1. Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.
What it REALLY means: When you leave your comfort zone, you learn things about yourself. For example, when you organized the fundraiser for Children's Hospital, were you patient with other people? If not, why not? Maybe you could try to improve this area of personal growth. When you saw those homeless people in Detroit, were you shocked? If yes, why? Could this help you improve your perception of the world and help you become a more open-minded individual?
2. Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.
What it REALLY means: What have you done to push yourself? What was unfamiliar about it? What skills do you think you developed? For example, have you run a marathon? Set yourself a goal before embarking on the Turkey Trot and develop new skills to achieve your goal.
3. Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience.
What it REALLY means: This one’s easy! When you are organizing your CAS events or activities, just make sure you keep notes on how you organized them, who you contacted and what the organizational process was like.
4. Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.
What it REALLY means: All IB diploma students are thinking the same thing – why do we have to do this when we have so much to do already? You are not alone. We know this sounds unbelievable now, but you will benefit from it so much in the future. Whatever happens, keep going! Take one step at a time and you will reach your end goal.
5. Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.
What it REALLY means: Participate in team activities. Simple. One of the best and most fun parts of CAS Trips is the team work. This can range from learning a new collaborative activity such as Salsa in an enrichment to being involved in a volunteer group. You are stronger when you work in a team. Think of Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi – they are soccer stars but without their teammates they wouldn’t have accomplished what they have today.
6. Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.
What it REALLY means: There are so many global issues right now it’s hard to know which one to support most. Global warming, the refugee crisis, homelessness, cancer research? CAS Trips advice – pick one per year and think what you can do to help that cause from where you are. Plan it. Initiate it. Do it. That’s CAS, folks! You can also have a look at the UN Sustainable Development goals and see which issue you are interested in and can tackle.
7. Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions.
What it REALLY means: Your parents have been telling you this for as long as you can remember and your teachers joined in a little later: The things you do and the choices you make have consequences. Think about the CAS activities you are doing and how they affect others. Is what you are doing right or wrong? How?
