Gaudas' CAS blog

Veflection:

Date.

20th og May, 2017.

Place.

Tilto str., Vilnius/ Liepkalnio str. 113b, Vilnius

Activity.

Cleaning of a public area on the street of Vilnius.

Description.

One day, walking back from school, I have noticed something off about my home street. Something that was off for quite a period of time. That something was a pile of trash on the middle of the street. I thought to myself, whose rubbish is this? Well, technically, it’s someone’s who got rid of it, but as long as their traces are already cold, it probably is under the responsibility of Vilnius city municipality. The municipality, unfortunately, claims to do not possess a sufficient funding or the funding is directed to other areas or problems.

Knowing all this, I pondered, why not taking care of these trash myself? As a responsible citizen, I felt the duty of keeping my street and surroundings clean: if disposing of personal trash is not enough - others' trash should also be kept under control.

In addition, I have recorded all of our action and verbal reflection, revealing the creativity in this particular activity.

Reflection.

Challenge and new skills.

I have always found organizing events that require prior planning and contacting people challenging. This is because I sometimes hesitate whether an action I am planning is appropriate and think what other are doing to think about it and how will they respond. This time I have decided to push all of my fears and hesitations aside and do what I am supposed to: I have at last started to feel as a true member of our society, with personal intentions, plans, opinions, attitudes and actions.

Initiation.

I have contacted the city municipality to let them know about my intentions and to know myself that my intentions can legally be turned into actions. I have also found a place to rent a trailer and with the help of my father (since I do not yet possess the driver's license) did it. In addition, I have contacted the recycling site that we were heading to, to learn what materials they accept. Unfortunatelly, I was unable to foresee the materials that we were going to find, lie the slate roofing, and investigate about their acceptance. I did, however, try to contact them the moment we found out about it, alas, to no avail: their phone line was somehow busy all day.

Perseverance. Although having not found a site to dispose of the slate the first time, we with my father have went to several places to see if they do accept it. Unfortunatelly, we havent't found one.

Collaboration. I cannot imagine completing some of the steps of this action without my father. He has helped me in several areas, like driving and sorting the waste. I am invaluably grateful for him for his input.

Tackling global issues. Probably most importantly, the pivotal axis of my action was to promote the preservation of our natural ecosystem and reduce the effecta of pollutions to the environment. By completing this activity, my father and me have personally contributed to the preservation of our stable future.

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Date.

May, 2017.

Place.

The internet.

Activity.

Translation of popular science videos in the YouTube platform from English to native Lithuanian.

Description.

I have always wanted to try to apply my English language skills in real life by translating content. I have always seen voluntary translation as a way to improve your English language skills and benefit the society as well by making the content available for the reach of a wider Non-English-speaking audience. For these reasons, I have decided to exploit the modern technology and the possibilities it brings us nowadays. I have chosen two YouTube videos from a popular science channel, called Veritasium, hosted by a physicist Derek Muller. At first I myself looked skeptical at translating English videos to Lithuanian because Lithuania is such a small country. Nevertheless, at some point I have realized that the older generation, for example, has no ability to learn English, unless they have already learnt it in their younger years. Without the access to Western content, they are left with the Eastern oftentimes pro-Russian media. And this is the primary reason for the clash of the older and the younger generations in Lithuania. Anyways, I chose two videos about revolutionary motion in physics and translated them, so to possibly be an example to other Lithuanian young people and to make the Wester content available for a wider audience.

Reflection.

Identifying strengths and areas for growth. I have always been a good English student, but I had never, up until this May, had the chance to apply these skills outside the classroom in real life. After translating and during the translation, I was pleasantly surprised that I have quite liked the process. I have realized that translating is somewhat similar to movie editing. You work, then review what you have done, and the edit you mistakes over and over again. And when the end-product is ready, you sit back and enjoy your effort. I have also noticed that translating these two videos have improved my translating skills significantly, because I have gained some real-life experience.

Challenge. Commitment and perseverance. I have a hard time finishing my tasks in time or sometimes finishing them after all. But this time was different for me. I have told myself that I have to complete this task no matter what, without any procrastination or postponing. I was driven by the force of completing this task.

Date.

22nd of April, 2017.

Place.

