RLC CAS Camp

Day 1.

                Today we worked as a group to draw and paint on the walls of the Remote learning centre. We first worked on a small scale drawing and then implemented them on a large scale on the walls of the school.

                At several points of time during the activity today, we found it difficult to work due to the lack of planning, coordination and communication. We ended up repeating certain steps & performing some, without approval. From this we learned that it is very important to communicate & plan to get work done efficiently.

With limited resources (Paints and Paintbrushes) we struggled to work faster. However we also learned how to utilize whatever is available. This was when we needed complicated coulour mixtures but formed them on our own by mixing the colour we already had.

Day 2.

Today I worked to help level and cement a platform surrounding a tree that would improve the physical appearance of the surroundings and would come into use for the students of the remote learning centre to use.

During the activity I learned the importance of evaluation at every stage. We would have to evaluate (based on the physical appearance) the completion of our task as this would help us to guide and direct our efforts more efficiently. During the cementing, I also learned the importance of working as a team. By splitting up jobs and working together the efficiency of work improved.

Day 3.

Today we continued to work on building a platform (around the tree) for the students of the school to sit on and use.

Due to the lack of planning and instruction, we started off working aimlessly, without any directions and were rather confused. This also resulted in us not having the right equipment and not knowing the right methods. Had the planning been better, our work would have been more efficient with the availability of the right resources at the right times. This led to a lot of frustration for us as a team and it only kept on growing when our supervisors and classmates dropped by only to criticize us. We learned through this the consequences of criticism and the advantages of motivation. We found that the criticism was only adding to the lack in quality.

Due to the lack of planning, we ended up not having sufficient resources. This meant that we ended up mixing the cement without spatula’s or gloves. Using our bare hands we didn’t feel the consequences immediately. However we did suffer sometime later when the hands started to burn. It made us realise how important it is to plan before performing any activity. 

B-ball

Inter House Basketball Tournament

                4 teams competed in the Inter House basketball tournament and the teams were allocated based on the houses to which the students belonged.

                This year we had a relatively strong team however luck wasn’t in our fortune and the stronger players in our house couldn’t attend the matches. This meant that the responsibility of the house was now on the shoulders of the weaker players. We learned through this tournament the importance of team work and coordination. Even though we lost majority of our matches we learned, from the other teams, that it was important to have coordination and passing (team work) to win in sports like these.

Football!

Inter-House Football Tournament

                4 teams, based on the houses, competed in the football tournament. Our team finished 3^rd. I played as the right back in defense.

                The tournament taught me the importance of teamwork, thinking for the team, strategy and ability to accept facts and criticism. In any game of football, it is absolutely necessary to pass the ball as it can increase the pressure on the opposition. Playing solo and not involving the team, puts the opposition in a stronger position and. Therefore team work is very important and so is thinking for the team.

                Strategy is also important because one cannot go into a game, expecting to win, without a clear strategy or a plan. It is very important to plan in advance and to implement to ensure success. Without planning there can be no structure to the team’s formation.

                In any sport, one must be open to criticism and must be able to take decisions as they come. In one of the matches, our team was leading 1-0 until the last 5 minutes. When suddenly, the referee rewarded the opposition a penalty because he felt he saw a hand ball in the D area of our team. However there was no handball. The opposition scored in the penalty and the match finished (1-1) as a draw. It was hard on us but we had to respect the decision and take it as these errors are inevitable. 

Inter-School Football

                There was a football match between our school team and the football team of another school called Meridian. Our team was the stronger team and we ended up winning by a margin as large as 5-0.

                From this match, I learned the importance regular training. I myself was playing football after very long and hadn’t trained much. I struggled with stamina as I found myself very tired at the end of the match. I realized the importance of regular training as it would help maintain my stamina and improve my performance when needed.

                We then also had a match against the Indus B-team. In this match learned that one should never take their opponents lightly. Even though we won, the opposition (being weaker) gave us a tough fight and we realized that we should never underestimate anyone. 

Trekking!

Western Ghats Trek

                I, 3 other classmates and a teacher went for a trek in Southern Karnataka in the Western Ghats. This was a short 2 day trek up and back. On the trek, we carried with us, very limited yet necessary resources only. There was no room for unnecessary comforts. The trek wasn’t very physically or mentally challenging for me.

