Andrew's CAS

Since my last post I have been working towards improving my golf swing and moving towards maintaining a consistent shot. I have found myself becoming more familiar with each of the different clubs and being more aware of my stance as I take each shot. I am still working on implementing the changes in my swing and stance that were introduced when I began. It has been interesting to be able to see my progress as I am able to feel when what I am doing is right and the club is in the right position with the proper shifting weight. The satisfaction gained from each soaring shot when hit properly is an amazing feeling and I look forward to being able to replicate these steps with better consistency with practice. Due to my prior exposure to golf, practice and training has for the majority been about this implementation of proper stance and positioning. I have made enough progress over these last few months for Mr. Roddy to think that I would be able to last in a golf tournament. As a senio...

Taking inspiration from my Ireland project a year ago, I wanted to continue this "up close" and macro photography interest on my journey to London. I brought with me the same Olympus TG-5 which now I was more comfortable with its features and capabilities. I focused on plants as I found the close up detail of these subjects to be fascinating. I tried to also implement many skills that I learned through my work with photo club such as depth and creating a bokeh effect or blurred background to prominently bring focus onto the subject. The rule of thirds and proper dimensions within each photo were taken into account to create better aesthetically pleasing pictures and subject focus. This photo above is one of my favorite photos, as it perfectly displays the characteristics that I was trying to capture. The macro aspect is achieved through the immense detail that is found within each blade. I found the colors to contrast well as the green prominently shows above the grey,...

I have recently joined the school's golf team and have really enjoyed this experience so far. My past experience with this sport has been on and off, and my dad is big fan. While through my past experience I learned how to how to hold the club properly and the basic movement that should occur, I have found difficulty in the exact steps that need to happen for the best swing. I have begun working on my swing on the driving range and have found the ball going a bit further each time as I grow more comfortable to the tips and instruction by Mr. Roddy. The first step was working with shifting my weight and properly lifting the club back. This took a while to incorporate, but within the first few shots I have found improvement with both range and consistency. I have also been learning proper etiquette and rules for playing on the course which has been a great experience playing the holes at Herman Park. Carrying my bag is a bit tiresome, but I am grateful that the weather is still fairl...

I have just finished the working as the chair for the ECOFIN committee for the middle school MMUN conference in New York.  It was a great experience working with the other members of my bureau, my vice-chair and rapporteur, to carry out the rules of procedure during the conference and aid the students in creating resolutions for the topics. I am still amazed by the ability of these students to work together on these issues regarding Women's Development and Sustainable Energy in the world. Each person is participating with the intention of creating a viable solution for these topics and this conversation brought me back to my own time in this debate. One particular situation occurred during this conference where I had to consider what action take as one of the students in room simply left without prior permission. The area that the conference takes place in is also publicly accessible, which makes an unsupervised student with unknown whereabouts an issue especially with the youn...

Its peak college essay season and I still have few to finish up before the New Year begins, but I have just received the position papers for my committee to review. I always look forward to seeing some of these ideas and getting hyped for the actual conference in the next few months. This year I am little more independent with these papers than last time, as it is my decision to decide and notify the schools and students who need to add either information or formatting (only major exclusions). Deciding whether to send a paper back or not is based on whether they fulfill the standard requirements. However, this decision is largely centered around debating whether, from the information given by the paper, will the student have a productive time at the conference. While sending a paper back is in my eyes the best thing for the student, I know from helping with the students at my school prepare that what is on the page is not necessarily representative of their knowledge. This is at times ...

I have been playing a little more than usual in the past few weeks and have been growing more competitive against my brother. It is fun being able to beat him as well as seeing my improvement over the last few months on my swing and ball control. I have begun playing with some of my friends at a local club and while I do not see myself playing competitively, I am still having fun improving my skill and playing.