Kalnų parkas, Vilnius.

Activity.

Cleaning the environment from litter.

Description.

This year I had the "Darom" action in mind long before its happening. I have participated in the "Darom" action two times several years ago together with my father and my younger brother. This year it happen that I have decided to take my youngest brother to the action, instead of him watching television or playing video games. There was no advance registration necessary, so we woke up that morning at 9 o’clock, ate our breakfast, donned our clothes, grabbed our gear and headed towards Kalnų parkas, where one of this year's cleaning spots was located.

When we came, we found some people responsible for the allocation of ‘work’ force. They gave us large red plastic bags, which were specifically designed for the action, gloves and ‘medals’ as souvenirs for memory. Having everything we needed, we headed off to pick some rubbish. We have collected a full bag of rubbish in about three hours! We have mainly been concentrating on small-sized litter, like cigarette-ends and broken glass bottles. The largest trashes we have found were pieces of cardboard and a broken foam boat in the Vilnelė river.

Reflection.

Engagement with issues of global significance.

Global warming is one of the most sinister issues of the modern world. And pollution is one of the factors accelerating it. Furthermore, pollution is destroying the natural landscape. So by participating in this kind of event, we have contributed to the preservation of the Earth’s eco-system and the preservation of Earth’s natural landscape. The participation in this action was a selfless thank-you for the gifts the Earth has presented us with.

Another global issue, to my mind, that we have tackled, was the inactivity, laziness and carelessness towards nature and interaction with other, better yet, foreign people. By taking my youngest brother together with me I felt like doing a favour for the young generation and for our future society.

Teamwork.

My youngest brother Uvis, who is seven years old, and me have successfully managed to work as a team. Regardless of his age, he was a great companion and a great teammate. His diligent efforts to dig out even the smallest piece of litter have passed onto me and I as well have started to notice even the most minuscule details. In addition, I have felt as a role model for him and a leader who shows commitment, hard work and selflessness towards a given task.

Date.

March 8th, 2017.

Place.

Vilnius, Lithuania.

Activity.

Drawing a portrait.

Reflection.

I have decided to take up the challenge of drawing something by hand. I have never considered myself good at drawing, despite having quite deft and habile hands. I have always hesitated taking up this kind of challenge, because as I tried to scrabble something on paper it turned out to be a complete disaster. Nevertheless, this time I have decided to push myself further and accomplish the challenge. I bought myself a comfortable automatic pencil Compact eraser&pencil by MILAN and a Koh-I-Noor L&C Hardtmuth professional rubber eraser, then took a photo of my girlfriend and conquered my challenge!

Through this experience I have realized that, regardless of the skills acquired theretofore, consistent and patient work brings satisfactory results. I have also learnt that positive approach towards a challenge is inevitable to succeed in a challenge, since all negative attitudes will only make you see your failures and will degrade your self-confidence which is key in drawing. It took me about two and a half hours to complete the portrait. I had several hard moments in finding the patience, but fortunately, I have managed to calm my mind from anxiety to fail and completed the portrait, showing my full perseverance and commitment towards the task.

Date.

Weekends of March.

Place.

SEBarena, Vilnius.

Activity.

Honing skills in squash and tutoring.

Description.

Last month together with my brother we played badminton at SEBarena and probably had our first ever regular schedule to practice badminton, which was a major breakthrough in both, our sport’s “careers” and our scheduling “careers”. As far as squash is concerned, we have had a few semi-sessions, especially during summer, together with our uncle, who has passionately introduced us to the sport and tutored us ever since. So this time, following the example of badminton, we have decided to engage ourselves in a strenuous squash training session during weekends of March.

Reflection.

Identifying strengths and areas for growth.

Similarly to badminton, squash is a very active and precise racket sport. Squash, however, is much more demanding physically - after an intense hour of squash, every single muscle in your body feels drained. My uncle is a much more experienced player than my brother or me, and even participates in national squash championships. So, taking advice from him is a very beneficial opportunity. Particularly my uncle likes to tutor people, similarly to me. And whenever we were training, he tutored me and I, as much as I could, tried to take his advice and do every exercise he has offered me. During training without uncle I have taken my brother or my girlfriend together and tutored them. This training was not only a great opportunity to hone my skills in squash, but also, to enhance my tutoring skills.

