How has the Pandemic affected CAS this year?

How has the Pandemic affected CAS this year?

For our juniors, CAS is a huge requirement that requires intense planning and hard work. Juniors have a variety of CAS experiences to choose from in order to complete their CAS requirements in time. It’s been hard enough having to complete these requirements in the past, however, with the looming pandemic, the question is: How has COVID-19 affected CAS for our juniors this year?

Many activities have been postponed or are now virtual because of the pandemic. After surveying the juniors, I have concluded virtual or not, 100% of the juniors had started their CAS experiences before the end of October. Starting their CAS experiences as soon as possible is important because procrastinating can make the entire process of CAS ten times more stressful.

Here is a picture of Topped Tuille Cookies made by junior, Elsa Dupon, as an individual CAS experience.

Due to the pandemic, it was a fear that many experiences would be limited, however, majority of juniors stated COVID did not have a critical impact on their CAS experiences, and if it did, it was very minimal. Our juniors have worked around these unprecedented times and found creative ways to combat the obstacles COVID brought upon them. Many juniors chose to complete CAS experiences that were individually based. Some of these experiences included: cooking, working out, and finding new hobbies like painting and even learning to play a new instrument. Others worked hard to start virtual clubs in order to obtain their CAS projects for the year.

One junior, Ava Parsons stated, “Though it was hard to figure out how to virtually run our club, She’s the First, we approached the obstacle creatively and were able to count on online websites like Kahoot, Jeopardy, Quizlet Live, etc. to make our meetings entertaining, but still educational.”

Rehma Saeed and Lara Tinawi pose for a picture at one of their Senate CAS events, the UAIS Drive-in at Freedom Hill in Sterling Heights, late October.

Despite the stress CAS can have on students regardless of a pandemic hindering their abilities to obtain their hours, many students have proved COVID could not stop them from not only completing their CAS experiences in a creative manner, but also doing things they were passionate about that made CAS something they enjoyed. Overall, it is clear COVID has impacted the way we have lived our lives this past year, however our juniors worked their way through this obstacle and have proved they would not let COVID be a setback on their way to acquiring their IB diploma.