CREATIVITY: Dance

Dance was something I pursued since June 09. Gradually it became increasingly interesting and so I decided to continue this acitivity within school as well outside school.

For Ally's 18th birthday a bunch of us were required to dance, or at least learn how over the months. Over the course of six months we learnt how to dance Ballroom, sway and hip-hop. This was indeed a knowledgeable 6 months, picking up moves and a scope of different dances that required different skills and movements.

Being effective communicators was also required between our dance partners and coach in order to progress and keep the dance smooth and flowing. Most of the time I was failing so this taught me how to inqure more often and ask when in doubt or crippling my partner.

In school, I joined the Nepalese dance club. I have been really interested since 3-4 years ago when I first watched my class mate perform solo. I figured with all this contemparary dance knowledge, a change to something more culturally rich, drowned in years of tradition, would be particularly interesting, ultimately enjoyable.

I believe I proved to be a risk taker at most as there was indeed a lot of pressure on the guys who, on the whole were less capable then the girls. Some moves were particularly interesting and it required boldness and some risk-taking in order to really replicate the Nepalese dance tradition. Furthermore joining this club meant that we had to put on a show for International Day, performing to the whole school, including parents. Nonetheless we were all effective communicators which helped with confidence.

CREATIVITY:ART CLUB

To show my support this again was a method of showing my caring attitude towards my friends self-initiated CAS. What I really enjoyed besides being able to express myself freely throughout the club, was the reflective sessions, being able to interpret my artwork and describe the techniques and inspiration behind these artworks. Furthemore as we all have different perspectives and different backgrounds I learnt to remain open-mided to the various artworks produced by the different artists.

SERVICE: ISB splash

To end the school year, we had an ISB Splash which was basically an event which invovled a full afternoon packed with water based games. Some particular popular games included, water balloon volleyball, water balloon throwing, water gun wars and more.

My role in this event was to conduct the water balloon throwing store. The dominant characteristic I showed was probably being knowledgeable. Being head of the store I had to be aware of rules, pointing systems and as well as keeping track of the money. Moreover running the store also required me to be principled by sticking to the rules, playing fair and keeping the game under control. Being a communicator also proved to be essential as I shared my store with my friends, so being caring and taking turns on shifts for the store.

ACTION: Volleyball

I believe the first and foremost IB attribute I illustrated was to be caring as this was my friend's self-initiated CAS. Next as the game depended heavily on team co-ordination we had to be communicate wtih each other to get the volleyball successful across to the other side. Being a newbie, this require me to be knowledgeable, and inqurers as I did not know most of the rules and how the game works. Like every sport being principled was important to present myself as a good sportsman, playing fair and well. As most teams had a team capatain, it was aslo crucial to be open minded especially to team formations, tactics and how to get the most out of the game by not doing as much.

Creativity: Origami Club

Joining Origami club was a risk itself. I was never proficient with my hands, and therefore this was a big risk joining origami club. Over the course I learnt from the CAS supervisors to be caring in general, patient and how to excercise open-mindness as most of the time I required EXTRA help, and at times I required complete guidance in order to build a decent origami.

Furthermore by joining origami club it has also helped me to be knowledgeable in being able to recognize different types of folds, paper sizes, and other specifications which can be adapted to other origami instructions.

As each session went by, I learnt to be more of a thinker, and less reliant on help as I felt I needed to put worth and effort into my origamis in order to feel acknowledged and worthy.

ACTION: SELF-INITIATED CAS - Frisbee

Sports has always been a passion so after some consideration I decided to begin a self-initiated action based CAS. For a long time i believe frisbee to be unrecognized and just a hobby-type sport. So after some research and previous experience, i learnt the complexties and also the fame of ultimate frisbee! So this sport has really challenged me to be more knowledgeable.

As a coach, I also learnt how to be a risk-taker as it required me to take control of the game or players, and at times to be stern and serious despite most of the CAS members being my friends. Simultaneously it also helped me to be open-minded and listen to some of the more experienced frisbee players who had been having P.E. classes on frisbee.

Our term ended with a smashing game agaisnt JIS, and even in our defeat, after the game i learnt how to improve by being better communicators, thinkers, and reflective, trusting in the future for improving our skills as a team and countless victories.

Kota Kinabalu Trip: Creativity, Service, Action

The year 12 K.K. trip involved a variety of activities that involved all aspects of C.A.S. During our stay in the city, most of our activities; geography field work, counted as part of our action. On the other hand, when we were in the interior, we embraced a range of activities from mountain biking & white water rafting, to renovating a community village hall.

