Okay since i've got nothing better to do I shall post this .

Hahas. Have fun reading my almost 2000 word long reflection essay on the CDAYL Convention 2008.

I've got nothing better to do.



:D


This 3 days and 2 night camp has left a great impact on me .I’ve learnt many things from this camp such as having a positive attitude towards things and also on being a good and strong leader.

Upon the arrival at the campsite ant Jurong Junior College (JJC), we were broken up into 3 major groups mainly known as the Family (F). I was in F1. Within the Family, we were broken down into 4 smaller groups, also known as Leader Groups (LG). I was placed into LG 2. We were greeted by the warm smiles on the faces and loud cheers of the Jurong Junior College students who were at the same time, our facilitators for the camp.

After being sorted out into our own groups, we were left on our own for while to get to know others that are in our group. That challenge was to remember names belonging to 37 other student leaders by the end of the camp! I was given the hard task to try getting to know leaders from the other countries as well. However, it wasn’t the other problem. The main problem was trying to converse in their language, for example, the leaders from China. I had a hard time trying to find the right words and making sure I didn’t mispronounce them as I spoke to them. In the end, I also learnt to be forthcoming as a leader. After settling down in our respective LGs, we proceeded to various places in the school, also known as the family spots. We got to learn new & special cheers for our family. We also played games with the family. After games, we settled in the hall for a talk about character development and some sharing by guest speakers from GAHA @ NYAA Gold Award Holders’ Alumni. After that, we headed to our new family spot at JJC’s P.E porch for our first meal in camp. After lunch, we were given free time to have some ice-breaking activities within our LGs. Soon after, we were brought to LT 5, a lecture hall, for a talk that was conducted in Mandarin. The talk was being translated to us by our fellow camp mates every now and then as the non-Chinese students could not understand the language that was used then.

After the talk, we then went to other spots in the school to learn even more and more cheers that the facilitators have for us. We were, at the same time, given the opportunity to lead some of the cheers as well. After that we proceeded back to the hall for an activity called Mass Dance. We were told to break into a boy-girl pair. Scared of dancing with a stranger, I decided to partner with a fellow schoolmate of mine. We had fun learning to dance to a Hindi song. Little did we realize the sun had already set! Feeling hungry after all the dancing, we were given dinner. After dinner, we proceeded back to the hall for night games. It was a game about a mystery that was to be solved. The students facilitators of JJC were very innovative, creating a human size snake and ladders board on the hall’s floor. After solving the mystery, we headed back to LT 5 for a song singing session. Some of the songs were written and composed by JJC’s very own students. The songs were very touching and could move one to tears easily. Very soon, the song singing session came to an end and it was time for supper and wash-up. By 11.30 am, all of us gathered at the hall, all ready to sleep and await for a brand new day. We were all asked to sleep in the hall and there was a barricade between the guys and the girls to ensure safety for all.


Soon it was 6.00 am and it meant the beginning of a long day for us. We were given time to wash up and were told to settle in the hall by 7 am. The first activity would be as usual, Physical Training for all to warm up for the day. After having to do the exercise, we were treated to breakfast. After breakfast, we had some cheering sessions within the Family and everyone had suddenly become more awake and enthusiastic about the camp. Soon, we headed for the hall and had our second Mass Dance of the camp. This time learning the moves to Jamelia’s Superstar. After the dance, we had our first big game of the day, Telematch. Held under the scorching sun at the field, the game was about teamwork and getting wet and soapy. Everyone came out of the field, all soaked from head to toe. But everyone had a fun time participating in the race. After that we had lunch, all wet and dirty but it was worth the fun. After lunch was our second mass activity, this time even dirtier and more wet! Kinetic Warfare, the name of the game, was about a war between F1 & F2. Waterbombs flew all around the field and tracks of the school. As we were very dirty, we knew had no other choice but to have wash-up at the point of time. After 1 hour of mass wash-up, we had dinner, followed closely by a final cheer session to hype up for the highlight of the camp, Leaders’ Night! We were all greeted by a wonderful set up by JJC’s camp committee. Everyone could be seen jumping up and down and singing their hearts out. Then we were all put to the test to see how much we could remember from our Mass Dance. We also had fun dancing to other songs and shouting out cheers every now and then. I had the night of my life. Not only that, we also met our ex-head prefect during the Leaders’ Night. Boy, were we happy! But sadly, all good things had to come to an end. We proceeded to our family spots for supper and more cheering sessions. It was great to see smiles on everyone’s faces. And soon it was time to sleep again. Soon before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

