#cas project

Hey gang!!

In times like these we must be mindful in order to take care of ourselves as well as those around us, and so we participate in a number of precautions to do so. From washing our hands frequently, maintaining a 1.5 m distance, to wearing a mask when around others, we help halt the spread of the virus and attempt to flatten the curve. To additionally help our our communities, we can share helpful covid-19 health tips, though sharing a post or making a poster! I decided to make an infographic not so different to the ones available on the internet to hang in my school as we attempt a blended schedule. These posters can act as reminder as well as spread information that wasn’t previously known. So, I encourage you to make your own! Or print one, share one, help spread helpful information, not a false narrative!

The picture above is my one direction themed infographic!

Stay safe and wear a mask!

Hana 

Hey everyone! Mental health is incredibly important to me, something I live and struggle with every day. What has always helped me the most is talking things through, but the stigma around mental health is still so present that it is a near impossible task to bring it up, and when you do try to bring it up this just causes more anxiety and creates a vicious cycle. So I would like to use a mandatory project for school (my CAS project for anyone who takes IB) and turn it into a meaningful undertaking that will normalise mental health and hopefully let a few people know that they are not alone.

So, the project: an anthology of stories from different and diverse people on their mental health. These stories can cover anything, any mental health issue stemming from anything or nothing. It can be your experience, your healing, your first time asking for help, diagnosis, low points, recovery, anything. The aim is that everyone can recognise themselves in something.

To allow this to happen I’m asking all of you to send in your experience, anything you are willing to share to help. This does not just have to be stories or personal essays. There are many, many things you can send in to help others and to destigmatise mental health:

Stories about your own experience

Art

Books that made you feel seen or understood

Or books that just let you escape or made you happy

Same with movies

Or songs - music especially has always helped me cheer up or find peace. Help others find their song, or just help them realise they can find their own happy place.

A short quote from yourself on what mental health means - or on anything you deem important

Even any factual information you believe people should know

Honestly, anything

Please remember that anything you send in must be your own work

Everything that I collect will be put in the anthology, either anonymous or not as you wish. I am planning on finishing the anthology by September (depending on how much I get in and when). I will then have copies printed to sell in my own community and put up an ebook so anyone who contributed can see the final product as well (probably for a very small price). All the money collected will go to a mental health awareness charity.

PLEASE SEND ALL ENTRIES TO: [email protected]

OR CONTACT ME DIRECTLY

Some times we have those days where the smallest inconveniences really kill our mood, maybe you miss people, and thats okay. My grand resolution to this is to make a list of all the things that make you feel a smidgen better when you’re feeling down. It can be anything that you enjoy doing! Shows you like to watch, books you like to read, activities that make you feel healthy, a deep skin care routine, anything! (I made this list when I got a 5/20 on a chemistry test which I studied hard for) 

I’d just like you all to know that it’s important to invest time in yourself! and to care for yourself, and to validate your feelings! Make that a priority!! 

To be fair, my reasoning is not immaculate, what made me sad today is I had a tech problem and lost all my books :/ and it really put me off. I listened to the La la land soundtrack. I struggled doing my school work, so I felt unproductive, and I feel dumb sometimes. But seriously, the losing the books and not being able to fix it immediately really really put me off. 

 It’s fine to be sad, but really, invest in you. Be kind to people, yes, but be kind to yourself! 

This was also part of my quarantine journal! Haha, a fun prompt. 

Okay so this one is obviously specific to those that have dogs but remember that you aren’t the only one bored and in need of motion and some fresh air around the house. Take this time to walk your dog, maybe walk some new routes or even walk your cat if you’re more of a cat person (can you walk cats?) it’s good exercise and it’s great for your pets who are probably feeling a bit locked up as well. To finish off here’s an adorable picture of my dog standing on me.

Stay safe ;))

It’s crazy to think that we’re currently living our lives during the first pandemic of the 21-century! Many years from now our kids will be asking about what it was like to live during the coronavirus pandemic, and this journal idea is kind of funny because while it’s just a fun project to do at home, it’ll accurately describe what we’re going through right now. 

So, for anyone who is looking for a creative outlet, I present the quarantine journal, an idea by Margot.lee on tik tok. These are the prompts so far in a cute list curated by me, Hana, and I will indeed be trying them out myself! Do them day by day, as creatively as you want, skip ones you don’t find interesting, or do them all in one day! It’s up to you. This journal is a fun way to take a step back from everything going on, to reflect or just to relax away from all your studies and work. 

