto Cristo, which was quite of a challenge, since the way, leading to our destination was flat in only… On the following days we decided to just cruise along the promenades and discover some other charming places. I really enjoyed riding through the wild, yet very beautiful nature of eastern Mallorca, which is not that much developed and urbanized as the western part. One day we decided to make a longer trip, to the so called capital of the eastern part -  Manacor. We rode to the city through Porto Cristo (the route is displayed in one of the pictures above) and it was about 18 km. Being honest it was a very long journey, it was one of the hottest days we had during our stay, the route wasn't flat in many parts at all…but still we set up a goal and there was no way back. I clenched my teeth and finally we reached our destination. I was very delighted that we made it. After the whole day escapade I was very exhausted, yet very satisfied. I cleared my mind, body and couldn't feel any better.  Summarizing, during my whole stay at the Spanish island I had just one day off of cycling (right after the trip to Manacor), the rest was very active and I have to say that it was one of the best ways we spend our vacations. I realized that holidays on a island should not be limited to just tanning on the beach and swimming in the sea.

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity: - Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth (1) - Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process (2) - Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience (3) - Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences (4)

[juliathecasoholic]

JUGEND DEBATTIERT

As an IB student I’m obliged to communicate and study mainly in English and I have to admit, that lately I use it more than any other language. Nevertheless I’m also attached to other foreign language, namely to German. The tradition of speaking this language is strongly rooted in my family, since we’re all of German origin. Being honest after finishing my Pre-IB class I thought, that my „career“ with this tongue will be finished, since this subject wouldn't be further thought in IB and I would have no more time to attend some competitions and additional classes. I was a little bit wrong… One day my German teacher came to me and asked me whether I would like to represent our school in a project called Jugend debattiert, in which high school student debate under a certain topic. At first I wasn't really convinced, but after some time I asked myself „Why not?“ and decided to attend the event. The first part took place in Zabrze and it was region qualifications, in which three students were choose to attend the national final in Warsaw. The topic we discussed was „Should Polish high schools ban the usage of smartphones at the school territory?“. For this debates you have to prepare both pro and contra arguments, since your position was drawn lots just before the beginning of the debate. The discussion was between two students with pro and two with contra point of view. I received the position of pro and so I was supposed to be in favor of forbidding the usage of smartphones. The discussion latest about 30 minutes and I have to admit, that it was challenging. We were supposed to use an very official form of the German language and we had to be very focused, since the opposite site was very well prepared and we had to fight for the right of our arguments. Moreover it was quite funny to me when while thinking about my response to the contra students I had some lack of German words and I wanted to say something in English! (thank you, IB) To my huge surprise, after the debate I got a very positive feedback and… i was selected for the final round in Warsaw! I couldn't believe that! Together with my teacher we went to the capital of Poland, where the further debates took place. This time there were two topics to be discussed: „Should student representatives be involved in decision-making of all major issues affecting the school?“ and „Should cash be abolished?“. This discussions were much more challenging, because of the fact that the participants of this round had great German skills and most of them already took part in such debates. Once again I received the position of pro and I think I did quite well. I think my experience of MUN conferences was a huge benefit for me, since I gained much of a confidence in such discussions. At the end I didn't win this debates, but overall the experience in this project was very profitable in my eyes. The trip allowed me to meet many interesting people from all over Poland, who are also huge fans of the German language. With some of them I still keep in touch and we plan to go for a ride to Germany together and some of them turned out to be IB students as well, who were at our KatMUN conference and they immediately recognized me and invited for their MUN session in Lublin! Furthermore, I improved my German skills, I gained a lot of knowledge, experience and had loads of fun. I’m already looking to attend more of such events!

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth (1) - Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process (2) Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively (5)

[juliathecasoholic]

BIEG KUKUCZKI VOLUNTARY

Last Saturday differed a little from the normal ones, firstly it started quite earlier than usually and secondly I spend the whole day in Katowice’s Muchowiec park. There for the 9th time „Katowicki Festiwal Biegowy im. Jerzego Kukuczki“ took place and together with my classmates Michał and Bartek we were volunteers during this event. The whole festival was organized by Academy of Sports in Katowice, where we have already volunteered during a conference last year.

