end of TERM 1!

woohoo! it's the end of the term! oh my gosh... this term was definitely hectic...

ok, let's go by events, like kenneth.

1. First Day
hmm. first thing i remember: i was late. lol. not really late as in late for morning assembly, but PSLs were suppossed to meet at 645 and i reached at 715. haha. but didn't matter much. went over to where 1Q was and saw eric and a few others...

i'm not sure why, but i felt rather close to my fellow PSLs then. I think it's cuz normally when u're together, u compare each other by classes and as John Locke (or whoever) said, you tend to maximize the differences from each other. But, when we were looking after 1Q, we looked at ourselves as sec 4s and maximized our differences with the sec 1s and the similarities among ourselves. haha. well, just a theory.

but, anyway, first day was ok. I thought I did quite a good job especially at the last part where we were suppossed to have a debrief. Everyone was quite tired and the energy level was rather low. But I tried to raise the spirits by doing something I learnt in RI: to be loud. it's weird, but i think in RI, they teach you to become a loud leader. it's good in the sense that you're commanding but it's not very good also cuz it makes people get irritated with you after a while. Another reason why I tried to be loud and soft, strict and friendly at different times according to the situation so that I remained commanding but respectable. Guess that's what Mrs. Maas meant by being a "brotherly figure".

So, back to the topic of first day, I used the kind of echo cheer where I said something like "do you think you have what it takes to be the best class in the camp?" followed by a cheer of "QUACK" by the class. It started out soft like always but after repeating it a few times, it became rather loud and I could sense the energy and I thought we ended on a high note. (:

2. Orientation Camp:
The orientation camp was FUN! haha. definitely enjoyable. I totally loved it.

It was like coming through a full circle. In sec 1, we were led. In sec 4, we were leading. In sec 1, we were asking. In sec 4, we were answering. In sec 1, we slept late. In sec 4, we slept later. But it was totally fun. All the great events planned by the main camp people and the execution of it by the PSLs were totally brilliant. I was so happy that I was a class-based PSL, cuz I could interact with sec 1s and make more friends. following my class everywhere we went, seeing them do their activities, thinking of what I did when I was in sec 1... It was soooooo nice. I can't emphasize enough. lol. looking back, i would divide the camp into a few sections...

firstly, the events itself, planned by the main camp was totally great. haha. damn fun. The first event wasn't very good given the location we had... a bag check in the junior block atrium always meant chaos. The opening ceromony was ok, could be better, but already an improvement. After that, the activities started getting better and better. I especially loved the cheers teaching and the dance teaching. ESPECIALLY DANCE. haha. damn fun. got to chat with a lot of 1Q people while dancing, making fun of each other, getting to know them... then, making of our own cheers was quite fun also. It was just another of those activities where elements which are so important in an RI student were taught... Leadership, creativity, innovation, fast-thinking... In the end, I was so proud of my class as we made 2 completely imba cheers... It was damn nice. After that, all the major events like station games, water games, bishan hike and walk of initiation were all very fun. we could see 1Q excel as a class in many things. In station games, 1Q was the fastest and this is critical in RI where late minute QUALITY work is so valued. In water games, 1Q learnt to face adversity as we were defeated badly cuz we were the first class to be attacked. In bishan hike, 1Q once again showed speed and determination as we braved the rain to finish 6 stations. And of course, the walk of iniatiation showed the trust they had built up with each other during the few days of the camp. OH! and how could we ever forget fright night and war games. War games was DAMN fun for the PSLs. It reminded me of my duties as a prefect in primary school... "this way to the parade square..."... now i had to say "this way to happy happy land". haha. it was very fun. and of course the holy alter was also damn fun as we went "free life *clap clap clap* free life *clap clap clap*..." haha. damn funny. then fright night was also very fun as we got to watch Incertible Tales.

But of course, events are nothing without people. So, another big part of the orientation had to be 1Q. 1Q totally rocks. haha. there are really interesting people in the class like darren, matthew, wen rui, nicholas... a lot more haha. but all very nice. The orientation was made so much more fun with them around. Joking with them, seeing them do activities, leading them, letting them take the lead... I was especially impressed with Matthew who stood out as a leader. But of course, there's much for him and 1Q to learn...