In these times something we often forget is how important it is to stay in shape, your body is a temple (or something like that) and so it’s good to do some activities that help you stay active. If you can go for a hike where there are few people (remember you also want to social distance as much as possible when getting there) I would really recommend to do so. What’s fun about hiking is that there really is a feeling of a goal and then completing it, opposed to lost workouts with hikes you will get to the top or to a view point and you’ll know you did it and it’s a pretty great feeling. It’s also good to be outside in nature since personally I’ve found that it started getting kinda claustrophobic spending so much time indoors. Here’s a lil picture of my sister after our hike, and I hope you enjoy yours (let me know🥰🥰)

I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe❤️

<<3

What to do while quarantined idea #27 Listen to a podcast!

Podcasts are pretty fun to listen to and are great for if you want to take a break from watching content! You can listen to them while doing productive things, like homework or cleaning the house. No matter what you find interesting, there will always be a podcast about it. Here are a selection of podcasts that Zara and I enjoy listening to, hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

TMG, also known as Tiny Meat Gang is a really light easy going podcast for whenever you’re bored, sad or just wanna listen to some guys laugh hysterically at their own jokes. It’s a podcast where comedians Cody Ko and Noel Miller basically just talk about whatever they’re in the mood for and it’s extremely entertaining for almost any audience.(Zara)

Myths and Legends, this one isn’t as well known as others but I honestly love it. It’s a podcast where this guy called Jason talks about common myths and folklore you’ve probably heard or seen remakes of, but he tells the real stories behind them, some are really dark and will make you reconsider your childhood favorites.(Zara)

“Views with David Dobrik and Jason Nash”, if you don’t know who David Dobrik is you most definitely live under a rock and here is our second Jason in podcasts, both of them being famous youtubers just talk about funny crazy stories of what it is like being a famous youtuber, super enjoyable if you’re in the mood for a laugh. (Zara)

Part 2

I typically struggle to read throughout the school year as most of my time is dedicated to studying and participating in school activities. When I’m not studying or doing some other form of work I tend to just sit and relax, which isn’t the most productive way to spend time, but it’s a fair way to spend time(what). I read the most during the summer (like many do) because I have the time to read and be guilt free when doing so. With all of this considered, I read MAYBE 2 books during the year, and 10-20 books in the summer- so maybe I’m not the person to tell you how to read more (but regardless I’m going to do so). Note, now that we’re in quarantine, it’s basically the best time to start reading since we can’t really leave our homes.

 Reading: it’s relaxing brain food.

1. Read what you want!: Often, people think that they should read a certain type of book- a more serious read, thought provoking, brain cell itching literature, one might say. Books like “pride and prejudice”, “Of mice and men”, and “Frankenstein”. This is not to say that these are books you shouldn’t read, but if they don’t interest you, don’t read them! If you enjoy sci-fi books about space battles, or fantasy books about faries, or even bad YA romances, reading is reading, and if you enjoy it you should read it (and do so shamelessly).

2.Keep track of what you read & what you like: I recently joined a book lovers website called Goodreads, a free website where you can rate books, make lists of what you want to read, see other peoples reviews, and so on. I find reviewing books is quite fun, and so this site helps me out. 

3. Set yourself a goal: Also on Goodreads (I’m not sponsored, although I wish I was) you can make a goal for how many books you want to read in a year. I said 20, because I felt it was reasonable and I don’t want to feel guilty if I don’t reach my goal, so having an attainable goal makes me feel better. You can see how my reading is on my goodreads account. (I should SO be sponsored)

4. Read before you go to bed: When you’re done working and done using your phone, have a stack of books you want to read next to your bed and read a bit before you sleep. Some nights you may end up reading just 6 pages and passing out, while on other nights you may read 200 pages and wonder what happened. This is just an overall good habit to have, it’s relaxing, and before you know it you’ll have read a few books just by reading before bed. 

5. Watch a youtube video discussing books: This sounds SO lame, but I’ve recently gotten invested in “booktube” a youtube community where they make videos touring their personal bookshelf's, sharing opinions on books, and sharing what they read this month. I can’t explain why, but I love these videos. Watching other people talk about reading 15 books in a month really makes me want to pick up a book. My favorite booktuber is paperbackdreams , she has fun opinions on books and makes good content. Really check her out! 

6. Take notes: No, I’m not saying you take note of the literary choices the author makes, and when themes become most present, absolutely not. I’m saying throw on a sticky note if you really like something, or something really funny happens. This MIGHT help you read more, because well, I don’t know.

No these photos aren’t mine but really nice book photos also give me an itch for reading (does that sound weird?)

HP photo

I hope you have fun reading! Should we make a book club?