We were assigned to the conduct and manage the organizational office of the occurrence, since it was quite a responsible duty, at the beginning we received short schooling. We pursued the registration of the participants, packed and delivered to them starter packs and answered all possible questions concerning the races, agenda and other organizational aspects. This year the festival had several runnings including marathon, half marathon, 10 km, 5 km and even nordic walking races for 5,10 km. It could seem that our job was rather easy and I have to admit, that it was, but only at the beginning…later on as over 20 people had to be registered in one time it stared to be little stressful. Together with boys we had to organize well and divide particular activities between us, moreover in the cases of some misunderstanding or inaccuracies we had to react directly, since we did not have much time for the registration. However with time everything was going smoother and we were working more and more effective with each other.

After some paces were finished we were given the results and were supposed to divide the runners into their age categories and make rankings. That was very time - consuming and we had to be focused all the time, since any mistakes were not allowed. Then it was time to write out all of the diplomas of each race in both open and age categories. I don't know the exact number, but I personally filled in over 50 diplomas. We were also supposed to give each finisher a medal at the finish line.

The voluntary work during the festival gave me the opportunity to see how such sports events look like from the kitchen. Last time I was more responsible for the pace route itself and cleaning up, but this time I learned how to be a co - organizer and how to work in a team. I have to say, that in the late afternoon as I got back home I was fully exhausted, but after all I really enjoyed the day. The chance of collaborating only with guys was also a kind of a quirky still great experience, I have to admit that sometime they are much more sympathetic and organized than girls are. I truly appreciate such service activities, which allow me to learn new, useful skills and which also help some particular people, including the organizers of such running festival.

Learning outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

- Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth (1) - Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process (2) - Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively (5)

[juliathecasoholic]

The British School Warsaw Model United Nations

As I already wrote in my previous posts our conference, Katowice Model United Nations (KatMUN) gave me many benefits, beside improving my organizational skills I got the chance to meet very ambitious and inspiring people in my age from all over Poland (lots of them are IB students as well). Sometime in March I received an invitation to another MUN conference, organized this time by our friends from the British School in Warsaw. I was thinking a lot, whether to participate in this session, but after some consultation with my classmates we decided to apply. To our surprise we became the opportunity to be the representatives of the Russian Federation, which is quite a highlight, since this particular country plays a significant role in the United Nations, thus there was nothing left than to plan our journey to Warsaw…

I personally was a delegate of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), where our debates concerned the topic of drug smuggling („Impact of transnational smuggling of drugs on global security“). The issue itself appeared to be very intriguing to me, still I didn't have much knowledge about it and therefore I decided to make a proper research before the session. Exploring the policy of the Russian Federation was very interesting, the more I researched the more I wanted to know and the more I wanted to understand the Russian point of view on the drug problem.

The whole conference started with the General Assembly and a crisis, during which Russian aircraft with officials was shot by USA. Then of course a conflict between us and the delegates of US appeared. We were discussing and fighting for our country as much as we could and at the end  the US delegation apologized us, which was a first success for me and my friends.

Next we perceived to committee work, at the beginning our Policy Statements were presented and I must admit that mine was the longest one. The discussions were from the very beginning as usually between the p5 countries (USA, Russia, China, France and UK) and Germany, however with time more delegates took part in the fruitful debates. My aim was to write the best possible for Russia resolution, that’s why I tried to collaborate with countries like USA and UK (being honest drug smuggling is one of the few topics, in which both Russians and Americans agree) already in the first day of the work in UNODC. I had never before written a resolution, hence I also had to study how UN resolutions should look like. The creation of the potential solution took us few hours of brain storming, discussing and protecting the policy of your country. After some time the resolution was written, I got a very positive feedback from my Chairs and Secretary General, what made me really glad after all the work.

As soon as the resolution was done, the Secretariat prepared for us another surprise, another crisis, this time between two committees, namely between mine and WHO, in which my friend Bartek represented Russia as well. The topic accused our country of illegal drug smuggling from Turkey and spreading a disease across Europe… Our role was to defeat all the accusations, since Russia never ever admits its fault and to make other countries responsible for the case and so we accused our favorite opponent - USA. After two - sided discussions, together with Bartek we wrote another resolution and so we won the crisis.

