Elizabeth Riese CAS Portfolio
This website as a record of my Creative, Action and Service experiences as part of the International Baccalaureate program and additional extra curriculars throughout secondary school.
Quintessence Fashion Show
I was a fashion designer for the student run Quintessence Fashion Show
Quintessence Fashion Show
I was a fashion designer for the Quintessence Charity Fashion Show run by German Swiss International School to raise money for the charity RMHC HK. I made proposals for a line of dresses to be shown on the runway, which were accepted by the organizers. I sourced fabrics, worked with tailors and sewed some garments myself to create the line. I also worked with the organization committee on the creative direction of how my line would be presented at the show (music, lighting, models etc.) I learned a lot through this experience and was really happy to be able to demonstrate my creative capabilities.
Lion Dance Club
I was a drummer for my lion dance club at school.
Lion Dance Club
I was a drummer for my school's lion dance club, which performs a lion dance routine for our school’s annual Chinese New Year assembly held by the Chinese department. I attended rehearsals after school on Mondays and learned the drum part for the lion dance routine. We did three performances in total, two at the the Chinese New Year assemblies (as we performed once for the younger year groups and again for the upper ones) in addition to one performance at another school. This was a pretty different experience for me as we had to learn the entire routine by ear with no sheet music.
Jam Session Club
I volunteered to help teach and organize at a Jam Sessions Club for younger students.
Jam Sessions Club
This commitment involved helping my school's music teachers every Thursday afternoon with an afterschool jam sessions club. Two other students and myself helped to set up equipment as well as taught some of the students how to play rock instruments such as drums, bass and guitar. I have been playing guitar for a few years and know enough music theory to get new students playing some songs. I would also help transcribe chord sheets and tabs for some of the songs students requested to learn. I remember being inspired by the older year 13's who were in bands and gave amazing performances during assemblies when I was in year 7. It was a real full circle moment for me to be helping the year 7's on the start of their musical journey.
Netball Team
I was on the netball team.
Netball Team
I started playing netball in year 7 and played on and off for the team up until year 13. It usually conflicted with my schedule so I didn't end up playing every game or going to every practice as consistently with basketball. I usually played as a goal shooter or goal attack and at the time since I could shoot pretty consistently from the Goal Circle.
Nightfest Organization Committee
I was on the organization committee for my school's annual fair Nightfest.
Nightfest Organization Committee
I was on the organizational committee for my school's annual school fair called Nightfest. I helped organize the entertainment for the evening which included holding auditions, setting up equipment and managing the acts for the evening. I also helped with making and designing promotional materials for the event such as posters and banners. The theme was the 60's, so we even tie-dyed some fabric for authentic decorations.
Kids4Kids Volunteer
I volunteered as a reading group leader for Kids4Kids.
Kids4Kids Volunteer
I volunteered for the organization Kids4Kids on Saturday mornings. The organization invites native English speaking volunteers to run reading circles with children who would like to improve their English, but may not have the financial means to take extra tutoring. This volunteer experience was meaningful to me because it was actually run and organized in my own neighborhood where I mostly grew up in and it felt good to give back a bit even if it was just in this small way.
Basketball Team
I learned to play basketball in year 7 and was on the team since until year 13.
Basketball Team
I started playing basketball in year 7 and continued all the way to year 13. I remember when I started way back in year 7, I couldn't even dribble the ball well let alone do a layup, and by the end of year 13 I was the starting line for my school's team shooting 3 pointers and helped get our team to Division 1 in 2013. We won the ESF League pretty much every year, but in 2013 our girls team won the HKSSF Basketball Girls Division 2 Overall Champions. Because of that win, we were moved to Divison 1, which was such an amazing win for our school and our girls' basketball teams.
Equinox Fashion Show
I was a fashion designer for the student run Equinox Fashion Show
Equinox Fashion Show
I was a fashion designer for the Equinox Charity Fashion Show run by Singapore International School to raise money for the organization 關注婦女性暴力協會 Association Concerning Sexual Violence Against Women . I made proposals for a line of dresses to be shown on the runway and also used some of my previous designs from the Quintessence Fashion Show I did earlier in the year. I sourced fabrics, worked with tailors and sewed some garments myself to create the line. I always sewed small project growing up so it was great to challenge myself through these student fashion shows by working on larger projects.
