Go to the blogs of any 31st councillor's and WOAH! Indeed LTC will be something that each and everyone of us can never forget. Compared to the Selection camp, it is more relaxed in a sense that the J2s are less harsh towards us. But whatever we had learnt is so much more.
Till the end of camp, we counted. Thousands of push ups paid with crunches, jumping jacks, sit ups, inclined pull ups, etc. It kept accumulating. And at first we wanted to maintain the push up count at 400, but the next thing we knew, it was 2000+. Blame the eggs. Each of us were given 1 egg at the beginning of the camp to be carried around with us at all times and when we break an egg, we had to owe 10 pumpings and they will give us 2 more eggs. For each subsequent egg broken, the punishment increases (+10,+20,+30,+40..) till the point that each egg was worth around 200 pumpings.
There were 4 groups: Lead, Serve, Faith, Trust. I was in SERVE and my permanent IC was Chin Meng. I was very glad to have him as my IC as i respected him a lot and whatever he said to me was thought-provoking and motivated me. I must say..SERVE IS THE BEST! In whatever we do, we appear to be the most positive and cheerful (while focused at the same time) throughout the camp. And till the end of the camp, we broke the least number of eggs: 3!. It was commendable when u compare it to some groups breaking 10+ each.
Many of the activites had a rationale behing it, and each of them had so much in place for us. I shall not touch on all of them for it will stretch till Sooo long. There are 2 highlights in the camp. 1 of them is the seeds of perserverence. Basically, it is held in LT1. Before we reached there, we were told to clear up some ''mess''. We went there. It was dark, the lights were off and the only light is from those small windows at the back. There were seeds on the floor...12 1.5L water bottle full of seeds scattered around the LT. (YES,SEEDS) And we had to fill those seeds into the 12 water bottles, and NO COMMUNICATION WAS ALLOWED. At the beginning we were moving slowly and some were like picking the seeds up. Many J2s started shouting at us, hurrying us. And its not an easy job at all. I was sweeping the seeds with my bare hands to the corner of the LT and i could see the dirt and dust pile up. Eventually we were sweating to the point that we were ''mopping'' the LT with our hands. We also had to sweep those seeds underneath the chairs. We did not complete the task on time and the J2s were really pissed at that time. We were allowed to strategise and finish the task with the lights on. Then we went to wash up. When we came back and settled down..''Since all of u had an idea on this, if u were to do it again, can u do a better job?'' And the next thing we knew, they began emptying the bottle of seeds that we collected all over the LT again. The lights were off and this time all of us really perservered throughout. Our sense of urgency was much better than before. When the time was up and the lights were on, Wei Chiang was in front. 10 full bottles on the table, and he was holding 2 around 3/4 quarter filled bottles. Many thoughts were running through all of us as we could only look helplessly on those 2 bottles. ''Though u did not complete it, but we were really proud of u guys, u all have proved yourself'' Even though it made us feel glad, but many of us were...(cant describe the feeling), but it set us thinking that its only that little bit. At the end of the activity, my hands were dirty and stained with dirt, and my knees were bruised from kneeling on those seeds.
Another highlight of the camp was the night trek. At 11pm of Day2, some guys were happy when they announced that there will be no sentry duty due to good performance. But for some of us, we expect a fire drill to happen. Indeed at 2am we were woken up. Due to some issues, we were punished till around 3+am, and all the teachers and J2 were screaming at us. Miss Huang almost wanted to cancel the trek if its not for some J2 who said that we had to go through the trek in order to teach the next batch next year. I really appreciate their efforts. There the night treak commence. And guess wad. We were to walk from SAJC to SENTOSA! Yes, Sentosa, our pace were terrifying and we had to run many times to catch up. Throughout the trek we kept ourselves strong by staying positive and singing songs. When we reached habourfront, it was around 8am...
The LTC booklet is in my room right now, and everytime i flipped through it, those memories would then appear through my mind. Filled by my everyday reflections, and Chin Meng's Comments, it will always remind me to be stronger, and to be proud that i was from SERVE. LTC had really made me changed a lot, be it my attitude towards things or my pespectives.
On a lighter note, i guess its time i started studying for common test =X. But not now, let it be after chalet which is around wednesday :)
To Quote from Chin Meng's PM: To Lead and Serve with Faith and Trust.
Just for fun(something i wont forget): THE 10 CAMP COMMANDMENTS
1)Be early not punctual
2)Shirts are to be tucked in at all times
3)Take responsibility for your own actions
4)Follow instructions
5)Do not entertain any outside friends throughout the camp (sorry Lip Chiau for dao-ing u)
6)Be attentive and alert at all times
7)Everyone is equally important and punishments will be dealt equally
8)No forbidden items
9)No ABCDE (Arguing,Bargaining,Complaining,Demanding,Expecting)
10)Gve your best in everything you do
-Li Ming
posted by Li Ming @ 6:11 PM,
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.