ECA Leadership Camp 2011 – Be Extraordinary
Torchlight, check. Mosquito repellent, check. T-shirts and track bottoms, check and check. Clearly, it was a unanimous decision of around 90 college students to bring those items, not forgetting their usual cheery and bubbly personalities.These students later found themselves transported away from the city, to one of the most famous destinations for fresh air and recreation – Broga Hills. Another great leap forward amidst many previous successful events, such as “Jog For Hope” and “Play for Charity”, Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas ECA Department organised its very first ECA Leadership Camp 2011, a two-day-one-night camp. The camp lasted from March 4th 2011 to March 5th 2011, which took place in an outdoor adventure campsite known as Outbac Broga. The purpose of the camp was to instil leadership qualities in presidents, vice presidents, treasurers and secretaries of all the existing clubs and societies, running concurrently with the theme of the camp itself: Be Extraordinary.
At 8 a.m. on the first day, the college lobby was filled with eager and enthusiastic students, all of whom aspire to be leaders of tomorrow. Everyone was then divided into two groups and boarded two buses and their journeys began to unfurl. Some chose to sleep and thus saving up every bit of energy while the rest were pretty much hyped up, singing, and socialising throughout the journey. Slowly, the sight of skyscrapers and fast cars were replaced by tall trees and vast green land.
The facilitators of Outbac Broga greeted our arrival with exuberance, and much to our amazement, most of them were around the same age as us participants! After checking into our respective air-conditioned dormitories, the first activity on the itinerary was the ECA Procedure & Training for respective presidents, vice presidents, secretaries and treasurers. The session was divided into three different groups, with presidents and vice presidents in a group. The president and vice president leadership talk was conducted by none other than Ms Dachaini, TCSH’s very own ECA Student Event advisor. Having much experience in organising events herself, she shared the important key elements that every event requires, summarized into four main points: Brainstorming, Planning, Execution and Evaluation. An atmosphere of intense sharing of ideas was present in which each and every president and vice president was seen taking down notes and actively participating in the talk for the benefit of their respective clubs and societies. On the other hand, the secretaries were given a talk on the proper procedure of writing minutes, proposal forms, as well as official letters – skills which are indeed useful, even for the future. Treasurers, nonetheless, attended a talk in relation to their jobs as well, focusing on areas such as budget sheet, club accounts, and sponsorship procedure.
Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas is known for its well-diversified student body. Hence, with different people come different types of personalities. This was highlighted by Ms. Miza, the college counsellor, in her session of Personality and Communication. To quote her, “To be able to communicate with others within a club, one must first identify the different types of personalities that exist to ensure effective communication.” As such, everyone was required to take what was called the DOPE test, a test which matches one’s personality type with a type of bird - Dove, Owl, Peacock or Eagle. Shockingly and yet very intriguingly, most of the students felt that their characteristics closely matched their respective bird types; some of which even had a mixture of two (as they say, the more the merrier). Ms. Miza delivered a detailed explanation of each bird type. Interestingly enough, there were even pre-established relationships between the birds: Dove gets along with Peacock, but detests Eagle while Owl gets along with Eagle, but despises Peacock.
Next up was of course the obstacle courses, which were aimed at promoting team building amongst the 8 teams. From Low Ropes Walk all the way to Raft Building, not forgetting Flying Fox, every inch of our bodies were being challenged to persevere.
Everyone had their competitive mode switched on, running from one station to another and assisting team members in completing the task. Even Mr. Ian and Mr. Jie Han were seen trying hard to help the teams complete the task, albeit being the judges. Perhaps the most challenging yet fun obstacle was Crocodile Pit, whereby teams must transport every single member across a pond by going from one block to another. The challenge? The blocks were spaced at a distance and only two long blocks of wood were provided. Basically, the challenge itself screamed “Prepare to Get Wet!” Indeed, wet was one word that summed up the entire obstacle course as there was a heavy downpour afterwards. However, being TCSH students, one heavy rain certainly could not falter the conviviality.
The theme night, ‘Be Extraordinary’, consisted of a delicious buffet dinner and many spectacular performances. No, it was not your usual sing-a-long, but instead mind-boggling, exhilarating fire performances that sent chills up your spine. The crowd never stopped hooting and cheering for more action. Later, there was a competition amongst the groups whereby each group had to come up with a short performance - be it a skit, project, or dance routine. Unequivocally, majority, if not all of the students, stepped out of their comfort zone and did something out-of-the-box.
A group of students, led by Ms. May, chose to hike up the nearby Broga Hills as early as 5a.m. the next morning. Joyce Tan, the newly elected Vice President of Student Council, mentioned that although they did not manage to see the sunrise because of the drizzle, she still felt that the climb was worth it. The experience taught her that a leader will constantly face challenges, sometimes even having to deal with disappointing outcomes. However, what is important is that one has to put the best foot forward.
At around 10 a.m, Mr. Rahul had a session with the future leaders, emphasizing on inspiring leadership and conflict resolution. He prepared an interesting approach to the module by incorporating it into an activity, whereby each of the members had specific roles. The idea is to voice out why one deserves to live during World War II, and only 3 of out 10 people can survive - the ones who will represent mankind. He then explained how important it is to have skills which are necessary to overcome conflict resolution that exist in each club and society. To wrap up the entire camp, students were given time to put into practice whatever skills they have acquired into planning future events. It was not surprising to see many good ideas brought forward as there were successful collaborations amongst a few clubs and societies.
