Hey guys, thank you for sticking around considering my lack of posts recently. I would just like to say:
HAPPY NEW YEAR and
HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR in advance!!!!!
Just to apologise, Sec 3 has been one hell of a ride for me. I never expected many of the things that happened in just this one month. Plus,
Considering my lack of posts recently, I decided that I might as well start of this year with my reflection from a camp I came back from recently, and maybe, just maybe, you can get to known this very inconsistent writer a little better. I won't say anything for sure, but any information you extract from this post is completely your own interpretation.
For background information, I went to Koref. It is in Kahang, Johor, Malaysia. Let me just say that Koref is one of the most beautiful I have been to. the pace of life is completely different from that of Singapore. It literally would be the perfect place to go to unwind during the school holidays. For adult, it may be wiser to take leave when you can instead of counting on the holidays, as I expect a lot of people may want to go there too.
For your benefit, this is the official website: http://kahangorganic.com/en/
Reflection:
1.
What
have I learnt about myself? What are my strength and weaknesses?
I have learnt that I can be strong, and I
have the potential to overcome my weaknesses with the help of my friends, who
are basically my pillar of support when I am not at home. I tend to be a little
more irritated with the ones around me when I am not feeling fresh, or when I
am feeling very tired.
2.
What
can I do to improve on my weaknesses, and what can I do to build on my
strengths?
I have to change this bad habit of mine,
which is to become very irritable when I am not in my best condition, as this
attitude will tend to offend my friends. As my friend are all I have when I am
not at home, on top of the fact that they have helped me through a lot of
difficult time, offending them or angering them is definitely not the way to
thank my friends. We have spent a lot of time together, and they are the rare
ones who have seen me at my weakest. I intend to keep this friendship going
with them, and maybe be able to repay this debt with a favour or two in the
near future.
3.
What
are some of the most important lessons you have learnt in this camp?
I have learnt to not complain and to make
do with even the worst conditions. Life often throws crappy situations in our
faces and what can we do when that happens? Throw in the towel and quit on
life? Or do the best you can to turn things around? Of course the latter, isn’t
it? This camp threw us in an environment we are not familiar with, with shower
and lodging quality way lower than what we are used to at home. What can we do
then? Throw a tantrum and demand to be sent home? We have to make do with it,
and even find pleasure and fun to enjoy the process.
4.
How
can I apply the lessons when I return to my normal life in school and at home?
Even in the worst situations, I will have to
keep my spirits up and deal with them in the best way possible. Even as
academic stress increases, I have to stay positive, and look for the light at
the end of the darkest tunnel. In the case of academics, I have to look for my
teachers to clear my doubts, and to be able to fully grasp the chapter.
Day 1: In
School with the FALCONS
The FALCONS really put in a lot of effort to plan the days’
worth of activities for us. They spent theor holidays doing it, and then missed
a day of lessons to carry it out, even when they are in Secondary 4, that final
and most important year in secondary school life. It definitely was hard on
them, but I really thank them for it, because they did a really good job in
coming up with the games and the workshop. I felt that it really helped me to
grow as a person, and a leader-to-be. It
is never easy to plan activities for over 300 people, and as much as it is
impossible for any activity to be agreeable for everyone, the FALCONS did a great
job in ensuring that every activity, every game, every slide has educational
value in developing our leadership skills.
Day 2: Day
1 in Koref (Quest 2)
·
Learning
points:
o
We should have an increased sense of urgency.
o
We should show more care and concern for each
other as a class.
§
“Remember to tuck in your shirts.”
§
“Drink up guys, drink up.”
§
“Are you alright?”
o
During activities, it is always the perfect time
to cheer each other on.
·
What we
could have done better as a class:
o
We could have had more sense of urgency, and
move from one place to another in a shorter amount of time to allow for more
time for activities.
o
We could have planned better and continue to
come up with better ideas for drum rafting.
o
We could have chosen a more flexible approach,
and changed a plan when it didn’t work.
o
We should have been less arrogant about
completing the task, and thus may have been successful in future tasks.