Date.

Weekends of February.

Place.

SEBarena, Vilnius.

Activity.

Training badminton with my brother.

Description.

Together with my brother, every Saturday or Sunday of February we have been going to SEBarena to practice and improve our badminton playing skills. We always have liked badminton as a sport, however, we haven’t had a chance to do a session of dedicated training. This time we decided to try to enhance our technique, agility and speed throughout the whole month.

Reflection.

Strengths and areas for growth.

During this session of training I have realized that badminton to me is a great way to vary the routine and relieve stress by getting involved in physical exertion. In addition, badminton, to my mind, benefits the ones who play not only physically, but also mentally, because like in mathematics you have to calculate both the trajectory and the strength of your swing, in order to guide the shuttlecock in the most uncomfortable position for your opponent.

One remark, though. I have noticed that sometimes while playing badminton I overrate my skill level and expertise in the filed of badminton and become overconfident, thus, starting to disrespect the game by gaining just enough points to win a game and try to show off without having nothing to show. I believe throughout this session I have managed to overcome this issue in badminton of mine by concentrating more on the technique, rather how well my moves look. I hope I have eradicated this bad habit once and for all.

Commitment in challenge. Developing new skills.

During weekend I always have a hard time waking up early and accomplishing anything productive. Therefore, am incentive to get up earlier to be ready for the training was a great start to changing that. I have learnt to go to sleep earlier the day before the training and wake up no problem on the day of the training. In addition, I feel proud of myself I have managed to commit to the challenge of exercising the sport every weekend for a month. Now I think I have acquired the skill of sticking to your commitment no matter what, because the feeling after achieving something is simply overwhelming.

Initiation and planing.

Date.

From 28th to 29th of January, 2017.

Place.

Laimis hill (Liepkalnis), Vilnius.

Activity.

Making of a video log about tutoring a classmate in snowboarding.

Description.

Almost a year ago – during my first year in IB – I have promised several of my classmates to take them to Liepkalnis ski resort and teach them snowboarding. It happened that our trip got delayed a year – up to 2017. Nevertheless, throughout the year we grew smarter, stronger and better friends. This year we stormed the mountains with extreme power!

 My brother and I have been snowboarding since 2009. I was always interested not only in the riding but also in the techniques and methods to learn them involved. I have always wondered and was curious about teaching others to snowboard. Frankly, to teach somebody to snowboard is a great challenge. I have previously taught two people to ride the snowboard on their own: one of them was my brother and another – my friend Domas. At that time I was only 12 years old, and now I was 17! In the meantime, I have acquired new skills and knowledge in snowboarding, communicating and tutoring.

 We went to Liepkalnis on the evening of the 28th of January. Five of us: my classmate whom I tutored Brigita, my classmate Karolis with whom we shot and edited the vlog, my brother Kernius, who tutored my girlfriend Agnė, who also came along, and me. We snowboarded there for three full hours, excluding the 15-minute warm-up on flat snow at the bottom of the mountain. Apart from my major task of tutoring Brigita, with Karolis we shot footage for our vlog. Later that evening we went to Karolis’ home to review and edit our footage to produce a short video log. By the morning of the other day, our video was finished.

Reflection.

Strengths and areas for growth.

During our “trip” I have once again assured myself that I can be a great teacher. I have taught Brigita the basics of riding a snowboard and shared some of my long-time knowledge and insights about the subject and, of course, the danger involved and how to avoid it. I realized that I like to tutor people and give advice to them and, to my mind, and according to my results I am successful at it: Brigita can now descend from and ascend a slope on her own. Of course, she still requires supervision and a hand from time to time, bearing in mind the fact that we only have trained for three hours in one day.

 I have realized what a great way to convey an idea a video is if you have the right knowledge and right skills to produce it. Every time, and I mean every single time, I edit or shoot a video, I learn something new by simply being curious and also by learning from past mistakes. This time we have avoided the past mistake of our video being too serious and, thus, entertaining. Nevertheless, we failed to foresee the weather conditions on the mountain and our built-in camera microphone have failed us, so the audio quality in the video is quite poor. But looking from the bright side, we got the chance to hone our skills of the improving the quality of audio digitally.

