Creativity

Since the beginning of February I have been meeting up with Rasmus, Skylord and Emily for the play that we performed on the 23rd of February. For his Drama class, Skylord has been directing the play called Play-writing 101: The Rooftop Lesson by Rich Orloff. The play is basically about the art of play-writing. It is a scene about a depressed individual (played by Rasmus) who wants to commit suicide and a good Samaritan (played by Emily), who is trying to dissuade him from jumping of a roof. During this conversation, a teacher (played by me) keeps rewinding and pausing the action, addressing the audience and giving his suggestions on what is good and bad playwriting. For my part, i had quite a few lines that i had to memorize. We regularly met with Skylord to have rehearsals and perfect the delivery and the choreography. It became evident how important team work is in drama. It is not really the fact that the actors directly collaborate, but rather the actions they take individually that helps the play function smoothly. For example it is vital that each actor knows his lines and delivers them correctly. That way the other actors can pick up on those lines and deliver their own performance. For everything to run smoothly, it is vital that we work together in that way. 

A few people have commented on my acting skills. Last year, when i performed in a similar play for a former 12th grader, people remarked that i should have taken drama. Acting is really fun for me as it allows me express words and actions that normally i wouldn't. Since i have no major issues regarding stage fright and speaking in front of audiences, it becomes easier to perform. This year, as Skylord directed, the character i was supposed to be, was that of a serious teacher, who is having an intellectual discussion with the audience every time he paused the action on stage. I however, changed the character and the lines slightly to make the performance  more about raw humor than a "fine behind the lines" type, which i felt those watching the play would not get. As a result i was able to perform on stage and entertain the people watching by acting and saying lines i usually wouldn't in real life. Our play went first on the line and was actually the most humorous of all plays as it got the most laughs. The performances of Rasmus and Emily were also great resulting in a cohesive performance in which everything went according to plan. 

Community Service

I have been regularly attending the Cleft Lip and Palate community service program. As mentioned before, this year my aim is to help the transition of the new members into the service program. In the process i would also like to be involved in a little bit more service for the kids with the Cleft Lip and Palate disease. On Thursday's when we meet, we discuss the ways in which we can go about helping these children. We had a great fundraiser, our "battle of the bands" concert, now it is time to take the next step: what is the group going to do in the future and how can we currently spread more awareness about this issue. The Cleft Lip and Palate disease is a global issue. Even though i will be done with Community Service by the end of next month, i do not want to abandon my efforts to help the children with the disease. Last year, as part of our program, we visited one of the hospitals, we did the same this year. Seeing these little helpless kids who have this disease which can cause such discomforts and eventually even lead to death is a very emotional sight. Being in Sri Lanka, i would like to be able to help the cause of helping these kids, giving something back to the community and also knowing that i have done something to save the life of an Innocent infant.

Last month, we again visited the hospital. Just like last year, it was a very emotional sight to see these infants, some of them as young as 8 days old. Being in the hospital ward made me really consider the ethical implications of my actions. Even though i feel strongly about the issue and would like to help the cause, is it ethical for me to be looking at these kids in a hospital ward as if they were a museum attraction? Being as young as they are, it is extremely perilous for people to be near these kids as they could catch even the slightest diseases which their immune system would not be able to withstand. Also, i doubt the parents of these kids would appreciate others looking at their babies like that. Since i did not feel it was ethical of me, i did not photograph any of the children as i feel that is something neither the parents of the children want, nor something that helps me in any way. The eerie feeling of being in the ward with the infants for a few seconds however was enough to further reinforce my desire to do something for them.

Later we met the doctor who treats these infants, Dr Romesh Gunasekera. He revealed his gratitude at our efforts to raise money for the operations for the kids. He also outlined some of the areas where we should be focusing our efforts in the future. The first step he said is to spread further awareness of the issue. He then also recommended we make some kind of brochure which can then be advertised, so that more people become aware of this issue. His ideas and recommendations are exactly the sort of thing we are planning to do this year. Awareness is a very important step. The concert last year, apart from raising the money for the operations for the kids, raised an immense amount of awareness as the story was even published in newspapers. This year it is important for us to help spread awareness. The first step we are planning to take is, to create a power point and a brochure as the doctor recommended. Visuals are always important when other people need to be convinced to help some cause. Just as visiting the hospital was important for me in having a view of this issue first hand, creating brochures and a power point will help spread awareness and make people who have no idea what the disease is, fully understand the extent of the issue.

As mentioned before it is important that we go about this task as a group. Collaboration and team work helped us achieve success through our concert, we do the same now. We have divided the group into four groups of four, each of which will be working on either a power point or a brochure. Collaboration makes it easier for the task to be completed so each member in the group will take responsibility for one aspect of the task in question. Collaboration also helps in new ideas and approaches being suggested. Every week during our discussions it is interesting and informative to discover the views of different people when they go about finding a solution or make suggestions for the group.

