Recently, a group of AISM students and I trained and received an official PADI certification through the school scuba diving ASA. By Yuma For my personal project, I wanted to explore the mysterious depths of the oceans and the entire ecosystem that thrives daily under our everyday eyes. I decided to make my learning goal to get a scuba diving certification and then create a blog that documents my journey and post it here on the AISM Buffalo blog as my final product. Following Cora’s blog on the scuba diving ASA earlier in the school year, a teacher recommended that I join the ASA, and it proved extremely useful in helping me achieve my goal. If you would like to read more about my scuba diving journey and the steps I took to fulfill my learning goal, make sure to read my blog, which outlines my experience from start to finish. Throughout my journey, I was able to learn about the core parts of scuba diving, meet amazing people, and gain experiences that will last a lifetime. Just like me, you too can learn how to scuba dive simply by joining the school’s scuba diving ASA to start your own journey into the beautiful world of scuba diving.
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9 members of our Model United Nations club represented AISM last week at AISJ’s annual conference JoMUN XXI, with amazing experiences and great results to show for it, including Best Delegate and an Honorable Mention awards. Reporting by Felix and Mr Rui Model United Nations is a well-established part of international school culture, recognised for the opportunity it gives students in Middle and High School to really develop their global knowledge and professional language skills. Our own club has grown a great deal this year, with over 25 members now regularly attending the weekly session on Thursdays after school. Nine of our MS and HS students, along with Miss Anna, Mr Rui and security team Alfredo and Cesario, travelled by bus over to the AISJ campus and the long journey was more than worth it after 5 days of intense research, debating, public speaking, and hanging out with lots of new friends from the ten African schools attending the conference. Our team was hugely successful and two of the group - Team Nepal! - even walked away with prestigious awards: Vihaan was voted Best Delegate in the Security Council, whilst Shailee was given an Honorable Mention in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPDC). An amazing achievement for the two of them. We should also mention Sam and Felix, who were two of the youngest delegates at JoMUN and managed to more than hold their own. Praise should also be given to Arthur, Jaya and Liam who only joined the MUN club this year, but still had the courage to represent the school and to take the mic whenever they could. Lucas and Margo completed the team and also contributed a lot, with Margo’s calm style helping to keep things moving along nicely and Lucas bringing the laughs and passion. What did the team feel they got out of this experience? What has joining the MUN club and participating in JoMUN given them? Here are some of their thoughts: Jaya - “I brought out my true potential, my Barack Obama-ness. You get to confidently disagree with people. I feel like a new level of confidence has been unblocked in me.” Margo - “I learned in a much more nuanced way how MUN works and each time you speak publicly it becomes more and more comfortable.” Shailee - “Winning the award was really pleasing, of course. It gives me the confidence that I have the ability to express myself and that people will then respond to this.” Vihaan - “You get to have fun formally, in a sense. People get stuff out; they find their passions for speaking, writing, negotiating, whatever fits best for them. For me, winning Best Delegate means being a man of politics and having a keen ability to persuade others.” Sam - “This is reat for our resumes and general development. You learn how to liaise with people, but you need to research to know what you are talking about!” Arthur - “You learn new methods of speaking and improve language capabilities. You meet like-minded peers, so the social aspect is also memorable. It really feels like real world skills are being developed.” Liam - “It really sparks your curiosity and opens new doors, socially and academically. You get to, in a fun way, challenge people.” Lucas - “It’s hard work and you get a bit sleep-deprived for a few days, but it’s well worth it. You develop new passions and you can’t really explain such a beautiful experience, bringing your ideas to life like this.” Hopefully, more and more of our students will get into the MUN world and have experiences like this one. If you are interested in joining the club, speak to Vihaan, Margo, Felix or Sam. The club meets on Thursdays after school. Did you know there is a scuba diving ASA at our school? You can get certified with PADI right in the school! Reporting by Cora The diving ASA is hosted by Luciano Adamo, a divemaster and dive instructor who has certified more than 1,000 divers, and Julian Spezzati, a dive master and AISM alum. These two amazing divers lead the activity and we recorded an interview with instructor Adamo, as well as some of the students that are currently in the ASA: We have been learning about the basic skills of scuba diving and have access to PADI’s online learning platform. As the semester goes on we will gain all the knowledge and skills we need, and will go diving on a weekend toward the end of the semester to prove our skills and then take the final test before we get certified. This is the best experience for anyone at the school over the age of 10. We are currently learning about the different underwater signs, how to use and understand all our gear, how to descend and ascend, how to move in the water, and how to observe aquatic life. This is a way to ease into scuba diving more slowly instead of learning about everything and doing the tests in only a few days. The experience lets us learn steadily and enjoy the process over the course of several months. This is such an amazing experience because it is like sightseeing and something you can do all throughout your life, which also lets you enjoy aquatic life in a safe spectacular environment and will just blow your mind. If you would like to join the PADI ASA you can sign up to do it next term on Schools Buddy.
I couldn't recommend it more strongly. It really is the chance of a lifetime, making the most of the incredible location we love in, right on the ocean, right above the mysterious world beneath the sea. Image credits available here. |
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