August 22, 2011 – Football Intramural

Action

It was the final game, the championships, for the football intramural for the seniors. I was not able to attend the previous games because I was sick, so this game would be my first and last for my final year here in Xavier. We started off slow, just playing smoothly, however, after the first ten minutes things started to get exciting. We had a few attempts, but none were successful. After the third attempt, we finally scored a goal. Soon after that we scored another one. When the game finally came to an end, the score was 4-1, making my section’s team the champions.

Because my sport in physical education is PE, I was able to apply what I’ve learned during the game itself. At first, I was a bit timid since I considered myself not to be a good football player, but eventually I realized that I did have it in me to play well alongside my teammates. I believe that the main reason why we were able to be victorious was teamwork. We showed a strong bond between players and so we were able to have good chemistry throughout the whole game. I started off slow but with practice I was able to hone my skills. I still need to practice a lot before I will be really good at football, but it will not take as long as I thought it would.

Duration 1 – hour

August 26, 2011 – Christmas Committee 2nd General Assembly

Creative

The month of August was nearing an end, and so my committee needed to quickly finish our proposals. November is the official month when we would be starting our plans, however, the core members and I wanted to finish the proposals as quick as possible because last year, we experienced a lot of time pressure that caused us to rush our plans. During the general assembly, each subcommittee discussed their plans with the rest of the committee. Outreach, promotions, and programs discussed their different plans that would benefit not only the Xavier High School community, but outside charities as well.

Our plans are not yet finalized, and we would still need to present it to the high school administration. I am a bit nervous since I am the Christmas Committee head, and so I have a big responsibility to lead my committee members. However, despite this big task, I believe that with the help of my subheads and their respective members, we will be able to push through with all our plans for this school year. We are really innovating a lot of things that previous years did not experience, so we hope everything will turn out for the best. It’s a long road ahead, and we’re up to the task. We want to make Christmas felt all year round.

Duration – 1 hour

CAS Blog: An overnight to Remember

In the past few weeks, my life has pretty much been hectic with planning different activities, studying for major tests, and attending meetings almost on a daily basis. All of these thing may have been stressful, but they were worth it simply because of the experience.

I am a part of the Examen Committee, and last week we had just finished our workshop overnight activity. It was for a full twenty four hours, and most of these hours was spent making sure that everything flowed according to what the committee and I had planned. Things may have changed here and there, but the overall outcome was what we wanted.

During the planning stage of this activity, my mind was scattered. We (the core members) were trying to plan an overnight activity with a limited budget. Because of this, we had to be meticulous about all the materials we will be using. There was only a small margin for error, but we committed mistakes and so this margin disappeared. By the time we were done planning there was no more room for error. It was all or nothing. If something was wrong, we may have needed to change the entire activity or just cancel it.

True enough, once the workshop started, problems were already popping up here and there. Our venue had changed which caused the start to be delayed. We were running around the campus looking for members who may have gotten lost since we weren’t able to inform of the last minute change. A chain reaction had started after this. Due to the delay, we had to alter the schedule, move time slots, increase or decrease the time allotted for certain activities. Some speakers couldn’t make it, and so we had to cancel or find new speakers for the different talks. Our workshop became a mess.

When the closing ceremonies were coming up, we felt so relieved that it was almost over. All the hours we spent prepping for the activity were all worth it because we had already seen the outcome we wanted through the formation of students. Not only that, but we actually saw them enjoying the activity. Our workshop may not be as hyped up or as magnificent as the other activities by other committees, but it was successful, and that’s what matters most.

The overnight workshop was not a one shot deal. It would further help the Examen Committee members in doing the respective jobs with ease. It would help them do their responsibilities without any doubt. We still need to work on many more aspects of our committee to ensure that we are doing our jobs to the best of our capabilities, but this won’t be a problem anymore. We are ready for what will come.

