1st - 3rd June 2010, Chung Cheng High School (Main) Leadership Developement Program

C – Committed ( with passion we learn)

C – Confidence ( with pride we progress)

H – Honourable ( with integrity we live)

M – Mentally tough ( with perseverance we strive)

S – Servant Leaders ( we lead by example)

HI BOBS~!!! It’s a just about a week now after our camp, hope everyone’s doing great! ^_^

It’s been sometime since I did full, overnight camps, let to say leadership camps. So I was really looking forward to the camp. A camp is a learning journey for both the instructors and campers. With each camp, we encounter a different group of campers, different problems and have different ways to solve them.

This camp was a special one. Many of the activities are in fact rather new even to me. Some are combination of a few activities to make it more challenging for the campers. Also because this is a leadership program, there were more activities that require camper’s thinking skills, initiative, communication skills and command & control.

River challenge was modified by adding a building challenge to it to test the ability of campers to give clear specific instructions.

Games with a point required campers to come up with a new game with a learning point and then conduct the game for the cohort. A test of organisational skills, briefing, execution, command & control and debrief.

Besides the activities, there’s something new for me in this camp as well. Though it’s not my first leadership program, but it’s the first time having “non-student leaders” in my group. Despite having everyone introduce themselves during the ice-breaking session, I did not realise this because there were a few others who also did not hold any leadership position yet. This turned out to be a problem.

In Leadership Programs, much more is expected of the campers. Stricter, campers expected to be more proactive, self-motivated...etc... This is usually a little too much for the “normal campers”. In usual cases I’d be able to motivate those that are not so driven to press on, however, I fail to realise the needs of this small group of campers. The root of the problem only came to my realisation on the 2^nd afternoon when I decided to pull them out instead of stopping the whole group. After Shuko, the camp chief spoke to them while the rest of the BOBs carried on with planning for Games with a point.

This is really a lesson for me. 2 years back when I was really seasoned with regular camps, I’d probably realised the problem and fixed it on day 1. But that’s no excuses. Because I was too excited to see what this group of leaders, BOBs, handed to me are capable of, I overlooked that small group. Something I should really remember not to do in future. On the other hand, handling a “different” group like this is a pretty interesting experience as well.

That’s about it for personal reflection....now let’s talk about BOB?

GREAT CAMP BOBs~!! But....I’m going to nag again... PLEASE STOP THAT PUSH BUTTON SYMDROM!! Once that’s out of the way, you guys can really go far. There are some really, really, promising individuals in BOB. You know who you are. ^_^

I believe you guys know what to do, what right. The something that’s lacking is perseverance, believe and some guts. No matter how good a plan is, if it cannot be carried out, it stays in your head, nothing is going to happen. The starting is always the hardest, if you know it’s right, push on, like what I’ve told Xin Hao. He did try to encourage others to take the lead, but gave up after just a few tries. Push on for what you believe.

Be more confident. A leader is not someone who knows everything, someone who does not commit mistakes. A leader is someone who makes responsible decisions and ready to face the consequence of his/her decisions whether it turns out good or bad. He/she is HONOURABLE and ACCOUNTABLE. A leader doesn’t need to be the best.

A leader is one that makes the best work seamlessly together to achieve greater things.

In case anyone’s wondering why keep a blog on camps, it’s for REFLECTION. It’s for me to think and condense my lessons learnt from. For me to know my weaknesses so I know where to improve. If you guys read the post on MJC’s leadership camp, there’s more on “reflection”. Know your weaknesses, that the key to success.

OH YES! Please do leave comments? I wanna know what you guys think about the camp too! And, maybe even how I fair?? And yes, it ok to criticize. ^_^

23rd-25th July 2008, Greenwood Pri P5 Adventure Camp

After slightly more that two weeks from rest from full camps, finally back to doing full camps.
But the camp that just ended is probably going to be my last camp.
School's starting next week. Going to miss camp days, miss the people and the fun we've had together...
Shall leave this for the next post or something
For the past 2 weeks, I've only been doing 1 or 2 day events here and there and going to JBac to help out in a camp.
Been taking courses these past 2 weeks too.

Well... let's talk about the camp now...

The camp didn't start well for me actually. It's the first time ever that I dreaded the start of the camp so much.
My mood wasn't right due to some personal problems.

I thought I wouldn't be in the mood to be handling 40 little monkeys, but for this camp, there a change in the system.
Instead of the usual, where the 2Ic is the station IC and only the IC follows the group.
Both Ic and 2Ic follows the group. Making the handling of campers much easier.
And apparently, according to the camp operations, the campers are quite good, so I thought it will not be so bad after all.
But on Monday I starting dreading the start of the camp again, all the way till Wednesday when the campers arrived at the campsite.

I didn't want to push away the camp just because of my mood because I though that it is irresponsible to do that.
Just because of some personal problems, if I pushed away the camp only 1 or 2 days before the camp started, the company would have a hard time trying to find replacement.
Plus, my troubles had nothing to do with the camper or the company.
I cannot affect them because of my personal problems.
I had to do what I had to do.
I locked myself for this camp, so I am responsible.

The weird thing is, when the students arrived and when I took over my group, the moment I realised there are "problematic" campers in my group, my drive came back.
Though probably not 100% of what I usually have for camps, but I felt motivated for the camp again.

The camp started with Ice-breaking which lasted slightly longer than 1 hour.
I made sure the ice breaking session was done well because--lesson learnt from Jurong West Pri camp...

Generally, the camp went on quite smoothly besides the fact that the hand full of "problem" kids giving me problems throughout the camp.
The 5 of them were constant up to some monkey business and they had very short attention span. Most of the time they did not listen to briefing and debriefs. I had to stop activities or briefings so many times just to talk to them.
Despite many repeated reminders and they still carried on their ways, they are primary school students after all, they need constant reminder.
It was really unfair for the group, having to stop and waste the group's activity time or wash-up time juts because of these few students -- look at the big picture. Don't neglect the majority for that small minority.
On the last night, I left them alone and spoke to the rest of the group only after debrief.
The few of them were blatantly lying on the floor and sleeping. Not wanting to do their reflections or listen to the debrief. So I kept them back to finish everything after I let everyone go.

Some of the activities that are especially worth mentioning are River Challenge and Command and Conquer.

