UNIS-UN

1.-Summarize the tasks conducted for this activity or project and how you interacted with others. 

On march 4th to the 10th, 2014 I went along with other 19 kids from all over Spain and 2 teachers to New York City, in order to attend UNIS-UN a series of conferences held in the united nations general assembly hall, in the UN building in Manhattan.
The conferences are organised by the students in the United Nations International School, in whose houses we stayed for the whole trip. This year's topic was: Globalization, a world of exchange.

2.-Explain what you hoped to achieve through the activity or project. 

Through attending the conferences I hope to get a more global view on the world and be able to analyse all the pros and cons globalisation has had on the world. To this I have to add getting a more international sensation by living with people from all over the world for a week.

3.-To what extent achieved its objectives? What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them? 

I think I exceeded by far all of my expectations, I was so inspired by every single one of the speakers, and I didn't find any difficulty to interact and bond with all the kids. Everyone was really open to others, and excited to meet new people and learn from each other.

4.-What did you learn about yourself and others through the activity or project? What skills, attitudes and values were ​​developed? 

I learned that no matter where you come from or what your background is, or what you like; people, and specially young people worldwide are really alike and the biggest factor for that happening is globalisation. I earned to appreciate more the different cultures and let them sink in and become a part of my "personal" culture.

5.-Did someone help you reflect on your learning during this activity or project? If so, who helped you and how? 

I guess every single person I got to meet throughout the week helped me learn a bit, wether it was by sharing their knowledge with me, or just by spending time together.

6.-How did this activity or project benefit others? 

Just as it benefited me, I believe it benefited everyone who was there in the same way.

7.-Next time, what would you do differently to improve your participation? 

I should've definitely asked more questions to the speakers in the conferences.

8.-How can you apply what you learned to other everyday situations?

As I mentioned before, this has been really helpful to the building of the IB profile I'm trying to reach.

COTOLENGO

1.-Summarize the tasks conducted for this activity or project and how you interacted with others. 

Every friday I can, from 12.00 to 14.00 I go to Cotolengo, a church-paid residence for old people or sick people who have no money to afford one. I go there with ) other girls from SEK Ciudalcampo and a teacher or two. The aim of this activity is to help the workers there, since they can't afford to have a lot of them. We feed all the women there, we paint their nails, we brush their hair and all that sort of things.

2.-Explain what you hoped to achieve through the activity or project. 

By helping them I hope to transmit a part of my happiness to them because you can really tell the sadness in their eyes. They are people who once were vibrant human beings and now are confined by their health. Their family members don't visit them regularly or at all, and that makes me feel really bad. I hope that by us visiting them they feel like they are not alone.

3.-To what extent achieved its objectives? What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them? 

It really depends on who are you dealing with, and what their disease is. The time when I most fell as If I accomplished my goal was my third time visiting them, along with my friend Manuela. We met a woman who had a bipolar and depressive disorder and was reluctant to make a single friend, because, according to her she already had all the friends she needed (The nuns told us she didn't and never really talked at all). Manuela and I, being as innocent and, somehow ignorant, as possible (in a good way) haha, told her if she wanted to eat with us and she didn't want to. Finally we sat with her and talked to her. She didn't answer until we asked her if she wanted to be our friend, to what she said no almost ten times. We gave up and started talking to the eldest woman, who was the only one without a sickness, she was there just because her family could not afford to have her living with them. Right away when the first woman saw us talking to the second one, she came to us and told us she wanted to be our friend. We supposed she felt somehow jealous. We ended up dancing with her and when we left, she told us she had had a really good time and wanted us to come back the next day.

4.-What did you learn about yourself and others through the activity or project? What skills, attitudes and values were ​​developed? 

Going there has helped me to be more patient with people, and more tolerant. And that not to judge a book by its cover. I learned that I am a lot more open to people than I consider myself to be. And that I need to be really grateful for having the caring and loving family I have, and for being so young and in such a good position.