I for one did not expect the overnight to be so successful. I often doubted that it would turn out the way we wanted it to. We didn’t plan as much as we could have. We didn’t make the activities as good as they could have been. However, everything turned out alright. I was amazed at how good it became. The fear of problems regarding the committee have now completely disappeared, and what remains are ideas on how to improve.

 

CAS Blog: It’s Time for Christmas

Christmas is only a few weeks away. All that I have been planning since the start of the school year will now be put into action, however, I have a major problem. The Christmas Committee is delayed. We are starting much later than we had hoped. Because of this, the activities set up to end the year with a bang, may fail. They may just end up begin a spark instead of the explosion we want.

It’s different this school year. We decided to removes certain activities from the rosters because we felt that they had lost their pizzazz, and so they will just bring us down. To replace this, we added new and more exciting activities. But this comes with a cost. They are total risks.

They may not be accepted by the school community. Since they are new, they may not be welcomed with open arms. They may not even be accepted at all. However, we are still taking the risk because the possible outcome is worth it. We can always find new ways to attract the students and teachers to the holiday activities, and so we’re confident that we can do it.

We only have a few weeks to go before the actual even takes place. And in this weeks we’re going to hold various auditions, voting schemes, etc. It’s really going to be a busy month before the start of Christmas break, but I’m sure it will all be worth it.

 

CAS Reflection 2: 10 Minutes That Last Forever

Every Days 1-3 before lunch ends, we have something what we call the Examen. The examen is something that the whole high school is familiar with. Some students use the 10 minutes to catch up on homework. Some students take that time to fall asleep. However, there are those students who actually listen to the examen. The examen is basically the middle of the day reflection period. It’s a time where students can sit down and allow themselves to see what they have accomplished, what they hope to accomplish, and what they can improve on before the day ends.

Throughout the years, not much people have really been apart of actively writing, reading, and directing the examen. Only a small committee was able to be a apart of it. This year, the committee was reformatted to allow willing students to join and be a part of the 10 minute activity for the whole high school. In this committee, I’m a part of the core group. I’m mainly in charge of training the readers of the examen and sometimes I write and direct it as well.

I can say that it hasn’t been easy being a part of this committee, but it has taught me a lot. It has taught me never to give up. It has taught me to always strive for something better. And as the months continue, I learn more new things. Hopefully, I will not only be the one to gain something from the examen, rather the entire student body will be encourage to use the ten minutes in the day to reflect. And maybe, sign up to either read or write the examen.

Ten minutes during the day is not much. It can even be classified as an insignificant amount of time. However, these ten minutes can turn into one hour. Then from one hour to one day. Then from one day to one year. Who knows, one year can even stretch into a lifetime.

CAS Reflection 1: All I Want for Christmas

Every year on the last day of school before Christmas break starts, the whole high school comes together to celebrate one activity, the Christmas Concert. It’s always something to look forward because every year it changes. This year’s concert is going to be something new. Something that has never been done for before. It’s gonna come with a bang and most people won’t expect it to be the way we’re planning it to be.

I was given the responsibility of being Co-head for planning the concert. Along with my 11 other members, we’re in the process of proposing our different ideas and hopefully within the next few weeks, we’ll already be finalizing our plans. The main goal we’re trying to achieve this year is to get the whole student body involved. For the past years, only certain teachers and students we’re part of the program itself, so we have decided to create something that will get the attention of the whole high school community. We won’t be pushing students or teachers to join rather we’re encouraging volunteers. I won’t be able to share what are the different activities because if I do, their is a risk of the surprise being ruined.

If after this year’s Christmas event is successful, hopefully the next Christmas Concerts will follow what we are proposing. Hopefully after our program, both students and teachers will feel what the Christmas season is all about. It isn’t about material things or frantically trying to get high grades before the quarter ends. It’s all about being there for each other even for just one simple activity.

We’re not done with all the plans for the activity, but we’ll continue to have meetings to make sure this year’s Concert with be something worth watching.

Christmas Meeting Call Slip