Self-initiated challenge.

I like overcoming new challenges and this time it was no different. I have proposed an opportunity for my classmate to be tutored in snowboarding. I wanted to see how well I would be at tutoring someone in this rather complicated subject in always rather complicated and sometimes not the most comfortable situations.  And I did strived to give my best every second of my lesson, as well as, make my student as comfortable and safe as I possibly could. I can say with no doubt that I have overcame this challenge the best way I could and am proud of my effort.

 Furthermore, I have asked my classmate Karolis Špukas to join us in our training, shoot our whole CAS experience and produce a short video, or a vlog, as we like to call it because of its format. And Karolis has accepted my invitation! I’ve always found it hard to plan my CAS experiences to be thorough, complete and planned. This time, however, I have put a lot of time in planning our CAS experience by coordinating times, finding and providing the equipment and, of course, summing everything up with a nice video overview.

 Collaboration.

I wouldn’t have done the vlog and would have made our CAS experience so purposeful, safe and enjoyable at the same time without Karolis, my brother and Agnė, which all helped in shooting. Together with Karolis we have joined our forces to make the video. Karolis did the shooting, I provided him with the material to shoot and together we have put everything together into a video. We have both worked hard, but our endeavours have paid off in a form of the acquisition of new skills. I have once again made certain that teamwork is a killer force!

Date.

January, 2017/ July - August, 2016.

Place.

My MacBook Air, Vilnius/ United States of America

Activity.

Shooting and editing of a family holiday video.

Description.

During my family trip to the US in summer. I have used my camera to shoot some footage. Unfortunatelly, not until this January I had found time to review it and edit a short movie. But when I did find the time I have turned it to account. I have tried some new editing techniques like applying smooth manual transitions and exploit the zoom-in and zoom-out transitions. In addition, in this editing I have sorted all of the footage and picked only those video clips that were sure to be included in the movie, thus, my work-flow was brought to the next level of footage selection. What is more, is that while filming in the US I have significantly improved my shooting skills. I even had the opportunity to try filming shots from the roof of a moving car!

Reflection.

Challenge. New skills.

I, as a video editor of some experience, have always found new ways of editing interesting and exciting. Nevertheless, these kinds of new techniques are sometimes achieved with lots of works, thus, I have hesitated for a long time to try something new. But one day, I said to myself that enough is enough: I sat down in front of my computer, done some research on video editing techniques and tips that I found really helpful, asked for advice from a classmate, and headed to work. After spending at least two hours everyday I have managed to achieve my desired results. I have acquired the skills of video editing that I haven’t had before I decided to look for something new. Although I have nor yet finished the whole movie - I still have tons of available footage - I am extremely satisfied with the product I now have in my hands.

Teamwork. My classmate Karolis Spukas has always been near whenever we had a project at school or out of school. This time was no different, throughout two recent years I have been focusing more not on digital media, but more, i’d say, on music, sports and other skills, aside from digital. Therefore, there is no doubt or surprise that Karolis is now way ahead of me in editing and shooting “business”, since he has been into the area for some time more than I have and has put more effort and attention to it. So I have decided to ask him for advice on this topic. And he has helped me a lot: from the editing software - to the editing itself. In this way I have felt the spirit of teamwork again, because we as old partners in editing have met again to discuss the editing techniques that are prevalent and popular today. I feel very grateful for Karolis' help.

Date.

From 5th to 23rd of December, 2016.

Place.

Vilnius Lyceum.

Activity.

Christmas table tennis tournament.

 Description.

In our school, Vilnius Lyceum, we have tennis tables. And although people play and practice there all the time, there is no annual or any other sort of competition throughout the whole year. There was no (I hope that the tradition of it will be prolonged) until Matas Merfeldas and I have decided to create one. We have started preparing for and planning the tournament a week prior to the event. The preparation cannot be neglected by no means for it was a very serious task, even challenge, we have completed. 

 Before we could declare the beginning of the tournament we had to accomplish four tasks: 1) Coordinate our intentions and actions with the administration of the school; 2) Make people aware of the event by promoting it in social media and by physical promotion; 3) Make registration available, fast and efficient; 4) Prepare the timetables and the rules for the players to follow.

