CAS Learning Outcomes - Awareness of strengths and areas of growth

increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth - I enjoyed playing basketball throughout high school, and at the beginning of the Diploma Programme, I set these particular goals :
1) Increase my skill level at basketball
2) Make the SAISA teams on both occasions
3) Use it as recreation, so that I can work around my stress levels.
I feel I achieved all the above, since I did make the SAISA teams, first as a junior and now as a senior who played his last match in November 2009. I learnt a lot about basketball and through it, lessons that would help me later on in life. I learnt that heart and determination will win you matches even if the odds are stacked against you, and this will be valuable when I become a doctor. I used it as a recreation method, as I went to Nugegoda in the holidays and played for a club in a tournament, in which we went up to the semi finals. It helped me relax and stay fit during off season and taught me time management, which I used to finish my assignments on time.
Cancer Hospital and Hope for Kids, helped me realize my ambition of becoming a doctor, and helped me overcome one of my great weaknesses, lack of patience. Working with children helped me become more patient with myself and others, as they were scared to come to us at first, and it took us a lot of time to win their trust and become friends. My strength was my linguistic skills; I was able to speak in both Tamil and Sinhala, and this reduced the communication barrier between, and reduced the time that it took us to win their trust.