Creating my CAS project

 For our CAS project, I and my friend decided to create a blog on pollution in Mauritius where we will be looking into the different regions and places in Mauritius affected by pollution and possible solutions against it. However, for this CAS project to be successful, we will have to take time to plan and make sure to follow the 5 stages of CAS: investigation, preparation, action, reflection, and demonstration. We started off with the first stage, the investigation stage. We created a Google Doc where we would elaborate clearly on the information that will be present in the document, group all the information that we gathered into categories, and compile all the sources we used in MLA format. During this process, I was able to undertake challenges to develop new skills because I had to do research to find out about the ways to create a real blog. I also had to do research about blog article writing to better understand the structure and also to learn how to use literary devices and persuasive techniques to make it more engaging to the readers and make them want to take action. This research allowed me to deepen my understanding of blog writing and therefore allow me to develop new skills related to IT and persuasive writing. 

This first stage has allowed me to become more aware of my strengths and areas for growth, as I had to investigate the problem and therefore do research, which allowed me to get a better understanding of my strengths and what I would need to improve on. For example, my strength was finding reliable sources and citing them because I had a lot of experience from Form 4 and 5 MYP, and something that I need to improve on is blog writing. Additionally, I had to work collaboratively with my friend because it is one of the most important aspects, and without it, the CAS project would not be successful. We both made constant use of our communication and listening skills to discuss ideas, clear doubts, and share our perspectives to overcome challenges in order to work together more efficiently during the planning stages.

To ensure the success of the CAS project, we had to follow five main stages: investigation, preparation, action, reflection, and demonstration. We finished the investigation stage, and now we had to start the preparation stage. For this stage we were required to create an action plan and a timeline to organise tasks in a way that would not affect our academic learning, revision, and other extracurricular activities. As this was one of the most important steps to ensure the success of this project, I had to make use of my self-management skills and other skills developed, such as my critical thinking, time management, and planning skills, in order to create a clear and well-detailed action plan to ease our understanding of what has to be done and to therefore facilitate the navigation through this project. However, during the creation of this action plan and timeline, we encountered a number of challenges that set us back a lot. For example, while creating the action plan, we had to take a look at the deadlines of different tasks and summatives and had to make sure that our planning did not affect those events. 

To solve this issue, I had to make use of various skills developed through my learning journey and collaborate efficiently with my team member so that this project does not affect both of our academic performances. This 2nd step for my CAS project was also very beneficial to me, as it allowed me to further develop different academic and social skills which will help me a lot in the future. Now that this second phase is done, I am very eager to get started with writing the different blog posts, as it will be a new experience for me.

We had to create the blog posts using the research and the planning that we did from the first 2 stages of the CAS project. Firstly, before writing, I had to plan in what format I was going to present the information, and then after this, I and my friend used the action plan in order to write the posts in a more efficient way. I was in charge of writing the post on land and air pollution, and my friend was in charge of writing the post on marine pollution and editing all three posts to make sure there are no mistakes. To make sure that I create posts of the best quality, I had to refer to some of my notes from previous English classes on how to create a captivating blog post. Additionally, I had to use my self-management skills to efficiently plan my time because I usually have a lot of work, revision and violin practice to do after school, and I had to make sure this project does not undermine my learning, as the IB is a challenging course. 

Even though the process of writing those posts was challenging, I persevered to find efficient solutions, as I really wanted to do this project because it would be very helpful to raise awareness of this issue among citizens of Mauritius and people around the world, encouraging them to act for the greater good of this island and the world. This project also allowed me to become more responsible, as I had to set goals and make sure to meet them for the success of the project. Taking the initiative to work on it when I had free time and making sure to always communicate about each detail with my friend allowed me to complete it faster and not undermine my learning.

For my CAS project I and my friend created a blog on the different types of pollution in Mauritius where we discussed the issue, outlined what was being done to resolve the issue and suggested possible solutions. At the start of the project, I had a bit of doubt as to whether this project would be successful, as both I and my friend were not very experienced at writing blog posts, and we had never created a blog before. Also, when creating the blog, we encountered a lot of challenges, such as designing the website, writing the blog posts and time management due to our schedules being filled with homework, revision and activities. 

Throughout this project I was able to become more aware of some of my strengths because when I encountered challenges, I had to make use of my skills and traits that I previously developed, such as self-management skills, communication skills, thinking skills and enquiring skills. I also had to persevere most of the time and take the initiative to work on the CAS project when I had the chance to so that it could be finished in time. Through the course of this project, I learnt how important teamwork and communication are because they allowed us to efficiently divide the work between us, which allowed us to work faster and better, which made the project more successful. I did this CAS project because I wanted to contribute to creating a better and cleaner environment in Mauritius by raising awareness of the issues surrounding pollution. By talking about the harsh truths on this issue, I hope the people will want to take action against pollution.