Updated Journal Entry

Trivia night is this week! The price has been set, catering coordinated, decorations and prizes ready, and the word has got out on social media and among the students. There has been a clear amount of preparation for this event, and it fills me with hope as the last trivia night was a huge success despite being relatively last minute. This week we will also be making our rounds to the Tenorio and Arenal campuses to drum up interest and let them know that everyone is invited! We will also be doing a promotional activity on Tuesday during morning meeting that will involve some sample questions, prizes, and really get everyone excited for the big event Thursday night! I will also begin promoting and preparing for my final intensive MUN conference at the end of November, which I am incredibly excited about. I have asked a couple of my global politics classmates to see if they would be interested in a co-chair position, and I myself will be occupying the head chair position for the first time! This event is very meaningful to me as it marks the effective end of my CAS experience as project leader, and I will shift to a more passive role focused on leadership and mentoring. This will be far better overall as IB continues to intensify and we near the final exams. Speaking of IB, these last three weeks have easily been some of the most difficult in my high school career. We’ve had multiple final exams, started (or in some cases not started) IA’s, had tension with teachers and staff, and of course there’s the ever present drama of a small high school. With all of these stressors present, it was difficult to maintain focus on CAS but I managed, and I have a feeling it is going to start paying off this week! While all the stress hasn’t exactly been enjoyable, I have certainly relearned some of those SEAL values that I swore by headed into IB in the first place, I have also been able to keep my grades up and I am seeing my test scores improving, which is incredibly important when applying to US colleges! All in all, I believe that this week will be one of my best yet, and I look forward to putting up an entertaining, educational, and energetic trivia night for the whole community and our CAS projects.

PS the attached post is a picture of the email I sent to the others helping me plan this project. Collaborating with other people was extremely helpful, however I had to understand how different people worked when not under direct pressure, and I had to do my best to motivate my partners and ensure the success of trivia night. Group work may not be the easiest, but it certainly prepares us students for the realities of college and the world beyond.