Vacation Summer Entries

Summer 2019 CAS Entries

Creativity 

During this summer, I spent a lot of time being creative. The first week that I was out, I had the opportunity to travel back to Atlanta and spend a week at the SCAD campus for an art camp. I met some really awesome people who I’ve stayed in contact with and will hopefully see again someday. The main purpose of my visit was to learn about art and expand on the little that I do know within the two areas I chose to take classes on. Those were Illustration and Graphic Design, and in both of these classes I learned a ton of technical skills, such as how to properly use Photoshop and also proper drawing and blending techniques. I also learned about more non-technical skills, such as elements of design and learning about what makes posters look good, with regards to alignment of text and spacing. Both of these projects took a ton of time and effort, and took all week. I am extremely proud of both and felt like I learned a ton. 

This first piece was done in my Graphic Design class, and is based off a family saying in Afrikaans that roughly translates to: “life is better by the sea.” 

The second piece was done in my Illustration class, and is a character of my own design that I drew, colored, and then animated.

[images will be posted as an individual pieces]

Both of these are pieces that I am extremely proud of and put a ton of time and effort into, and felt like they were an opportunity to expand on my own creative style and license. The teachers were amazing and allowed any kind of style or art, which I feel isn’t as prevalent or available during our art classes at school simply due to the necessity of finishing the required pieces for IB. That is supposed to change this year, we should be getting a lot more creative freedom and autonomy over our projects which will be awesome. 

Service and my Project(s)

During this vacation, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about both the fundraiser that I will be in charge of organizing along with the wood workshop. I had the chance to meet with a real carpenter during my time in Atlanta, and he had a ton of advice to give. He suggested that I first compile a list of tools that I want to have in the workshop, and then find a place to build. This way, I have an idea of how much space I need, access to electricity, etc. I haven’t started planning anything on paper, but I have an idea in my head of what I want and the tools I should prioritize. I haven’t given the fundraiser much thought, which I really need to start thinking about, but the date of writing this is August 12th, meaning I have some time before school starts to reach out to Casa Chameleon and the other places we discussed involving. 

The other thing that I’ve done over this vacation is finalize my involvement with my first project, I’ve signed over control of the website to CEPIA and given them a tutorial video in which they can learn how to use the site. 

[tutorial video]

During this vacation, I’ve also managed to find a job working as an assistant to Genna, one of the local photographers. I haven’t had the chance to do a ton of work yet, but it’s been super informative and an amazing learning experience so far. 

Action

This vacation hasn’t been great for my physical health, because I spent a lot of time indoors with my art camp, and then on vacation with my family, but since I’ve been back in Costa Rica I’ve been able to go surfing a couple of times which has been amazing. I haven’t done it in so long, and I honestly can’t remember why I stopped surfing because it’s a sport I really enjoy. I’ve gone twice so far, and want to keep it up during my vacation. 

While I’ve been fairly active during my time back, I still feel unhealthy and plan to get back into working out, whether that is on my own or by going to CrossFit. 

With regards to balance, this vacation hasn’t been great for that either. I’ve spent a lot of time inside, whether that is on my phone or computer, and being pretty inactive. I only started working on school in August, due to how I wasn’t in the country, which means that for all of August I need to finish all the school work. One of my good friends, Sam, was supposed to come back on the 1st and so we weren’t going to be able to do anything together before school, but he had a change of plans and is now returning the 25th, giving us a little bit of time together, so I would like to get all of my work down before he returns so that I have more free time.