CAS Journal Entry 3/1/23

The core values that have inspired me to take on Model United Nations at La Paz are connection, inspiration, and compassion. After going through Covid and having to be connected with my school and classmates through a screen instead of face to face, I have learned to appreciate the importance of in person connection with my school. I know that many people struggled having to do school online and not being able to connect with the whole school, which was definitely a reason I was excited to do Model United Nations this year and see everyone finally together and getting that excitement and love from being in a community again. I have also found a lot of joy in seeing the inspiration that MUN has ignited within La Paz. I have always felt like inspiration is a key element needed to live a life truly worth living. I started this project not quite knowing how the students at our school would interact or engage with it, but I am so excited because I see students getting really excited about it and actually working hard and getting invested within the project. Lastly, I was inspired to do MUN because of the core value of compassion. Compassion is most definitely a core value within my life, but also a core value that should be in any issue dealing with global politics. I am hoping that this year, MUN students will not only be compassionate towards each other and create a positive learning environment, but also be compassionate when dealing with these issues, and be inspired to take global action, with compassion, to really make a positive change in the world. 

My culture, ever since I was a child, has definitely been that if you want something in the world, you need to go out there and make it happen. My parents always empowered me and my sister to make change in the world and emphasized the importance of having compassion and spreading it throughout the world. Also, going to an all girls school, I got a lot of messages telling me that I will experience people trying to tell me I cannot do something, but I am always capable of finding the strength and resilience to do whatever I set my mind to. I think this whole culture of being an empowered and resilient girl has most definitely been an important tool when creating the MUN project. When assigning countries to the students, there were people who were not happy with the countries they received, or wanted a different country and were mad at me for not assigning them to the ones they wanted. However, I had to be strong, open-minded, and caring, and collaborate with these students so we could all get the most out of this project. 

I do not think my values have been challenged by this project, but I do think I have been tested to find the strength to follow my values and the values that IB presents to us. IB tells us to be reflective, balanced, risk-takers who show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences, recognize and consider the ethics and choices of their actions, and demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance. Although I have never lost sight of the importance of each of these values, and of the values I hold to myself (being compassionate, joyful, and adventurous among others), I do constantly need to remind myself that I am capable of meeting and following each of these values, and no matter what obstacles I may face, I know that I will always believe and love myself. I think I hold really high expectations for myself, and during this project, I have definitely learned that I do not only need to be reflective, compassionate, and considerate of others, but also of myself. It has been difficult to find the perfect topics, councils, and countries, but at the end of the day, I have to be very kind to myself and my teammates and know that it will turn out to be a really powerful experience and all I can really do is try. 

Throughout this project, I have definitely been motivated by inspiring and engaging my school. I have already seen students getting excited about getting their country assignments, or interested in writing their position papers. I think this excitement and engagement that I am able to witness, motivates me to make this an experience that will be only better than their imaginations. At the base of this project, we are really doing it for the students, so the students are the most effective motivation I can receive. My motivation was definitely tested when trying to finish all the summaries and council assignments on time, but I think my culture of knowing that I can really accomplish anything with the right mindset has motivated me to see the full potential of what I have to offer.