I plan on continuing all the efforts i have made for the group in the past. I have been with this group for around a year and it has really helped me interact with a global issue which concerns the local community. It is important that there are others who also care about the same problem, with whom i can collaboratively work in order to help the cause.

Community Football

I have been regularly attending the Saturday community football at OSC. Many children from different schools such as the British School, Elizabeth Moir school and the Asian international school come here to play football. This has really been an excellent way for me to interact with other members of the community and with many different types of people. We have at least people from 20 different nationalities taking part! It is important to treat this Saturday football as a way to learn new things and learn how to interact with others. Every week new teams are made and different players who like playing in different positions are put in one team. Being a senior and the captain of the OSC football team it is important for me to take up a leadership role and help the team i am in each week, to collaborate and function smoothly so we operate as a unit. I have learnt that it is not an easy job to get everyone to follow the ideas you are suggesting. Since no one is obliged to follow my instructions it becomes extra challenging for me to implement my leadership skills, however so far i have been very successful. I have also tried playing in a new position, that of striker, and i have been very successful so far scoring 21 goals in my last 6 games, of course the goals are slightly easier to score in community football. As i am representing my school in this activity it is also important that i consider the implications of my every action and maintain the image of the school. There were for example a few instances where i lost my cool and started yelling at some other players. This has however made me grow as a leader as i have come to realize my mistakes and it is these mistakes and the learning process from them that helps to prevent such incidents in the future. Saturday football is also about making new friends from different schools, from within and outside the local community. I have made a couple of Sri Lankan friends who share their views on each match and their general likes and dislikes. This helps me gain a better understanding of other people's views and ideas.

2012

It's the final stretch now. This is the last semester in which I am involved in CAS, however it will surely not be the end of my involvement with it. Along the course of the previous 2 years i have learnt a few very useful things during my involvement with the CAS program. CAS has enabled me to reflect on my actions and consider their implications. I have learnt how little deeds carried out by me or others can go a long way in helping others. Most importantly however i have learnt the importance of working as a team. Collaboration is the key to success, be it community service or a football tournament. Last year I was part of a very successful service project; our service group managed to organize the biggest charity fundraiser of the year. Our "battle of the bands" raised over R.S. 250k, meaning we will be able to sponsor over 20 operations for the children with the cleft lip and palate disease. I was also involved in my last Saisa football tournament, a tournament in which around 10 teams representing schools from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal participate. As captain of the team I led them to a fourth place finish, our best in recent history. During the tournament I was once again reminded of the importance of teamwork as we only started playing properly once our team had gelled together and become comfortable with the formation everyone else was playing in. Our striker Bharat Khosla led the team score sheet by scoring 7 goals, Yariq Captain, a Saisa veteran, clocked up the most assists, and all the rest of the players gave everything in trying to win the matches. I was rewarded the accolade of 'most valuable player' for my efforts in the goal during the tournament.

Even though my involvement with such aspects of CAS is unlikely to stop in the future, these moments were some of the best i have had. For the rest of the semester in 2012 i have set myself a few goals which i would like to accomplish.

• Firstly i would like to continue being part of the 'cleft lip and palate' community service program. After last years success we have had a number of people joining the service program. Although i am not the CAS leader, as a senior it would be mt responsibility to, along with the other seniors in our group, help the younger members fully grasp the importance of this aspect of CAS. At this stage it is important that the new members are made aware of their responsibilities and what their future contributions to the CAS will be. Last year when i joined the CAS, our group was left relatively directionless by our previous leaders. It was our group led by the CAS leaders that had decided on the action to be taken for the future of the CAS in a way that it best benefited the purpose we were trying to serve. This year my aim is to help the new members of the CAS find this transition period much easier. We have a good deal going after our success in 2011, now is the time to build on that success and lay out the groundwork for future accomplishments.
• I also plan on continuing my involvement in the action aspect of CAS. Last year was a high point in terms of action as i was involved in my last Saisa. This year, due to academic strains, i will have to reduce my involvement in this aspect. My initial plan was to take part in the Saisa basketball tournament that OSC is hosting this year, however, due to a muscle tear in my right shoulder i will be unable to contribute to the team in any way. Instead i plan on continuing football by taking part in the Saturday community football at OSC. This way i can continue to build on the skills i already possess along with having some fun.
• With all the academic stress and action, it is important to balance things out with some creativity. This has been a weak point so far in my involvement with CAS. This last semester i plan on working on developing some new skills that will help my build my creative capacity. As my brother is really interested in drumming, we rented a drum set to help him practice at home. This gives me an excellent opportunity to unleash those creative skills and learn something new. In February i will also be taking part in a small play directed by my friend Skylord for his Drama class. I have the lead role in the play and hope to deliver a good performance in front of the audience. I am also looking forward to try something completely new to me in all ways, scuba diving. I have never done snorkeling or scuba diving and i am looking forward to this exciting experience.