SAISA Football

For season 2 of Gecko athletics, I am participating in SAISA Football! We started out this season by participating in the TISSL (The International Schools of Sri Lanka) football tournament. We played surprisingly well for not having any practice sessions. We made in into the semifinals but sadly lost. We ended up placing 4 out of 15 teams! We were very proud of our selves for playing so well! 

We continued to train after the tournament and worked on developing our skills. We have had a few friendly games against other teams in the area and we haven't lost one! 

Our team has come very far and we plan on playing our hearts out at SAISA! Each an every one of us wants that first place trophy and hopefully we will obtain it! 

We leave for SAISA in a little over a week! I'm really excited to compete and put what I have been practicing to use! 

GO GECKOS!! 

Gecko inc

For my service, I participate in Gecko INC. We are a service group who focuses on bringing the sports environment to the local community. Our main goal is to bring a school from Kilinochi (because they do not have the proper training and facilities) down here to participate in a sports clinic. In this sports clinic we will be assisting them in learning proper techniques to play a variety if sports. Along with this we will be so aging equipment to them so that they can maintain these techniques whilst away from OSC.

We plan on doing fundraisers (such as bake sales) to raise the money for them to come down here so that they do not have to spend there own money on the transportation. To also save money, we would like to house them in our school while they are here so that they are easily cared for and also so that less money will be spent.

In Gecko INC we have to have team work skills because everybody has to work together while getting things done. Even though we have different jobs, if one doesn't do their job the whole team fails. 

I like the people in this service group and I'm proud to be a part of it! 

Event Crew

For this years SAISA boys volleyball tournament, I participated in the Event Crew. In event crew, we helped to make sure that the tournament ran smoothly. We had to keep track of where the players were staying, we had to plan which teams would play which, we made sure that the referees had the team rosters for the matches.

This was a very fun experience that I would do again in a heartbeat! It taught me a lot about self discipline and problem solving. I had the chance to meet a lot of people from various schools and I became good friends with a couple of them.

This week was one of the best weeks that I have experienced while I have been in Sri Lanka! I love these guys so much and I'm so glad that I got to know them as well as I did!

Elizabeth Moir Debate

The OSC Debate Team participated in the Elizabeth Moir Debate Championships held in the Moir School premises on Saturday, 28th September. Team OSC comprised of MUNers Hasith Balapatabendi, Anthony Weiss and Jamilla Akbarally. The team was chaperoned by OSC Teacher Ms. Tassy Dahlan and OSC Parent Mrs. Balapatabendi.



To quote Ms. Dahlan, “In the preliminary round with Moir, the OSC team proposed that “Home schooling is best”; and in the second round against Methodist College, OSC opposed the motion “We should ban animal testing”.Sadly,OSC lost to British School by the narrowest of margins. While waiting for the judges’ decision, everyone was convinced we were through to the finals and there was a shocked silence when the judges announced that the debate was won by British. However, the judges raised very valid points. The topic OSC proposed in the semi-finals was “Democracy should be imposed”. While Hasith and Anthony put forth great points to show that democracy was the way forward, as opposed to communism, monarchy or dictatorship, the key element they omitted from their speeches was that democracy should be “imposed”. The judges stated that had the topic been “Democracy is awesome”, OSC would have won the debate. It was fantastic to witness how our two young team “grew” in confidence as the day progressed.

Borderlands!!

A few weeks ago my class and I went on an IB orientation to Borderlands Sri Lanka! It was a very fun experience that I will never forget!
Throughout this trip I got to know my fellow classmates better than I would have in school. This trip brought out a side of you that you wouldn't show in school because you are in the real world doing dangerous things. This helped you build up your confidence and it also helped to build teamwork because we were helping out the people you didn't feel like they could get something done and motivating them.
For me, this trip helped me to build my leadership skills, because I was the go to guy for the guides when they wanted the whole group to listen up. This is because I proved myself as the loudest person in the whole group when we were on the river rafting. I would yell "row" when we needed to row and so that we would all stay in unison so we would get the maximum out of our strokes.
This trip also helped me to build up my confidence. My confidence was tested when we went abseiling (repelling) down a waterfall. This is because of I have been scared of heights for as long as I remember. I could not show my fear in front of my peers, so I manned up and went down the waterfall with out any hesitation. It worked out really well and I learned that I can do anything if I believe in myself.
On our last day there, we participated in a service event. My group and I went to go and talk to the tea pickers at one of the tea plantations nearby. We learned that life there is really hard for them in that they do not get paid a lot of money. They get paid based on how much crop they can grow and sell. The manager told us that they don't get a lot of rain which makes it harder for them to grow the crops. But he did say that he loves his job and the environment that he lives in.
If I had a chance to go back and relive this experience over and over again, I wouldn't hesitate to do so! This trip was one of the most fun trips I have ever been on. I learned a lot about myself that I was not so sure I about before and I also learned a lot about my fellow classmates and teachers. This trip created a bond between us that will never be broken!

Goals For CAS

My CAS goals for these next two years are:

Creativity- For my creativity, I participate in Model United Nations. For these nest two years, I would like to challenge myself by participating in several different debates to make my debating skills become more developed. I will keep perseverance by going to all my events and meetings to learn how to become the best of the best.

Action- I would like to be captain of the football team, also I would like to win the SAISA tournament

Service- be a leader of a service group, and do my best to make this community better