In the last day we had the closing ceremony, during which I had the chance to present my resolution and it passed with no objections (99% of the countries voted in favor, despite Germany who was against, due to their current policy concerning refugees). To be honest the moment the resolution had passed I was more than proud of myself, mostly since it was my very first one, it was a pure pleasure and fun to represent Russia. The collaboration during crisis with my friends made the whole session even better. I improved my oratorial skills, definitely broadened my horizons concerning not only drug smuggling. Furthermore at the end of the session the President of the General Assembly said that the whole „delegation of Katowice“ (we were literally called so) should approach the floor…we didn't know what would happen, but it turned out that the Secretariat wanted to reward us for our excellent performance as a delegation! I and Beniamin became Honorable Mention Delegates while Bartek and Karolina became the Best Delegates! Basically the representatives of the Russian Federation gathered all possible awards! Thanks to my classmates and friends from Warsaw for making this MUN experience unforgettable!

Learning Outcomes fulfilled during this activity:

- Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth (1) - Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process (2) - Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively (5) - Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance (6) - Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions (7)

[juliathecasoholic]

EYP SESSION IN SZCZECIN

During our Katowice Model United Nations conference we hosted people from all over Poland and we even made friends with some of them. After the closing ceremony one of our new friends came to me and invited me to European Youth Parliament Session, which he organized in Szczecin. At first I had no idea what that was, but I made a quick research on the Internet and got really interested in the event as I found out it is a stimulation of European Parliament. I talked to my friends about the event, we applied there and waited very thrilled till the date of the event. Now looking back, the session took place about a week ago and so I decided to share my reflections with you.

I went to Szczecin with two of my classmates and close friends - Kasia and Olivia, all of us attended only MUN conferences before, no EYP session at all, therefore we expected something similar to the UN stimulations. We couldn't be more wrong…Already the first day of the session was so much different, since it was about team building within our committees (I was together with Olivia in the committee on agriculture and rural development - AGRI). We played many team games, introduced ourselves to each other and talked a lot about our hobbies, dreams, experiences etc. The whole day was quite surprising to me, I hadn't expected it, but to be honest such team building was needed. At the end of the day I got to know my co-workers in the committee well and I gained trust towards them.

The second day of the session was dedicated to committee work concerning our topic, which was: „Harvesting a better Europe: With recent reforms aiming to make agriculture in the EU more competitive and sustainable, how should EU support farmers in the light of increasing global competition?“. Frankly speaking I had to make some research before the session about the topic as agriculture doesn't company me that much on the daily basis. We made brain storming, everyone shared their opinion and we were debating about the potential solutions to the problem. It was quite challenging, because our views on the issue differed a lot and finding a compromise was complex. Despite all the difficulties we managed to write a resolution in the late afternoon and I was really satisfied with all the work we have done.

During the third, final day we had a General Assembly, during which each committee had to present their resolution, the other committees could attack us, then we debated and did everything for our resolution to pass. This day was the most official one and looked quite similar to the GA during MUN conferences. Through the day I had to give a speech, that encouraged the other participants to vote in favor of our resolution. I wrote the speech the day before and my friend Kasia, who is very honest, told me that I did very well. We had many attack speeches, therefore we had to battle for our right. We all were under a dose of adrenaline, but we did our best and so we made it - our resolution had passed! The straitened debates paid off, I was so delighted and proud of us all. To my surprise even during the GA we did some games like dancing (you can see it in the pictures) or signing, what broke the official atmosphere and made everything more friendly.

After the GA and closing ceremony it was quite sad, we didn't want to go back home. All of the people we met were very inspiring, for sure I will keep in touch with them and maybe we will meet during some other EYP sessions.

The whole event was a great experience, I gained lots of knowledge, improved my oratorial skills and met fascinating people. I’m looking forward to the next events like this one.

Learning outcomes fulfilled during the activity:

Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth (1) Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process (2) Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively (5) Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance (6)