                In this trek I learned the importance of working and thinking for the team. We carried 2 tents to the trek and we had to constantly rotate it amongst ourselves to avoid the burden from being on just one person. As we trekked we also learned about the geological characteristics of the area as the teacher who accompanied us specialized in that particular field. Even though the trek wasn’t very challenging I was very relaxed on having reached the peak.

Once we reach our base site, we had to work as team to set up tents. It was not easy setting up the tents in the wet conditions, drizzles, the darkness and the fog. It was hard to located things in the dark and there was always a fear of tripping over something.

One our way back, majority of the journey was downward and there wasn’t much difficulty in covering the distance. I and the 3 other students marched on and continued the descent without thinking of our teacher who was still quite some distance behind us. As we marched ahead we had forgotten about the fact that all the food was in our bags! At roughly 2:30 PM we chose to take rest and wait for our teacher to come.  It took him quite a while to come, which showed us how far ahead we had gone. We realized it was very ignorant on our part to have done so as there was no way in which we could have communicated with him and the chances of us getting lost was potentially higher. It was also very ignorant of us to have walked ahead with all the food with us, beyond our lunch time. We didn’t stop to think of our teacher who might have been hungry too. Here we learned the importance of thinking on part of the entire team. However much of the learning happened after the yelling!

On our way back, there was a point when we had to change busses and there was not much of a time frame and it was cut-to-cut in terms of timing. In this hurry we, again, didn’t think on part of the team. We quickly lifted our own bags and moved ahead. We realized that one of us had left a tent on the first bus. It was almost impossible to recover the tent that didn't belong to either of us. We were confused and disappointed in ourselves for the selfish act. And yet again we were yelled at. 

This trek helped me come out of my comfort zone and spend some time away from the hustle of urban life and to live away from my comforts and to explore life in the absence of those comforts. Along with that I also learned the importance of thinking for the team as we are dependent upon each in some way or the other and we owe it to each other to think on their part too.

Vikarabad Trails

Vikarabad Trails.

We went on a 2-day team building camp to a place called Trails in Vikarabad. Here we performed several team building activities through which we got to communicate and discover each other’s capabilities.

There were several team building activities to be performed. We started off with a Zip line. For me it wasn’t a new experience as I had done Zip lining on a couple of occasions before. However it was quite an experience to see the reactions of fear of those who were afraid of heights and hadn’t done anything of this sort before. It was a part of the team building to be able to motivate them and supply them with the courage to push them in.

Then we also had team rock climbing. In this we had to compete with the other teams in terms of the amount of time it took for the entire team to climb the rock climbing course. I again did not struggle to complete this activity as I had already performed this activity before. However there was much to learn in watching those who hadn’t done this before. Some struggled but went through due to their persistence. While the others got stuck but didn’t give up. They stayed and tried every possible way, they stayed till they realized that it was probably better for them to give the chance to the next person to improve the team’s timing.

 We also performed another activity in which an ‘A’ shaped structure had to be moved from one end of an area to the other and back. The ‘A’ shaped wooden frame had 4 ropes tied at the top for team members to pull. One person would stand on the horizontal dash of the structure to turn the frame by tilting to one side and the structure getting pulled by the ropes simultaneously by the other members. Our team again struggled due to the lack of communication and coordination. People pulled too much or in the wrong direction causing the frame to fall.

Then, we also had team volley ball with mats. Here each team would stretch a mat and use it to catch and throw the volleyball across. In this activity, coordination was the key. We lacked that and ended up losing this activity too. We lost in ALL the activities we performed so far, including this one and we had started to give up on the team.

Another activity that we had was where the entire team would have to walk across a thin wire and the best timing was measured. Here, our team performed well and finished with second rank. However in the overall points table, we still found ourselves last.

The next activity was to compose a music piece and perform. Here again, none of our team members were musicians and we had started to give up. But I tried to continue to make some sense out of the ‘noise’ that our instruments made. I tried to use my creativity and used my surrounding. There were a few steel glasses around us. I filled them with water to different levels and struck them as they produced different sounds. We used this and finished first in the activity. Here I learned the importance of creativity and how much it was value. I also learned how to improve coordination with the team and grab everyone’s interest. With this win, we moved up to second place on the points table.

