Description and Goals
Unfortunately, due to the outbreak of the corona virus there have been many disruptions in everyone's day to day activities. Not only that, but unfortunately, the graduations of many students around the world are at risk of not happening. It is very sad that the day that many students across the world have been looking forward to and working hard to get to is under risk of cancellation. During the IB , I joined an international group to exchange ideas and questions regarding the IB and the day the announcement of the cancellation was made, I contacted the international group and talked about the idea of creating an international virtual graduation due to everyone's being at risk.This project is directly connected to the UNSDGS 3 which aims for good health and wellbeing (service). To make sure this project is sustainable, I will make sure to keep the design of the buildings of the graduation and additionally, make sure that the profits made from this project do not go to waste, but, go towards the efforts to reach the UNSDGS target of "Quality Education". This will have a lasting effect and will hopefully inspire students of future generations to do the same and come up with a creative way of both having fun and raising money to help educate others and give them the privilege we have been given. Creativity will be an integral element in this project. This is due to the organizing of the event requiring a lot of new creative ideas due to this never happening before.
Investigation
We met on a student lead group chat for International Baccalaureate students when the announcing of the cancellation of the May 2020 exams happened. We were all confused as to what was happening next, and disappointed in the fact that we won't have a graduation due to the outbreak of the novel virus. There has been a lot of memes surfacing on the internet and making fun of the fact that the 2020 students might have an online graduation. To me, it seemed likely and a bit sad however, I chose to think about it in a more positive way and I began presenting the idea of actually going through with this and carrying out an online graduation. This will be unorthodox and it will make us stand out amidst all the other prior seniors and ones to come. The group began taking the idea more seriously and we all began brainstorming. Each member of the voice channel contributing an idea, making a twist to one that was put forward etc. I then decided that it was best to organize an Instagram group chat so that we were all closely in contact. We did this, and I started assigning tasks for people to do (my job was to manage and lead the graduation and allocate roles for each member. Firstly, I realized that I lack strength in certain aspects for example, marketing isn't my strong suite. Therefore, I decided to create roles and assign people a role so that we can harness strengths of each member well. To make this work, I decided that there should be 9 roles.
-Event Builders - will be in charge of designing the games for the online after party.
- After Party organizers- Responsible for actually planning the after party.
- E mailers- Will be in charge of contacting companies in order to get discount (will also work closely with finance department)
- Lead Builders - Will be building structures on mine craft and other video games where the graduation will take place.
- Announcer - Will be reading out names of the graduates.
-Marketing: Will be responsible for actually marketing the event and trying to get as many people involved.
-Finance: Will be responsible for raising finance to gather money to host servers for the graduation
-DJ - in charge of playing the music.
To make sure we were helping out our communities across the world, and putting the time we were going to spend on creating this graduation to good use, we wanted to make sure the profits made would go to a source that would benefit. I started doing some research and asked the members of the international group for any recommendations. After discussions and recommendations, I was told about a company that caught my attention. This company was unique because it did not just donate to schools but, it both helped the health of the students as well as the education which was done by donating food and healthy food for the students in need to inspire them to stay in school. This helps target 3 goals of the UNSDGs: 2) Zero Hunger, 4) Quality Education
Preparation
I talked to one of the members and asked him to organised the next meeting. We did this through setting up a link for a poll to ask people to vote for the best time that they can get on a voice call for the next meeting. The poll results came back and were posted on the group chat to ensure everyone knew the final time of the meeting. Then, during the first meeting, we discussed new ideas. The finance department came back with a rough estimate of us having to raise 50 dollars. This was required to host a big enough mine craft server that will comfortably host 50+ players (worldwide). Further on, in the meeting we decided that to fundraise we will do a lot of things. Firstly, everyone was going to put in as much money as they can. Additionally, to raise extra money, we were going to have separate bake sales for our neighbors (transactions made with gloves and masks on). We also decided to create a protocol for people making the food to sell to their neighbors to follow. For example, everyone making food for sale must wash their hands with soap for 20 seconds, then spray their hands with alcohol, put on a fresh set of gloves and masks while making the food to ensure a safe transaction. Additionally, the money is to be sprayed with alcohol from a distance to ensure that it is free of infection.
Action
The next meeting started off very well as we all knew what our positions were and this meeting was all about making sure everyone completely understood their role and basically, collaborating and exchanging ideas. Then, we also discussed a few ideas that the people in charge of mine craft hosting had brought. Moreover, I discussed the money raised from my cupcake sale which was around 15 USD. Unfortunately, this was not the complete amount we needed for the hosting. Therefore, we looked into other ways and we will all be contributing whatever we can to make it happen. Moreover, we all decided that if we have any excess cash towards the end or we end up getting a discount from the companies (E mailers responsibility) we will use the money in aids of the coronavirus pandemic fighting efforts. The people I met through the planning of the graduation are very nice and are all similar minded IB students who took their schooling very seriously and I am proud to be a leading part of this group as it is an honour to me to be able to help create an event that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
Reflection:
In this meeting, it is a week before the actual graduation and it was time for the rehearsal. During the rehearsal for the graduation, everything went well apart from 3 major factors. The announcer got tired towards the end and the voice started becoming inaudible therefore, to fix that, I decided to make 2 people announce so that they can frequently take breaks and drink water to regain their voices. Also, it became evident that the after party games were fun and great, however, the organisation of the events were a little messed up and everyone was a bit confused when the games were being explained. To avoid this, small documentation of the mini games to be played will be available to the graduates beforehand to allow for people to actually enjoy the games fully without feeling left out. Finally, another decision was made to stream the graduation online on Youtube to allow for friends and families of the graduates to watch it in real time. This process was very interesting and we all learned to listen to each other. Additionally, during the rehearsal we all learned that it was important to not just listen but to actively do so, and listen for the purpose of thinking differently rather than coming up with an argument. This helped us make the best
Reflection:
The graduation has taken place! It was phenomenal and most things went well. The biggest problem we faced was the live streaming of the event as there were some complications involved in the process of the livestream due to my wifi being weak and not able to properly stream it. I decided to send the account details to a fellow graduate who had a much stronger connection for them to stream it. Apart from that, everything went smoothly and we all had an amazing time! This graduation allowed me to meet a lot of similar minded IB students and it has been a lovely experience to be part off. Most of us are still in contact and often play video games together and exchange ideas and talk about universities and the future. I can comfortably say I made friends from this experience. and it has both been productive and fun.
Money Handling
The money was collected from 2 sources. First, donations from participants in the form of a voluntary "entrance fee" to the online graduation(total was 250LE). Secondly, money collected from the bake sale that I carried on which was (120LE).
Demonstration:
This project is directly connected to the UNSDGS 3 which aims for good health and wellbeing.This is for a couple of reasons due to the fact that the project is in aid of the mental health of the students who will be in quarantine for an indefinite amount of time while having no control over their grades anymore . By giving the students involved something to do it can aid in maintaining a healthy way of thinking. This will help the movement towards the UNSDGS goal 3. Additionally , by giving a task to the students to do it will help them stay at home and therefore also aid in the goal 3 which will mean that we will help prevent the spread of the pandemic.
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