River Challenge was our first activity.
The task was to get the whole class from 1 end of the "river"(the Milo pond) to the other in a given time.
On their first try,they took 18 mins and got only 8 people across because the wasted a lot of time getting in and out of the water and deciding who sends the floats and PFDs back.
Though in fact, around 13 people already went across, some of them just wanted to play more and didn't care about completing the task. So after the got out of the water and took of the PFDs, on subsequent trips, the wanted to send the floats back, so time was wasted for them to put on the PFD again, getting into the water then send the floats back.
Alot of time was wasted this way.
Largely because they didn't plan well and stick to their plan when they were given the time. Also many of them were only thinking of whether they got to play.
Had to make them learn.
So I cut the activity and debriefed them on their first try.
Wanted to prove to them how much better it would be if they planned and stuck to it. And also how much better it would be if they worked as a team.
Wanted them to know the importance of having a shared vision in a team.
I gave them the plan, told them the record timing and that usually it would only take 20mins for a class of 40 to finish the task.
Then challenged them to finish it, to prove to themselves that it can actually be done in 20mins.
In the end, the task was completed in 20min 30 sec.
Hope they learnt from that experience.

Command and Conquer is worth mentioning because of the the team spirit they showed. Especially the girls.
Command and Conquer is a game where the kids get to play with water bombs.
The task was to take out their opponent's castle or people. The number of water bombs each group/each person has is actually limited. You would expect the kids to want to throw the water bombs themselves but the girls and a few boys in my group surprised me.
The group was split into 2 smaller groups and we played against another group.
When 1 sub group ran out of water bombs I went over to the other group and ask, "hey, our other group has ran out of water bombs to defend or to attack, we are a group right? You are allowed to pass them some water bombs. Do you want to do that?"
Without any delay, they immediately handed a few water bombs.
The team work and spirit they showed really surprised me.
Maybe the debriefs really got into them.

My reflections:

After camp, for some weird reason I actually felt better.
Maybe the injury to my hamstring helped a bit too.
(I injured my hamstring AGAIN during campfire. Got sabo-ed to come out to do split during campfire. Thanks to my lousy mood I think I forgot to tell them I'm injured. 3rd time this month. It never got to recover totally. This time it serious. I couldn't walk or stand after that and also for the next day. It's stupid, but I didn't want to disappoint the kids. Passion/stupidity is going to kill me one day.)
This sounds stupid. but it was so painful I couldn't think of any other thing. Then I suddenly though to myself, what's been bothering be for the past weeks, suddenly I'm not thinking of it just because of pain. Maybe it doesn't mean so much after all??

Guess what I can bring away from this camp for myself is that don't run away from things. You'll never know what's installed for you. Maybe you'll feel better after that. It may not be the camp that really made me feel better but it's a fact that after the camp I feel better.

I'm sorry that this post may sound negative to you readers out there. But I hope you guys can understand and learn from this.
I'm not afraid of showing/sharing my feelings, even some of the more negative ones.
Even when I know that some of you(I'm not flattering myself) might look up to me as a leader of some sort.
What I hope you guys see is not just the negative side of me. But my willingness to face up to the problem and to solve the problem. Not run away from it. Some of you who have been talking to me might know that it wasn't easy for me either. It was really a mess and I was really quite lost.
But what's important is that you have to face the problem.
For those who still think that a leader needs to be perfect, this is what I think--a leader need not be perfect, no one is. You just need to have the courage to face your problem.


For those who are actually worried for me, if there are any,
sorry for making you worry.
Though it wouldn't harm if you dropped a few comments or taggies?hahha...
to let me know you're reading too...XP
I'm ok. Just that I'm still recovering form the hamstring injury.
Hope I'll recover in time for diving class tomorrow evening and for my expedition next week~


P.S.:
Thank you Jesslyn for what you said to me. It really helped.
HuiMing, thank you too^_^

5-7th July 2008 Meridian JC Leadership Camp

To MJC campers who actually know about or read my blog, really sorry for the late update(2 weeks...I know...).
Been really busy attending courses and yes, procrastinating...
I, too, need to to discipline myself more...
That aside, here's the post about your camp.

The camp's the last one of my 5 back to back camp streak.
Unlike any other camps that I've done before, besides being a leadership camp, this is the first camp that I've done that is joint with the soft skill side of High Achievers.
The leaders of MJC where there to lead a leadership model(which name I forgot, was it TLC???).
My debrief points after activities, though they are essentially the same thing as what I usually teach. It's made more challenging because we have to fit these points into The Leadership Challenge’s Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®.
Shall not talk about the leadership model here though.

The camp started for the camper in the morning where to attended the soft skill module during they day time on the first day. We took over only in the evening.
When we got there, the campers were already very "high", shouting, cheering and all. Guess that's what you'll be expecting form leaders.
Took over the campers and did allocation of huts, then it was dinner time followed by the night activity--candle war.
It's a game where we just need to observe the campers. Their integrity, teamwork and planning.
Shall not talk about how the game is played.
The game is designed to tempt the participants to cheat. Also, they are given limited resources which when ran out, means they can only defend. It's up to them to decided how to play the game.

The game also very much about Choice.
"Spies" are also planted in every group to observe the group.
My group, Cool Heat, really had the spirit to have fun. They didn't care if they won. They cheer and laugh at everything and had fun.
This is the kind of spirit you should have when facing anything.
Being able to--Shake It Of.
Especially when you encounter failure and difficulties in life. Instead of drowning yourselves in sorrow, think about things you've learnt from the failure/the process, and how much fun you had during the process.
You haven't lost everything.
You learnt a lesson and you gained experience.

It was the campers choice whether they wanted to cheat.
The place was really dark and it would be really tempting to cheat, because if you really follow the rules, the game would be so much more troublesome to play.
It's to make participant cheat.
True enough people cheated, thinking that no one was looking.
We would keep quiet and just watch them cheat and only talk about it during debrief.
The point here is, in life, there are many many situations that you can cheat, you can do something illegal. Because you think no one is looking, because you think you can get away with it.
It's your CHOICE.
Can you answer to you conscience?
Will you be proud to succeed by cheating?
Do you have the integrity to play by the book even when no one is looking?
When you won't get caught?
Then again, are you really sure no one is looking?
Could it be like in the game, "hidden observers" have been planted?

Also, as a leader, what will your team think of you when they see you cheating and going for the easy way out?
You ARE modeling the way.
Do you want you team to be cheating and "cutting corners" for the easier way out when you give them instructions?