Over the week I personally learnt few “life lessons”. In the beginning the obvious moral that I encountered was to be punctual. In addition this also meant that I have to learn how to pay special care and attention to notices that are crucial i.e. being more accountable and principled. Moreover the warning of the consequences allowed me to realize the importance of teamwork, to be caring and sensitive to each others burdens. Although there were rules that did not facilitate our needs, I soon learnt that they were beneficial, i.e. sleeping on time and therefore waking up fresh. i.e. being knowledgeable. Overall I believe that the main focal point of this trip for me would have to be self-evaluation, criticism, and the development of practical skills (fieldwork). Essentially I would say the biggest challenge for me would be criticism and self-evaluation instead of being “spoon-fed” all the time and accepting whatever is presented to us. i.e. being responsible.

In conclusion I would have to say that all these acquired skills and lessons still require more attention and practice in order to see the enhancement of our studies. They stay in the forest first taught me to live under harsh circumstances – cold water, sleeping in the open. The next challenge involved creative work as well as the physical labourous work. Despite all this I have to admit I enjoyed these obstacles and miss the sentimental moments in K.K.

ACTION: KK Mountain Climbing Training

For the past 3 months some of the IB students have been training for their upcoming mountainous ascend. Seeing this as an opportunity to gain Action hours I willingly joined the team. The first weeks involved trekking in Tasek Lama Park, a course that demanded less. However as the weeks continued we moved to a much more challenging course of 9 hills located in Bukit Shabandar Forest Reserve. Over time I grew to be more knowledgeable as much of time it involved us running through the forest ourselves and this required us to remember the course. During some of our treks it also involved some risk-taking climbs as the weather had proved to be fairly horrible with heavy thundershowers. Large pieces of hillsides had been eroded leaving dangerous precipitous sides. This consequently lead to the development of being able to communicate with each other and learning how to care for each other, ensuring everyone would reach the end safely.

CREATIVITY & SERVICE: BGIC VII

Every year ISB hosts it’s prestigious, model UN conference – ISB Global Borneo Global Issues Conference. This year would be the 7th BGIC ISB has held. As usual, all events too place at the ICC, the International Convention Centre and as usual I participated as a helper but also as a performer. At the opening ceremony my key role was to perform with the rest of ISB’s choir and sing songs for Her Highness Princess Sarah. It was a frightening experience on the whole and initially I refused to perform. Eventually I managed to pull up my socks and go for this risk-taking experience. Another one of my roles was as an assistant to the operating and managing team. Most of the work was heavy labour which comprised of the setting up of 2 major halls and 6 more committee rooms. Other jobs consisted of running errands, passing on messages and ushering the delegates. Overall I enjoyed this year’s event as the strong message conducted by Nathan Chasing Horse has allowed me to think more open-mindedly and with greater concerns for the environment.

SERVICE: Valentines' Disco

Every year in ISB the tradition in respective to valentines day would be to have a Valentine's Disco. Being a unskilled dancer as well as not a big fan of disco's I decided to help out as security.

As securtiy my main job was to guard the gates, and check bags for anything illegal: weapons, cigarettes, etc. Furthermore I was also on shift so my other job was to patrol around the entire school, ensuring there were no students wandering off on any school ground besides the main hall.

I believe that from that experience I learnt how to be a risk-taker, in the sense of taking on bigger people and questioning them about what their pockets contained. I learned to be confident and be principled, not allowing anything illegal enter the school premises under any circumstance.

Overall I would say being security can be quite tedious but being part of the organizing committee has taught me to how it feels to carry great responsibility, to be more alert, as well as being able to communicate with other people I don't know very well.

SERVICE: H.M.S. Pinafore

H.M.S. Pinafore was our schools 2008 musical. I offered my service at the front desk, collecting tickets, holding doors, ushering people and running other errands. I found that I worked well with people, being interactive and helpful. I was a very caring helper making sure all guests were comfortable. I was very open-minded towards people’s comments on the show and was a fairly good communicator.

SERVICE: Autism

Autism is an abnormal absorption with the self; marked by communication disorders and short attention span and inability to treat others as people. In ISB we have been running a programme for Autistic children in ISB and in Brunei. Every Friday a team of IB students will go down to the library to interact with the children, helping them read or just playing with them. After about an hour in the library, we would then head down to the adventure playground to play on the slides, swings, flying fox, balls and other equipment. Due to the restricted numbers, I was only able to experience helping these children out once, but it has definitely left me with more knowledge about these special children who can be cured, and about the ways we can deal with them in order to help them live a normal, healthy life.