5.-Did someone help you reflect on your learning during this activity or project? If so, who helped you and how? 

My teacher, Mr. Teófilo Flores asked us to do a reflection the first time we went there and that's where I started to realise all the good it had done to me.

6.-How did this activity or project benefit others? 

I think the biggest benefit of this activity towards other people is, as I mentioned before, making the women feel as if they are not alone, and of course making the nun's work a little bit easier.

7.-Next time, what would you do differently to improve your participation? 

I think I need to be a little bit more confident, and that way help more people.

8.-How can you apply what you learned to other everyday situations?

Not judging people or thinking things before actually meeting them or talking to them, and as I said before being more patient with people and appreciating my youth and privileged situation in life.

SEKMUN VIII

1.-Summarize the tasks conducted for this activity or project and how you interacted with others. 

SEKMUN, dialogue for convivence, is a united nations model organised by my school every year. It lasts for 3 days. Every two people are part of a certain comitee, where two different topics are debated, in order to come with a common resolution to solve that problems. In my case, I was part of the UNICEF comitee, where we debated how to lower child mortality, how to raise the scolarity rates, specially with indigenous people and villages, and how the actual crisis has affected the children all over the world, and how to reach a social-responsible recuperation.

2.-Explain what you hoped to achieve through the activity or project. 

The main goal I wanted to achieve was to improve my debate skills and my public speaking skills since it's crucial for any work experience in the future.

3.-To what extent achieved its objectives? What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them? 

I think I completed my objectives at a 90%. I got better at speaking in public and debating, but I believe I still have a lot to improve. At first I was not confident at all about exposing my point of view but then I gained a lot of confidence and spoke whenever I felt the need to.

4.-What did you learn about yourself and others through the activity or project? What skills, attitudes and values were ​​developed? 

I learned that I need to take risks, and that I can actually debate better if I'm relaxed and confident about what I'll say even if I'm not 100% sure about it. I definitely learned how to listen to others, since speaking while others did, was a major reason for a sanction.

5.-Did someone help you reflect on your learning during this activity or project? If so, who helped you and how? 

Yes, all of the people from my committee and my pair in every debate, Natalia.

6.-How did this activity or project benefit others? 

Just as it benefited myself, to gain confidence, and improve their speaking and debating skills

7.-Next time, what would you do differently to improve your participation? 

I think just by paying more attention to every single person speaking, even though it gets hard after two days of 10 hours of debating. It is worth it.

8.-How can you apply what you learned to other everyday situations?

As mentioned before, the skills built in any MUN are so helpful for any job situation or just for personal expression is great.

TO BEGIN WITH

This is the blog where I will reflect on what I have learned with every CAS activity I do along the two years of International baccalaureate. 
According to the IBO: 
The CAS requirement is a fundamental part of the programme and takes seriously the importance of life outside the world of scholarship, providing a refreshing counterbalance to academic studies.

CAS aims to develop students who are:

• reflective thinkers—they understand their own strengths and limitations, identify goals and devise strategies for personal growth

• willing to accept new challenges and new roles

• aware of themselves as members of communities with responsibilities towards each other and the environment

• active participants in sustained, collaborative projects

• balanced—they enjoy and find significance in a range of activities involving intellectual, physical, creative and emotional experiences.

The following, are the different questions I need to ask mysel every time I complete an activity

1.-Summarize the tasks conducted for this activity or project and how you interacted with others. 

2.-Explain what you hoped to achieve through the activity or project. 

3.-To what extent achieved its objectives? What difficulties did you encounter and how did you overcome them? 

4.-What did you learn about yourself and others through the activity or project? What skills, attitudes and values were ​​developed? 

5.-Did someone help you reflect on your learning during this activity or project? If so, who helped you and how? 

6.-How did this activity or project benefit others? 

7.-Next time, what would you do differently to improve your participation? 

8.-How can you apply what you learned to other everyday situations?