Rafting was the first activity and I was the one doing the briefing for all 3 groups doing the activity in that slot. Similarly the briefing had to be linked to the 5 practises. Chief Jeremy was there to observe. Everything went on fine, but he observed that I use "ok" very often to assure myself before I start a sentence. I need to work on that. haha...
Anyway, back to the activity.
Since they were leaders, the challenge to them was to set the time needed to plan and complete the floatation device themselves and stick to it.
There was no time reminders by instructors as we want them to be able to keep time in check themselves.
Also, since they are old enough, the "rafts" are expected to stay in one piece after entering the water.
As the timer counted down, I observed that my group lacked a sense of urgency. Something I observed and already pointed out to them on the first night.
Many were talking and sharing ideas, but they are not focus enough on the job. though everyone is working, but they are working very slowly.
Only when they realised they only had 5 mins left, then they started rushing.
This actually also one of the biggest problems of Cool Heat.

You can have a great plan, a great idea, but if it cannot be materialized in the given time, it's as good as nothing.
As a leader, you must really be able to get the team to focus and work fast.
You must always keep track of the dateline.
Know your priorities.
Think, being punctual vs being early. In this case, finishing early vs finishing on time.
Why wait till the last minute then go into a mad rush?
Have you considered, if you take things too easily till the last min then start rushing, what if you realise there's a mistake somewhere and things need to be changed?
Besides the risk of not being able to complete a task, last minute work not only compromises the quality of the product that was rushed to complete, it also leaves no room for error and changes.
I.e., even if you manage to finish things the last min, there's no room for changes/improvement/correction after completion.
Compared to, if you plan well and with a sense of urgency, complete it fast. You'll have time to do checks to remedy any errors and improvements to produce the best results.
Think. Doing good vs Doing you BEST.
Note, having a sense of urgency does not mean you rush to complete things producing sub-standard products.

After Rafting was campfire preparation. Everything went on really smoothly as expected.
My group missed abseiling due to bad weather. It's really a pity for them, many of them have never tried abseiling before.
However, when the rain stopped, we had the MOST entertaining CRC session ever!
Tabitah was so cute! Screaming and shouting "Wait wait wait..."
I got it on video.

Song session after dinner was almost entirely ran by the campers. After we practised a few campfire songs, got people to come out to lead cheers, the cheering just went on and on.
So many people where standing and stomping on the small stage we were afraid it'll collapse.
The campfire was great too(though I sprained my ankle running around the campfire. dumb me.). Though every single group did skit, which is actually what we really hate to see during campfires because usually it gets very dry and the audiences will get bored. But surprisingly, all the skits were really entertaining. The only problem was they are all too long. Except for Cool Heat's, short and sweet. Chief Jeremy was telling me, get you group to cut short their performance, we are really overrun. But I told him, not to worry because ours is short.


My Reflections:

Generally, the camp was great.
However, I think I have done better.
Half way into the camp, I was actually a little taken aback by the calibre of the campers.
I very much felt that many of them, if only the just had a bit more drive and spirit to strive of the best, they can very much be as good as any of us instructors.
This actually shook my confidence a little.
I thought, "am i good enough to have them look up to me as their instructor?"
One of the reasons cause this negative thinking could also be the fact that I was too tired and wasn't able to think well. I was question myself if i was delivering what i set out to teach.
Probably because I was too tired, I couldn't really tell if I did a good job.
Come to think of it, now that I've had enough rest, I shouldn't be thinking the way I did.
Clearly, I was able to spot their flawless and point out to them where to improve on.
I shouldn't have been shaken even by that tiny bit.
It could have affected the quality of my guidance.

Lesson learnt: Always be confident in what you do.
And, when I'm doing back to back camps, remember to sleep instead of staying up till 4 am for lame joke sessions...-.-

I wanted to do this camp despite my tiredness because I felt I needed some energizer, a really great camp, to perk me up(Hong Kah Sec did too. but I've already locked myself for this camp).
To make that burning passion in me even stronger, like what Xinmin Sec Camp did.
Also wanted to challenge myself as this camp is ran very differently from other leadership camps where we "tekan" the campers.

Also, this camp has soft skill sessions that other camps do not have.
Like I always tell my campers to challenge themselves and try new things, I wanted to challenge myself with this new style, which really proved to be quite hard.
Throughout the camp, the campers where rather laid back and relaxed.
A little too relaxed in fact(again, no sense of urgency).
The biggest challenge to me is actually instilling the sense of urgency in the campers without any punishment of any sort(without tekan-ing them). This would have been easily achieved if I used my usual style.
The objective was to make the campers think and truly understand the importance of having a sense of urgency. Therefore we only talk to them about it and leave them to think and decide if they want to waste time.

Despite the great camp, level of fulfillment for us instructors form the camp was actually not very high, as we do not see marked improvement in the campers.
It's good because it shows that these campers are really leaders.
But bad because it means that we do not see marked improvement in areas that we pointed out.
Hope campers will remember things they learnt in camp and apply them.
And work on weak areas we pointed out.

Message to Cool Heat(if anyone from Cool Heat is reading, help me get the whole group to read?):
I hope I've done a my best in leading you guy in the camp. Hope you've learnt something from the camp and from me. Hope I managed to Model the way for you guys by showing you guys what I think a good leader should be like--my monkey spirit, my passion and my determination. Hope it not just a tired guy trying to hype up himself and finish his job. Remember what I said about sense of urgency and perseverance. A good leader needs lots of determination and passion to overcome difficulties and setbacks. You guys have got what it takes. Work on the flaws I've mentioned to you guys. You guys can certainly achieve much more.
And who knows, maybe we can be fellow instructors in High Achievers or Trekkers?

Key to self improvement: Self realization.

You need to know and acknowledge your flaws before you can improve on them.


Also, something extra, now that it's 2 weeks after camp. Have you guys, not only those who are from my group, thought about this--how much have you learnt(from your instructors or from the camp generally) and how much have you brought back? Are these skill/lesson useful? Are you applying them?
Leave your comments so that I know?
Thank you.



Toilet party! haha...

3-5th July 2008, Hong Kah Sec Sec 3 Adventure Camp.

Shall not with about Ai Tong Pri camp since I'm only there as belayer.

I'm going to try writing this post without all the day summaries, think it's kind of boring reading it. But, please comment? Haha...so I can make changes accordingly?

Here goes....
After so many schools in the East, finally one in the west(for HA).
During pre-camp brief we where told that this camp would be a little challenging and the culture is actually quite different from the schools that we've done.
And that there's lots of malays in the school.
Please note, I'm not racist. In fact, I like it when there are many malays.
More fun.
The interesting thing is, because of the number of malays int he school and also because of the school campaign to encourage chinese to learn malay and malays to learn chinese, many of the chinese actually knows how to speak malay. Some chinese can even converse in malay with the malays.
Really interesting. Always wanted to be able to do that.
And the more challenging the campers, if I'm able to run the camp well for them, the better the sense of accomplishment.