And of course, there were the wonderful PSL friends that I made... Firstly, there's the 1Q PSLs, Michael, Biq, Dixon, Renyong, Zhi Xuan (SECRET! lol.), Gerald and Eric. It was a really weird combination of 3 ruggers, 1 squasher (?) and 4 musical grp people. But anyway all were nice people, and so we all bonded very well... then, there were other PSLs... didn't communicate so much with them except for friends like kenneth, jun sheng, edward, KC, Jerald, Eugene, Dennis... haha, but overall, fellow PSLs made the whole experience so much more fun as we were doing service with friends.

And, lastly, MYSELF! muahaha. I was rather impressed with my performance. I was actually known by many as being loved by many sec 1s, which is rather nice. haha. so, here are my achievements during orientation camp:

1. Making many PSL friends
2. Making many sec 1 friends, esp. 1Q! (:
3. Practicing leadership in many forms like service and directive
4. Learning how to be a "brotherly figure"

haha... a lot more luh... lol.

ok, not a very good summary, shall do a better one for this event next time, but let's move on...

3. JRIC
JRIC preparation was totally fun. Got to know a few friends and tied strings for 2 afternoons and nights. haha. sounds boring but actually quite fun with so many funny people around like Biquan with his prank call joke... had 2 11pm nights haha... of course, the main thing was JRIC itself... It was very fun. My job was to bring the candle to headmaster for him to light up the alcohol to produce a flame. haha. it was rather scary was the candle flame always seemed as if it was going to extinguish, luckily it didn't and there weren't much problems there. My next task was the presenting of badges to shan zhi who presented it to headmaster. haha. almost had a very big screw up as the rope with the badges attached untied itself and i had to quickly tie it back. luckily it worked and it didn't drop. phew... haha. but the most impressive thing was the finale with institution anthem, batch song, unite, spirit, samba, jam, kemama ++ AND THE DANCE. HAHA! damn funny... but it was all very fun and another nice experience.

4. Sports profiling with 1Q:
This wasn't much, just followed 1Q around for sports profiling. valuable time for chatting with friends. haha.

5. LjS Birthday
Oh, this was a big event. haha. I was in charge of buying his present, and so we bought him a soft toy hand. haha. so funny! (: anyway, it was, as always, a surprise party. So, we prepared the card during recess with Kenneth leading him in circles around the school to buy time. The card was the size of 8 A4 pages when opened so there was much space for designing. But thanks to some good thinking by KC, we managed to fill up much space with photos. haha. in the end, it looked sooooo cool. haha. so anyway, last lesson of the day was bio, so we got Mrs. Low to present the presents to LjS and we all sang him a happy birthday song. yay! so nice right... haha. somehow, birthday parties for Go6P is getting bigger and bigger... haha. looking forward to the next one...

6. "Parenting with Confidence" ushering
Nothing much but still a new experience. Got to usher a few parents and work with teachers in the organizing of this event.

7. Interact Club "Community Day" Poster design
Nothing much for this again. Just learnt some new ways to design, cut and stuff... had fun talking to Mr. Kenneth Kwok whom I think is a brilliant deputy headmaster. haha. he's so nice yet he commands so much respect. That's the kind of leader who's really good. haha... It's the first time deputy headmasters come down to help out with such mundane stuff like posters and I believe that this interacting with students is just as important as securing partner schools for OIP. anyway, nice experience... (:

8. SMP opening ceromony
haha. small event once again, but had much fun with Aaron, Ying Jie and Nigel... I just love joking around with them... we are soooo humourous when we're together... and of course, this was aided by the very funny lecturer... haha...

9. CEC investiture
haha. big event for KC and of course the CEC. Reformation of CEC council this year, so this event also became relatively big. It was rather well done on the whole... But of course, the more touching things are always the small things that people don't see. For me, when I went on stage for my badge to be pinned, I shook hands with both Mr. Kwa and Mr. Chng. haha. they are such nice teachers. especially Mr. Kwa. hmm. anyway, we were smiling on stage to each other and i couldn't help but laugh.

10. Chinese Orchestra
Actually, this includes a lot of events, but i just grouped them here, cuz it shows our progress. Firstly, arts at the atrium wasn't very well done. Passable but that's all. After that, chinese new year performance was a slight performance. Here, once again, we tried something new as we prac-ed at the squash courts behind the hall stage. haha. damn fun! but, i was very impressed with cui cheng and denny for their guts of going up stage after so little prac... Then, there was interact club dinner performance which was much better. I was especially impressed with percussion who were on our best. no screw ups! muahahaha! yeah! and lastly, there was bukit batok CC performance which was even better as more percussionists participated in the dazu pieces. not very perfected but at least we did our best. And percussion piece was once again well done. (: hope we can become even better!

