I begin to draw

As my creative part of CAS I have decided to draw. On 16th December 2014 I have done my first drawing for CAS.

Of course I have been drawing before, just like everyone during their lives. But I've never been learning how to draw, how to use different techniques properly, so I've decided to start drawing at home, trying to develop my skills and new techniques on my own.

I have tried to draw my hand holding pencil. It was illuminated by the bright light from above and I tried to show the shadows created by the light, e.g. the one cast by pencil - but I've forgotten about the shadow  fo the pencil on the paper, not on hand and the one cast by the whole hand!

Also in this drawing my thumb is too thin and my forefinger is too thick. But overall proportions are not bad as for the official first time drawing.

I have been drawing this picture for about 2 hours - I think that I could do this in much shorter time, but I've been erasing a lot of lines that I thought were not drawn properly. I'm neither experienced nor skilled drawer, so I've been correcting fingers way too many times - and in the end they don't look like I wanted them to look.

I will use this picture to make comparison - I will draw it once again after few months and compare both versions - it will show if I make any progress.

Learing outcomes fulfilled:

- Developed new skills

- Increased awareness of strengths and areas for growth

Writing letters with Amnesty International

On 13th of December I have attended the event connected with the activity of Amnesty International. I have been writing leters driving attention to the problem in Bhopal, India.

30 years ago in factory in Bhopal there was a toxic gas leakage which contaminated the whole area. The toxic waste is still there, at the site of the former factory. People are forced to live there and are exposed to the dangerous remains of the factory. Also, people responsible for the tragedy were not punished yet. It is terrible that all over the world there are incidents including the violation of the human rights or putting people in danger, while governments seem to not to notice them.

First, when I heard about the event I thought that writing letters cannot help to improve world around us, I was sceptical about it. But then I read some more information about the organisation and it occured to me that this way of protesting against the injustice does matter. Amnesty International shows how significant can be our voice and how big is the effect of work of volunteers - organisation had freed many people and made governments to make an action and solve the problems the organisation had been writing about.

I am happy that I could attend this event. It was an opportunity for me to participate in something bigger, to notice problems around the world and to act on them. It is great that people from different countries unite and fulfill the same goal - to help those in need, to fight with injustice and violation of human rights. 

Learning outcomes fulfilled:
- Engaged with issues of global importance

Visiting the graves of deceased Mickiewicz teachers

My school has a tradition, that every year, before the All Saints Day the delegation of students brings wreaths and lights candles at the graves of the deceased Mickiewicz teachers. Me and my class have done it this year.

On 29th of October we prepared wreaths that were to be put on tombstones. We made them from twigs and cones of coniferous trees, also from dried leaves and flowers. They all had red shields with name of the school on them.

On 30th of October me and my class went to two cemeteries, at which these teachers are buried - at Francuska Street and at Sienkiewicza Street in Katowice.

As we were walking among the graves one of our teachers has been telling us stories of the deceased - what subject were they teaching, etc. When we came to one of the graves, our teacher said that she can't say anything about the person lying there, because no one at the school could tell her who that teacher was. That was the thing that made me think about the memory. It is sad how easily we can be forgotten - we live our lives, but after we are gone there will be few people to remember us, to light a candle on our grave, unless we do something which makes our name recognizable all over the world. One day we have families, friends and colleagues, we work, we learn - we live. And the next day we are just another person lying in the graveyard with neglected gravestone and no candle on it - the mourning after our death will end, people will move on, and memory of us will fade.

Another thing I have noticed during the walk were rows of little tombstones - graves of little children. Some of them didn't even live a day. It seemed unfair to me that they didn't have chance to experience the life - its good and bad sides. I wondered who would have they become if they had lived longer - maybe some of them would cure cancer, AIDS or other fatal disease. Or some of them would become criminals and do a lot of bad things. There is no way we could possibly know that. But everybody should have their chance to be alive, to grow up, to feel loved and to make choices. These are things every human being should experience and its terrible to see that these kids weren't able to do so.

Volunteering at Guardian Angels' Charity again

Last year I have been a volunteer in Dom Aniołów Stróżów (Guardian Angels' Charity) - a place where kids and teenagers with troubles can receive help. They can come there after school, eat a dinner, tell others about their problems and try to solve them.

I have decided to volunteer there also in this year. I am supposed to spend there one hour every Friday, helping children with their homework, with learning and revising for tests. As for now I have spent there only 6 hours since September - it was due to several projects I had to do for school, which took part at the same time. I was there on 17.10, 7.11, 14.11, 21.11, 28.11 and 5.12.2014.

During first few visits I have noticed that several kids, when asked to do certain tasks, often say that they don't know how or that they can't do them. But later it turned out that they needed only a small guidance and that they could do their homework practically on their own. The only thing they lacked was self-confidence. It made me think how often people are capable of doing something, but they don't try to do it because they don't believe in themselves. I wonder how many have missed opportunities of a lifetime because they lacked self-confidence - and the only person they could blame for it was themselves. It shouldn't happen to anyone. We should leave our comfort zones and take our chances. Of course there are other factors that can affect our fate but we can't take our opportunities away from ourselves when we still have them.
Kids at Guardian Angels' Charity are insecure about their skills while doing homework, but this insecurity can show up someday and make them hesitate in the important moment of their life. Next time when I will notice kid not being confident about what he/she is doing I will try to encourage him/her to think, to try solve problems on his/her own at the first place, and then look for help, not the other way. 

First tennis trainings in the new year

I am taking part in tennis trainings as a part of my CAS activities. I had started to play tennis in the previous year. I have decided to continue attending these classes also in this school year. I have attended 5 trainings since September - on 6.10, 20.10, 27.10, 3.11 and 10.11. 

The first training after summer holidays showed that I had lost part of skills I have developed in the last year. Once again my shots were mainly not on target or even did not pass the net. It was difficult for me to adjust the power to properly hit the ball. Sometimes my shots were too weak, sometimes too strong, just like at the very beginning of my trainings. Also I noticed that I felt quite tired after the 1-hour training though it was not demanding at all. But I did not give in, I knew that it was my first training after a very long break. I hoped that with every following training I would get better and better.

Next classes were slightly better than the previous one. I started to recall the proper moves I had learnt in the last year of trainings. But that did not mean that I used things I recalled - I have discovered my major weakness about tennis - I do not focus enough on each shot. There were only few times when I hit the ball with the proper strength, I worked properly with my legs, and I did the full move without stopping the tennis racket. Most of the time I do not do at least one of them. As soon as I realised it I focused on the next shot and tried to do it in the right way. Of course it was better then my usual shots. Most of the time it is difficult for me to do all of these things at once. I cannot do them automatically yet - it is a thing I am willing to improve.

Edit:
Since last post I have been attending trainings on 24.11 and 1.12.2014.

At this point I don't see many improvements, mostly due to the fact that I had done something with my ankle on a PE lesson. During these two trainings I haven't been moving much because I was afraid I would worsen the state of my ankle and that I wouldn't be able to run at all. I excercised only using my hands - it affected the quality of my shots, they were even worse than before.

On the next training after Christmas I will be able to move properly, so I will excercise in a proper way. 

Learning outcomes achieved:
- Increased awareness of strengths and areas for growth