There where a total of 14 group instructors in the camp. Most of the class where separated into 2 groups and shared by 2 instructors. Only my the first class and my class is taken by only 1 instructor, my class, 3C, only had 29 campers(one absent).

On our way to the campsite, it was already evident that there are a few boys in class that were more "nosier" than the others. If they could direct their energy to doing constructive things, it's going be a great camp ahead.
Actually, I would say that that the class is quite problematic. Not because the students are delinquents but because there seems to be lots of tension, conflict and misunderstanding.
The problem between chinese and malays is actually quite serious in the school. But luckily in my class, there wasn't much of such a problem.
However, the class seems to be quite divided. On the first day, ready a fight nearly broke out because our class flag went missing and someone started pointing fingers.
Also, there's this girl that was sort of "out-casted" because the class didn't like that way she behaves and the way she want things her way.

The tension and misunderstand in the class is most probably due to the way they talk. Especially the boys. From the start of the camp, I've never actually heard a decent conversation within the class. The way they speak was more like quarreling.
I had to pause activities so many times to talk to them.
Even had to cut an activity just to make them communicate with each other.
I had to stop so many time to remind them of the same thing, they actually remind me of Jurong West Pri P5 camp that I just did.

It is really saddening to see them behaving they way they did. And seeing the way the class is divided.
Secondary school life, for many, would actually be the best time to make friends. No where else later in life as a student will you actually have chance to spend 4 years with a friend. Secondary school friends, for many, are actually the ones that you are going to be with till you grow old. As we get older, we get more busy and will have less time to actually make friends.
In JC, you only spend 2 years together, and because of the busy schedule many might not really have time to bond with classmates.
In Poly and Uni, because it not a "classroom teaching" style, it's not easy to make friends either.
So to 3C and all the readers and my little monkeys out there, really really treasure your time with your friends. Make more friends. Not enemies.

The objective I set for myself for the camp was really get the class to bond. And to help them learn to talk to each other and clear the misunderstanding. It was really quite demoralizing and saddening to see them they way they were.
But, I had to do my best. They need me. I cannot go "down".
Was actually mentally prepared for a "Cui" camp.
Was like hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.
Turns out, it was actually one of my more fulfilling camps.
Things started changing a bit after I cut the Rafting to talk to them and during campfire prep time, they were sort of working together. Though there was a bit of hiccup along the way. The campfire performance turned out great.
They seem to be starting to learn to work together. Hope they really have...
Was reading SiRong's blog that day....
3C reverting back to the old ways again??


3C: Even though you guys might say that you guys will not get angry at each other because you guys already know each others style.
But do you really think it's ok?
It's not. Even if you are not angry, you'll lose the motivation to talk things out.
Think about it, how many times have that happened?
When there's a misunderstanding or when you guys want to talk things out, then because of the way you're talking to each other, you just think, "aiyah, it's pointless to reason with him."
I believe this has happened countless times.
Because so many things are left unspoken, then tension and misunderstanding builds on it and make the class even more divided.

Living in a group takes skill and tolerance. We all have to learn to tolerate each others differences. Learn to give and take. I'm not saying that the class have to give in all they way to Nive. Try to solve things the peaceful way.
And Nive, the guys need to do their part in understanding you, but should you do something about yourself as well? When it's not only a few people in class that against you, surely, there's somethings you need to re-think isn't it? You're not living alone. Remember.

3C and esp the 5 of you that I spoke to, remember what I said.
Hope you guys can really make you secondary school life,
The Time of Your Life.

26-28th June 2008, Jurong West Pri P5 camp.

This post should have been up long ago...
Day one was written on the end of day 1 itself.
I brought my lappy to camp.
Part of day 2 also...
But later was too tired to write, I needed the rest and energy for my camp...and also some problems lately...so...
sorry for the late late late up date....

Day 1:
The school arrived late at Sarimbun.
Ice breakers where not done.
Took my group for the first activity--rock climbing.
The kids where lively all climbed really well.
West-side school.
I live in the west too...
hmm...maybe that's where all the monkeys come from....
Was expecting a great camp ahead, as the kids seemed quite enthusiastic at this stage....
but...Murphy's law proved itself....
speaking of monkeys, to my "horror", they really behave like monkeys!
They were really playful, had short attention span, on top of that, they were not cooperative and there where many conflicts with in the group.
Most of the campers in my group, esp the boys are really self-centre.
They only wanted to have fun and have many tried of the activities themselves and never considered that the other group members hadn't try.
Activity time this 1hr 30 mins per-session because they where did not cooperative and i had to stop sooo many times to tell them off, and wait for them to gather and settle down, actually time for each activity as actually reduced to less than 1 hr.

Rock-climbing, they climb and queued up for 2nd try even b4 everyone in the group tried.

Gladiator(boys vs girls), few of the more active and aggressive boys did of the tying of the catapult and the launching.
There was a lack of communication, or rather, they did not how to communicate,
when i said that everyone should be getting a try, these few boys actually started shouting and scolding the other boys for not helping.
When it's because of their aggressive and harsh ways that they other boys felt left out.
They where complaining that they didn't get to do anything and only the few boys are having fun.
They didn't get it even after I went over and told them their problem a few times.
They continued their selfish ways.

Command and Conquer, another game with water bombs.
The same few boys wanted to do all the playing.
One even snatched the plastic bags form the girls that was tasked to do the distribution.
same thing happened again.

River challenge, the boys want go for 2nd and 3 rd tries(sending the tubing and life vest back) even when the girls haven tried.
The teacher could no longer stand it and stepped in.
She gave them a good scolding, before my debrief.
I let the girls off to shower first and kept them as punishment.
Have to make them understand the importance of sharing and that when you're living in a group, it is only fair that everyone gets a fair chance.
They need to stop being so self-centered.

Night debrief, sense of urgency was missing again and
Teachers stepped in.
This time, there were 4.
The group was separated into 4 sub groups as suggested by the teachers.
The 4 more aggressive boys, who were also the trouble makers are made the group ICs.

The teachers commented that after scanning through the students in my group, they saw that all those with attitude problem, short attention span,....etc are all in this group.
Only 2 or 3 were "ok" ones.
That explains....
After so much prep talk today...really hope they will learn and get better...

really wanna find a way to change these kids...
it's a challenge to myself...
an achievement to help them.