11. Chess Club
2 events under here. Firstly, raffles trail for merit cca... oh i remember this was after co rehearsal for chinese new year... had to move instruments from hall back to CO room and it was raining. omg. And only denny and I were there for percussion. We made 3.5 trips to and fro haha... maybe that's the reason why i can do 1 pull up now! HOORAY! lol. it was indeed tiring. we were all drenched but very fun working together. but back to the main point, raffles trail was ok. did have some innovative ideas but hong bo suggested that we opted for a simpler option and it worked. In the sec 1 chess tournament, 7 people turned up for weiqi, a record in 4 years. haha. (: so it's a job well done. of course, there's still much to be done. Reformation needed here and i'll be aiming to do that in term 2...

12. Daqiao mentoring
This term also marked the start of my interact club career with daqiao mentoring. i've gone there thrice now and i've learnt loads, from handling younger students to sports. haha. sounds weird here but a very important part of the mentoring session is the playing of sports with them. So anyway, there are around 6 people in the class but the closest person I am to now is Jia Hao (not barry lol). Still haven't really understood him but im in the process of doing that. somehow, i know that he's gone through a lot already and i really want to help him. hope i can do that. but it's a good start to the mentoring sessions for me. playing basketball, soccer, catching with them is also very fun. haha. im getting owned in basketball by them... RARH! haha. nvm. with practice, i'll improve.

13. PSGM
PSGM sessions was another means of interaction with 1Q. Got to know more about them, train my on-the-spot thinking skills and much more... haha. I always said quite a lot during these sessions which im rather happy about! haha.

14. School
School has been great. most of the teachers are the same except for a few changes in chinese, physics, history and ss... i love the teachers! haha. Mrs. Kua is still her old cool self and her teaching still rocks. Mrs. Low is much nicer this year and much less strict with us. Ms. Kek looked cool talking to parents during level meeting, Mr. Kwa's also becoming damn cool and damn nice to me! haha. Ms. Yong's also a very very good teacher and i've learnt loads from her. Mrs. Matthews has been a very nice a good teacher as well. and of course who can forget Mr. Wong whose digression and jokes we all love. results have been average, except for math which has been really good! (: yay! sounds like sec 2 oopss... haha.

15. Level Meeting
haha. not much, just some ushering and having fun with Jie Liang, Eric, KC etc. haha. And, had 1 hr of fun throwing paper aeroplane from 3rd floor down to the field. (:

16. Term 1 CLASS PARTY
haha. new and reformed as well. We came up with this idea of having performances as we ate and it was very nice especially with the australians around. mm. haha. brings about another point. Got to interact with the australians for 2 weeks as they came over for exchange. They're rather shy but nice at the same time. So anyway, class party was fun with leonard, KC, eugene, bojian all performing. There were other performances lined up as well but we didn't have time. nevermind about that. we did a good job and we'll make term 2 class party BIGGER and BETTER, just like CEC COUNCIL, MUAHAHAHA!!!

15. Conclusion
So, if i were to conclude term 1, it would be trying out new stuff and learning loads from them. It's my last year in RI and I want to make the full use of it. I've tried to participate in as many activities as possible and im proud that i've done just that. there are still some other less important stuff like going for football league opening ceromony and prefect's investiture where i learnt some stuff as well. But, overall, i've done loads this term and im proud! (: I've tried loads of new stuff from being a mentor (PSL stuff + mentoring) to leadership in CEC and CCA stuff... haha. of course others include organization and creativity...

16. Looking Forward
I hope I can repeat what I did in term 1, participating in as much as I can, learning from new stuff... there's much to look forward to.

CCA: continuing with interact club mentoring and other CIP events such as zoo ++, develop perc into an imba section in CO!, reform Chess Club
CEC: Even better class parties, class jersey, class blog, class wristband (i hope) ++
others: birthdays to look forward to and other organizational events which come my way! woohoo!

ok. think that's all for now bah.

today's 93.3 is soooo funny. i can't stop laughing. but it's going to be over and 93.3's gonna 换班. haha im gonna miss 玛丽 cuz she is a very good DJ. mm... nvm. we'll see.

k. that's all. TERM1'S OVER! (:

Patrick