Reflection; Chee Hoong

I felt glad after conducting this camp for secondary school students. After I was informed that I was in group 14, we start our first meeting to discuss what project should we implement for our social engagement project. Later, our group combined with group 13 to implement the social engagement project together. At first, we were thinking to go to orphanage home, but at last, we decide to do camp at secondary school. After that, we had surveyed the venue to implement our project. There are many obstacles during the surveying process. From surveying process, I learned how to choose a suitable venue for implementing the project. Finally, we decide to organize the camp at SMK Shah Alam. To raise fund for this project, our group members had been divided into 3 groups and I was in group 1. We went to Pudu to do a donation drive on 16 April 2019. From this donation drive, I had improved my courage and communication skills by talking and asking for a donation from strangers. Also, we design and sell shirts for our camp, the profit will be used to cover the cost of shirts for our organizing committee (OC) and also participants. Each member needs to sell at least 4 shirts. Before the event, we had conducted many meetings to discuss the tentative program and test game.

On the 5 April 2019, we arrived at school early to do preparations and set up registration counter. After registrations, grouping and ice breaking session started. I was glad to be assigned as the facilitator of group 1. Each member was required to introduce themselves. As the facilitator, I start to introduce myself first because I realized that there were some students feeling shy. In the team building game, everyone in group 1 worked together to complete the games. In the interview tips session, students learned how to impress employers during the interview. To be honest, I also gain some extra knowledge from this session. Last activity on the first day is interview stimulation. OC acted as interviewers during this session. We get to know some possible questions that interviewers are going to ask.

On the 6 April 2019, we had Zumba session in the morning. Definitely, it is the most attractive session for the students. Not only students, but I also enjoyed myself in this session because there are some familiar songs I used to dance in MHS. Zumba session ended soon but there was still remaining time. Then, I was impressed by the courage of the students since they voluntarily lead some Zumba songs they used to dance. In the ‘Journey after SPM’ session, we explained to students the various pathways to further their study after SPM. Obviously, students were curious about the journey after SPM as they asked many questions. In the debate session, participants learned to voice out their own opinion and rebut to opponents’ idea. After that, we had our explorace session. We had tested and amended the games before we decide to conduct these games. I was the person in charge of station 5 with Jia Jie and Yu Chin. We set up the station early before the explorace started. Before the Teatro De Suenos session, they had done a lot of practice to make sure the best performances will be presented. From this session, I saw the creativity among the students. They are able to perform a funny drama to us based on the title given. I really enjoyed myself watching the performances of the students.

Soon, it came to the last day of the camp. After having breakfast, we started the ‘Go Green’ session. In this session, students need to design a shirt for the model chosen from their own group. I felt very delighted to be chosen as one of the judges. I judged their design based on 4 criteria which are teamwork, relative, creativity, and confidence. It was the prize giving and closing ceremony for our camp after ‘Go Green’. We had prepared and gave gifts to every group. We also received a certificate and mug as a token of appreciation from SMK Shah Alam management team. Taking photos with every group and school management team marked the end of our event.

After we cleaned up the venues that we used, we had a post-mortem session with all the OC. In this session, we discussed the problems occurred during and before the event and solutions to these problems. We also expressed our feeling throughout the event in this session. Tasks to prepare the report for presentation also be allocated to all the members in our group.

In a nutshell, I felt very thankful as I had a chance of conducting such an event. I can talk to secondary school students and answer all their questions regarding university life. I had motivated them to work hard for a better future. I was comforted when they said thank you to me. It might be a small thing to others, but for me, it showed that they appreciate my effort. I felt that all the hard works and preparations are worth. During this camp, I had learned that collaboration is important when we are doing group work. It made me proud when we had completed everything within our estimated time. My members had really done a good job as they did not even complain when they had to do preparation under hot sun and work until late at night. The activity that gives me the most lesson is the preparation for Teatro De Suenos session. I had learned how teamwork makes a strong team by observing the participants. Their ability to communicate and work well among team members really impressed me. I noticed that every member of the team try to speak out their opinion since it’s their right to speak. The team leader also made sure that the team was on the right track during the discussion. Every OC had shown a good quality that I like which is the determination in doing everything. This camp won’t succeed without the determination of all the OC. I gained the experience as the judge in the ‘Go Green’ session. It was the first time for me to be a judge. I had to be fair to all groups. I should not take sides with any group even I was the facilitator for group 1. Zumba session was the most interesting session as it was the best opportunity for us to take a break from our study. I enjoyed dancing with all the participants and this session really released my stress. There was one awareness after conducting this project. Students nowadays are very stressful as they face a lot of problems in their study and life such as pressure from parents to obtain a good result. It can lead to serious issues such as suicide and criminal case if they do not handle their stress carefully. Therefore, more activities should be conducted in order to help students to release their stress. This awareness will bring transformation in action of me. I will always reduce my stress in the right way. I will still involve in other social engagement activities in the future. It is because society nowadays is seldom concern about indeed people. However, by turning words into actions, we can make a change to the society. If I have the ability, I will contribute to society even what I could do is just a little.

Last but not least, millions thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Mohammad Nazri Bin Mohd Nor, who guided us throughout the project. Thank you for being so responsive to our questions and giving support to us. Lastly, I am so grateful to have such amazing members. The memories that we had would never fade.