Day 2:
Though day one was some what demoralizing. but had to pull myself together.
Whether the campers learnt and whether they have fun during the camp depends one me.

The day started out quite well actually.
On the first actvity, nature rumble, really saw them starting to work together and looking out for each other by helping each other up and down the steep and slippery slopes.
Praised them for it, they got change into their clean shoes/ washed their shoes pretty quickly too.
They did really well for outdoor cooking too.
Listened and cooperated with the staion Ic, Yimin, who's also our groups 2IC.
So there where actually one of the few groups that got to enjoy the fruits of their labour.
Hotdog with bread stick and baked banana with chocolate.

But after lunch they seem to reverted back to their old ways.
2 of the boys fought and one of them refused to tell me what happened when questioned them.
Not wanting to hold the group back, I sent the 2 boys to the camps Ops.
For next actvity, with the 2 boys taken out from the group, I realised that the group was much more cooperative and the game went on really well.
Through 2 days of observation, actually out of the 4 boys, 3 really understood what I've been telling them and are really changing.
Only that after all, they are primary school kids and they need consant reminder.

During the last activitythey were very lower energy. Guess all of them are tired after a long day.
We still had our campfire item to practise but many of them just kept asking when is it wash-up time and kept saying their not interested in the game.
Something that happens very often in primary school camps as they generally have lower tolerence and will power to go on once they fell uncomfortable and tired.
During campfire preparation, all of them were not motivated to do things properly even though I told them there'll be time for wash-up.
But the I told them it's the last practise, do a good one then they can all go shower, suddenly they did everything nicely.
Hope they realised when they all put their hearts into doign somethign togetherr, thing cna be doen really easily.

Day 3:
As usual, last day of the camp is for area cleaning. My group had to clean the girls toilet.
After area cleaning was the final debrief. After the debrief I brought 2 of the "problem-kids" a side and spoke to them.
Could really see the change in them. It's a pity I couldn't make one of the boys "wake-up". These 2 that I brought out realised the problem too.
I challenged them to help their friend change as well. They agreed.
The most touching thing is that one of the boys actually wanted to give me Strepils before leaving on the bus because he knew they made me shout alot and I lost my voice.
He said, "Thank you for improving me."
It was really touching.

Lesson:
The importance of Ice-Breaking sessions within a group before they start working together.
On of the factors contributing to the conflicts in the group and the fact that they are unable to work well togther migth be because the school got to the campsite late and no proper ice-breakers was conducted.
Many of them did not even know each others names. And as they are only primary school students, not many of them actually made and effort to ask for wach other's names.
It's really difficult to work when you are calling each other "eh".

Also, this camp has reminded me once again. Never give up. Don't jump to conclusion.
Never give up half way. Because if you do, you'll never know what greatness is waitinf fro you at the finish line.
Many times during the camp, I was really almost at the verge of breaking down. But I kept tellign myself, I had to go on.
The kids are depending one me. Luckily I managed to push on. Seeing the happy faces o nthe kids and the improvemnet in them was really fulfilling.
All the trouble was worth it.

Of course I need to thank Baoyun, Jarred and forgot who's the other instructor.
See you all when I was conducting TP suffle was really nice.
Sort od an energizer for me.
Hahaha....



I'll reply taggies in my next post.
need to go out now...

23-25th June 2008, Simei ITE Student Council Bonding Camp.

My first ever ITE camp.
I.E., first ever camp with campers age so close to mine.

The camp is a bonding camp for the Student Council, the school wanted to Student Council to know each other better so as to work together better. There are a few different committees in the Student Council and the members from different committees not necessarily knew each other. Also, the camp was also done to instill a greater sense of belonging in the Councilors so that they will be more committed to Student Council duties.

Day 1:
Got to the school and waited for the student to arrive at school before we started taking attendance and dividing them into their groups. This took quite long as there were some problems with the groupings and it had to be done again.
After ice-breaker in school we left for Bottle Tree Park.
The first activity was Amusing Race around Yishun.
It's my first time conducting this activity around Yishun, so I'm not familiar with the place as well. But luckily, the objective of the activity did not require me to know the place well.
Objective of the activity was to make them realize the importance of communication and raise their awareness to their surroundings and well-being of their teammates. To learnt to look out for each other. Also, the importance of planning. For this camp, also for me to observe who are the more outstanding leaders.
The team forgot to check strength before moving off after a Check Point. The route to the next station went through the shop houses below an estate. There were many turns and one of the campers was lagging behind. She was spotted by one other camper but he did not stop the group to wait for her. So I decided to get her to hide with the student facilitator that was attached to my group and see how long it'll take the group to realize their team mate was missing. They didn't realize it until we arrived at the next Check Point, when I asked if everyone was around. They even answered "yes" without counting. After counting, they realized someone was missing and I asked them, "what now?"
Some of them started to stress and some started pointing fingers. Blaming the girl for lagging behind. Blaming the guy who spotted her for not stopping the group.
I got the "missing" girl to come back to join the group and gave time a time penalty of 5 mins for losing a team member, during the time, talked to them about the importance of looking out for each other.
When you are a team, always look out for each other, especially when moving in groups. They have to learn this because they are leaders and might be leading their own groups in future. They are lucky the "lost" was arranged by me and that the event is held in the urban environment. Campers are not allow to carry hand phones with them. Imagine what happens if someone in the team is actually lost during an activity in a place like Lim Chu Kang? Or say maybe Nature Rumble? In the forest?
Always look out for your friends and team mates.
Leave no one behind.
To test them furthur, as a road block for them to earn back points they lost, I challenged them to carry the "lost" girl to the next check point because she is now "injured". She not light!
But the teams performance was really impressive, not only did they make it to the next check point while carry the girl, there was ZERO complains. Many of the guys were close to their physical limit and along the way they had to keep switching guys.
Night activity was Kidnapped!
This time I took out the Ex-co member that joint the group as a camper because she have been playing a very active role in the day in leading the group during the Amusing Race. I wanted to see how the team will function without her. Wanted to force others to lead. As expected, as they are, after all leaders, people step forward to lead the team. And because it was dark, many where really counting and keeping a look out to make sure everyone was together.
During the activity, also made the team come up with 3 new cheers which took less than 5 mins each, compared to the first one which took almost 30 mins to come up with at the starting of the camp.

