Solidary Race

This year, the school invited us to organize and participate in certain activities to support a school we are funding in Gambia. This activity was organized mainly by the 1st of IB students, but we were all invited to participate in the race. I was excited because I consider myself a decent runner and wanted to see how I would finish the race against the whole grade (the race took place on the week of the 05/12/2021). 

First I made sure to focus on the running segments of my off ice training the week before the race, to test my limits without tiring myself out fully. I went to sleep earlier the previous day, to make sure I was ready the morning after. When we all got together at the starting line, I realized this was no small race, as there were at least a couple kilometers ahead alongside around 120 people. 

I started off very fast, but other students were ahead by some distance and despite giving it my all, I wasn’t reaching them anytime soon. Instead of giving up, I thought about the parts ahead and saw the ramp. I knew instantly that was my chance to overtake, I just had to push through the tiredness. I just about managed to overtake the lead participant and came in first after a long sprint at the end. 

I found this race an interesting experience, while I initially thought my strength was stamina, what ultimately made the difference was a sprint, which requires velocity. Who knows, I might even participate in upcoming races after seeing the results in this one!!

A picture of the stand with some of the people that helped out. I purchased a couple of pink ribbons to contribute to the cause.

Breast Cancer Awareness Day

Every year, on the 19th of October, Breast Cancer Awareness Day is celebrated worldwide. In the past, I have attended charity races, like a 5km race in New York. I was familiar with the cause, but last year no big events took place. When I arrived at Logos, in 4th of ESO, IB students organized a small marketplace where certain items were sold and we had a short conference to raise awareness.

This year, students from 1st organized most of the activities and invited us to help. I made some bracelets and pink ribbons (the main symbol that represents this event), and I also helped at one of the stalls on the day itself. I was glad to help with this cause. I know several people who have had this disease, and I know every bit of help to investigate and help patients will help future generations. Even if I'm not in school next year, I hope to organize similar events as well!

Video of me playing the song. Im still missing the ending and I messed up at the end of the recording, but the next time I post about piano I'll show all my progress

Ebony and Ivory

I have been playing two pieces recently on piano to slowly improve my skills. I started playing a few years ago as a hobby, and quickly found out that I enjoyed it more than I initially thought I would. Over the last few months, I have also been practicing a song called 1ere Gymnopedie by Erik Satie. While I still haven’t finished the whole piece, I am about halfway through and wanted to showcase my progress by playing what I have learnt. Next evaluation, I want to upload all 3 songs so I can see the improvements in my technique and, perhaps, play a concert somewhere.

Playing is not only a relaxing experience, but also a way of learning how to practice things and improving one’s patience.

Link to our second game of the season. While you can't always win, what matters is getting up and trying harder next time

Let the games begin!

On the 30th of October, with Halloween slowly coming up, I played in the second game of the year. While the first game was a victory (1-6), I chose to highlight this game as I felt like I played better than the previous game. We played against Txuri Urdín in Majadahonda and were expecting an easy win, as the team had never been one of the top competitors. The game started off terribly and we were down by one goal in just 20 seconds. After 2 full periods of hard work on the ice, we managed to tie 3-3 with only 20 minutes left. Unlike past experiences with my team, these last minutes were a mess, as most players were tired and the opposing team scored another 4 goals against us.

Despite the team’s performance overall, I feel like my role during the game was important and I consider that I played pretty well. I was on the ice when we scored the first goal, and throughout the game I noticed an improvement in my physical condition compared to last year. The game also served as a lesson, never take things for granted or underestimate your rivals, or you may be surprised.

The league is far from over, so I expect to keep on playing throughout the year and getting better and better, hopefully making it to the finals again!

Our class window and me drawing pumpkins

Spooktober

On Tuesday the 26th, we tried decorating our class with things made from recycled material. We brought used coffee capsules, trash bags, and colored paper from our homes to give the class a different vibe. Some students made tiny spiders by crushing the coffee capsules, others made cutout bats and spider webs using newspapers. I helped Julen make some cutout pumpkins and bats. After the whole hour of CAS, we managed to spice up the whole glass and placed some leftover decorations around.

I was surprised by how easy it was to decorate using the recycled material. In fact, hopefully we can plan things out a bit more so we can make big Christmas decorations. I was also surprised by how fast we can all work together. This was basically a class effort, and in 1 hour we covered a whole wall. In the future, it would be nice to do a collaboration between classes and decorate a common space perhaps, like the top floor.

Irati: The Lost Woods

A couple of weekends ago, on the 23rd and 24th of October I went to a region in Navarra called La Selva de Irati to hike a series of trails. The main interest of walking through these woods at this point in the year is the distinct change in color which can be seen on the leaves of the beech trees that are scattered throughout. 

We had travelled to this particular area some years back, but that time the weather was terrible which led to muddy trails and seeking shelter from the rain constantly. The forecast this time didn’t give us high hopes either, but we were lucky and there was no rain to be seen. 

The trails we hiked ranged from going around a lake, visiting an abandoned arms factory and going to an amazing lookout point which towers over the whole park. I took lots of pictures and made sure to document this green and yellow forest for the future. I liked the experience far more than last time, and I expect to return here again at some point later in life.

IB: YEAR 2

Us and the carts we filled

School supplies

On the 5th of September, just before school starts, I joined a Red Cross Campaign so kids around Spain could have the necessary resources to attend school. Children all over the world have a problem with lacking school supplies, so Vega, Mireya, Candela, Bruno and I decided we would try to provide them with as many as we could.

Initially, our hopes for the shift were low, from 2 to 6 Carrefour would probably be empty as people would be taking a nap and resting the day before school starts. It didn’t bring us down however, as we kept on trying to persuade people to make an impact and help the cause. I feel very proud of having explained the whole campaign to a woman who only spoke Russian, and she even donated materials later on!

Slowly but surely, we filled up shopping carts full of pencils, pens, backpacks and many other materials and by the end of our shift, we filled up 4 with supplies. I was very proud of our effort, with the supplies we collected, hundreds of kids will be able to attend school prepared, even if their families couldn’t provide for them, many kind strangers did. At the end of our shift, we all bought some items as well and headed home.

The feeling of being thanked so many times by so many people and seeing how much we obtained warmed my heart. Hopefully campaigns will just get better and better!

A video of me standing up on the board which my parents took

Photos after surfing

Surf’s Up!

Surfing is a sport I enjoy a lot but have very little time to practice. Every year, I meet up with a friend in Asturias and we go surfing. This year was particularly exciting as the waves were reasonably big on the morning of the 12th of August. 

I personally set a couple of challenges for myself: see how many times I could get on the board and try to ride one of the biggest waves. While I did succeed in standing up many times and surfing plenty of smaller waves, surfing a bigger wave was still too much. I swam deeper into the sea and waited for a large wave to start forming and started paddling the fastest I could. When I was on the crest of the wave, around 2 or 3 meters above everyone, I stood up on my board for a split second. Then it gave way and I fell the remaining distance headfirst. It was a comical fall and a slightly painful defeat, but I kept on trying nevertheless to no avail.

While surfing isn’t my favorite sport because of how much effort you have to make jist to get an attempt at riding, I enjoyed it more than I ever have in the past and it felt great to ride the waves this year!