International Care Ministries - Philippines
I volunteered with the organization International Care Ministries.
International Care Ministries - Bacolod Philippines
Each year our school has a Focus Week where students can either do an action, creative or service focused trip, and for certain years work experience is done instead. My school had pledged to sponsor a kindergarten in need through the organization International Care Ministries, and as part of Focus Week 2015 I volunteer with this organization. As a school, we raised money throughout the school year to sponsor the kindergarten located in Bacolod city in the Philippines. A small group of us (including me) also got to visit the kindergarten to meet the children and families, help build some of the new school buildings, as well as prepare a small lesson for the children. Additionally, we volunteered at the International Care Ministries annual fund raising banquet in Hong Kong where we helped set up the hall, tables and gift bags for the event. I had so many craft supplies around the house and I took them all on the trip for the kingergarten to use. I'm really glad the kids were able to use them and hope that it helped them on the start of their learning journey.
Our Band
I played guitar and bass in a band.
Our Band
I started a band with my two friends Justin and Julian. We tried to meet every Saturday to get together and just jam a bit. I would alternate playing guitar, bass and piano, Justin would alternate guitar and bass, and Julian was on the drums. We did one small performance at our school's Diawli Night as a small opener for the overall show. Unfortunately most of the videos I took at the time have been corrupted but you can still make out some of the music.
Illustration
I would sometimes draw and paint, and learned Adobe Illustrator.
Multimedia Drawing
I used to draw and paint a bit. I also had a drawing tablet which I was trying to learn how to use. I tried to teach myself how to use Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop to illustrate my pencil drawings. I read a lot of comic books and manga growing up and took most of my inspiration from those sort of art styles.
Locks of Love Hair Donation
I made a hair donation to the charity Locks of Love.
Locks of Love Hair Donation
I heard about this really interesting organization called Locks of Love that takes hair donations to make wigs specially designed for children suffering from hair loss, usually caused by medical conditions. It's normally difficult to find high quality wigs for children so this organizaiton decided to help these children by providing free wigs to return a bit of normalcy to their lives. I read into the requirements and prepared my hair for the donation since I was going to cut it anyways. I'm glad someone could get some use out of it since it would have ended up in the trash otherwise.
Unicef Fun Run
I participated in the Unicef Fun Run in 2014 and 2012.
Unicef Fun Run
I participated in the UNICEF 3km Fun Run in 2014 and 2012. I unfortuantely don't have any pictures from of myself from the 2014 race, but I managed to find one from 2012 that my friends took. Each year the race aims to raise funds and awareness for combatting HIV/AIDS transmission. UNICEF mainly focuses on early infant diagnosis and treatments of HIV. I raised a couple hundred dollars by asking friends and family to sponsor me, and I trained for a few weeks before each race. I remember my friend said I did pretty well in the 2012 one, but I don't really remember what my place was.
Cross Country Team
I was on the cross country team.
Cross Country Team
I was on the cross country team. Generally the team wouldn't train regularly but I would participate in races when ones came up. We would do cross country in P.E. 3 to 4 times a year and they would just take people with the fastest times for the team. Black's Link was a common trail for the races. I don't have many pictures from then unfortunately, but I know I'm in the team photo for a few of the year books.
Audeamus Performance
I did an ensemble performance with my friends in my music class.
Audeamus Performance
I had to perform in an ensemble as part of our IGCSE Music course. Half of our group played rock instruments and the other half played classical string instruments so I looked up if there were any songs with drums and violins. I found this song called Audeamus by a small Indie Artist called Clock and Clouds. I played the cello part on an electric bass to balance out the intensity of the drums. This wasn't really in the IB years, but I really enjoyed this performance of ours. It was definitely one of the best performances I've done.
Swim Gala
I competed in swim events for our school's Swim Gala.