·
What have
you learnt about yourself or your classmates?
o
The idea of ‘Everyone is awesome in their own
ways’ was reinforced to me. We, as a class, have people of different
capabilities, some may be more comfortable with tying knots than others, while
some of us may have absolutely no idea how to tie a knot which is not a dead
knot. During activities like drum rafting, we have to tap on everyone’s
talents, and allocate the roles accordingly, with those who are good at
knot-tying to actually build the raft up, and those who are not so good to
assist them where necessary, like lifting the raft up, etc.
o
I have also come to realise that the result is
not everything. Once upon a time, I would go all out, including doing
everything by myself, in order to secure the highest grade I can, and it was
most evident in project works I had in the past. After this camp, I came to
realise that the process is the best part of any project work or activity. 3B
may have failed to complete the drum rafting activity, but we thoroughly
enjoyed the process.
·
Favourite
moment:
o
My favourite moment was when we managed to pass
the ‘radioactive capsule’ through the ‘deactivation ring’ that was 3 metres
above ground. We have no aids, and were not allowed to climb onto anything.
What we ended up doing was to find the lightest people to sit on the shoulders
of the tallest people to increase our height, in order to reach the ring. This
plan sounded very ‘Mission Impossible’ at first, thus, we were all very excited
when it succeeded. We celebrated as a class, and I really enjoyed the bonding,
the celebration, the happiness that filled us at that moment.
·
Craziest
moment:
o
The craziest moment we had was probably during
the drum rafting. The raft was already falling apart when we were building it,
but we were all holding on to that last hope that it would turn out alright in
the hand of our ‘knots experts’. We didn’t want to rush them, as it was obvious
that they were already doing their best, but it seemed that inexperience got
the better of us in the end, and we did not succeed. Though we failed, but the
process was one of the most enjoyable. We worked together, and had people
crawling under the raft to pass the string around the drum, and also people
lifting the entire drum up to shoulder level to help with the tying of drums
and poles. It was one of the most memorable moments in most, if not all, of our
15 year long lives.
Day 3: Day
2 in Koref (Quest 1&3)
·
Learning
points:
o
To not complain and make do with even the worst
situations
o
Remember to appreciate whatever we are given
o
Our class bonding is what matters
o
Teamwork is important to me, to us as a class
o
Leadership skills are shown in the smallest
actions
o
Whatever plan I implement should not be for my
own benefit, but for the benefit of everybody, the masses
·
What we
could have done better as a class:
o
We could have planned better for water creatures
o
We could have found better and more efficient
ways to transport the tumblers
o
We could have communicate better during river
crossing.
·
What have
I learnt about myself:
o
I realised that I am stronger than I think. Once
upon a time, I would get very homesick during camps and overseas trips with the
school. But this time, I finally managed to overcome my severe case of
homesickness and did not cry at all, a stark contrast to me during a China trip
just two months back, where I cried myself to sleep for a few nights. This
credit should go to my friends, who stood by me to comfort me, keep me company
and keep my mind busy just so that I would not think of home. Without them, I
probably would be stuck with this “illness” for the rest of my life.
Day 4: Day
3 in Koref
·
Today is the day we left Koref and went back
home. Back home, we have proper beds, mattresses, air-conditioning. After two
night of living the kampong way of life, I am starting to truly appreciate my
daily comforts. I realised that I should not take these things for granted, as
they may be taken away anytime, for example, during war time. This has impacted
me in the sense that I now can empathise more with the people living in
third-world countries, who deal with what we have dealt with at Koref all their
lives, and, most if not all the time, even more. This camp has humbled me.
To end this off, I would just like to say that as much as I want to update this space everyday, I can't, as I have to consider my school workload. But I will try my best, and that is a promise.
Till then
Peacing Out,
~jessykeejiayi><
Till then
Peacing Out,
~jessykeejiayi><
