CAS Blog-Joanna Maziarczyk

  Hi! Together with a group of friends from my class, we decided to start a charity project.We are planning on doing our project as a part of a bigger one called Lublin w sieci życzliwości (translated as Lublin in the net of kindness) supervised by a non-profit organisation Fundacja KReAdukacja.  The project will be prepared from the beginning of October to mid November. All of us wanted to co something that would help our community. We came up with an idea of organising a book sale in our school which would enable us to connect money needed by a hospital in our city. We named it Słowa niosą pomoc (Words bring help) to stress that even simple things can make a big difference. To make our project zero waste, we decided to firstly collect books from us and dofferent students from our school which are not being used anymore. The money collected this way would be given straight to the hospital and the books we don’t sell will be given to orphanages and community centres. Today we ...

 Hi! Today I had the first meeting of Staszic Running Team, a running club led by my chemistry teacher together with other students. We met at 6.30 pm at a stadium in the city centre and trained for an hour and a half. We ran one longer distances, a couple of shorter ones and tried various stretching exercises before and afterwards. This meeeting was a really good opportunity for me to check my strenght and abilities. I had a lot of fun running together with my friends. I really liked the training and will try to participate in all the meetings of the club!

 Hi! This Saturday the weather was extremely nice so I decided to make the most of the beautiful Polish autumn and spent some time outside, walking around my house. I went on two walks, one in the moring and the other on the late afternoon. It was a great opportunity for me to get some physical activity, but also acknowledge the beauty surrounding me which I don’t appereciate every day. 

 Hi! Today me and my friends Gabrysia and Magda took part in a food collection in one of the grocery stores in Lublin, between 9 and 11 am. This event is a part of work done by a charity organisation Towarzystwo Pomocy św. Brata Alberta, which has been running in Lublin for many years. They work with people who experience poverty, serious ilnesses, homelessnes and many more. The food we collected is going to be donated to many people in need who for various reasons can’t afford it on their own. This experience has taught me about the issues many Poles have to deal with on everyday basis. It has also shown me how I can help and make use of what I have got. I am really glad I had an opportunity to take part in this event and will surely participate again in the future. 

 Hi! Today I decided to come back to one of my old hobbies - drawing. I took some time off after school and spent a bit more than an hour on sketching a portrait of my dad. I used an old photo of him as a reference but put my own 'artistic twist' on it. Analising it was very interesting for me and I felt like I understand my dad more by seeing his younger self, even if it is only a photography.  I have never been really good at drawing yet this one experience is showing me that if I focus strongly enough I will be able to get the result I want. I know I am still very far away from being a great artist, but I hope that if I spend more time practicing I will get better. 

 Hi everyone! This school year I decided to try leading a more healthy lifestyle. Outside of exercising more, I am planning on eating healthier then before. Rather than going on a specific diet, I prefer modifying my regular meal plan.  I have a big sweet tooth and love cakes. Today I prepared a more healthy version of one of my favourites - carrot cake. I used vegan "flax seed eggs" instead of regular eggs, brown sugar instead of white and cream cheese instead of frosting. The cake turned out delicious and my whole family really liked it. This experience showed me that leading a healthy lifestyle does not need to mean giving up on one's favourite dishes. I also learnt that I should not be afraid of experimenting and looking for new solutions. 

 Hi! Today I had my first one-hour-long yoga practice in this school year. It feels so good to be able to participate in the classes again! I have been practicing yoga for over two years now. I find great interest and comfort in it. It is an ideal way for me to calm down after a busy day at school. This year I will be focusing on bettering myself. By this I mean both gaining better physical shape and mental state. I hope that regular yoga practice will help me with that and hopefully I will be able to meet my own expectations. Today's practice allowed my to let go of my concerns and problems. It also helped me with the back pain I have been experiencing lately. After leaving the gym I felt strong and empowered.

Hi! Today in my school we had a meeting with two workers from Fundacja KReAdukacja, a non-profit organisation from Lublin. They organise and take part in various charity events. This school year, the organisation will be preparing one big event for which different smaller projects will be created. Some of my classmates together with me decided to take part and prepare our own. During the meeting we listened to lectures from the workers, saw photos from previously organised events and discussed our plan. We are planning on summarising our ideas till the end of September and start the preparation process. I found the meeting really interesting and motivational. The ideas proposed by the organisators showed me how much I can do to help my community. I am really excited to take part in the project and am sure it will be an educational challange for me. 

 Hi everyone! This year me and my friends decided to create a club, where we would reflect on books and movies together. I am a big literature and cinematography fan so I find participating in such discussion very interesting. It is also a great opportunity to spend time with friends and talk in nice atmosphere. This Saturday (12th of September), the very first meeting of our club took place in Akwarela Cafe. Unfortunately only my friend Iga and I could make it this week. I brought a copy of "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley and we read the first chapter together. Later we discussed the general topic of the book and how the mentioned section made us feel. We also talked about the historical context of the book's creation and read about the author.  I personally was very intrigued by the whole concept of the book and the way the author created description of the reality. It also struck me that the world is described as if it was a true utopia, ideal place to live, yet som...