After a long and rather arduous month of testing, project-ing, and most certainly not sleeping, I decided to take a break from talking about CAS, and instead I slept and skied in the wonderful Rocky Mountains. It was lovely, thank you for asking!
As I pondered my existence while riding down the mountain on my skis (actually, I didn't do that, but it sounds like something I might do eventually), I decided that my next post about CAS would involve creativity, mostly my affinity for singing and music in general.
While I am no Bach or Mozart, and I certainly have forgotten the rudimentary knowledge of music reading that I was once taught in middle school, I really enjoy partaking in musical events. Now, dearest IB Gods, I know you want to ask me something along the lines of, "But what learning outcomes have you achieved through singing?" However, rather than answer that question, I'm going to begin with why I love music so much. This is my blog/CAS project, and I shall do as I wish.
Music, to me, is something universal that transcends culture, race, or language. Mood can be determined from the beat and sound of a song, from the way the artist chooses to meld certain instruments and vocal ranges into one cohesive unit. Also, I can definitively say with one hundred percent certainty that there is a song somewhere out in the world for quite literally every mood, life event, and personality type on the planet. No matter what happens to me in my daily life, I know I can go home and find a song somewhere that will either mirror my mood, make me feel better, or some combination of the two. In this way, music is like therapy. I can always return to my favorite song when everything else in my life seems to be falling apart.
Now, for the first of what may be many (or few) learning experiences related to music. In my specific case, my musical talent is concentrated in singing, which I started doing in a performance setting two years ago. One of the learning outcomes I feel I have really hit on for this activity (Creativity, in case any of you IB Gods got lost in my rant) has been Objective 2, Undertaking New Challenges.
Before I started singing in a public setting, I had never, ever before thought to sing on stage in front of an audience. Even during the brief period of time when I participated in organized religion, I would not participate in the choir or any other singing group. The prospect was simply daunting. Then, one day during my sophomore year, I decided to participate in the talent show my National Honor Society hosts every spring. I auditioned, made it into the show, and I suppose the rest is history. Now I do the same show every spring, and occasionally will try out for something else just to make sure I'm trying new things regarding singing, and with the secret childish hope that an obscure record label will be in the audience and will think I'm brilliant and sign me to their label. But, that hasn't happened (yet!). All in all, singing really has brought me out of my shell and forced me to try something new every once in a blue moon, while still allowing me to hide in my shell when I need a moment to myself.
I suppose that's all for now! Get some sleep, and make sure to work off all those extra calories from the holidays!!!
Jordy