SERVICE: The Amazing Race ISB

In conjunction with the famous television series, The Amazing Race, ISB decided to host its own version of “The Amazing Race”. Every Thursday’s students from years 7-13 would come to compete with one another. Unlike the original version of “The amazing Race” there were no prizes, but every week was full of new challenges and new experiences. I was part of the committee helping out Mr. Holmes at different pit stops every week. I would normally be with another helper who would assist me in ensuring that the flow of our task would run smoothly, with true sportsmanship. We would supervise, and at times run the current programme. Some examples of the challenges that participants were involved in were shooting 20 baskets in, naming capital names of Countries, discovering exchange rates, counting money, solving anagrams from words taken from a song and many more. If a team were caught cheating or disobeying the rules, they would be penalized with a time penalty. However if a team completed an assignment, we would in turn give them the next clue or if not, ask them to proceed to the next pit stop to confirm if their task was completed. Overall it was a wonderful experience that has taught me how to run several interesting games. I was a helpful and a strict member of the committee and always on the look out for good sportsmanship. By doing so I acted principled and caring towards all those who participated.

Group 3 looking for clues

Champions Of Amazing Race ISB 2008

CREATIVITY: Quiz Night

For quiz night students and teachers got together to compete against each other in a battle of the brains. I found that my strength was particularly capital cities of countries, math, and English. I was a very interactive member of my team, helping all who needed assistance. At time when we weren’t sure of the answer I would be a risk-taker guessing an answer. I was also very open-minded to other team member opinions on answers and was a thinker too.

CREATIVITY: International Day

International day was an exciting event for the year 2008. Everyone from ISB came in dressed in their different national costumes, sharing their culture through language, food, and traditions. For international day I was assigned to help out a class. Each class was assigned a country which they had to impersonate, mine being Brunei. My job was to help with the preparing of their plans such as decorating the classroom in the form of a jungle like the tropical rainforests of Brunei etc. I learnt that I work well with my juniors and that I do have some sort of artistic flare. I was a very helpful and enjoyable member of the class. I was very open-minded towards their ideas and communicated well in order to achieve their ideas along with ours.

CREATIVITY: Jazz/Rock Club

Currently the year 13’s have been launching their self-initiated CAS programmes, one of them includes the Jazz/Rock Club. Ever since this creativity extra curricular activity has been started, I have been participating, trying out all types of songs of jazz/rock, and getting involved by playing a range of instruments along with other students. I found that I can easily work together with a new band with new songs well. I was very helpful and cheerful member during practice. I demonstrated being principled, by respecting those who were tuning and by allowing everyone to have a go on different instruments.

CREATIVITY: Joget

The “joget” is a traditional Malay dance originated from the culture and tradition of Brunei. Over the last 4 weeks or so, we have been practicing a modified version of a joget, learning the culture and exotic dance of Brunei. We have been practicing for a performance for International day on the 17th of October as well as perhaps, the upcoming BGIC VII 2009. From this experience I found that I enjoy dancing very much and that dancing in a group is very fun. I was a very involved enthusiastic member. By communicating effectively we managed to run through rehearsals smoothly.

CREATIVITY: Piano Lessons

Since I was in year 2 I have been taking up piano lessons as an extra curricular activity outside school. I am now learning my final grade for piano, grade 8, and I learn every Saturdays from 10-11:30. I found that I particularly enjoyed playing the piano when there was no pressure of examinations and when I could learn and play the songs I wanted to play. I found that in order to increase my confidence and aural skill I will need to practice more often. I am very attentive and complete my assignments and work hard in order to finish my syllabus. I am always inquiring whether I’m not sure about fingering or speed and have learnt to be balanced by ensuring I plan time to practice my piano.

CREATIVITY: Drum Lessons

My Youth group is encouraging the growth of a new line of drummers as we lack drummers. Therefore my youth main drummer has been giving free lessons every Wednesdays from 3-4:30. I have joined for quite a while now since the summer holidays and have been learning how to play several different songs, beats, rhythms, and techniques. I found that I managed to advance to a advanced level of drumming speedily as I have had much experience and learning from various friends who were very knowledgeable. However I did find playing 16 beats on the high-hat simultaneously with the kick drum and snare rather difficult as it required speed and a lot of strength. I appeared to be very inquisitive and interested member along my peers as music has been a great passion of mine. I demonstrated my risk-taking abilities by creating and filling in new and exquisite beats and rhythms to make the songs groovier. I do however need to work on being a communicator with the other members of the band as they say: One band. One sound. By communicating with each other we would be able to achieve a high standard of melodious music.

ACTION: Physical Education

In order to help us achieve sufficient CAS hours, ISB has provided P.E. lessons for our year. In P.E. we have been learnt how to play volleyball and Softball. I discovered that I have learnt the rules of the game, techniques of the game, and ultimately how to play the game effectively easily. However I did realize I needed much more practice with my team in order to play smoothly and efficiently. I exhibited being a communicator and a thinker during the lessons the best but needed much improvement with being an inquirer such that I would not make any illegal moves or faults. I appeared to be a very competitive yet fun team member enjoying the sports and ensuring everyone on my team participated.