They say all good things eventually come to an end, not excluding the ECA Leadership Camp 2011. Though held over a short period of time, the camp was irrefutably a very successful one. Monija Nair, the new Student Council President gave TCSH a thumbs up and is confident that the new bond created between the Student Council committee and leaders from various clubs and societies will ensure that the year 2011 would be a definite blast. Cheers to a year of upcoming extraordinary events!
BY MELISSA TANG
At 8 a.m. on the first day, the college lobby was filled with eager and enthusiastic students, all of whom aspire to be leaders of tomorrow. Everyone was then divided into two groups and boarded two buses and their journeys began to unfurl. Some chose to sleep and thus saving up every bit of energy while the rest were pretty much hyped up, singing, and socialising throughout the journey. Slowly, the sight of skyscrapers and fast cars were replaced by tall trees and vast green land.
The facilitators of Outbac Broga greeted our arrival with exuberance, and much to our amazement, most of them were around the same age as us participants! After checking into our respective air-conditioned dormitories, the first activity on the itinerary was the ECA Procedure & Training for respective presidents, vice presidents, secretaries and treasurers. The session was divided into three different groups, with presidents and vice presidents in a group. The president and vice president leadership talk was conducted by none other than Ms Dachaini, TCSH’s very own ECA Student Event advisor. Having much experience in organising events herself, she shared the important key elements that every event requires, summarized into four main points: Brainstorming, Planning, Execution and Evaluation. An atmosphere of intense sharing of ideas was present in which each and every president and vice president was seen taking down notes and actively participating in the talk for the benefit of their respective clubs and societies. On the other hand, the secretaries were given a talk on the proper procedure of writing minutes, proposal forms, as well as official letters – skills which are indeed useful, even for the future. Treasurers, nonetheless, attended a talk in relation to their jobs as well, focusing on areas such as budget sheet, club accounts, and sponsorship procedure.
Taylor’s College Sri Hartamas is known for its well-diversified student body. Hence, with different people come different types of personalities. This was highlighted by Ms. Miza, the college counsellor, in her session of Personality and Communication. To quote her, “To be able to communicate with others within a club, one must first identify the different types of personalities that exist to ensure effective communication.” As such, everyone was required to take what was called the DOPE test, a test which matches one’s personality type with a type of bird - Dove, Owl, Peacock or Eagle. Shockingly and yet very intriguingly, most of the students felt that their characteristics closely matched their respective bird types; some of which even had a mixture of two (as they say, the more the merrier). Ms. Miza delivered a detailed explanation of each bird type. Interestingly enough, there were even pre-established relationships between the birds: Dove gets along with Peacock, but detests Eagle while Owl gets along with Eagle, but despises Peacock.
Next up was of course the obstacle courses, which were aimed at promoting team building amongst the 8 teams. From Low Ropes Walk all the way to Raft Building, not forgetting Flying Fox, every inch of our bodies were being challenged to persevere.
Come on! Scream your lungs out!
Everyone had their competitive mode switched on, running from one station to another and assisting team members in completing the task. Even Mr. Ian and Mr. Jie Han were seen trying hard to help the teams complete the task, albeit being the judges. Perhaps the most challenging yet fun obstacle was Crocodile Pit, whereby teams must transport every single member across a pond by going from one block to another. The challenge? The blocks were spaced at a distance and only two long blocks of wood were provided. Basically, the challenge itself screamed “Prepare to Get Wet!” Indeed, wet was one word that summed up the entire obstacle course as there was a heavy downpour afterwards. However, being TCSH students, one heavy rain certainly could not falter the conviviality.
The theme night, ‘Be Extraordinary’, consisted of a delicious buffet dinner and many spectacular performances. No, it was not your usual sing-a-long, but instead mind-boggling, exhilarating fire performances that sent chills up your spine. The crowd never stopped hooting and cheering for more action. Later, there was a competition amongst the groups whereby each group had to come up with a short performance - be it a skit, project, or dance routine. Unequivocally, majority, if not all of the students, stepped out of their comfort zone and did something out-of-the-box.
A group of students, led by Ms. May, chose to hike up the nearby Broga Hills as early as 5a.m. the next morning. Joyce Tan, the newly elected Vice President of Student Council, mentioned that although they did not manage to see the sunrise because of the drizzle, she still felt that the climb was worth it. The experience taught her that a leader will constantly face challenges, sometimes even having to deal with disappointing outcomes. However, what is important is that one has to put the best foot forward.
At around 10 a.m, Mr. Rahul had a session with the future leaders, emphasizing on inspiring leadership and conflict resolution. He prepared an interesting approach to the module by incorporating it into an activity, whereby each of the members had specific roles. The idea is to voice out why one deserves to live during World War II, and only 3 of out 10 people can survive - the ones who will represent mankind. He then explained how important it is to have skills which are necessary to overcome conflict resolution that exist in each club and society. To wrap up the entire camp, students were given time to put into practice whatever skills they have acquired into planning future events. It was not surprising to see many good ideas brought forward as there were successful collaborations amongst a few clubs and societies.
They say all good things eventually come to an end, not excluding the ECA Leadership Camp 2011. Though held over a short period of time, the camp was irrefutably a very successful one. Monija Nair, the new Student Council President gave TCSH a thumbs up and is confident that the new bond created between the Student Council committee and leaders from various clubs and societies will ensure that the year 2011 would be a definite blast. Cheers to a year of upcoming extraordinary events!
So long, Broga Hills
BY MELISSA TANG
