Community service was an initiative taken by the fountainhead school where we perform voluntary activities undertaken to benefit our local communities or society as a whole. It involves dedicating time, effort, and dedication towards helping underprivileged children by providing them with some good time in the form of activities that they don’t often experience. Community service fosters a sense of social responsibility, empathy, and civic engagement, helping to strengthen bonds between the people involved. It is a way of getting people together for a good deed and creating new bonds every time. In this programme we had 3 weekends to make the students learn 4 – 5 different dances on bollywood songs. Throughout the programme there were various challenges and things that I learned and experienced. This blog talks about every detail and personal development of me after being a part of the community services.

To begin with, learning outcome 2 talks about demonstrating challenges that have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process. The most challenging part for me was to meet up with the timings, we used to get free nearly at 1 every saturday and it was a really hard transition for me to be at my extra – curricular class right after I got home, similarly, getting up at 6 every sunday for 3 weeks sounds really vague but is always challenging for middle age students like me who is up for late nights doing other assignments the previous day. So time management was one of the most challenging things that I catered during this community service. But what I think helped me was my experience, this was my second time in community service for fountainhead that too in dance itself. So because of the good memories and all the good learning experiences that were from last year really helped me by keeping me motivated for this year as well and so I was always tired when I used to wake up but was always motivated and excited to teach all the little children a new dance every week. Overcoming my biggest challenge, which is managing time for every different aspect of life, was a game changer. It helped me be more focused and majorly helped me prioritize things. Taking new challenges is really important for me because it always seems like 1 step closer to achieving something that I wasn’t able to before. Through this community service the lone thing that I learn is leadership. This is a very important aspect which I consider also really helps in future. Helps you to know your worth, and to control a lot of people and get your things done so I’m grateful towards this programme that taught me a new skill. Learning new skills always makes me feel more accomplished and proud. At the same time, it gets me very focused and concerned about my future.

Taking more about my personal dedication towards the programme(learning outcome 4), the scheduling and the duration of the slots really made me overwhelmed. This required a lot of perseverance and commitment and it wasn’t easy. The schedule was continuous weekends for 3 weeks and we used to teach the children for 90 minutes straight, and physically dancing for 90 minutes is really very difficult and especially when I was sick for 2 weeks in between and at the same time wasn’t able to quit the programme in order to get a good attendance. Hence, I was really committed to get a good attendance in order to successfully complete the programme without any difficulties and also importantly complete my CAS experience. I wouldn’t say that it’s very easy for me to commit to things, I do struggle at various points especially when I know I won’t enjoy the outcome after I committed but I still try really hard to complete things. However, dance has always been my biggest passion, I’ve done dance for 8 years of my life so it wasn’t really hard to commit to this decision and my mind was easily convinced for this programme. I think Perseverance and commitment are crucial because they enable individuals to overcome obstacles and challenges, achieve their goals, and grow personally and professionally. They build resilience, foster a strong work ethic, and demonstrate dedication to one’s pursuits, which often leads to success and fulfillment in various aspects of life and it clearly did that in my case, I was so happy with the final result and was really determined throughout the process which led to a favorable outcome.

Talking about the collaboration that was held behind this entire programme(learning outcome 5), I personally think a good bond between the major organizers or head volunteers is really important as it reduces conflicts and makes the process more enjoyable and faster. During this programme I wasn’t really satisfied with the decisions made by the head volunteers and there were various conflicts between them but what I really enjoyed was the backup support each volunteer had for one another and how quickly things were getting resolved which also motivated the heads to focus more on the moto rather than on any other things. Personally I’m not very productive in groups when it comes to studying but fun things like dancing makes the collaborative part more enjoyable. At the same time I’m very indecisive so a bunch of people always work. I personally think that collaborative teamwork fosters diverse perspectives, creativity, and collective problem-solving, making it essential for innovation and efficiency. It promotes mutual learning, enhances interpersonal skills, and strengthens relationships, both in professional and personal contexts. Effective collaboration is key to tackling complex tasks, achieving shared objectives, and building a harmonious and productive environment. Personally talking about dance in community service, a cooperative head team was required to choreograph the entire routines but somewhere it wasn’t really successful however, we as a non- head voluntary students really tried at every point to give inputs in order to make the process easier and successful.

Moving on with my personal purpose for volunteering for this event(learning outcome 6), we all somehow know how difficult lives underprivileged children have. They aren’t given much and it’s really that our lives are way easier and more fun than theirs. So I found community service as a way to contribute happiness into their lives. It is really not possible for me as an individual to just make their lives the most perfect ones but I find doing little deeds like these a way to provide them with some precious time that they will enjoy and will think that is their own. The whole experience gave me so much joy and happiness when I saw some kids dancing with their heart outs I also saw the other kids drawing and playing football and it was all so cheerful and happy at the same time on the very last day everyone was so sad and emotional because the event was on an end but everything was very worthy. I personally feel really privileged that I got the chance to give some good time to all the children that were present there and it will always be the most memorable.

Providing more factual information and the crucial side for my purpose(learning outcome 7), we all know how the lives of underprivileged children can be exceptionally tough. They often face inadequate access to basic necessities such as food, shelter, and healthcare. Limited educational opportunities can hinder their future prospects. Exposure to violence, instability, and social discrimination can impact their emotional well-being.
However, resilience and determination are also prevalent in many of these children, and with support, they can overcome adversity. It’s important to address systemic inequalities to improve the circumstances of underprivileged children worldwide. So I just think that I contributed a little bit in their support and somehow made their lives easier by giving them some enjoyable time without worrying about anything. My point of view was really clear, I always knew that these children have faced a lot, directly or indirectly but have suffered. So I have always respected their lives without making fun and without making any comments, and it still hasn’t changed and I also prefer not to change my opinion. Additionally, this programme has made me more rigid and tough over my opinion and I prefer not to change any decisions and to respect their lives to a better extent.

To sum up, I really took up on communicating with others through this programme, I considered this a very good opportunity for me to open up and stand up for myself in every situation. Also to add the personal learnings and satisfaction I got by being a part of this programme and the immense happiness I got when I taught dance to all those little children. I consider this experience as a success because technically there weren’t any conflicts at the last and we taught all the dances and I got my approved participation certificate, but it was also a success because I got to learn various new things including solving things rather than arguing, good cooperation skills and how to bring everything together and hence this programme was a success for me.