I enlisted for the community service sessions because they gave me a chance to teach underprivileged children soccer. I taught them for a month and a half which gave me a chance to get to know some of them on a personal level. At first, there were few issues and the sessions were a bit slow, however with time they became more productive. The overall experience was refreshing for me as I could relax a little from the academic pressure and also do something beneficial for those children.

LO1 Identify your own strengths and develop areas for personal growth.            Because I had been playing soccer for a few years, I knew what drills I needed to teach the children. As time progressed, I got better in managing the children well so they could learn the most out of the drills I taught them.

LO 2-Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.                                                                                            Communicating with the children was a challenge for me as I didn’t speak Gujarati very fluently, but over time I became better in communicating with them. Also, I had problems in managing the children and make sure they are all enjoying and learning at the same time. I got better at the skill as I spent more time teaching those kids.

LO 4-Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences.                     Even when these sessions were scheduled on weekends, I still attended all of them enthusiastically. I also managed to teach the children knowledge about football while making memories. Also, knowing that I am providing happiness to the children made me stay committed and complete this task.

LO 5-Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively.                                                                                                 With the help of my fellow friends (who knew Gujarati) who were also teaching the children, I was able to communicate with them. This helped me convey my messages and the drills I wanted to teach them more clearly.

This experience helped me be more caring and also allowed me to do something beneficial towards society.