Distracted at church

I was never the best singer; my mum always told me that I have no future in singing and commented every time I do so. It was all because of this mother's day choir I was in during first grade, in which I sang the tune so pitchy people thought I was tone deaf. From then on I never wanted to sing in public, that is, until the 30th of January, when my friend asked me to join his band and sing at church. The whole thing was rather sudden; we did not have much time to practice or even think of the band name, thus calling ourselves "Distracted" (because we totally were). We had three lead singers and I was one of them, and seeing the audience at church was terrifying. Eyes were staring at me, and it reminded me again of that time my mother was watching me while also being embarrassed. This was so much different from singing in the class, which I was somehow used to. This was public. As I stood there my stomach hurled. I felt like running away but there was no backing out now. I was on stage. I sang.

I messed up, I messed up so much. And I would've felt really bad if it wasn't for my friends who also made mistakes. Knowing that I'm not the only person who was nervous was a relief, and I didn't feel that much of a burden anymore. I actually enjoyed it. I guess the biggest thing I needed to deal with was the fear itself, because overthinking made me lose concentration and miss out on a few parts. Nonetheless, I was glad to see the audience supportive as ever. Nobody was booing, and instead, they were cheering for us, and we had a pretty good time.

Learning outcomes checklist:

1. Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth
I learnt to be more confident and perform in front of people, even if I didn't want to.

2. Undertaken new challenges
Performing was not new, but surely a challenge. It was the first time performing while being so self conscious of myself.

5. Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
I really wanted to back out, but eventually I still went with it.

8. Developed new skills 
I had fun on stage, and I guess with all that pressure on me, I started singing better, at least compared to the mess I sang a few years back.

Sports Day Cafe

1st Oct 2015- It was sports day, the annual celebration of competitiveness. We were separated into four teams, the Red Eagles, Blue Sharks, Yellow Tigers and Green Dragons. The crowd cheered as the teams faced each other in a few heated matches, which included basketball, soccer, and tug of war. Knowing that some people get to lazy to go to the canteen, the grade twelve students used this opportunity to their advantage and opened a drink stand in which all profits go to charity. As it was so hot outside, and everyone was tired after playing all the matches, the drinks ran out pretty fast. Soon the eleventh graders joined us and sold food for their CAS activity, and some other students had their own business project that involved selling goods as well. We realised that this sports day didn't just involve sports competitions, but selling competition as well. Luckily, we did manage to earn about twice as much as our capital, with some drinks left to spare. As the day ended, we celebrated by consuming all the unsold goods, and there was not one drop to waste.

Learning outcomes checklist:

3. Planned and initiated activities
We set up the stalls by ourselves and chose what product to sell in the stall.

4. Worked collaboratively with others
There were quite a lot of customers, so we had to work together to serve each and every one of them. We also took shifts when some of us were competing in the match.

5. Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
As some of us had matches too, we were pretty tired and worn out, but that didn't stop us selling whenever we had time for it.

6. Engaged with issues of global importance 
All profits earned was donated to charity.

Student Council Election

My time was up. Yep, I was a twelfth grader already, which meant the title of the Student Council president had to go to someone else. On August 7th, 2015 I, along with the previous student council body, went around the school and introduced each class to what this whole student council thing was about. There were 2 competing parties, the Prodigies and the Alithea. While some of us visited classes, the other decorated the assembly hall, set up the election booths, and made the ballot boxes. We all pitched in to make sure that the election was similar to the election of the Indonesian president, which happened not that long ago. While the classes were coming in to vote and the assembly hall was all set up, we stayed and watched them, in case they made mistakes in voting. It took quite a while, but we were glad to see that there were very little invalid votes. 

As the former student council president, I rooted for the Prodigy party, and even gave some tips to the candidates. Alas, all my responsibilities and tasks were lifted, and I felt so relieved. By the end of the day, the grade 12 class counted and recounted the votes about three times to make sure that it was accurate. The Prodigies came out victorious, and the Monday after, we had the student council coronation day, where I officially gave my title to the new president, Celine Yap.

Learning outcome checklist:

4. Worked collaboratively with others 
While some decorated, others informed the students, and together we made the election a success.

5. Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
It took almost the whole day to set up, but we didn't stop. We went around and disturbed some lessons just to inform the students and it was pretty tiring for us.

7. Considered the ethical implications of their actions
When going around and informing the students about the student council election, there were questions that popped up asking about what the student council does and what the students can get from them. I had to make sure my answer made them interested in electing but also didn't give them false hope.

Foster Homes for the Elderly

12th September 2015 - We still had some money left from the previous fundraising activities and thus used it to buy some supplies for the elderly who were in foster care. There were grannies and grandpas whose kids can no longer support them and thus left them there. It was nice to see that they had friends, but rather sad to know that visits do not come very often. We were more than happy to talk to them though, and with the entire class going there, we were sure to talk to each and every one of them.

  

Learning outcomes checklist:

1. Increased their awareness of their own strengths and areas for growth
I am usually not very social, especially when asked to talk to strangers, but conversing with the elderly feels a lot more comfortable. Maybe its their way of telling stories than makes it so nice to listen to, and made me feel less awkward as I did not have to say much to entertain them. I do however, realise that I need to be better at conversing with people of all ages, and should not be restricted to just the elderly.

2. Undertaken new challenges
I've never been to a foster home before, so this was a pretty exciting experience. I do get along with my grandma quite well, so talking to the elderly wasn't much of a problem for me. 

5. Shown perseverance and commitment in their activities
We stayed in the foster home for quite some time, maybe 2 hours or more. It was really fun talking to them and listening to their stories, thus the commitment was genuine, and we personally considered it more as curiosity about what this old lady's life is about.

6. Engaged with issues of global importance
It is sad to know that old people are easily forgotten. Once you can't give much to the society, people tend to forget you. The senior citizens I met were very sad because they cannot do much with their lives, and they were forced to enjoy this new 'home' of theirs, which was rather crowded and full. When I first got in, the foster home was not as I imagined, and it was really different than how they portray it to be in western movies. There were no bingo games and barely any nurses. It was rather sad, actually. 

7. Considered the ethical implications of their actions
Old people have a different way of thinking than us students, and sometimes talk about death rather morbidly. Knowing that they are very fragile beings, we made sure that we were polite and cheerful about the things that they worry about.

8. Developed new skills 
I'm good at talking to my own grandmother, but I never knew that I would be good at talking to other old people as well. This was the first time going to a foster home for the elderly, and I knew I left a mark already.