Day 2:
People I pointed out on the first night that I hope to see them stepping out started to get more active. Also told the Ex-co to keep quiet today so as to give the campers more chance to lead. The group have gotten more familiar with each other and can now work better together. The quieter people also started to talk more. There was more discussion going on in the team. For campfire preparation, they were expected to organise and come up with an item themselves since they are all old enough and also, they are all student leaders. 2 guys that were really laid back on the first day even took the lead for Campfire item preparation.
However, the group still lacked the sense of urgency. They had lots of time for campfire preparation, there's alot of discussion going on, but after very long, nothing solid is seen yet.
So I told them I want to see something within 15mins.
Again, the item was planned up and we started practising within 20mins.
Clearly, they needed to be able to force themselves to work faster.

Lesson for readers: Being motivated to work is not enough. We need to work fast. Do, not just say. You can lots of discussion going on but if none of these ideas are tested or tried, nothing will happen, problems withthe ideas will not be seen too. Also, a little pressure to work is alwasy good as it forces us to work fast. Look at the campers from this camp. As leaders, they are definatly motivated to work and willing to share ideas, but progress is slow until pressure was given to them to step it up. Look at how much time can be saved.
This pressure to work fast need not come from an external source.
In academic terms, this is the difference between an A1 student and and A2 student.
Though both are motivated, the A1 student pressure him/herself to work faster and more efficiently.

Day 3:
AREA CLEANING.
Area cleaning at Bottle Tree Park is so easy!
It was done in on time.
Then it was floowed by a massive photo taking session before the closing of the camp.
After the closing, I kept my group to share with them my observations that's actually meant for the repor for the teachers, but I really hope they'll know and understand their strength and weaknesses and work on them. Of course I did make it a point to tell them that those are only my observations and what I feel, if they disagree, it's fine.


The really respectable thing about this group of campers was their respect for authority. Even though the age gap between instructor and campers is so small, with some campers even older than their instructors, they are still able to respect us as instructors and learn form the camp and learn from us.

Readers: Respect of authority and willingness to learn from people, even younger than you is really really important for self-improvement. It take alot of courage to be able to recognise the ability of someone that is, in the norm, "lower" that you and later learn from them. But if one can forgo the stigma of asking and learning from the younger or someone "lower" it can really bring you to greater heights.

Though the camp was rather slow paced and a bit "low". Probably due to the camp schedule and the number of activities in the camp. Camp needs more ups and downs in order to be more fast paced. It needs more climax, which means more activites to create these ups and downs and to make it more fun and fast paced. You cant expect campers to stay "high" throughout the entire activity when activites lasted 2 to 2 and a half hours each.
I guess it can't be help since the camp was held at Bottle Tree Park and not JBac, there's only so many activites that can be done at Bottle Tree Park that's suitable for campers their age.

Fellow instructors commented that I was running the camp a bit like leadership training camp. In fact, I was....well a little. I threw in many things that are meant to bring out that leader in them and things to make them think. Actvity time was long, so debriefs were lengthy. Up to 1 hour after each activity(no complains again, as expected. they all wanted to learn), as I got everyone to share their views. I wanted my campers to gain more than just friendship and bonding from the camp. The camp objective was to get them to bond. If I can give them more, why not? Through they "hardships" that I made them go through, they bonded and they learnt.
It was really encouraging to see that the campers really wanted to learn, wanted to improve and when they thanked me on the finaly night after campfire for giving them more that just bonding.
Many of them really have the potential. Can see that many really learnt and benifited from the camp and change in them was evident.
Some who feared to lead now realise it's actually not that bad.

Overall, the camp was great. One of the best camp I've had in fact.

16-18th June 2008, Chongfu Pri P5 Camp.

Done with the taggie replies and reading a few blogs.
Now to write about Chongfu Pri P5 camp.
P5s...haha....had to shout alot because the kids were too playful. lol....but we had fun.
O...and I just bought my camera the day before the camp. It's the Olympus u1030SW. The shockproof and waterproof one. So there's even picture from Nature Rumble this camp!

Day 1:
Met at 0700hr at Jurong Point and took a cab down to Sarimbun Scouts camp.
Prepared the campsite and logistics for the camp then waited for the arrival of the students.
Finally, my 33 little monkeys(literally) arrived. This camp, even though each group has 2 instructors, only the main group IC follows the group around. The 2IC is a station IC and he stays at the activity stations throughout the camp. I'm the main group IC, so I had the little monkey to control whole of the 3D2N. Man, was it a headache!
The first activity they had is....MUDSPA! lol....Dirtiest activity to start of the camp!
My 2IC was the station IC for Nature Rumble but he haven't conducted it before, so I conducted the first session of Nature Rumble, which is for my group and he tag along.
Many of the kids were initially reluctant to sit down and play in the mud, but after I promised to bring them to the waterfall if they do, all of them sat down. I taugth them the "Ah nor neh" cheer while we were sitting in the mud.
After that we all got to the waterfall and......posed for photo!
The plan initially was not to bring any group to the waterfall as those who have been there would know, the current is strong and the water is deep. I decided to carry on with it because the kids in my group were quite tall and all knew how to swim, in addition, it hadn't rain in a few days so the water level was not that high.
However, the choice proved to be wrong! Though they were tall enough, the current was still too strong for primary school kids. So the other groups did not go to the waterfall.

Day 2 :
The boys in the group were a bit hooked on the "Ah nor neh" cheer and was doing it when they were waiting for lunch. The kids where quite competitive and enthusiastic throughout the day. However, they were not able to accept failures too well, especially the girls, they tend to take things too hard. They where the first to finish the telematch, sat down, and did a cheer. But because they did not line up properly and sit down after it, the judges did not recognise their victory. A few girls took it quite hard. After that during campfire, I was the MC for the campfire. (Trekkers planning to train permanent MC for both camps and events. I was a little hesitant initially, but it's good training. So went for it. To challenge myself and to set an example for all my little monkeys). Games were played during the campfire, my group didn't win, though in on of the games, they got 2nd. They didn't take it well. The girls were expecting me to help them win since I was their group instructor.
Of course I did not, little monkeys, winning is not the most important thing. It's the process. As long as you did your best, be proud of it. If you won something and you know it's not because you are good, will you be proud of it?
My 2IC brought them off for debrief while I helped to pack up the sound system for the campfire. When I went over to them, some of the girls actually started shouting "Monkey I hate you!" at the sight of me. This kind of thinking actually spoilt the camp experience for them. They had been enjoying themselves so much for the pass 2 days but just because of this, they feel that they hate the camp.
Had to help them change their mindset with the debrief.

