HighSchoolMusical3

May 9, 2008

my personal recount on WHEEL week

Bits and Bites from Sec 2 Level Camp :

From Left To Right: Instructors Tammy and Yuan Shan ( They rock the house!

They are the coolest people in camp!)

2E in the midst of our cheerleading for campfire night!

Campfire burning bright!

Foreground: Instructor Tammy and Yuan Shan

Background: Janice :)

2E's BIG collection of garbage from area cleaning!

The whole programme of WHEEL week consisted of a study skills workshop and a four days and three nights camp to Jalan Bahtera Adventure Centre. I enjoyed myself a lot and I learnt a lot of valuable lessons that cannot be learnt in a classroom.

On Monday, we had a study skills workshop held by the Adam Khoo Learning Technologies company. I learnt many techniques to study more efficiently and effectively. There were many activities and I learnt new ways to study like looking out for important points and how to memorise words in an easier and faster way. The workshop was informative and the trainer was well-knowledged.

The next day, the secondary two level including me assembled bright and early in school. We were going to camp out to Jalan Bahtera Adventure Centre (JBAC)! I felt happy and excited, as I thought of the activities in store for us there. We got to know our instructors in charge of our class, and our instructors were Tammy and Yuan Shan, whom I also refer to as 'round mountain' or 'ys'. In a few minutes, I got to know them better and we made friends with each other. I was in Group Ten, and my official instructor was Yuan Shan.

When we reached our destination, we got to move our belongings into the dormitories assigned to us and we found out that it would be where we would be sleeping at night. We had icebreakers, and we thought and brainstormed for our class' name. We used the name "Muah Chee" in the end and my group was called "Chee", and the other group "Muah". Many of us were shocked and alarmed, while others just took it to our stride. Later, we had activities like zipline where I got a chance to attempt. It was rather scary as I stood on the top of the tower, waiting to come down from it. However, as I jumped down from it, I felt relaxed and happy to have faced my fear. We also had the activity of rafting where we had to build a raft as a class out of six PVA poles, four barrels and some ropes. In the end, our raft worked out as it did not come apart when we carried it out to sea. I felt a sense of achievement as the raft floated nicely without sinking. At night, we had our 'Night Hike' where all of us were blindfolded and our instructors led us through the whole campsite in a single line. On the whole, I felt that the first day of camp was fun-filled and exciting.

The next day, we woke up at 6.30am in the morning, just in time to wash up and a delicious breakfast. After that, Yuan Shan and Tammy led us into a session of campfire planning and cheerleading. I was in charge of creating the class cheer, assisted by both instructors and my classmates. After the session, we had belaying school and I learnt how to belay for my friends when they attempted high elements training and actiivities. All was fine until the part when the instructor shouted "falling". I accidentally swung forward together with my instructor as I was not in a "locking position". From then on, I told myself not to repeat the same mistake again. We had to climb the rockwall later and I was volunteered to be first to climb. Being the first one, I was naturally afraid and nervous. I was stuck halfway as there were too little slabs of rock for me to support on. However, my classmates encouraged and cheered me, and my instructors guided me all the way up. When I reached the top, I felt encouraged and glad as my classmates cheered happily for me. At times when I really felt liking giving up all hope to reach the summit, I was filled with courage again when my classmates encouraged me. At night, we had the game of "Kidnap" where one person from each group would be kidnapped. We had to complete stations to find the key to save the person. After trying more than five stations, we could only find our first key. We all felt tired and wanted to give up, but Yuan Shan told us to have a persevering spirit and to never give up. In the end, we were the fifth group to finish the game. It was a job well done!

On the third day, it was our Campfire Night. The dance and song for the suggested song "Low" from the movie "Step Up 2" had not been finalised and taught to the class. As we were running out of time, Yuan Shan and Tammy decided to choose another song for our class to perform. They chose the song "Witch Doctor", which was fast-paced, but had lesser actions. In the end, we all had to agree that though the song was supposed to be childish, we had fun jumping up and down throughout the whole song! Later, we had kayaking activity, where we were taught how to kayak and the safety precautions before heading out to sea. Kayaking was fun but also terrifying, especially during the time when the trainer jumped across our kayaks. One of our classmates let go of the kayak next to his, and the trainer fell into the water with a loud splash! That was definitely the joke of the day. At night, we had our campfire and we watched the many performances by other classes. When it was our time to perform, we went up to stage confidently with Yuan Shan and Tammy, and we performed our dance item and our cheers. At the end, all the instructors and classes cheered madly for us and though we only rehearsed only for less the five times, I felt that we did very well. It was also fun to see our instructors Yuan Shan and Tammy on the dance floor with the other instructors in charge of other classes. Later, we had debriefing that left most of us close to tears. It was touching to hear the instructors comment on how much our class had bonded and grew from the first day and they left us with the point that with the right mindset, nothing could ever stop us in life. We did not have to be a somebody to make an impact in the lives of others. I would never forget what the instructors told us that night. The third day of camp was the day that I would never forget.

The next and final day of camp, we had to do area cleaning after breakfast. Fortunately, we were not assigned to clean the toilets unlike some unfortunate ones. We had to clean out the boys' dormitory and we picked up litter on the grass patches. We finished our task in a short while, so we entertained ourselves with songs and cheers from last night's campfire. Later, we took the bus back to school with our instructors. Back at school, I got a chance to get autographs from Yuan Shan and Tammy. Photographs were taken together and we all had to say a final goodbye to them. I could not bring myself to part with them after being such good friends during the camp. However, the bonds and ties between us will never be broken and I will never forget the good friends that I have made in camp. I will forever remember this level camp as it is not an opportunity that comes knocking on our door everyday.

High School Musical <3 | 6:27 PM |