Monsoon Musings, a literary event held on 3rd August, 2024, was our school’s spoken word festival wherein students, teachers and staff members were provided the opportunity to showcase their literary talents in the form of poems or prose on themes such as ‘The Story of my Life’ and ‘Festival of Hope’. As a literature enthusiast, I was tasked with leading the Editorial team, where my responsibilities included, but were not limited to, sifting through all the responses received, ensuring that my team members were completing their tasks on time and coordinating with the supervisors and administrative or management team. On the day of the event, it was my responsibility to ensure that the event ran smoothly, and to accommodate any needs of the participants or my team members. In the duration of event planning, I demonstrated the following learning outcomes:

Learning Outcome 3 – Demonstrate how to Initiate and plan a CAS Experience

Since I was leading an entire team, I had to carefully plan the tasks that my team had to carry out, along with taking the initiative for division of responsibilities among the team members. For efficiency in carrying out all the tasks, I maintained the status of all tasks in a google sheet, along with reminders and updates for the same. This helped me remain organized and made it easier to keep a log of all our responsibilities, and maintain one place where the team could easily locate any information regarding the event. Organization is one of my strengths, so I found it easier to store all information regarding the event at one place. Additionally, to plan this event, I was required to enhance my multitasking and communication skills. Drafting and approving multiple emails that have to be sent timely and should communicate all the necessary details, while also coordinating with the team members to ask for updates on their work required me to be  a multitasker, which was a skill I discovered in myself. Organization, multitasking and effective communication drastically increased the efficiency of the event planning, and made it much more effortless. This experience of planning an event and leading a team on my own will definitely help me plan events in the future, due to my new experience in leadership.

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

While organizing Monsoon Musings, I also had to work on other assignments such as the internal assessments and cover the syllabus being taught in school, which made it difficult to dedicate sufficient time to Monsoon Musings. This allowed me to show perseverance while planning the event, since the literature enthusiast in me was committed to making this event a success. To show my commitment, and persevere while doing so, I had to wake up early in the morning to work on Monsoon Musings, and had to utilize all free time that I received in school efficiently to complete all my tasks on time. Though it was difficult for me to showcase such commitment for an event, it also helped me become more determined and diligent in adhering to all my assignments and duties.

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

As working in a team and adapting to team members comes naturally to me, it was easy, as well as beneficial for me to work in a team. As the leader of the Editorial team, I had to ensure that my team members were assigned tasks based on their unique capabilities, completed their tasks on time, and I had to send them reminders for the same. Urging my team members constantly for completion of duties made it a little difficult to work with others, but understanding that division of roles and responsibilities only increased the efficiency of the event planning, made it slightly easier to work in a team. I realized that teamwork and collaboration ensured that everyone shared equal workload, and that fulfillment of responsibilities was timely. Collaboration also led to more creative ideas in our team, which further made the event more enjoyable.   

During the event, I demonstrated the following learner profiles:

Communicator – As the head of the editorial team, I had to manage all communications to the admin and to the participants, creatively expressing all ideas. 

Thinkers – I also had to make reasoned decisions based on the tasks of each team member, the deadlines for the same, and think of ideas to promote the event.

Overall, Monsoon Musings was a cherishable experience, where the literature enthusiast in me was revived! It led to a unique leadership experience, allowing me to be more flexible as a leader, and simultaneously learn to handle other academic tasks.