Lesson for all little monkey and readers:
Don't be blinded by the title of a victor. Winning is not eveything.
Also, look on the positive side. Life is short and there's bound to be ups and downs in life. Do not let the little set backs and unhappy things spoilt it.
The girls of my group in this camp were to concerned about winning and when things didn't go their way, they too it too hard. So much that they forgot how much fun they actually had the past two days.
Why let such little things in life spoil your mood? Think positive. Enjoy life!

Day 3:
After debrief last night I supposed the campers did reflect, even though they are only 11.
Had breakfast then did area cleaning, which was failed in the end and I had to sweep the sand off the whole dining area alone while they were doing the closing of the camp. T_T
Final debrief went well I guess. Most if not all the campers understood that they shouldn't take things too hard and that winning is not everything. Do thing not to win but for pride. So it still ended with 33 happy faces.
Didn't manage to give the sweets to the kids because ofthat too. I was still sweeping...

After the kids left and the area cleaning passed, we went over to camp christine for our own debrief for the camp. Everything was ok! ^_^
Some Girl Guide were camping there. Was hoping to see some camper from East Spring, she told me she'll be there for camp and asked if I'll be having camp. But, too bad, didn't get to see. They where too far from the place we did the debriefing.
.....

Stay tuned for the next post on today's episode of My Blog My World

9-12th June 2008, Xinmin Sec Advanture(Leadership) Camp

Edit: Something to add, Wi-5, if you all are wondering you throughout the camp i kept rushing you all and kept counting down when I gave instructions, and many it was to make you all feel pressured. As leaders you need to be able to handle stress, work wit hit and still make responsible decisions.

The camp was one of my most fulfilling camps yet!
Started with only 1 SiaoCharBo in my group and ended with 19 crazy little monkeys!
The camp was great. Can see that all the campers wanted to improve. All the problems brought up during debrief showed improvement immediately during the next activity and I really saw them get better and better with eat day of the camp. Such positive attitude!
However, sadly, after reflecting on the camp, I do have some regrets from the camp. Somethings I could have done but did not for my campers.

Maybe because I was coughing all the way and I was over zealous about my first full leadership camp? Too eager and excited about bring out the potential in camp, about bringing out the best in them, I sort of neglected the feelings of my little monkeys. The line between instructor and campers might have been drawn too clearly. Realized I actually could have bonded better with them so that they'd talk to me about their feelings so I might be able to help more....

I guess I was too obsessed about my "Roaring Monkey" thingy, too much monkey madness in me. Should have accepted the nickname "Dumbo" even though I didn't like it. For Students.
The campers where already convinced on the bus that I'm dumbo so I'd probably should have played along after the first few failed attempts to convince them I am monkey, so as not to disrupt the flow of the camp.
Should have made myself high even though the nickname "Dumbo" made it a bit hard for me to high.

To the campers: Sorry~! Felt like I could have help more....hmmm...this blog is meant for continual guidance, please do get everyone to read. And even though I may not be posting about your camp, but I will post stuff like inspirational stories and meaningful programs to watch with reviews, so do continue reading. Though I may not be the best example to follow be it as a person or as a leader, but please learn from my positive side.

My lesson learnt: Well, we cannot always live in regret and feel sad. Nothings going to happen. Things will just get worst. We need to learn form our mistakes. Another camp, another learning journey. Even after so many camps, I'm still learning to strike a balance. Just like in this camp, I wasn't able to, very likely because I was over zealous. I need to take a step back and look at the situation and reflect on how things can be done better more often.
Also, need to remind myself to accept things like nicknames and stuff even if I don't really like them(as long as they are not insulting).
Need to be more objective, if doing that will help meet the objective, why not? A little sacrifice is worth it for the campers. Like I tell my campers,
"A leader has to put the team's benefits before his/her own and be prepared to sacrifice for the team."
Leadership is about balance. The balance of when to be serious and when to be crazy.

Done with reflections...i think... now for the day summaries...

Day 1:(1x Crazy little monkey, jesslyn, that you. LOL)
I didn't need to meet in school at 0745 but meet at Jbac at 0845 instead (which proved to be quite a bad choice) so I got a little more sleep. My partner, Baoyun, introduced me as Dumbo, instead of Roaring Monkey cos we've been calling her Bimbo....lol.... dunno who's bright idea was it that Bimbo's partner = Dumbo....
Why cannot Pretty and Monkey sia...Beauty and the Beast also can liao....
Anyway, after allocation of huts was done and the group flag and cheer done up, it was lunch time.
And right after that was 3 hours of belay school. Imagine how dry it can get. Never had I had a camp with such a long belay school. But well, it was necessary, the school wanted the students to belay, wanted them to have the responsibility to "handle" a human life, so they had to go through it. A camper, Han Quan, actually had to go through the practise 6 or 7 times because he just could get it. But he never complained. That's the spirit!
Next was General Stations, I felt the games that are played usually couldn't meet my objective, which is to get them to communicate, so I came up with my own game on the spot with hula-hoops. Haven thought of a name for it yet...hmmm... Well, as expected, the game made them stressed and start to shout at each other and still couldn't complete the task. Made them realised the importance of effective communication in a team environment. The importance of talking nicely too. And making sure everyone knows what's going on.
Night activity was Blind Man's walk. This one was done quite well as it's a small camp and all instructors made sure their group kept very quiet. If not the feeling of uncertainty in campers will be gone, and the activity would be pointless.
End of day 1.(4 crazy little monkeys)

Day 2:(4 Crazy little monkeys)
The day started with my fellow instructor complaining to me that some of my little monkeys were cheering at 3am. LOL.... really up to monkey business....
Day 2 was the day with all the highlight activities(zipline, abseil, nature rumble and kayaking) and a lucky day for Wi-5 too.
Cleared everyone on the zipline and abseil, except one for abseil because he's just too afraid of heights. It only started raining after everyone had clear abseil and I think a few even managed to go for 2nd try. The CCOs knew their stuff and things went smoothly, but the thing is, the break they take between sessions is just too long. And because of that, and original 2 hours session was cut to 1 hour 20 - 1 hour 30 mins. It's like short changing the kids....I DUN LIKE.
My group got scolded by me right after the first activity. Because not only did no one had the initiative to bring the pulley for flying fox back, when I arrowed someone to bring it back, they refused. I said we'll wait, and they actually said ok. First time I scolded my campers like that. Even my normal campers don't give me that. As trainee leaders, I expect much more from them. They got scolded by their teacher in push-up position too.
The rain stopped during lunch time, before we went for Nature Rumble. So lucky, because it means the mud pool will have lots of mud and water level in the river will be high. And most importantly, the small waterfall will have great flow volume! More fun for the campers. But yet, they disappointed me again. Late again. So the punishment was to cut the time they will have for kayaking and use it for Nature Rumble.
Well they, still had fun in the mud, especially at the waterfall. It a treat, not many instructors know of that route.
We washed ourselves of the mud at the waterfall and then went for kayaking. Only had 1 hour 20mins. But made them promise to be good, in return, conduct all the activities for them.
After kayaking, they were given wash up time before dinner. This time all were punctual. Guess they finally learnt their lesson.
Night activity was kidnapped! Though our group was the last to finish, they didn't give up, and was very high through out the game. Everyone were running, trying to save their team mate as soon as possible. Their spirit was commendable. Many opened up, like yuting and claudia, they were practically jumpping around, and was very hyper during the game. I Like.
End of day 2. (6 plus a few more crazy little monkeys which I could not identify)

