Emily Wilburn IB CAS Blog

I volunteered to work again as a student ambassador at my school's open house event. I have done this many times now. I really enjoy doing it though sometimes I get overwhelmed working with so many students. I always end up having so much fun in the end but it really can be difficult.  At this open house, I got to present to incoming students and prospective students, and parents about life at my school, Post Oak. I talked about clubs, sports, extracurriculars, school events, and all the especially fun parts about my school. I really enjoyed getting to work with other students. When presenting, me and one other student rotated and took turns sharing with the group. We also took turns answering the groups' questions. Presenting with another person really helped me to see the benefits that come with working with others. Not only can it help to lighten your plate but it helps in building friendships and learning to work with others. This is learning outcome 5 because I demonstrate...

Today I created a sand mandala which was both incredibly fun and incredibly stressful! I watched a video explaining the origin of the sand mandalas which showed how beautiful and intuit they could be but also how easily they could be destroyed. The entire process, both the creation and destruction of the sand mandala is so beautiful.  "The sand mandala is an intricate focus of meditation which monks study in-depth, sometimes for as long as three years. It is designed to guide those who aspire to enlightenment by purifying and healing their minds, transforming them from an ordinary mind into an enlightened mind." I found that I easily could do the artistic part of the activity but struggled with the reconstruction of the mandala and letting go. I realized that this applies to my life as well, I really do have trouble letting go sometimes. This mandala practice was really fun and enjoyable for me and is learning outcome 1 because I identified my areas of strength but also learn...

Today I practiced mindful walking. It was honestly so difficult because I practiced walking slowly and recognizing how I was walking which caused me at times to lose my balance and feel unsteady. For me, I had so much difficulty focusing on how I was walking but towards the end, I found myself really be enjoying this type of meditation. I felt that unlike some of the other meditations it allowed me to not only better connect with myself but to also better connect with nature I have recently been researching the benefits of mindful walking and it has so many benefits "Walking meditation lowers stress, reduces anxiety, improves sleep, makes exercise more enjoyable, increases focus & concentration, slows you down, helps you get to know your body, great for mental health, helps you connect with nature, lowers blood pressure, expands everyday mindfulness, helps you stay in the present" Through this practice, I learned that I could really hold focus on an activity but had troub...

Today I practiced some restorative yoga! I was feeling sore from the previous days of my yoga practice, I have been making an effort to practice daily, so instead of continuing with poses such as downward dog and cobra, I took some more relaxed poses such as supported fish. I wanted to make a conscious effort to not overwork myself and to really focus on how I was feeling in that moment. I didn't want to give up on my goal of daily yoga practice due to feeling a bit sore, so instead, I modified my practice to make it more accessible to myself on this day. The supported fish pose was definitely a favorite pose of mine that I practiced because it helped to open up my backs and relax our shoulders which is where I was feeling pretty sore. I highly recommend it to anyone struggling with back pain or even just needs a good stretch. This yoga practice was really fun and enjoyable for me and is learning outcome 1 because I identified my areas of strength but also learned where I need to i...

Today I meditated. I engaged in a 20-minute meditation which was difficult for me, not only for its length but because the meditation on the app 10% Happier (the app I use for meditating) asked me to focus on hindrances in my life. I found that this was something my mind doesn't always want to focus on since they in a way are negative and I like to avoid thinking about the negatives in my life sometimes. I learned that I had a resistance to focusing on the negative things in my life and had a strong urge to avoid them. While difficult at times, in terms of what my brain wanted to focus on, this meditation was great for me because I came out of it feeling very relaxed. I learned that I could work on accepting the negative things in my life, specifically when meditating but at the same time that I was doing pretty well in this meditation because this is a realization that I was able to come to on my own. This meditation was really fun and enjoyable and is learning outcome 1 because I...

 During a photography club outing, we went to one of our local cafes Empire Cafe. Since I am president of my school's photography club, I planned this activity. There were about 15 of us which proved to be very hard to manage. The goal of our outing was to practice photographing food and drinks. We wanted to test our food photography skills in an environment better equipped for the task than our school. Once at the cafe, we all ordered a drink and pastry or something like that. It began to get pretty challenging to handle everyone and honestly I just wanted to leave. People were more focused on eating than photographing their food. While understandable, it was not our point of being there. Instead of giving up on this activity I really tried to get people to focus. By going person to person and asking them to stay focused on our goal, I was able to accomplish my task.  This is learning outcome 4 because showed commitment and preservation in a fieldwork experience.

Today I went for a run. A RUN.... I hate running... But I tried my best and made it work. Normally when I try to run I just go outside and get down to business but this time I tried something new. I wanted a way to allow myself some breaks while also remaining focused on my task of running, I wanted to commit with out overworking my body, so I made a plan. I was going to run one mile. Instead of telling myself that I wasn't allowed to stop running or that I wasn't allowed to grant myself a break, I made the following plan: 1. Run for thirty seconds 2. Walk for two minutes 3. Repeat until hitting one mile This worked so well for me. I learned that I could create a plan and stick to it and complete any task I wanted. This activity was learning outcome 3 because I showed how to initiate and plan a fieldwork experience. Once I created my plan I was able to bring it out into the field and put it to good use. I hope to make plans and routines like this one again.