Student Leaders Camp

The student leaders camp which was held for both Student Councillors and Prefects took place on the 4th and 5th of April. Through this camp, we learned more about leadership skills and obstacles a leader might face in the year ahead. for example, there was one particular game in which a few of us had to throw across a distance where at the end, our teammate would be standing with a bucket on top of his head. we were suppose to throw coloured plastic balls into the tiny bucket and see which team (there were two teams competing) would get in the most number of balls. it was a very challenging game as all the balls would go into the bucket, and instead would just bounce out of it! but we learnt that the different coloured balls represented many different opinions, but not all would be able to go into the bucket; which means not all opinions would be accepted/heard. therefore, we must perservere no matter what, as leaders.

I learned alot more through this camp and am definitely more motivated in the year ahead. there is another camp in june and I am looking forward to that because I know I am bound to learn more on how to keep improving at being a good leader to others.

Creativity hours completed – 5hours

Action hours completed – 5hours

Touch Rugby Girls’ Team

These past three months have been quite challenging because when I started out in the beginning of the year, I didn’t know what to anticipate or expect from the team. There were new members in which the not-so-new/experienced members had to be extra patient with in guiding the new ones of the game’s skills. Of course, we were learning new things too but in terms of basics, the new members were quite raw. Patience is a virtue. And I believed that’s what the old members held in their principles; after all, we were just as raw when we started the sport.

 

I believe what was the one thing achieved most in these three months was the unity amongst the team. Initially, not everyone was comfortable with one another but as time passed, we girls grew familiar with each other. I found myself getting to know girls I hardly every have more than 2mins conversations with. And of course, the friendship I already had with the other older players was also strengthened. And with this strong bond and unity amongst the team, it has established a sense of belonging and of course efficiency and co-operation that contributed to teamwork. Teamwork; definitely an important value especially in a team.

 

I am honoured and glad that I can still be part of this team, at least until I step down when I’m in year 6. There would definitely be more challenges and obstacles ahead for us. However, I am confident and have faith in this team for us to overcome whatever lays ahead for us. To God be the Glory, the best is yet to be.

 

Action hours completed – 30hours

Blood Wedding

Blood Wedding was held on the 17th and 18th April in our school’s multi-purpose hall and it is a HUGE relief that it’s over.  Before show nights we weren’t sure whether we could pull it off because lines weren’t fully memorised and the cues of each character were still not perfect and it was quite nerve breaking on the first night. I had the butterflies in my stomach before I made my entrance and half of me was concentrating on not falling on stage! haha.

the first night a few parts of the scene were a little messed up but we managed to cover the mistakes and go on with the show. after the first night, most of us eased up alot more, acting on stage and in fact, after the second show, many of my friends, family and teachers complimented that it was a very good production and that all the actors did a very good job.

this is considered one of my first productions ever participated in this school and I am glad I went through with it. it had given me quite an experience and increase my confidence of performing on stage in the near future. I can’t wait for the next production the school is offering. I am definitely signing up! (:

Creativity hours completed – 30hours

Odyssey Of the Mind

It’s over! It’s all done! wow. after weeks of meeting up, doing props, practicing lines and more props, the auditions are all done! although I am glad it’s one less commitment completed, I really learned alot from the experience of taking part in OM. Mr.Chin told us our scores for the Long-Term problem and he said we did really well for first-timers. It is really satisfying to hear that because it shows that all our hardwork is recognised and paid off (: and I am grateful that I had my teammates to support me and we were all co-operative. I believe that the patience and time and effort put in has shown that friendship really goes a very long way.

 

Odyssey Of The Mind

WOW! time really flies when you’re having fun and the next thing I knew, OM auditions start tomorrow! I am feeling both excited yet nervous because we’ve waited a long time for this and we can’t wait to see our efforts pay off. all that meetings to complete scripts, do props, etc. are finally coming to an end and we would have the sweet taste of fruitful satisfaction once the auditions are over. in my opinion, even though we know we are pitting ourselves against groups that are probably much more experienced than us, it is worth the effort and experience for it is of course my first time doing OM.  Wish us luck for the two day auditions! (:

International Friendship Day

The rehearsals (2nd April) held first were really confusing and frustrating, especially for the organizers because not all the groups of nationalities turned up on time and were ready to rehearse for the event. However, my co-emcee and I managed to research a little before hand on the background of International Friendship day and we created our script alongside with the programmes on hand. On International Friendship Day itself (7th April), I was really nervous initially, emceeing, despite being on stage before on quite a number of occasions, but however I relaxed more as the programme went on and was much more confident of speaking to the school. I was amazed and honoured that I was able to introduce the many different nationalities that had prepared a short item for the programme. I learnt so many new things about other countries and their different backgrounds and culture. Being able to see it up front (literally!) and in person of the different performances like the traditional dance by the Vietnamese was one good experience for me. I am glad I volunteered being an emcee for this special event because I believe it’s one way I can contribute towards this school event. And if given the opportunity, I believe I’d another event like this in the near future.