Swim Gala
My school had a swim gala every year where each house competes against each other in different swimming events, then at the end of the day scores across events are tallied to calculate the winning house. There was a lot of fun silly events too that we would participate in for fun like a raft race where you pull one person in a raft across the pool with your team. Most years I would swim in one or two events. Usually the ones none of the other girls wanted ot do since we didn't have many swimmers in our house. I think by the end of secondary school I had swam just about every stroke in swim gala at least once. I have a few photos from the last swim gala I was a part of in 2015.
Piano
I took piano lessons and attempted the ABRSM grade 8 exam.
Piano
I have been playing piano ever since I was a young child. By the end of secondary school I was trying for the grade 8 exam having completed the grade 5 and 6 exams piano exams, and the grade 5 music theory exam earlier on. I unfortunately didn't pass the exam after two attempts, which was really crushing at the time since I was so close in both attempts. Despite that I felt that I did learn learn a lot since I pushed myself by choosing harder songs this time, and I really improved my playing a lot because of it. I also performed a few piano pieces for my IB music course as well as in some music shows that my school held such as Music Fest. Below are a few recordings of my playing.
Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme 馬蹄蟹校園保母計劃
My school participated in OPCFHK's juvenile horseshoe crab rearing programme.
Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Rearing Programme
馬蹄蟹校園保母計劃
Ocean Park Conservation Foundation (OPCFHK) runs a partnership with schools across Hong Kong where students can rear endangered juvenille horseshoe crabs until they are big enough for rehabilitation back into the wild. Our club would have students sign up for shifts on the weekend to look after them, which involved feeding, weighing and measuring the crabs. I learned a lot about how to take care of the creatures - like using a salinometer and how to handle them. Our crabs unfortunately didn't fare well and we ended up not having any from our club to release that day but members from our group still went to learn and participate. We were also invited to CityU where the main lab for the rehabilitation was to do a tour and get a small info session on the horseshoe crabs. They kept some of the bigger ones in blow up pools to study. This wasn't really in the IB years (it was over 2013) but I really enjoyed being part of this club.
Sports Day
I competed in track events for our school's sports day.
Sports Day
My school had a sports day every year where each house competes against each other in different events, then at the end of the day scores across events are tallied to calculate the winning house. Most years I would compete in track events, but sometimes I would compete in the field ones also. I would usually run the 1500m race and one of the sprint track events. Somes years I would train with my friends a few weeks in advance.
Focus Week Cambodia Siem Reap
I volunteered to help build schools and homes for communities in need in Cambodia.
Focus Week Trip Cambodia Siem Reap
Each year our school has a Focus Week where students can either do an action, creative or service focused trip, and for certain years work experience is done instead. In 2012 I went on a service based trip to Cambodia where we were to help build schools and homes for impoverished communities. The organization used 'eco bricks' to build the schools. These were old plastic bottles washed out and refilled with trash then coated in concrete. The homes were built through traditional methods using bamboo. I remembered it rained so much and we got soaked mid through building the houses. We also did a small fun class with some of the students who would be using the school which was really great. We also got to see a few sights while we were there like Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom. It was a really amazing experience and trip overall.
Guitar and Bass
I took guitar lessons for a few years and also taught myself bass.
Guitar and Bass
I have been playing guitar since I was 11. I took mostly electric guitar lessons but I also took some classical guitar lessons for a while also. I wanted to try bass but I noticed it's pretty similar to guitar so I mostly just looked up stuff to learn. I still play now and I hope to keep up with it as long as I'm able. I don't have loads of videos or recordings of my playing, from back then, but I'm trying to get into the habit of recording more.
Music Composition
I used to write songs for fun sometimes but also for music class.
Music Composition
These are some of the music compositions I made throughout secondary school. The first two are drafts for my IB Music Composition piece which was inspired by the 24 preludes and fugues by Shostakovich. Some of the recordings were done with music notation software and others I recorded myself. There's one guitar song I wrote and recorded when I was 13. Most of these I did when I was around 15 for our Learning Futures Personal Project. We were to learn any new skill and document it as a project. I chose to learn some violin and also record some of my music into a short album.
Focus Week BMX
I did a week long BMX Course with my school.
BMX Course
Each year our school has a Focus Week where students can either do an action, creative or service focused trip, and for certain years work experience is done instead. In 2010 I did a week long BMX course with other students from my school. It was really intense exercise and a lot of fun.