Last day. A day everyone hates to see happening. Everyone was hoping that time would have freeze but we knew it could never be possible. We could see everyone taking down each and another’s contacts to keep. And even some were busy snapping pictures away. We were brought to have our last breakfast together at outside LT 5. After that, we had some time to play games before we headed back to the hall for an activity called Emotional Web and appreciation. It was basically about appreciating everyone we’ve met so far in this camp. And this activity made me realize many other things in life that I’ve never thought of before. And I learnt how to appreciate everything that is around me. I learnt that I’ve been taking things for granted all this while, in my life. We also learn that our host, the students of JJC had put in lots of effort for this camp. We were told that they had been staying overnight in the school premises since Monday night just to do the banners, test out the games, prepare for our arrival, making sure nothing would go wrong last minute. And there were a few who actually fell sick during this time and didn’t let their sickness get the better of them. Some were also failures, whose plans in the preparation camp, that was held during the March Holidays, to prepare the facilitators to receive us, failed. However despite all those falls, they managed to pick themselves up and made failures into successes. All of us were touched by the hearts and souls that the JJC students have put into this camp. After that, we were given some time to take pictures with our fellow group mates. We then had our last meal together as one, in the camp and this time, we were told to take the food ourselves compared to all the other meals, where we were actually being served by the facilitators themselves. After that, the closing event of the camp was a cultural activity which was about making lanterns. However, a fellow CCKSian and I were starting to fall sick thus we decided to leave the campsite earlier. We didn’t have the heart to leave but we didn’t have much choice moreover we were getting much more sick and time passed. Before we left, we went to find our different facilitators and handed over our appreciation gifts to them. Even when we were leaving, they still care for us asking if we were alright, as if we were their own sisters and brothers. We also received gifts from them and messages too. Though tears flowed down our cheeks as we left as we were reminded of a song that we heard during the camp.

“Strangers before
A world apart
We barely noticed one another
Till angels of faith in this heavenly place
Brought us together through joy and laughter

You hold me close
You hold me near
Though it won't be forever
But if I have to let you go
My heart it hurts me so

You turned around
You walked away
As tears flowed down my cheeks
As moments turned into memories
To memories we'll relive.”

Just from this 3 days and 2 nights, I have made many new friends, learned more about myself and also that determination drives anything. It takes our mentality to bring us far and towards our goals. If we let obstacles overcome us, we would not be far off the starting point.

This camp has also taught me to be more tolerant as there was a particular girl, at the point of time, was 4 years younger than me and she needed a lot of attention. Though she had been getting on our nerves for her disappearing acts, we realized that we were thinking in a biased way. Everyone in my LG was about 14 years old and above. However, she was one of the few that was exceptionally younger than all of us. We didn’t know that she misses her mother back in China and has to make phone calls to her mother or else she’ll start throwing tantrums around. Thus, the reasons for her ‘disappearing acts’. Not knowing the facts about her, I was not tolerant towards her and thus it showed that I had not been a good leader myself. And it also proved that communication is an important key for a leader.

This camp has been memorable and also very impactful as I’ve learnt many things I’ve never learn before and I’ve also gained new experiences like having to make friends with student leaders from the other countries. If the given the chance to have such opportunities to make new friends with overseas students and being able to interact them, I would definitely apply with all the new values that I’ve learned from this camp to make the other experiences a fruitful one.

Hahas . Smart post I call this.