Day 3:(6 plus a few more crazy little monkeys which I could not identify)
HAHA.... Day 3 started again, with a fellow instructor telling me my little monkeys were cheering again. But this time it's at 6.15 am. Guess it's ok. It's about time to wake everyone up. LOL...
The group was super high today. Guess maybe because of the sense of accomplishment in finishing the campfire prep without our help ba? By lunch time, I already had almost 19 crazy little monkeys. I Like. They were cheering all they way right till campfire and after. Even Cheif Ian was impressed by them.
The first activity of the day was Campfire prep. And unlike the past 2 days, I want them to run the show themselves. So ICs were arrowed to lead the group in coming up with an item for campfire. They did well. Baoyun and I did not have to step in to lead the campfire prep at all. They came up with a Stomp performance and 2 girls taught the group a dance. Arrangement and steps all did and taught by themselves. Just gave a few needed pointers to the ICs. Keep it up Wi-5!
One of the ICs was reprimanded by me because of the way he reacted when one of the group members was sharing his idea.
The group had some problems accepting Tin Fung because of his temper and because of the way he reacts too violently to things. Well, but in the end the group did start to accept him and he also knows his problem and i can see that he's really tryign to change. Hope the camp really helped him and he'd continue to improve on himself. Wi-5, remember, leaders need to keep an open mind ask treat everyone equally. When encountered with such problems in a group, you should talk things out and not out-cast the person. Ok?
Campfire prep was followed by low elements, ICs were arrowed again. This time, their job was to ensure safety. Also went through with them some points about conducting activites for their juniors in future. Also made the ICs appointed do debrief for the activity. One of the ICs, Zhuyin, though she never really speak up and ask the group to keep their hands up to spot for their friends, the debrief points she brought up were excellent. She had great observation skills.
Zhuyin. you gotta speak up. You have the potential.
Safety, always, must not be compromised. The rules of the games can be changed to ensure safety while still maintain the objective of the game. If there no way to meet the objective of the game when the rules are changed in conditions like wet weather, then it should not be played during wet weather.
Wi-5 did the monkeyhood proud too during CRC. Many people whom I didn't expect would be so willing to try all the stations including the challenge pole all tried as many stations as time permits. People like Yuting and Zhuyin are one of the 2 I didn't expect would want to try the challenge pole. Well done girls, you stepped out of your comfort zone an tried something you don't usually dare to do.
As for Han Quan, though the teacher said not to let him belay during CRC on the 3rd day, but baoyun and I both think he should be given the chance since he's so determined and willing to learn. He did it. With the help of his teammates. They trusted him to belay them.(Jesslyn, you were the climber rite? You TEH MAN! haha..)

To all, stepping out of you comfort zone very often isn't really that bad once you tried. Just like abseiling, the first step out is the hardest, but once you stepped out, you'd realised it's really not that bad. Very often you may not dare to step out to lead due to various reasons, like your in security to stand and speak to a crowd. Step out of your comfort zone. It's really not that bad.

Campfire: Wi-5 was super hyper through out the campfire man! I Like!! LOL... Wi-5, really really thank you guys for the wonderful campfire! It's really the best campfire I've had yet! Love you guys man. For MonkeyHood!!!


Day 4:
19 crazy little monkeys and they're still roaring after so many days!
It's already the last day and they are still so hyper!
Can really see that you guys are indeed a little tired but kept your spirits up because you guys remember thta leaders must be the last to go down! I LIKE!
During breakfast, Jesslyn and Chella were chanting "Huan Ying Huan Ying, Re Lie Huan Ying!" to everyone gettign their food. So cute la. Since they were so high, I made them lead the breakfast hungry cheer. LOL...
I'm a bit low...haha...because Baoyun and I only slept 30mins. Spent the night writing messages for them on their reflection booklets and to complete their evaluation forms.
Debrief the night before was rather disappointing for me and Baoyun though. Seeing the improvement and the kind of spirit in Wi-5 we felt that they really really deserve the best group! It's the first time I ever fight for best group in my camps. Usually I would think that my group certainly could have done better. But Wi-5 exceeded our expectations. Their willingness to learn, readiness to accept criticism and change for the better. Really really very encouraging for us instructors to see such spirit and that feel that we made a difference.
Initially Baoyun and I were still a little worried that the group might not take the fact that they did not get best group well, because they really put in so much effort. But, again, WE WERE WRONG! They took it really well and even cheered for the winner of the best group!
I LIKE! I LIKE!
That's the spirit leaders should have Wi-5!!!
Once again you proved to Baoyun and I why we think you are the best group.


To Wi-5, hope all of you guys will keep all the lessons learnt from the camp with you and apply them in life. And, Pass It On. Make a difference in the lives of people around you.
Once again, thank you for giving Baoyun and I such a great camp. It's really very encouraging for us.
The relationship between team and leader is like a chain-reaction. It works both ways.
The leader motivate and get the team to work together, the team spirit and performance of the team encourages and motivates the leader to fight on. The reaction migth just stop if the chain is broken anywhere.
In a nutshell, Leader motivates team, team motivates leader.

Sorry Wi-5 if I made anyone of you feel that I was too "high-up" so you guys didn't dare to share your though with me, especially on the first 2 days. I probably should have lowered myself more closer to your level so ask to bond closer. Hope it didn't make your camp experience any less enjoyable. A camp is a learning journey not only for the campers, but also for the instructors. We learn from each other.
San ren xing, bi you wo shi.

Well...to end this...
FOR MONKEYHOOD!!!!