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.