The first thing that we did was we went to the teachers of physical education and asked their permission and advice on organizing this kind of event at the school. We got the permission and the advice. Next thing that we did was we created (designed and printed out) a poster, which we hanged on the walls around the school. The purpose of the posters was to manifest the existence of the tournament, remind players in case they forgot and enable physical registration to take place (a registration sheet was provided under every poster in school). We designed the poster online at www.canva.com and printed it on A3 sized paper. The next day, using a social platform Facebook we created an event of the tournament and posted a link to the registration form made using Google Forms. The event was used as a means of communication between the competitors and us: all news and changes were announced there. Over 40 players have registered. Next up was the creation of the timetables of the games. We used Microsoft Excel as well as random pair generator online to create primary pairs of players and set date for every game (all games were played during the 40-minute break). Finally, the set of rules and regulations was issued to make sure all the players have a fair chance to win and no cheating would take place. It took us quite an effort to accomplish all the tasks, but in my eyes we have managed to fulfill them even better than I had expected.

When the preparation was over, we headed over to the action phase, which was the longest phase and allowed us to show our perseverance and commitment towards our project. From the 5th of December to the 23rd at least three games were played nearly every day. Matas and I were monitoring the games, counting the points, register the results and making sure that everyone is following the prescribed rules.

 On the last day of the tournament - the 23rd of Decemeber - right before christmas - two last games - the finals and the semi-finals - were played. After the winners had been found out, they were awarded medals, school certificates and, of course, a place on the school sports "wall of fame".

Reflection.

Challenge.

This CAS project was a chalenge for both of us - Matas and me. Throughout the tournament we have understood that a social event involving numbers of people is a complex mechanism and that careful and thoughtful planing prior to, perseverance and commitment during and feeling of teamwork after are all an indispensable parts of the CAS project.

 We have both acquired a ton of useful and practical skills and knowledge on how to organize an event like our Christmas Table Tennis Tournament. I personally have acquired skills such as developing concrete and clear timetables with Microsoft Excel. At first I thought that this part was going to be easy, but as soon as I started making the tables, I realized that it took a little bit more than just the basic knowledge of the program. Furthermore, I have improved my knowledge on promoting. After I have used the flawless poster, the publicity of the Facebook event, the effortless registration, which all led to a great amount of people involved in the tournament, I realized that advertising is a huge part of every event and started to acknowledge the power of advertising and the work that people do to achieve successful publicity. 

 Initiation.

The part that we were most proud of was that the whole CAS project experience was uniquely initiated, designed and developed by us. During a daily conversation we found out that we both liked and have trained table tennis as kids. Then we thought out loud that there is no tournament of table tennis in our school and started wondering why not make one ourselves. Later we have discussed and planned this concept further until it became our CAS project.

Commitment.

Every day Matas and I have monitored the games and had a “duty” to be there on time or in case of any misunderstanding. We also had to inform the competitors daily and provide them results, their future opponents and any reschedulings. We had to conform to our duties so as to lead a quality and attentive tournament.

 Teamwork.

Date.

5th of October, 2016.

Place.

Vilnius Lyceum.

Activity.

Musical performance during “Teachers’ day”.

Description.

First of all, I should say that I wasn’t planning to perform in this particular event from the beginning of the year. One day, approximately two and a half weeks before the event, a group of students that were responsible for the performance that would salute English teachers of our school, contacted me and asked if I would be interested in this kind of venture. And, well, I agreed, since I thought that it shouldn’t be that hard to prepare a small performance of this kind. Conversely, it was that hard, given the amount of time we had to prepare it. Two days we spent brainstorming ideas for the performance, unfortunately, to little avail.

 Then one evening while practicing to play my ukulele I came up with an idea of a musical performance. I was practicing to play the cover of a song, called “Screen”, by TWENTY ØNE PILØTS when I realized that it would make a perfect salutation for the English teachers of our school if given a few slight modifications to the lyrics. So, I proposed this idea to my counterparts and they, well, approved it, I guess. Actually, this performance did not require that much of the people that we had (there were about six of us), so only two of us left (Aistė Samuchovaitė and I).

