1/11/2023
Today we assessed the level 3 year ones via the usage of varying tasks, testing their ability to work as a team with teambuilding exercises. The most prominent task to me was the one in which we had to build a bridge using straws; it had to stretch across two chairs and be able to support the weight of a book without being physically attached to either of the chairs. I believe the team I observed did an incredible job working together and communicating, which I believe was the reason they succeeded so well at the task. After this, we were put to work in teams on presenting differing charities of our choice. My group chose a charity dedicated to supporting the families of car accident victims: SCARD. We went to the computer room to conduct research on our chosen charity and produced a powerpoint presentation to present to the class.
8/11/2023
I had missed a few days of college due to illness, however I was caught up to speed and this was the day in which we presented our powerpoints to our peers. Everyone did an excellent job summarizing what their chosen charities did and why they believed we should raise funds for them. When everyone had concluded their presentations, we all wrote on a piece of paper which charity we wanted to go with and put the slips into a bag before Steph mixed them up and picked one at random. Incidentally, my group was chosen.
9/11/2023
On this day we partook in a meeting about bullying and what to do if you or someone you know is being bullied. We learned of the proper resources for mental health support and who to go to in college if you feel like you or a peer needs help. After this presentation, we got to work researching examples of performing arts CVs so we could tweak and perfect ours from last year.
15/11/2023
This day we partook in a sports masterclass; the first one in a series of many. We started off by playing rugby in wheelchairs, which I found very fun and interesting. The next task I did not enjoy as much, however, as we had to play a match of tag rugby without the wheelchairs. This made me very anxious as I already do not feel comfortable in sports and when everyone is running around me with confidence in what they’re doing and expecting me to be good at it too, I freeze up and get confused. The next task involved using fitness equipment for 15 minutes straight; I used a rowing machine. This I enjoyed thoroughly as I found it fun and simple repeating the same movement over and over again. The final task was a group activity in which we all had to link hands and create a human knot, requiring us to untangle ourselves without letting go. This task was fun enough, but I am not a big fan of human contact in general, much less when it involves people I am less familiar with, which this task did. Overall, the day was entertaining and I enjoyed most of it.
23/11/2023
On this day, we participated in an out-of-college trip with NCS to engage in team building activities that foster and develop survival/outdoor skills. We started with team building exercises involving using plastic pipes to transfer water and a ping pong ball over a stretch of grass and into a bucket. Then we had to move together as a group using wooden planks of wood with rope attached, having to move in sync and coordinate our movements as a group to race another group. This involved a lot of communication and listening, but our group did a great job and we won. The next task was having to pick up an object-which we were supposed to pretend was a bomb-inside of a circle from a distance using ropes, however we could not knock it over or it would “explode”. It only took our group about 2 tries as our group communicated very well and tried different methods. After this, we went for a small break so people who needed the bathroom could go and people who were of age could smoke if desired. Following this brief rest period, we began the archery event, splitting us up into four groups and taking turns shooting a bow and arrow at a target. There was an apple in the middle of the target that would earn you the most points if you shot closer to it/directly at it. I nearly shot the apple, however missed by about an inch. After we all got some practice using the bows, we moved onto a game where we had to shoot all of the colors of the target in order to proceed onto the next color until we either ran out of tries or eventually hit the apple in the middle. I think my group got pretty close to hitting the end goal, but we ran out of tries before we could manage it. I think my group tried really hard and did well. After this, we moved on to cooking using a campfire. We had to use a flint and steel to light the fire and collect sticks to use as kindling. I found collecting sticks very fun and I think I was pretty good at using the flint and steel. We all were given the same ingredients, which included the following: a slice of bread, beans, a banana and chocolate. We ended up created beans on toast (with the beans shaped into a heart) and a banana stuffed with melted chocolate. We also had to make hot chocolate for a drink. We were rated on presentation and how confident we were in our cooking skills (so basically our willingness to eat the monstrosity we had created). Our group succeeded in this task and I think we won? Or at least tied with another group. I don’t recall if a winner was decided between the two groups or if it remained a tie as I was swiftly distracted with the promise of food as soon after, we were told it was time for lunch. After lunch, we began a task where we were strapped into harnesses and had to build towers out of plastic creates. A few people at a time would be placed on top of the crate towers and would have to climb up them further as they were built onto with more and more crates. My tutor Steph and I were teamed up together to climb the crate towers together and I believe we climbed the highest with 15 crates high before we were told to knock it down. That was fun. After this activity, we had to pack up and leave, which I was incredibly reluctant to do as I had really enjoyed it. I hope we get to do more things like this in the future as it was a lot of fun and definitely aided in team building.
24/11/2023
For this day, we rehearsed our monologues until we performed them for the camera to record our progress. My chosen monologue was an excerpt from the “Free Churro” episode of Bojack Horseman. After recording our monologues, we were then given feedback by each person and this was also recorded. I got pretty good feedback with just a few things to improve on, which I tried to take into account for my future rehearsals and for my real audition.
29/11/2023