The last activity was a team treasure hunt. Here we had to find our team flags scattered across the premises and bring them back to a central checkpoint. Our team finished first by collecting all the flags the fastest.  Through this activity I learned the importance of coordination. We had to coordinate our moves with our team players even though we were scattered in different areas of the premises. At the end of this activity, we finished first on the table. We learned a lot about our team mates and fellow teams.

Leadership Camp

                In the leadership camp we performed several activities that helped enhance our leadership qualities. One of the activities was where our team had to stand on two wooden planks with ropes to lift them. We had to coordinate our moves and move across with the help of the planks. It was difficult to communicate and coordinate as any mistake was penalized with any one player having to face the opposite direction or muting of the entire team. This activity was a test of our coordination and communication skills. I learned the importance of following instructions and trusting them. I also learned the importance of coordination as coordination was really the key.

                Another activity was Crate stacking, here with the help of a pulley, one of our team members was hung by his/her waist and had to stack as many crates as possible. This activity required coordination, communication, planning and strategy. Coordination and communication was tested when the team pulling the person up were to know how fast or slow to pull and how much to pull. The planning and strategy was tested as the ground was not level and it was hard to ensure that the crates remained steady and the tower didn’t collapse. Another test of strategy was when we reached a limit. There was a limit as to how high the person could be pulled up. Stacking the crates beyond that point was very testing as it took us a lot of thinking and planning to come up with a strategy to get past that obstacle.

                One more activity that we performed was the acid river. Here we had to use limited planks to get from one base to another. A lot of planning was necessary as it was a very mentally testing activity. In this activity I learned the importance of being open to suggestions and opinions. At one point, as a team we ran out of ideas to implement and it was frustrating. It was important to keep calm and accept suggestions as criticism would take us nowhere. However what was unfortunate was that I had to learn this the hard way, the details of which I would rather not go into.

                Another major activity was the challenge tower discovery course. This was a set of challenges combined and laid out in the form of a course. This challenge tower was a true test of will power. There were several activities that were tiring and testing, especially one call monkey loops where one has to get from one platform to the other by stepping on loops of ropes. It was testing as on several occasions the loops would split apart or swing a lot. It was very testing and challenging. I fell off several times but it was the will power within me that made me complete the course. At the end of the course was another activity where one would have to jump off a platform high above the ground and would swing off a rope. Even though it was easy to say that I am not afraid of height, there was a hint of fear before the leap. However there was a small risk taking force inside me that led me into taking the leap forward. This ‘discovery’ course helped me discover my will power and risk taking abilities.

                We also had a small trek on the camp. The trek was supposed to get over in the morning however due to certain unavoidable delay, it went on till afternoon. We had managed to trek to a certain spot without much difficulty and were told our destination was a waterfall. However we tasted bitter disappointment to reach there to see nothing. However what was more frustrating was that we would have to go back to camp the same way we came, which was 100% uphill journey and it was hot. Due to the lack of planning, none of us had water and it was very testing. I started to question my ability to reach the destination however this is when I discovered the persistence within me that kept me going forward and helped me reach my destination.

OAKMUN

OAKMUN

I attended my first Model United Nations (MUN) conference as a delegate. MUNs are conferences held where students can participate as delegates representing different countries to debate solutions for modern day global issues. Delegates have to come in with sufficient research, facts and figures. They have to use their debating skills and research to put forth their points and opinions in the committee. The conferences are conducted in the same format as they are in the United Nations.

Being a first-timer I found it difficult to raise points and put them across. I also struggled with getting used to the new format and structure of discussions. By observing the struggle of other delegates with their working papers, I learned the importance of forming allies and making productive use of the un-moderated caucuses. However I found it very difficult to remain focused for such prolonged periods of time during the committees. It is easy to get distracted however it is also difficult to get back on track with the ongoing discussion.

In this MUN I learned the importance of being to open to unfamiliar crowds. I also learned the importance of being up to date with the current world issues. I also learned the importance of through research because I myself lacked sufficient research