 Then we practiced day to day and performed on stage during the event. For the record, this performance was my first one playing the ukulele live on stage in front of an audience. And it was hell of an experience I should say. I say this because when you simply practice playing day to day, you do not see your progress, you know, daily. By contrast, when you prepare a performance and for a performance you do not feel how much you are improving your skills throughout the whole process. After it was over, when I took ukulele in my hand again, I remember feeling it somehow different that always, it felt more comfortable for me to play it.

 Reflection.

Date.

First three weeks of September, 2016.

Place.

SEB arena at Vlinius.

Activity.

Training tennis.

Description.

When I was younger I used to train playing tennis for five years until I eventually “got bored” and started to train ping-pong or table tennis! Unfortunately, I have also dropped table tennis after five years of training due to lack of time left besides studying. Then started tennis again… for a week. And then… No tennis. Nevertheless, I have always wished I could turn back time and remember how to play tennis again sometime.

 For this reason, on the first three weeks of September in 2017, on the new start of a new school year, my classmate Matas Merfeldas and I have decided to try training tennis again for some time.

 The first obstacle that we came across was the place where to train. At first we have planned to play at another classmate’s who happened to have a personal court of his own house! Nonetheless, we ended up finding an indoor racket sports complex, called SEB arena, not very far from our school. So, we booked a court, went there and trained. Our training contained one play of one hour every first three week of September.

 We have remembered how to play our youth sports and taught each other a few things that we have forgotten throughout the years.

CAS outcomes achieved.

·      Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.

We have trained one time a week three weeks according to our plan.

·      Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

Although Matas and me have both practiced tennis in the past, these trainings were a ”refreshment” to our “fossil-old” skills. In addition, we have both shared our theoretical knowledge about the sport that hasn’t worn off as much as practical and acquired a few new skills in the process.

·      Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.

We have learnt that we are definitely not in the shape we used to be in tennis back in the day we trained. Nevertheless, we still possess the essential skills and are able to play to have a decent match in tennis. We have also taken into consideration a possibility of starting training tennis all over again in the future!

Reflection.

Date.

1st of September, 2016.

 Place.

Vilnius Lyceum

 Activity.

Performance with fellow students of Vilnius Lyceum during the celebration of the new school year.

Description.

Ah… A fresh start. A new beginning. The outset of a new school year – the 1st of September. And can you imagine this kind of celebration without a proper show or a good performance? Of course not!

 For this reason my fellow students from Vilnius Lyceum (Vidas Bacevičius, Aistė Samuchovaitė, Matas Udris, Fricas and Rokas Ričkus) and I have prepared two musical performances for the event. They included the covers of: Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Lepard and Sugar, Sugar by The Archies.

 This was not the first time I had performed on-stage at Vilnius Lyceum. I thought I knew something already. Well, it turned out that I knew nearly nothing. The first thing, or should I say obstacle, that I personaly have encountered was a physical one. We have started preparing for the event somewhere around three weeks beforehand. And while eventualy rehearsing on the prepared stage on the day of the event I felt that my throat was going sore and it was becoming increasingly harder for me to sing. I decided to try drinking some warm tea, but unfortunately it only made the condition of my throat even worse. Another cause that possibly could have contributed to the condition of my throat was the somewhat discomfort while singing the chorus of the Def Lepard song and consequently a constant rehearsing of something that was unhandy to my vocal chords.

 Moving on, I want to mention another fact that had a crucial impact on the quality of our performance. At the time of this performance I wasn’t totally aware and didn’t have the required knowledge of the equipment used during live performances. It turned out that the person who was responsible for the sound and the technical matters decided that setting up monitors (the speakers that are targeted at the performer so they could hear themselves properly) would be a bad idea because of the suppositional echoing inside a walled school court. This decision ultimately resulted in us hearing ourselves rather poorly.

CAS outcomes achieved.

·      Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively.

This CAS outcome was undoubtedly one of the most important ones to be mentioned, since the collaboration and teamwork are essential when performing in a band. None of us could have prepared a performance like this one separately.

·      Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.

As I have mentioned, this was not my first time performing on stage at my school. Nevertheless, I have learnt that tons of things have to be learned and tested and millions of mistakes learned in order to prepare a quality performance.

