Excerpts are taken from Paul’s summary reflections:

Grade 11 CAS Summary Reflection

CAS was not the most enjoyable thing to do, and was often a burden, but it's a requirement for the IB, therefore we have no choice but to do it. Finding a creativity activity was very hard as I wasn't sure of what counted as creativity. Finding an action activity was easy as I enjoy sports, and service was easy as well because I love helping others, including dogs.

In Grade 11, I kept my reflections weekly so I was never behind from that point of view. I learned other things such as time management. I needed to prioritize tasks and not let CAS make me fall back on homework. CAS is good and “fun” as long as the motivation and commitment are there. Next year I hope CAS will be more enjoyable and I also wish to pursue ongoing activities as well as start new ones.

Grade 12 CAS Summary Reflection

My CAS journey has now come to an end, and to be honest it was quite a ride. When I first started CAS in grade 11, I did it for the sake of doing it. I didn’t really enjoy it back then. But as time went by, I grew to enjoy CAS as it helped me learn many things about myself. CAS helped me develop skills I would not have been able to learn otherwise, such as thinking about what I learned and how to improve my learning or even teaching. I would definitely advise future generations doing CAS to stay committed to it, as it would be hard to catch up on late CAS work. CAS is an ongoing process that must be done regularly.

With the right set of mind, I believe CAS can be enjoyable. The hard part is to find activities in all three areas that make up CAS, but that's part of the challenges of CAS. Reflections are not very hard if done weekly, and some CAS activities are actually fun. Looking back, I am glad I was part of the CAS journey as it taught me to be an active individual and part of society.

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Thank you, Paul! Tune in next week for our next Grade 12 CAS student profile!