Summarise what you did in CAS and how you interacted with others? My CAS experiences include the specific roles in IT committee; Genius bar; Stage management; Musical “old songs new” creative; Musical “old songs new” service; BBQ for grade 11; Comedy club for grade 11; Sky Challenge TT; Challenge Grand Cham; Challenge winter grand Cham; Challenge 20K; Challenge Slalom; Challenge night sky race; Challenge Ollon grand Cham; Sledging CAS; Christian forum; Nursing in Moscow hospital; London English trip; London drama trip; and Drama CAS.

While coping with various school challenges, I have become more aware of own strengths and ways of further improvement. I have become more persevere and enduring enough to undertake new challenges.

I tried myself as a leader capable of planning and initiating activities during Musical “old songs new” activity. The Christian forum within CAS opened debating skills in me while I much collaborated with others. The IT committee enabled me to enhance my IT skills and participate in creative activities. The sledging challenge turned out to be lots of fun. The role of a stage manager in School Theater required much time and effort. Nursing in Moscow hospital tried me as a volunteer in the Moscow hospital where I much served the patients in need. This particular challenge refers to my ethical implications while I served not only as a free of charge assistant but also as a sympathetic communicator with the patients. I have developed new skills during Drama CAS activity where I learned new acting techniques and the art of performing a role on stage. I also learned how to do emotions with a clear loud voice.

Explain what you hoped to accomplish through your CAS experiences?
Initially I expected to benefit from the challenging nature of CAS opening new perspectives and insights in my life. Owing to it, I learned much and gained invaluable skills that will much help me in my future professional growth and career. More than that, the program turned out beyond my wildest dreams. In other words, I have gained much more from it than I have initially expected. CAS made me realize various domains and activities from a different angle, and I would have never thought about such an insight without taking part in the program.

How successful were you in achieving your goals?
Overall, I should say I was successful in most of the accomplished activities, though many of them came as a challenge to me. In particular, performing servant roles and following up seemed much easier than leading others especially during Musical “old songs new” activity. The activities assuming extreme and fun (sledging and skiing) were more appealing to me

What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them?
The main difficulties occurred during stage management and leadership activities for they required utmost responsibility. Therein I tried to serve as a real leader capable of encouraging and motivating others. It seemed much easier to me to accomplish secondary roles in the capacity of performer while then i was not in charge of the entire process. I encountered certain difficulties and discomfort while debating during the Christian forum because my arguments were weak and not persuasive enough to convince others. The difficulty made me understand the power of public speaking and debating as an art.

What did you learn about yourself and others through this CAS?
The main thing I understood about myself was that I have still much to do to improve as a professional. While I was quite good as a performer, I almost screwed up as a leader and public speaker. I also understood how much patience is needed to get sympathetic with others, understand people’s needs and find proper responses.

While working with others, I developed collaborative and communicative skills. Joint activities, brainstorming and problem solving served as the proper means of crossing any gaps in communication and establishment of friendly relationships.

What abilities, attitudes and values have you developed?
I have definitely become more responsible for what I say and do. CAS taught a sense of commitment before others while many activities involved teamwork and collaboration. I started to treat my daily activities differently by placing some sense in everything I do. This means that I began to value time more than ever. Now I understand that everything holds particular sense and I play definite role in the world around me. I have also become less egocentric and more empathic to the needs of other people. Overall, the more ‘give’ and less ‘take’ lifestyle much appeals to me after attending CAS.

Did anyone help you to think about your learning during your CAS experiences? If so, who helped and how did they help?
In the course of CAS, I have much learned from the tutors as well as from peer experiences of my teammates. All their advice and support turned out invaluable for defining particular roles in different capacities as well as improving my stamina and endurance during various challenges.

How did your service activities benefit others?
I much benefited patients in the hospital by becoming sympathetic with their individual needs. I also served as a good company to other CAS participants with whom I teamed up. In addition to accomplishing various roles in particular activities, I had befriended many great folks.

What might you do differently next time to improve?
I would critically evaluate my strengths, weaknesses and overall potential to improve. Such an analysis would make me less ambitious and more realistic about my capacities. I would also concentrate less on my own needs and devote more time to team work and collaborative activities with others instead.

How can you apply what you have learned in other life situations?
Much of the knowledge and acquired skills will be relevant to and of great importance for many life situations in the future. Various CAS challenges made me rather realistic about the weaknesses and errors to work on. From now on, I will be more open-minded while facing challenges in my life. Backed up by CAS approaches I have learned, I am sure to find the finest solutions.