Reflection.

In short, three lessons have been learnt: 1. Do not over-rehearse on the day of the performance; 2. Do not drink hot liquids when the condition of your throat is getting worse; 3. Always check if every piece of equipment required for a quality performance is on-stage yourself.

Date.

11th of September, 2016.

 Place.

Centre of Vilnius, Lithuania.

 Activity.

Running 10km at the Vilnius DanskeBank marathon.

Description.

I have been running regularly for quite a while now. I possess the ability to run shorter distances fast. My endurance in longer distances is not as high, though. I had been planning to run 10km in the marathon for some time before now, but, unfortunately, hesitated to do so and did not challenge myself on the day of the event. Everything changed on the 11th of September, when I actually accomplished my aspiration.

 It was my first time running this distance, so I did not want to overestimate my abilities and did not push myself too hard as to not damage my health. My challenge was to successfully finish the run.

 It took me one hour nine minutes and thirty seconds (01:09:30) to finish the track. I am one hundred percent sure that I could have done much much better, since during my training I have completed the track much faster. Nevertheless, as I have mentioned beforehand, the overestimation of your abilities can even harm your health or at best result in you not finishing the track.

CAS outcomes achieved.

·      Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

This run was my first attempt to complete a run track of 10km. And it was successful due to my preparation and planning prior to the event. Now, I am capable of running 10km with no major difficulty and will increase my level of skills in the area as long as I will continue to exercise.

·      Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

It is a well-known fact that obesity and unhealthy lifestyle cause major health problems and is one of the fundamental causes of death in today’s society. Engaging in healthy activities, such as running, myself, I have also stimulated my girlfriend and two acquaintances to train for and participate in the Vilnius DanskeBank 10km marathon event. This way, I contributed to the health of the society and in the promotion of healthy lifestyle.

·      Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth.

I now know that I am capable of completing 10km track without any difficulty, in relation to some of my peers. I am willing to increase the distance I am able to run with every of my future exercise and official run.

Reflection.

Date.

25th of August, 2016.

Place.

WakeRepublic wakepark, Vilnius district.

Activity.

Organization of a trip to wakepark with my classmates.

Description.

During the first days of summer a few of my classmates and I have talked about my intentions of going to wakeboard during summer and their intentions to learn how to wakeboard. So, in the end of June we have agreed to go to a wakepark to learn how to wakeboard. Unfortunately, our trip has been delayed by travels abroad, other activities and inconvenient time; that’s why our trip ensued only on the 25th of August.

 Nevertheless, it was great. There were seven of us going: five of my classmates (Ugnė Vaitkutė, Brigita Čironytė, Kasparas Ragaišis, Matas Merfeldas and Tomas Andriuškevičius) my girlfriend and I. Everyone, exept for my girlfriend and me, haven’t tried wakeboarding at all. Therefore, I was really delighted by the fact that everyone from our little team got standing on the board and some even learned how to perform turns, which is amazing.

CAS outcomes achieved.      

Increased your awareness of your own strengths and areas for growth.

I have realized that time planning it very important in organization of trips like this one. If you or someone from your team is late, you can easily miss the bus or even your whole ride.

Undertaken new challenges.

I have probably never made such effort to gather people to do an activity, which requires prior preparation, together before in my life. I have a hard time making concrete decisions quickly. So, choosing and booking wakeboarding tracks was a challenge for me. Nonetheless, I my eyes, I have coped with it really well.

Planned and initiated activities.

I have initiated the trip by creating a Facebook chat at first and proposing people to go wakeboarding and later created a Facebook group for more convenient communication. I have planned the time and date for our trip and adjusted it to fit everyone. I have investigated and found convenient transportation to the wakepark.

Worked collaboratively with others.

I have helped people to prepare for the trip by making a list of items and notes. I have also had to adjust to everyone’s wants and needs.

Developed new skills.

I have trained someone wakeboarding for the first time. At first it was really challenging, but got easier once I got the hang of it. I have also gained experience in gathering people.

Reflection.

Wakeboarding is a fun and healthy sport for everyone. But when it comes to gathering people for it, especially my age is difficult. I am very proud that I was able to gather so my classmates and taught them how to wakeboard. I’m not really sure, if they had greater challenge learning how to wakeboard or me organizing the trip. I was also delighted by the fact that I was able to apply my knowledge in wakeboarding area to teach and encourage others. 