 

Creativity – 1hour

Service – 3hours

Cleaning toys at beyond social services

today was the first session my classmates and I had for volunteering at ‘Beyond Social Services’. Beyond Social Services was set up in August 1969 to help the poor in Bukit Ho Swee Community. Subsequently it became a full-fledged social service centre to address the concerns of families and individuals from dissadvantaged low-income backgrounds in 1991. And its services have gone beyond Bukit Ho Swee Community. today a few of us were assigned to clean the toys of the students. at first it wasn’t a very tiring job but after the first hour we were starting to feel exhausted! and everything was so much more tougher to do; cleaning the toys with sterilised water, rinsing them, bringing them out to sun, waiting for them to dry completely, and putting them back to the specific racks. IT WAS EXHAUSTING! there were just so many toys! and we had to be extra careful because recently the ‘Hand, Food, Mouth disease’ was back. It attacks children at the most vulnerable age of below 5 and we were cleaning their toys. But we took extra precautions and made sure we washed our hands squeaky clean after fininshing the washing. Although today was 3hours long I must admit that the job is a pretty tedious one. But while washing and knowing at the back of my head, these kids are far more under-privilege than me, I am very glad that I am able to do a small part in returning my services to society, to the kids, to them.  Service activities like these make it worth while.

Summary of Term 1:

I think I have achieved quite a few things this term and I am glad that it’s been a good start for me on CAS.

I have completed Devotion + Video Edit + Cameraman, Flag Day, Under No Roof, Chinese New Year Decorations/Fashion Show, Ushering for founder’s day, and PE Sports Modules.

What’s so far on-going is Touch Rugby, Student Council, Odessey Of The Mind, Blood Wedding, Private Music Lessons and Badminton.

I know what I have planned ahead in Term 2 is that I have managed to contact ‘Beyond Social Services’ and thus I would be spending every alternate saturdays going down to the centre and do things like cleaning up or gardening and so on. I’ll go into detail when I have started on the activity. Also, I’m looking forward to Blood Wedding and Odessey of The Mind because they are the activities that are the main highlights for this term.

Under No Roof

“Under No Roof” was a very different experience that has happened to me. I wasn’t a participant, but a facilitator and thus I was to take a group (many schools were divided into different groups at first) and run some ice breaker games with them. However, when I arrived at 6pm it wasn’t the start of my duties but instead the participants (who were the ones staying over) had to built their own shelters for the night. so the facilitators practised the games by having a dry-run and got ourselves prepared for taking our individual groups. By about 8pm, all of us (participants and facilitators and teachers alike) all went up to the auditorium where there were close to 10 schools doing a presentation on what their school has done for other third world countries or countries that have met with natural disasters and so on. honestly, despite the tiresome 2hours listening to the other schools show much they’ve done for the world, it really inspires me to do my part as well. hopefully our school would be able to arrange for us such trips like the other schools. Cause I know if I could do things like built houses, donate neccesities, teach english and so on, I’d definitely feel a pang of satisfaction for I would know that’s the least I could do for society. I can’t wait for our service trips this year.

after the presentations we (the facilitators) had little time left before lights out (the presentations ate our into our allocated times). So we decided to play only one game. Building the tallest tower with newspapers, masking tape, and one straw. Aditya and I got the German European School as our group (the schools didn’t split up in the end) and they were an awesome bunch! And they were really creative and they built these 3 long thick sticks (made by newspapers) and so on. all groups were given 15mins and it was really exciting to watch them work together and see how to make the tallest tower. at the end of it, UWCSEA emerged champions but the GESS students were good sports. I’m glad almost all the schools enjoyed themselves in the last half an hour of games despite being really tired.

By lights out, the facilitators stayed behind and cleared up all the newspapers and left together by midnight. From this activity, I not only learnt the importance of helping other less fortunate people to the best of my ability but also that the world can be connected to the likes of charity. It’s as though (during) Under No Roof it felt like we were all working towards a common purpose or something. It was an overwhelming experience, and I am glad I got to the facilitators (beatrice, shien-yin, rachel, johnny, marcus, bing xi, chloe, ellen, sheryl, yu quan, shu mei) better.

Clocked under service

Class Service

So Chinese New Year decorations, I would say, was probably the first event my class has done together as a whole. my other two classmates were in charge so I volunteered to buy the decorations from chinatown seeing it’s one of the least things I could do. I bought the decorations outside school time and kept within the class’s funds which was pretty awesome because the decorations were all cheap and good stuff. Our form tutor allocated a specific day where all of us could stay back after school (Decorations in class) and help out with putting up the lanterns, and of course the other hand made decorations we had made by using ‘ang baos’ (red packets). It was frustrating I would admit because we couldn’t really decide what exactly we wanted to do and what theme was our class room. however, we managed to overcome that and in the end the outcome was excellent cause we mangaed to do a collage of a dragon (which I thought was the best decorations amongst the others). I enjoyed myself during this activity because I had got to know more about my classmates and form what was gonna be the start of a new friendship.

Of course, the decorations were only the first part. the other was the fashion show (6/2/08) which was held during the Chinese New Year celebrations in school. I represented my class with three other classmates of mine. We rehearsed our steps before going on stage and I must say it was terrifying modelling in front of the school. but it went pretty smoothly and I believe what was most important was being happy about it. and I was, every single minute of the Chinese New Year week. It was because I understood the importance of team work.

Creativity – 2hours
Service – 2hoours

some pictures: