December 2020

My CAS journal for December 2020.

Creativity

Baking

As Christmas is nearing, I decided to do something a little bit different this month and bake Christmas cookies. As my favorite are gingerbread cookies, that's what I decided to make. I grabbed my great grandma's recipe from my family's cookbook and got to work. The recipe was really easy to follow, the hardest part was actually waiting for them to cool down before baking and then again waiting for them to actually bake. I made sure to be really careful around the oven so I don't accidentally burn myself, but also so I don't burn my cookies. I wanted them to look more classy so I went with simple circle shapes. After they finished baking I also melted down some chocolate and dipped the tops of the cookies in it, adding a bit of sprinkles to decorate. After this was finished the cookies were ready to eat.

Activity

Running

I'm still not allowed to go back to training, but I was finally able to start gradually running again. This includes first biking to the trail with my friend. Also, as it got really cold outside I always make sure to be properly equipped for it by wearing gloves, a hat, a special jacket, and a mask, but also warm underclothes meant for running. We started with running 3200m the first day and increasing the length by 400m each day. If I ever felt any pain In my leg, I would take it easy the next day and do strength exercises instead of running that day. Luckily, this method proved to be successful, and soon I was able not to take any days off as my leg would rarely hurt anymore. I hope I can keep up with the progress and I will make sure not to force myself too far so my leg can finally heal properly and I can finally get back to my training.

Service

Csistarter

This month I decided to concentrate more on the csistarter webpage. First I had to find a project to work on this month and the one I decided on was called the Brain Explorer Research App. This is an app that can be found in the App Store or on Google Play. Basically, Brain Explorer is an app for your smartphone and tablet with entertaining games exploring outer space. Yo play the games and fill out questionnaires to help the researchers understand how the human brain works and how it is linked to mood and behavior. The explorers are neuroscientists from University College London (UCL) and hope to find out why some people have problems with their emotions, mood, and behavior, and others do not so that they can help them. The app's goal is to study how brain functions influence mental health. The app is really easy to use, containing many fun, easy and short games meaning anyone can use it, even young kids. I really like this idea of connecting fun and research and I think it can lead to really good, helpful, and truthful results that could help the researchers reach their goals and ultimately allow them to help other people suffering from these problems with emotions.