Date.

21st of August, 2016.

Place.

Vilnius, Lithuania.

Activity.

Volunteering at the Vilnius Velomarathon.

Description.

On the 20th of August I have been helping to install the main area of the event. It included mild manual work such as the installment of fencing, fastening of showcards, assemblage and distribution of promotional teardrop banners and transportation of appointments, building a huge tent for kids’ playground. I met my classmate Karolis Paulikas, so we happened to work together.

 On the day 21st, the day of the event itself, I also was responsible for minor tasks, such as the fetch of food for the volunteers, the cut of the chips (used for registration) from the bikes of the participants of the marathon, the direction of people attending the event and also the help with the clearing when the event was over. I met a classmate of mine (Vidas Bacevičius) and we were assigned to do together some of the tasks together.

CAS outcomes achieved.

·      Developed new skills.

I have learned much about the coordination of volunteers and complexity of a huge event like the Velomarathon. In addition, I have also learned how to deal with showcards.

·      Considered the ethical implications of one’s actions.

I had to consider my behaviour, responsibilities and actions towards other volunteers and, of course, coordinators.

·      Worked collaboratively with others.

I have work in a team. Including a few friends and plenty of new people to me that I haven’t met before, but became familiar with.

·      Increased your awareness of your own strengths and areas for growth.

I realized that I can be really active and unselfconscious in front of other people, which helps me to create a great first impression. Nevertheless, I also realized that I have to work on maintaining the good “first impression” reputation and to learn how to deal with people that I don’t see very friendly with more tolerance.

·      Undertaken new challenges.

I always have a hard time communicating with other people, in general. Therefore, this event was a great step out of the (trite phrase, I know!) “comfort zone”.

Reflection.

The volunteering at the Vilnius Velomarathon was a lifetime experience. I have made new friends, developed new skills and gained invaluable experience. In my opinion, everyone my age should never miss the chance of volunteering at an event like the Velomarathon.

<<I'm never what I like

Date.

3rd of August, 2016 - ∞.

 Place.

All around the world.

 Activity.

Learning and practicing playing the ukulele.

Description.

I've always wanted to play the guitar. Unfortunately, the one I had been learning to play once turned out to be a classic one, so by the time I knew that I was done with it.

 I have played the cello for 9 years now at Balio Dvariono dešimtmetė muzikos mokykla. Thus, I posses a basic musical education.

 This summer I have decided to get myself a ukulele! And during my family holiday I did. And tried to play it. At first I thought that it would be as easy as pie. Sadly, it turned out to be rather challenging.

 Nevertheless, I have been searching for information about the techniques of playing online and played my ukulele during the holiday genuinely every day (maybe not that much on the days of long canyon hike trips, but on days free from hiking I played it with vengeance).

 Consequently, I now know how to play the ukulele. I am going to continue to improve my ukulele-playing skills throughout this year, eventually become better at it and hopefully continue to play it throughout my entire upcoming life.

 My next challenge is to appear with the ukulele on scene at my school, Vilnius Lyceum.

CAS outcomes achieved.

·      Undertake new challenges.

I've always considered starting to practice something completely unfamiliar not in young days a challenge. Everyone around me in the whole "guitar" field seemed like pros, whereas I started from scratch. So, it was difficult to take “the step” of buying and starting to learn. But I hope to get better every day and catch up with the best.

·      Show perseverance and commitment.

Learning to play any kind of instrument requires tons of perseverance and commitment. I tried to be determined and enthusiastic towards what I have been seeking and practice steadily to improve, because sometimes it takes months to master a technique or to force your fingers to assemble that damn chord.

·      Develop new skills.

I've learnt that information on the Internet at some specific things can be highly beneficial. With the help of it, I managed to teach myself how to play the ukulele on my own and can continue to improve every day.

Reflection.

Although I had some hard moments in finding motivation, I am very glad I was able to break the ice. I feel proud I was able to push the boundaries in my music skills even further. I hope that ukulele will boost my creativity in music and life.

Videos of me trying to perform some covers during my third week can be found here: