Global Odyssey is a student-led event for Grade 11 BM and Economics students where there are a lot of food and entertainment stalls and live band performances. It is a fun event similar to a business fair but of high school and was held on 14th February, 2024. For the preparation of the event, a lot of volunteers were required with one or two leaders responsible for their department, i.e. Decoration, Fun (entertainment), Food and Fashion. The event coordinators were overall in charge of the event including finance, logistics, hospitality, etc.

I initially volunteered to be part of the decoration team, and later also joined the band team as I have been playing keyboard since childhood. During my BM slots, I used to go down to the staff lounge and work out the decorations according to how we were told to by the leaders. I did origami, drew and cut out a lot of pieces of cardboard, etc. In origami, we drew and cut paper lamps of different shapes, it was very creative. And during all of it, we talked to each other, listened to songs and overall had a fun time.

Moreover, we gradually picked people one by one who play the role of an essential part of the band (singers, drummer, guitarists, keyboardist). We were altogether two band teams. Firstly, we started by selecting songs and then for practice we used to gather at the music venues at our school (Tanariri and Crescendo). We gathered during BM slots, free slots, playtimes, and even early-ins when the event got closer.

Learning Outcome 2 → Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process
Learning Outcome 3 → Demonstrate how to initiate and plan a CAS experience

We faced numerous challenges while preparing our band performance. It was one of the most difficult events I had done because we barely had 2 weeks when we began preparations and we had to learn, practice and rehearse 15 – 20 songs with medley. Some other challenges were that many times bookings were unavailable at the music venues due to other classes of PYP, most of the times our whole team wasn’t there, some people always had something else or were absent, etc. We had no options but to pace up as the event came closer and not a lot of work was done. The guitarists had to learn the most so they gathered up outside of school hours during weekends and practiced together. We planned early-ins everyday till the day of the event. And eventually we overcame the challenges as we trusted the process and just went through it. We were able to learn and practice all songs with the whole team together within the time of the event and successfully perform them on stage.

Other than that, for decorations we were doing what we were assigned to by our leader and teacher. Decorations included drawing, cutting, painting, origami, etc.

Learning Outcome 4 → Show commitment to and perseverance in CAS experiences

Every person in our band had to play an important role and my role was playing keyboard. I had to learn 15 – 20 songs in a span of 2 weeks and practice them in school. I had to play chords in all the songs and intros in a few. I showed commitment to learn and practice all the songs at home after school at night and waking up early in the morning.

For the decorations, we as a team were completing our tasks very efficiently without wasting any time. We worked together in slot times and tried to finish all the pending work in free slots.

Learning Outcome 5 → Demonstrate the skills and recognize the benefits of working collaboratively

Preparing for the whole global odyssey was a collaborative effort. For decorations, we worked our way up with high efficiency. We had to create more than 100 pieces of a paper design for hangings. Hence we decided that 2 people will trace and draw one paper design, and the other 2 to 3 people will cut it. With this strategy, we were able to complete so many of the pieces in just 2 slots. This helped as a benefit of working collaboratively.

Before and on the day of the event, all the students helped set up the decorations at the venue. There was a lot of decoration, but we managed to finish all of it by assigning different jobs to all.

Most of our band members came to practice during BM slots in music rooms where we had to set up everything including drums, guitars, keyboard, and mics, and connect them all with amplifiers. Together with the help of each other we used to set it all up in just 5 minutes. And then we practiced all songs a lot of times together which improved our synchronization and pace.