Saturday, June 02, 2007
The thirteenth Student Leaders Convention, SLC for short, was a pleasing experience. perhaps pleasing should be replaced by exhilarating. The four day convention that was held in Hwa Chong institution has had a thirteen year history and i am proud to be part of it. thirteen may be an unlucky number, nevertheless the convention proved it otherwise, bringing the best leadership course that i have ever been to. its not surprising, just watching the picture collage during the grand finale brought about mixed emotions about the convention. on one hand, i didnt wanna leave, but when i put myself into the shoes of the organising commitee, just the thought of it makes me cringe. deep inside, i wonder if they really hope the convention wouldnt come to an end, or they just hope it gets over and done with as soon as possible. but, benefit of the doubt, i think they did an awesome job. the finale wouldnt have been such a success without them. amazing amount of energy and hype from the facilitators and the OTs.
day 1: registration. 5 of us got split up into dfferent groups and i went to collect my AMOS TAN TECK WEI nametag. it was so embarassing having a disgusting chinese name printed in big font but i didnt make a fuss out of it so my group didn't really notice. perhaps only the orchid park ppl will understand. ha. my group was sabrina, management of pollution and under the main comittee of social responsibility. any idea what i just meant? i bet not. neither did i until the concept team's briefing. but anyway. that would be left for day 2. there was time for ice breakers and we played a game that was new to me. "honey, do you love me" should have been a really funny game, ironically the idea of the game was to prevent yourself from laughing. anyway, that was it for ice breakers. the most tiring game through out the convention was the orchard orientation. it was literally orientation cuz we walked to and fro so many times along orchard road. should have seen the map i drafted out after the game. haha. mentally torturing and physically back breaking games were designed to help the team spirit grow and to help the teams to be more encouraging to each other, helping each other in need. it reinfored the idea that winning isn't everything. its finishing as a group and doing well together that mattered.
day 2: finally, i had the opportunity to listen to the explanation of the groupings and consortiums. i was in the management of pollution, team sabrina with five other groups. it helped me as a 'leader' to aid my facilitator,dawn in discussions. but technically, there were others that outshown me. aye, who cares? they are better, so let em do e job! :) i think thats one key lesson that i took home that day.
day 3: in all formalities, with the blazer and main comittee meetings, it was just a small effort in making the whole day the most formal day of the whole convention. the VIP's address was rather lengthy. :( it was so difficult to stay awake in such a comfortable enviroment. and oh. it was the day my team made fun of my shiting habits. they think everytime i walk out of the consortium meeting door, i visit the toilet bowl. crap! but thats ultimately what gels the team together. i dont care if i'm the laughing stalk! who else will? ha.
day 4: the last day of the convention, the day emotions run high. even the chair, yu hui cried. day 4 is today! and i found out a couple of things. mr education minister's son was in the convention! oh maybe thats only one thing but aye, impressive leh, never had an upclose encounter with a minister's son. and he takes chinese! yeah, thats the other one. i felt such team spirit connecting the teams in consortuim together. and during the finale, the atmosphere was simply awesome! had ppl from all over the world talking about their country, a couple of indian dancers and of course, the consortuim, facs and OTs performances. add em all together with a picture collage and what do you get? half the auditorium sheding their tears and 7 months of hard work finally paying off for the organising team.no words can accurately describe how it was like. or maybe there are. its just that my vocabulary is limited. haha.
rounding up: youth involvement: making an impact on society, 13th student leaders convention was above expectation. i didnt realise how good it could get.
how can i miss out the members of the team? haha
FAC: dawn, who was born at dawn.(kiddin)
members:
the guys: wai keat, isaiah, mark and of course, me!
the girls: estee, hui hui, zhi wei, erin, pika(india), sophy(HK)
you guys rocked. thanks for the magnificent support you've given me as i led the team! woot! :)
10:33 pm
